And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” (1 Samuel 1:11, ESV)

Verse 11 certainly seems like an attempt to bargain with God, doesn’t it? Hannah tells God if he will give her a son, then she will give that son back to God. That is indeed the language of negotiation. But, will God bargain with us? To answer that question, we should ask ourselves what it means to “bargain” with someone. A bargain is when two sides each want something from the other and a discussion takes place in which offers are made until one is accepted and the desired goods or services change hands.

Right away we have a problem: God doesn’t want our stuff. Did God want Hannah’s son? God did use Samuel, but God did not ask Hannah for him. When Abraham kept asking God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of a repeatedly shrinking number of righteous men, he did not “bargain” with God. There was no counter-offer, God simply answered in the affirmative each time Abraham reduced the number. Abraham didn’t bargain God into doing something he didn’t want to do.

We can offer or promise something to God, and he may choose to accept it, but God does not want what we offer or promise. What God does want is for us to desire what he wants us to do.

How about those Old Testament passages where it says the Lord “changed his mind” (Jeremiah 26:19, Exodus 32:14, etc.)? Did God actually change his mind because of something that was said or done? No. Why do we change our minds about something? Well, perhaps we learn some new information that causes us to change our minds. Can God learn something he doesn’t already know? Or maybe we realize that our first choice of action was wrong. Can God make a bad choice or an error in judgment? No, he can’t. God did change his course of action, but he did it because he wanted to (and he knew even before the world was made that this moment would happen and that he would change his direction).

So why do we try and bargain with God? If God could be bargained with, then we would have some measure of control over him. Our sinful natures want to regard ourselves as being equal to God, and often times that takes the form of wanting to lower God to our level. A number of years ago, there was a song that asked What if God were one of us? Just a stranger on a bus? Whether you liked that style of music or not, the song illustrates how flawed, sinful men and women want God to appear.

God is not like us. We are made in his image, not he in ours. If you read the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel chapter 2, you’ll see she knew this.

The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world. (1 Samuel 2:6–8, ESV)

Vow and promise what you like to God, but do not presume to bargain with him. Instead, ask that the desires of your heart might be conformed to the desires of his. God doesn’t want your stuff, he wants your surrender.

There is a special place in the heart of God for mothers. One quick survey through the moms of Scripture forces us to recognize that God wanted moms to have a prominent role in the story of redemption.

From the beginning, God declared that our Savior would be born as “the seed of the woman” (Gen. 3:15). Once Adam believed that God would redeem humanity from the curse of death, he named his wife Eve — meaning “mother of all the living” (Gen. 3:20). Before you could become the child of Abraham, a ninety year old Sarah was faithful enough to give birth to baby Isaac (Gen. 21:2). Before God called upon Moses to deliver the Israelites through the Red Sea, he called upon his mom to deliver baby Moses in the Nile (Exod. 2:3). Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came from the virgin womb of Mary. How amazing it is to think that Jesus depended upon his mother to hold his head, feed him, change his diapers, sing him to sleep, and even protect him from the maniacal Herod. Indeed, mothers are the progenitors of salvation.

Hannah — the mother of the prophet Samuel — is deserving of this list. God used this barren woman’s desperate prayer for children to forever change the course of redemptive history.

The Pain of Barrenness & Widowhood
Barrenness in the ancient world was a great humiliation for both men and women. Men were mocked as “dry trees” (Isa. 56:3) for failing to produce their seed. It was not uncommon for barren women to permit, and even encourage, their husbands to impregnate surrogate mothers or mistresses in order to provide children. This was the case for Sarah (Gen. 16:1), Rachel (Gen. 30:3), and Hannah (1 Sam. 1:2).

In the ancient world, motherhood was not merely a blessing for wives; it was a necessity for women. More often than not, women outlived their husbands, and — if they were without sons to care for them — widows faced a terribly cruel fate. There were very few positions of honorable employment for women. In widowhood, respected wives could be quickly reduced to beggars. Women were given very few legal rights, which often forced them into poverty. Without a means of consistent income, mounting debts would lead them to sell their land. This fate was deemed so cruel that if a husband died before bearing children, his brother was obligated to marry and impregnate his widow (Deut. 25:5-6). Of course, such a custom would be shocking in today’s culture, but it highlights the tremendous importance of childbearing in the ancient world.

When God announced the two curses upon Eve, he declared that she would (1) experience heightened pain in childbirth, and (2) her husband would rule over her. While these curses are terrible, the pain associated with childbirth and marriage paled in comparison to the pain of barrenness and widowhood. Sadly, in many ancient cultures, widows were considered to be divinely cursed. The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible states, “The widow became an object of reproach, partly for her inability to prevent his untimely death.”

However, the Lord shows special affection toward the widow. He is a “defender of widows” (Ps. 68:5); he “sustains…the widow” (Ps. 146:9); he brings joy to the widow (Job 29:13); and he curses those who abuse the widow (Deut. 27:19). The New Testament informs us, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress” (Jas. 1:27, nasb). Even while agonizing on the Cross, our Lord Jesus made arrangements to care for his mother (Jn. 19:26).

Jesus knows what it is like never to have children. Yet even though he never had biological children, the prophet Isaiah promises, “He shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days” (Isa. 53:10). In the spiritual realm, this reality was extended to Jesus’ offspring in the faith. Only three verses later, the Lord extends this promise to all faithful women suffering through barrenness. The Lord declares, “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married” (Isa. 54:1). The Lord cherishes the barren!

Hannah’s Faithfulness
As Hannah pleaded with the Lord to open her womb, she vowed to consecrate her son to the Lord. She prayed, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life” (1 Sam. 1:11).

The Lord answered Hannah’s prayer, and opened her womb. After this miraculous birth, Hannah named her son Samuel, because “the Lord heard” her prayer. She then went to the house of the Lord, and she dedicated Samuel to the Lord vowing, “As long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord” (1 Sam. 1:28). The Bible tells us that Samuel “continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man” (1 Sam. 2:26), much like “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk. 2:52).

Hannah then offered up a song of praise, which was so precious that both Mary (mother of Jesus) and Zechariah (father of John the Baptist) borrowed from its inspired lyrics to celebrate the births of their own children. Jesus was born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, while John was born from barren womb of Elizabeth. Consider the similarities between the song of Hannah and the New Testament praises of Mary and Zechariah:

The birth of the prophet Samuel was not merely a demonstration of God’s kindness to a barren woman. Hannah’s faithfulness in bringing up her son in the Lord radically changed the course of redemptive history. In fact, the life of Samuel was intended to direct our minds to the life of John the Baptist — the forerunner to our Messiah!

Both Hannah (Samuel’s mom) and Elizabeth (John’s mom) were barren (1 Sam. 1:5 / Lk. 1:7). Hannah prayed at the tabernacle for a son, and the priest thought she was drunk, because her mouth moved but no words came out (1 Sam. 1:13). Likewise, Zechariah (John’s father) burned incense in the temple (i.e. prayer), and he was struck mute as the Lord vowed to give him a son (Lk. 1:20). Both sons were dedicated to the Lord (1 Sam 1:28 / Lk. 1:76). Both sons confronted the wicked religious leaders of their day (1 Sam. 3:13 / Matt. 3:7). Both sons were considered great prophets by all the people of Israel (1 Sam. 3:20 / Mk 1:5). And most importantly, both men were charged with the honor of announcing the coming King of Israel (1 Sam. 16:13 / Jn. 1:31). Though Samuel would become the prophet to anoint the great King David, it was Hannah’s faithfulness that made it possible.

She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. (1 Samuel 1:10, ESV)

But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. (1 Samuel 1:15, ESV)

Very plainly, Hannah was suffering. In the ancient culture she lived in, a woman’s highest duty was to bear children for her husband. One who failed to do so was often considered cursed by God. In addition to that, she was subject to slings and arrows from her husband’s other wife. (The practice of polygamy was permitted, but not endorsed. It represented a departure from God’s ideal marriage. As was the case with Leah and Rachel, one wife was fruitful while the other was barren.) It’s clear from the way the story is told that Hannah had been suffering for a long time before finally – in desperation – she took the matter before the Lord at the tabernacle.

When someone suffers, we want to understand why, don’t we? We even have a bromide for it, “well, they brought it on themselves.” But what do we say about situations where they didn’t bring it on themselves? Hannah had done nothing wrong; she wasn’t being punished. The greatest example of suffering in the Bible is Job. The Book of Job begins with a conversation between God and Satan concerning Job, who is described as “a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil.” Satan tells God that Job only lives this way because God has protected him, so God permits Satan to afflict Job. For the next thirty-plus chapters, we have the remarkable story of a righteous man whom God allowed to suffer.

Job suffers through things that would simply wreck us. His children were killed, his wealth was lost, his health was broken, and his wife offered him the useful advice, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” (Job 2:9) Finally, Job begins asking questions himself. He wants to know what he’s done wrong. In chapters 38 and 39, God answers him. It’s one of the most remarkable exchanges in the entire Bible and it begins with a sobering verse.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. (Job 38:1–3, ESV)

God grills Job with a series of questions that make it plain that God is God, and Job is not. That hardly seems fair! The least God could do was explain what was going on, right? That’s the emotional response almost all of us have when reading the story of Job. God has a different point of view.

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:2–4, ESV)

In God’s view, the everlasting joy of heaven completely overwhelms any suffering we may have to endure in this world, and he offers Jesus as the ultimate example of this. His example makes it plain that suffering should never cause us to lose faith. Hannah suffered, but she never lost faith in God. In 1 Samuel chapter 2, Hannah sings a song of praise to God after he answered her plea. Verse 3 is especially interesting.

Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. (1 Samuel 2:3, ESV)

Hannah sang “the Lord is a God of knowledge.” She didn’t know why she was suffering, but she believed that God knew why. Job eventually complained and wanted to know why he was being made to suffer. Hannah was suffering just as bitterly as any of us can imagine, so much so that when she prayed she was beyond words, only her lips moved. Yet she did not question God, because she understood that his eyes were fixed on her. God knew what she was going through, and since he did, she could trust his knowledge.

That is our comfort, to know that he is God and he sees our suffering. Still we cry out, believing that if God would just see what this suffering is doing to us, then he would end it. Oh, but he does see. He does! He sees it…and he is God. Everyone who suffers will go through that suffering until it ends, or they die. The question is how will they go through it? Will they endure it or rage against it? Or will they let suffering strip away everything but God, to the point where what he wants from us is the only thing that matters?

Hannah’s suffering was not by chance, nor is it chance when we suffer. There is a purpose to it, although we may not know what that purpose is until we are home with God. The audience for our suffering is heaven—not those around us. If we struggle to surrender, it’s because we’ve lost sight of who God is.

“God is God” by Steven Curtis Chapman

And the pain falls like a curtain / On the things I once called certain / And I have to say the words I fear the most / I just don’t know

And the questions without answers / Come and paralyze the dancer / So I stand here on the stage afraid to move / Afraid to fall, oh, but fall I must / On this truth that my life has been formed from the dust

Chorus: God is God and I am not / I can only see a part of the picture He’s painting / God is God and I am man / So I’ll never understand it all / For only God is God

And the sky begins to thunder / And I’m filled with awe and wonder / ‘Till the only burning question that remains / Is who am I

Can I form a single mountain / Take the stars in hand and count them / Can I even take a breath without God giving it to me / He is first and last before all that has been / Beyond all that will pass

[Chorus]

Oh, how great are the riches of His wisdom and knowledge / How unsearchable for to Him and through Him and from Him are all things

[Chorus]

So let us worship before the throne / Of the One who is worthy of worship alone

Chapman, S. (2001) God is God. On Declaration [CD]. Brentwood: Sparrow Records

Day One: Read and Journal

This week’s passage is 1 Samuel 1:9-28. It tells the story of Hannah as she suffers with being unable to bear children. In that ancient culture, that was the worst position any woman could find herself in. Her husband attempts to console her, first by showing her favoritism with a double portion of food at the sacrificial meal and then by suggesting that he should be worth more to her than ten sons. All this did was cause Elkanah’s other wife – who was able to bear children – to provoke Hannah “grievously” (1 Samuel 1:6). Hannah’s reaction to all this, the barrenness and the insults, is the subject of our passage. If you have your Reformation Study Bible, take advantage of the study notes. Here are a few sample highlights:

• 1:11 vow. On the making of vows by married women, and the husbands’ responsibility to confirm or nullify, see Num. 30:6–15.
  remember me. Hannah asks not simply for the Lord to keep her in mind but for Him to do something special to help her.
  no razor. Hannah’s vow reflects elements of the Nazirite vow (Num. 6:1–21). Specifically, these are: abstaining from grapes or anything made from grapes, not cutting the hair, and avoiding all contact with anything dead. While such vows were generally made for a limited period of time, Hannah’s was for “all the days” of her son’s life (see Judg. 13:5 note).
• 1:13 drunk. Eli’s conclusion that Hannah was drunk is an unsettling element in the narrative because it suggests that he was unfamiliar with fervency in prayer.

Remember, if you don’t yet have a good study bible and want a copy of the Reformation Study Bible, which is our official study bible at Rio, you can pick one up at the Information Desk following the service.

As always, we ask that you begin by a careful reading of the entire passage. Get out your notebooks and journal as you read. If you are new to the idea of writing in a journal as you read scripture, let us recommend the following method to you. It’s called SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer.

Scripture. Open your Bible to the passage for today. Take time reading and allow God to speak to you. When you are done, look for a verse that particularly spoke to you that day, and write it in your journal. If it is more than one verse, that’s fine, but remember that we’re trying to highlight here, so we don’t want to just repeat the entire passage.

Observation. What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you. Paraphrase and write this scripture down in your own words, in your journal. Personalize the paraphrase if you wish, inserting your name as appropriate.

Application. Personalize what you have read, by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now. Perhaps it is instruction, encouragement, revelation of a new promise, or corrections for a particular area of your life. Write how this scripture can apply to you today.

Prayer. This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this scripture, or it may be a greater insight on what He may be revealing to you. Remember, prayer is a two way conversation, so be sure to listen to what God has to say! Now, write it out. The discipline of writing is important!

Students entering grades 7-12 are invited to apply to be part of our 2012 Summersational Youth Servant Staff! Each year these kids have a great experience of ministry as they volunteer 2000+ hours working with our Summersational campers!

Pertinent information, application form, contract, etc. are all available below. The DEADLINE for applying is May 30, 2012. No applications will be accepted after that date.

Volunteers must attend a required Orientation Meeting at RVCC on Sunday, June 3, at 10:15 AM.

Summersational Youth Staff Information and Application

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Message from May 6th by Dr. Warren Gage. Jesus will complete in us everything God has intended for us to do!

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It Is Finished

Message preached on May 6th, 2012 by Dr. Warren Gage.

Jesus is the ultimate finisher who leaves nothing undone. He will accomplish in us everything God has purposed for us to do. Jesus took all our sins upon himself and nailed them to a tree, that they might be as the Scripture says, removed as far from us as the east is from the west. And on the last day, we will stand triumphant, not because of our own success, but because of his!

Note: There was no study guide published for this message.

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