"Godly Mother" - Pastor Doug Batchelor

and you know tomorrow being Mother's Day I'm thankful for the opportunity really to talk to you about a one of the great examples of a godly mother in the Bible and her name is Hannah Hannah is one of those names h8 and in a H it's the same forward or backwards did you know that so if you're wondering what to name your daughter and never get mixed up that's a good name but you first find this in the book of Samuel so if you'll join me and turn to the first book of Samuel now I'll give you a little background because this is going to be a Bible study the first book of Samuel originally was part of four books of the Kings really and you've got 1st and 2nd Samuel you've got 1st and 2nd Kings and then it goes on and there's some repeat in 1st and 2nd chronicles but this is the beginning of a whole different epoch you've got the story of the Exodus in the Torah that ends with the death of Moses and Joshua really begins the time of the judges then at the end of the judges you have Samuel Samuel is a transition point to the time of the kings in the kingdom that reaches to the birth of Christ and so this is just a really great study it's you'll see a lot of interesting things are happening here in this story and it begins go to verse 1 first samuel chapter 1 verse 1 now there was a certain man of ramoth a.m. zopim in the mountains of Ephraim and his name was Elkanah now Cana means God created the son of Jerome the son of Elihu the son of Tohu the son of Zeff and Ephraim ight now I had to get an amen just for being able to say to all that so but there's there's something in those names that are getting given let me tell you what's going on here is first of all as you read the Bible you'll find that alakina comes from the KOA fights of Levi one of the sons of Levi which was one of the most esteemed tribes so he's a Levite so later when he's going to temple he's performing the duties of a Levite but the Levites didn't get any specific territory they were to be divided among the 12 tribes and they were given certain territory around the towns and so it tells you from what's town now he lives a Rhema Pham of zopim now Rhema Pham later known as Rhema became the city of Samuel for the rest of his life it's up north now the temple is not in Ramah the temple is in and we got a map I think we're putting up on the screen that's going to show you some of the locations where you can see where the town was it's pretty small but you can see at the top you've got Rhema of Benjamin and then you get about halfway down through the screen you see Jerusalem off to the right there's a star and it's a Shiloh we know where Rhema was we know where Benjamin was and Gibeah and we know where Jerusalem was in Bethlehem you see at the very bottom of the screen they never really have found the town of Shiloh the temple was stationed there before it was moved to Jerusalem when people went to the house of God they didn't go to Jerusalem back then they went to wherever the tabernacle was and it was still moving around a little bit but it spent many years at Shiloh now in the genealogy of Elkanah you notice that it says he's a son of Tohu the son of Zeff Zef was an ephah might now this is from Bethlehem Ephrathah this is the same it's saying that Zeff was one of the Levites that lived in Bethel and so it's making a connection between Samuel and the priests and Samuel and David the king and but there's something else here that is very interesting when it says Rhema fam a theme is talking about the double the double hills of Rama and you've heard of Joseph of Arimathea the one who was responsible for burying Jesus he took he went to Pilate and got the body and so this is where he was from and so you see the intersection of at least three very famous Bible characters or in places just in that first verse so there's a lot there sometimes we just skip over those names and places but it's giving me some connection with the the life of Samuel now Elkanah goes on to say has two wives this was not because it was God's original plan but you can find several examples in the Bible of patriarchs and other people in Israel that had multiple wives sometimes this would happen if if a man died and he had no children his brother would take the wife into the family and he sometimes would end up with two wives this happened to Jacob he didn't do it by design his father-in-law tricked him and Jacob ended up with Rachel and Leah and then when they were having problems having children they urged upon Jacob their handmade Zilpha and Bilhah and so I ended up with four wives technically you remember when Sarah couldn't have children she pushed into Abraham's arms Hagar and he ended up with two wives at least for part of the time well they did not have social security in Bible times and if you grew old and you had no children you either needed to get taken and by a relative or you could be destitute having children was so very important and so I'm a matter of fact let me read you a few verses Exodus 23 verse 25 one of the blessings that God gave his people he said there will be no one miscarrying or barren in your land I will fulfill the number of your days Deuteronomy 7:14 you will be blessed above all people they'll be not a male or female barren among you now this is an interesting verse because it not only talks about barrenness because of females it talks about Berenice because of males neither will there be a male or female barren among you or even among your livestock Psalm 128 verse 3 your wife will be like a fruitful vine in the very area when's the last time you called your wife a fruitful vine but that was a compliment in Bible times in the very heart of your house your children like olive plants all around your table and so you know keep in mind the earth was not nearly as populated back then as this today God had told Adam and Eve go forth be fruitful and multiply and so when they were not multiplying it was seen as a problem and it says there in the second verse that this man had two wives hannah and peninnah and pnina had children but hannah did not know the name Hannah means beauty charm or grace it's sort of a multi-faceted word pnina means a jewel now there's a conflict that begins to take shape between these two women and evidently when Elkanah married hannah that was his first love but after several years of marriage there were no offspring and he began to worry that there never would be and so who knows whether hannah was part of the conversation or not but for whatever reason he took a second wife and she was very productive and all of a sudden there were many children added to the family and every time that happened hannah began to feel more and more left out and more and more isolated and more and more like what's wrong with me and how come I can't have children and it turned into a real problem called a lot of strife that crossed a lot of strife in the family verse 3 this man chapter 1 verse 3 this man went from his City yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh that's where the temple was also the two sons of Eli hophni and Phinehas the priests of the Lord were there Eli's getting older at this point and whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering he would give portions to pnina his wife and to her sons and daughters which he's got sons and she's got daughters she's got several children manna has none but to Hannah he would give a double portion a worthy portion for he loved Hannah now how much was served as a portion in these feasts was an indication of love do any of you remember when Joseph was testing his brothers he invited him over to his house for a feast and he gave all of his brothers a portion of food but he said give five times more to Benjamin I want to see if they're jealous and they used to give a portion to somebody and you know I'm a vegetarian now but you know when I grew up we chicken in our home now I actually gave up eating chicken before I became a general vegetarian because I went to a summer camp that took us to a chicken slaughterhouse that's all it took and I but I remember when we eat chicken that you know it'd be usually my mother and my brother and I there's three of us but the chicken only had two wings and we would sometimes fight over the portions of the parts we always fought over the wishbone who got to make the wish and I won't ask for a show of hands not in this group anyway that could get you in trouble but but they when they bring their sacrifices they drink a goat or they bring a calf and Sunda worthy portion was like the shoulder the priest was given a certain portion when he offered to take home to his family and so Elkanah brought this and he's dividing it up and he's cutting a nice piece and he's putting a double portion for Hanna because he knows you know pnina and all her kids they're all getting something in Hanna she has no children he's trying to make her feel better he loves her and he'd give her a worthy portion for he loved Hanna even though the Lord had closed her womb and then it says something interesting her rival also provoked her you know her arrival as some of you have King James that doesn't say adversary you note the word Satan means adversary and so pnina provoked her severely to make her miserable because the Lord had closed her womb now how do you think those conversations went she said well obviously God is with me and he's blessed me but what's your problem and I'm so thankful all these kids are gonna take care of me in my old age wonder what you're gonna do and I just was constantly rubbing it in you're taking too much room in the house I've got all the children I need more room and since you're not taking care of children could you at least do the dishes I've got so many children to take care I mean she does knew how to just go to her and I tell you this there was strife in the family by the way every time the Bible talks about polygamy you'll also see there was strife just it's very clear that this was not God's original plan yeah I think you've heard me say many times that someone asked Benjamin Franklin if this was an advocate for polygamy they said you can't show me one verse in the Bible that says a man can't have two wife's and then Franklin said no man shall serve two masters that was his answer but it just brought terrible strife in the family and and it was kind of like Jacob Rachel and Leah in that Leah started out having children but Jacob loved Rachel and so it just made Leah feel jealous of her sister yeah she had children but her sister had her husband's love she was the wife that he never wanted you know you she got urged on him and so who knows help to Nana you don't want to be too hard on her she's thinking oh you know he may be hannah was better looking he loved her and she felt insecure and so there was this constant rivalry in tension in the home in it but it doesn't say hannah was provoked provoking pnina it says pnina was provoking hannah making her life miserable and it was intensified whenever they went up to worship God you know when you go to worship God you go to the house the Lord the devil will do everything he can to provoke and cause problems take your mind off worship now it's good that she's going to the house of the Lord but you see this as tension you know this is not the first time in the Bible that you see a tension between two women over their children I just mentioned the tension that you see between Rachel and Leah and they had a tug-of-war with Jacob as these kids were being born you know it's you don't want to think about it too much but he's got four wives that must live in what four different tents and I don't know if they you know cast lots about where he stayed from day to day but you read the story of Jacob and there was a lot of strife in that family because of that look at what happened in the household of Abraham between Sarah and Hagar and when they weaned Isaac Ishmael was mocking and there you just see that there's the strife going on there's a strife going on between two women in the story of Solomon who is the real mother they're fighting over this baby boy you can see in the second book of Kings there's two women that come to the king and they're fighting over during the time of terrible famine they're fighting over cannibalism and a boy now that all starts to sound strange but then you go to Revelation and you've got Babylon a woman and you've got a bride in Revelation 12 and this is tension between these two women that goes all the way through the Bible and it's really between the true and the false now I always ask this question even though I've asked it many times what does a woman represent because there's some here that may not know but in Bible symbols a woman represents what what does God want the church to do growl go you therefore teach all nations baptising and he wants the church to multiply is that right and so for a barren church that's not good and so this has you know broader implications in the spiritual realm so there is this rival there's this tension and year-by-year verse 7 when she went up to the house of the lord that she provoked her therefore she wept and she did not eat it was just breaking her heart and year after year she kept hoping will there be a chance will I have a child nothing happens and and year after year pnina keeps having children Hannah feels more isolated more Forsaken and the other ladies in the town sort of shake their heads and Bend and murmur and wonder what's wrong with her and God she must have some sin in her past and that's why God is cursing her like this and all kinds of things that people say and she was brokenhearted in Elkanah her husband said to her Hannah why do you weep and he asks three wise why do you weep why do you not eat why is your heart grieved am I not better to you than ten sons and some commentators were wondering does that mean that and then I had ten or was he just saying that is a general but comparison he said look I love you more then the love you could get from ten sons now if Hannah represents the church and who does El kena represent represents the Lord his love for us so Hannah arose after they had finished the Veii finishing is not her she didn't eat she's fasting she's praying and she goes back to the house of God the day is Elkanah and pin in and all their kids when they get done eating hand he gets up she leaves she goes by herself she goes to the house of God now Eli the priest was sitting on a seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord and she was in bitterness of soul and she prayed to the Lord and she wept in anguish now she was overcome was thinking I can't go on like this and she made a vow and she said o Lord of Hosts just in case you're interested this is the first time Lord of Hosts is used in the Bible the word Lord of Hosts is Lord of Sabaoth it means Lord of armies and it may be that Samuel chose to use this term because at this time they were being terribly oppressed by their enemies principally the Philistines and she makes prayer and she says the Lord of Hosts if you will in look on the affliction she's being afflicted persecuted of your maidservant and remember me and forget not your maidservant but you will give your maidservant a male child then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and no razor will come upon his head now what does that mean no razor coming on that's the vow of the Nazarite that you find the numbers chapter 6 verse 2 that they were never to cut their hair it could be a temporary vow and it could be a vow for life in the case of Samson it was supposed to be a vow for life Jesus may have been a Nazarite you know there's one verse where Matthew says he came from Nazareth as the scripture says he would be a Nazarite but Jesus drank wine and eat grapes and the way that some commentators reconcile that is that Christ may have lived as a Nazarite he was a promised child like Samson and like Samuel up until his baptism you didn't have to do it your whole life there could be a set period that you would go to and maybe he Jesus was that's one reason that you often see Jesus painted with longer hair is because they say well if he was a Nazarite his hair would not have been cut which means it was either shorter than you see you're probably longer than you see in those pictures but so she's saying I'll make this vow I will consecrate him to you to serve you to be completely dedicated to you now in your Bible history if you could do a timeline the time of the judges is not quite over yet the time of the Kings has not begun there in the time of the last judge Eli was not a judge he was a priest do you know who was judge of Israel at the time when Hannah went to the temple a guy named Samson was still alive he doesn't factor prominently in this story because he was from the tribe of Dan which was in a different location but he was leading the people in battles against the Philistines you know about Samson's conflict with the Philistines so there was some spiritual declension in the kingdom because of the sons of Eli because Samson wasn't always the best example but Hanna says I'll offer him as a Nazarite if you'll hear my prayer and she makes his vow to the Lord and it happened as she continued praying it may have been more to her prayer that Eli watched her mouth and you I spoke in Hannah spoke in her heart only her lips moved but her voice was not heard he lied there Eli therefore thought she was drunk now she's so overcome she's not praying was reserved and dignity quietly but have you ever seen at the Wailing Wall some of the Jews when they're standing there in they're praying the Orthodox Jews you'll see them rocking as they're praying sometimes I get the prayer book sometimes you'll see him go like this they're rocking some of them do this because they're mimicking the emotion of a Hannah when she went to the house of the Lord hoping they'll be heard because they're praying with anguish and she was too so overcome that her body was shaking her mouth was moving she was swaying under the grief saying Lauren I can't do this anymore and the only resolution for my problem is it you show me mercy that you've not forsaken me by giving me a son I'm not asking for this for me because I will give him back to you to show you that I worship you more than the gift you'll give me I'll give him back to you but you've got to just you've got to show me that you're with me and so she's pouring out her heart now do you think this was the first time that she prayed is God gonna answer her prayer you know the story did I ruin it for you do you sometimes need to pray for something several times before you get an answer do you sometimes need to pray for something to the point where you get where you've just absolutely you're praying with all of your heart and all of your soul and she had gotten to the point where she was her whole being was invested in this prayer to God sometimes God will let you get to that point before he gives me the answer cuz when he then gives you the answer you are so happy because of the answer I saw this it's somewhat connected I saw a report on the news yesterday a lady in southern Florida name is Mary Ann as the first name she's been blind for twenty years from a car accident and suddenly she she fell again in her home she was blind used a cane she fell again they took her the doctor the doctor after examining her she opened her eyes she could see she had been blind for twenty years and she said it was just a miracle and something about the second accident they think restored the flow of blood to her eyes or her brain or whatever it was and she said but she got a bonus before her accident her whole life she was color blind and now she sees colors and she said I am so happy I am so happy it's a miracle and they showed the doctor on the news and he was he said we've never seen anything in science like this before the only thing he said I'm just guessing the blood was restored to some part of her brain that was still alive but not enough blood to make her eyes work or whatever so that doesn't even make sense but he's the doctor said it's a miracle 20 years blind suddenly she could see perfectly and she said the sunshine I can see my pins I can see my house I can see my family and she said I am the happiest person in the world now wait a second she's the happiest person in the world because she can do what we all do all the time most of us but not having it for 20 years changes everything if God gives Hannah a baby she's gonna be the happiest person in the world not all of you still feel that way about yours do you so see it's relative isn't it sometimes God makes us do without something so that when we finally get the answer we really appreciate it and the trials that we go through in this life for being Christian when we get to heaven we are gonna like heaven so much more we'll enjoy heaven more than the Angels because they don't know what it's like to be blind they don't know what it's like to be barren I guess they do know what it's like to be barren but that was a detour but it made a point that's quite a story you got to look that up I'm gonna use that for an amazing fact this weekend so she makes a valve she's making a big promise that be a valued be tempted to break one of you I know some young ladies they joined the military and while they're in the military you know you're allowed to get married and have relationships to get pregnant and they're so excited about being in the military but then they have a baby now they've made a promise when they joined the military that I am going to serve I'm gonna defend the country I'm gonna go where you send me I'm gonna fight for the freedom of the country whatever it is wherever you're deployed but then they have a baby they start to reconsider that covenant and they say I can't leave my baby and it happens frequently that these young ladies look for every loophole they can find to get out of their obligation to the military and not keep that vow because now I got a baby Hannah is God's gonna give her her first baby she'll be surrounded by a lady that's got many babies and she says I'm gonna give my first and my best to God if you just give me a baby that's a pretty big commitment and once you make something like it you utter a vow like that that'd be hard to keep one so she says let your maidservant do this well Eli's watching her anything she's drunk cuz he's rocking back and forth and he says to her how long will you be drunk put your wine from you can you think of another time in the Bible when someone was filled with a spirit and they were confused for being drunk on the day of Pentecost when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and they're speaking in tongues and the rabble that were in the street said they're full of new wine they're mocking new wine won't make you drunk they were just saying that because often people who were drunk said oh I thought it was new wine and so they're mocking them but here she's filled with the spirit and he said put away your wine now he's the priest and he totally misjudges what's on her heart because God men looks on the outside only God looks on the heart you know later samuel looked on the outside and he saw the sons of Jesse and he saw Elliott the oldest son he said surely the Lord's anointed is performing guts that don't you don't look on the outside that's not the one I've chosen sometimes people don't know what's going on in a person's heart and the Bible answer program you know every Sunday people call in they'll ask a question and I'm always wondering why are they asking this question and sometimes I try to guess and I find out way as they continue talking I thought I totally misunderstood where they're coming from sometimes a person will ask a question about suicide and they say will a person who commits suicide be lost now I'm always conflicted when I get that question because there's two completely different ways I need to think about that one person is asking that question because they're thinking about suicide and I tell that person don't even think about it because you will put yourself in a permanently bad situation suicide is an act of faith lessness and hopelessness and the prospects for a person being saved after the last act of their life being self-murder that's not good you're trying to discourage them from suicide and then I find out now they're asking because someone they love committed suicide and they want to know is there any hope for them to be saved then I sweat I chipped gears I say only God knows the heart we don't know we can hope and pray you know it's a hope and so you don't know where they're coming from you don't know what's in their heart and II like completely misjudged now one reason he misjudged you read on in the story you find out that Eli's sons were bad boys and they were misbehaving with some ladies that hung out at the sanctuary and Eli is exasperated by this all he does is chide them verbally and he's wondering of Hannah maybe is she's acting drunk and she might be one of these women feel repute put away your wine from you and Hannah said no my lord I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit I've neither drunk wine or intoxicating drink indeed I'm promising if I've got a son he's never gonna drink his whole life I poured out my soul before the Lord do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I've spoken until now Eli he can tell by how articulate she is she's not drunk I got a friend they got pulled over he's actually attended church here a couple times for swerving on the road the highway patrolman thought he was drunk he actually just driven a long time he was a little tired it turns out he was also a very good Acrobat he was in a gym team and the policeman said all right out of the car you've been drinking all I'm not been drinking I just thought I'm sorry I swerved a little bit on the line I've been following you and I thought I'm not drunk I don't drink all right he drew a line remember when they used to do that said I want you to walk the line my friend told me he says I got up I stretched a little bit and then I slipped up on my hands and I walked the line on my hands policeman says I'm sorry I guess I misjudged so when he heard how articulate she was he said no she doesn't sound like someone who's drunk to me she's not poured out my soul and then Eli he's just thinking oh I misjudged or I hope I didn't offend her and wanting to comfort her he doesn't know what she's prayed and verse 17 eli answered and said go in peace and the God of Israel grant you the partition that you've asked of him and she said let your maidservant find favor in your sight this is the high priest he is the highest religious voice in the kingdom now you read about Uihlein he had several problems but because he Anna was praying with a sincere heart when Eli said go in peace the God of Israel grant your petition did he lie have the power to tell everybody God's can answer your prayer no that's really up to God but because of his office and because she'd been talking to the Lord because it was a holy place during a holy feast when he spoke and said God is gonna grant you your perdition he was just trying to encourage her she took a hold of that word and she believed it and as soon as she believed that and after she prayed she poured out her heart she felt comfort that God was gonna hear her prayer and it says so the woman went away and she ate she's not fasting anymore and her face was no longer sad and punana would come and start to taunt her and she couldn't get to her and they're gone what's come over her she's smiling she's happy you know what made the difference she believed that the word that she spoke was the Word of God and she found comfort in it now you know this is very interesting when you think about it can God speak through someone that doesn't even know that God is speaking through them you know how many times I preached a sermon and afterward I'll meet someone at the girlís a pastor that was exactly for me well I know I didn't mean it for you I don't even know who you are I mean it's so it's you know God can do that can God speak through a donkey do you know God even prophesied through the high priest that condemned Jesus John chapter 11 you read in verse 49 and one of them K IFAs being high priest that year he said you know nothing at all nor do you consider that it's expedient for us that one man should die for the people and not the whole nation should perish John goes on in comments now this he did not say on his own authority but being high priest that year he prophesied he unwittingly was making a prophecy that Jesus would die for the nation and not for that nation only but also for gathered together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad John is saying because of his office of being high priest he didn't even realize that what he said was prophetic in nature that one man should die for the nation Jesus did die for the nation and John says for everybody when Eli said go in peace that God's gonna grant you your perdition he didn't know God can speak through a minister I gotta be careful how I say this because I don't want to give you the wrong impression God can speak through a minister who has himself lost I've met people before and I won't mention the names but you know they come to an evangelistic meeting they'll say I'll say well when did you accept Christ they said I accepted Christ at a so-and-so evangelistic medium well this person was later in the headlines and found out to be a womanizer a fraud stealing money or whatever it was that said I went to their meetings I heard the word of God I gave my heart to Jesus and I've been a Christian ever since and they are real Christians even though the preacher wasn't right now I say this because when Hannah has this prayer answered it is one of the lowest time spiritually for the church Eli is wishy-washy his sons are sleeping with the women that come to the church they're stealing from the people the offerings and if this was a spiritually low time Samson has gone and hanging out with Delilah and but in spite of what was going on in the church she came she's worshiping with her husband the time they're supposed to worship the way they're supposed to worship God hears her prayer God answers her prayer which means you cannot blame your spiritual condition on what's going on in the church or with a pastor suppose that a pastor marries you and your spouse and that pastor gives up his face do you have to go find another pastor to remarry you or if a pastor baptized as you and they later give up their faith you got it is your baptism still valid because they just represent something it's between you and God her prayer was between her and God now that's gonna come in to be a very important point a little later in the story and here you have a a sacred book that was in the temple that's a sacred place he held a sacred office sacred feasts sacred time so you get 4 out of 5 the man was not so sacred now so she believes her prayers gonna get answered go back to Samuel here and she's no longer sad verse 19 so they arose early in the morning and they worship before the Lord and they returned and came to their house at Rhema you notice it starts out being called ramoth am Sofa and now they're abbreviated to Rhema this became the home of Samuel alter his ministry and elkanah knew his wife and the Lord remembered her so it came to pass in the process of time the typical nine months that Hanna conceived and bare a son and called his called his name Samuel because I've asked him from the Lord if Samuel means God here's now the man Elkanah and all his house went yearly up to the feast went yearly up to offer to the Lord and to sacrifice his vow he's a priest he and every Hebrew man was supposed to go three times up before the Lord and so he's going up to do his feast at least once a year was required but Hanna did not go up for she said to her husband not until the child is weaned then I will take him that he might appear before the Lord and remain there forever now you're wondering at what point did she tell Elkanah I've made a deal with God you know when she first prays a prayer she maybe didn't say anything because she's well not pregnant yet I mean and then finally she has a baby and she's thinking I made a vow to God she's so excited they don't do ultrasound but she knows it's a boy because she said Lord if you'll give me a man child right and at some point she's got to tell Elkanah I have made a vow and you know biblically someone's gonna throw stones at me for this but it's in the Bible take it up with God if a man made a vow he had to pay it if a woman made a vow while she was married the husband had the right to annul that vow or to let it stand I'm not gonna go into it I'm just telling you what the Bible said so here she's maybe telling him for the first time and he's got the right to annul of her vow but he doesn't he believes that God answered her prayer and that is a miracle and al cana verse 23 her husband said do what seems best to you wait until you've weaned him only let the Lord establish his word he's a man of faith isn't he then the what's okay when you find out sandal girls up and he becomes a great person who transforms the nation he's got a good father and he's got a good mother she is a godly mother only let the Lord establish his word then the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him now there's great debate on how old was Samuel when she brings them to the house of the Lord you know typically in our culture around the world today baby maybe nurse anywhere from 10 months 18 months maybe to a as near as we can tell three in ancient times and that you would think was a long time but when a mother had several children she may still have other younger children that were nursing it might not be uncommon to when putting a toddler to bed to nurse him they didn't have all the formula on the shelves of the supermarket back then and so they depended more on God's means but I read in some of the ancient rabbis and they talked about how a mother wrote one time she said I carried you for nine months and I waned you for three years or nursed you for three years and so at the long end three the teaching in the training she gave during those first three years cast cast his life in a spiritual direction for the rest of his life the mother of Moses how long did Jack Abed have Moses Pharaoh's daughter said to Miriam and to talk about here's your wages you nurse a child and when he's weaned you bring him to the palace he may have been five or six because they may have kept him a little longer but boy it just really impresses you with how important those early years are but in everything she did in her disposition Hanna the whole time she's taking care of Samuel she knows that she is training him to be a leader in the nation she's been given to her by God and that he is going to be exposed to great evil boy that would take a lot of faith to bring a baby three or four years old I mean this is hard for me to even imagine three but everything I read they said that would have been the long end of it and he's you know kind of paper-trained at that point and you you know you he's up there eating solid food and to hand him over into the temple I must have taken incredible faith all the time that she spent with him teaching him she might have even taught him to read I know you think that's hard to believe do you know that John Wesley could read through the entire Bible Susanna Wesley taught him to read the entire Bible when he was 5 years old but he may have learned some simple alphabet and three children can learn that but at his mother's knee he was learning these things and how tender that time must have been in every moment she says I'm not going to the feast because I know Sunday I'm gonna have to go up and leave him there I'm gonna keep him with me every minute that I can so she kept her son and she trained him and finally when she had weaned in verse 24 she took him up with her with three bowls and one ephah of flour in a skin of wine and brought them to the house of the Lord in Shiloh and the child was young makes it clear doesn't it then they slaughtered a bowl and they brought the child to Eli and she said o my lord as your soul lives my lord I am the woman who stood by here praying to the Lord for this child I prayed and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of him therefore now I have lent him to the Lord as long as he lives he has lent to the Lord so they worshiped there and Hannah prayed and worshiped and they their leaving the child by the way you know why you notice it says here they brought it tells you what they brought they brought three bowls and they brought some flour and they brought a full skin of wine because it's not real nice to just drop your kid off and said you raised him now I tell you a quick story one of the longest trips I've ever taken was coming from South Africa back to America first time I went it was just Stephen and I who just graduated college we took him he was 7 years old all the way back from South Africa the flight leaves at night from Johannesburg that whole day they wanted to give us all the final tours and we toured several places he took us to a gold mine and stuff in that night the pastor took us to the airport we got on the plane and it was like a 747 I was in coach class with Stephen he was awake all day long he found another kid on the plane they played all the way from South Africa to Atlanta I said aren't you tired how'd you get it na na he was awake in Atlanta then we flew to from Atlanta to Salt Lake City and it was a you know 24 hours it seemed like in Salt Lake City just as we're landing he finally goes to sleep he had not slept since the morning of leaving South Africa and kids is wired and he's getting off the plane he's seven years all I've got to carry my luggage and carry him off the plane he's just totally out of it so it's like you know you're carrying a corpse off the plane as I get off the plane and and I bring him over the waiting area to catch our final flight to Sacramento and there's all these you know nice Mormon missionaries there in Salt Lake City and grandmas and things and and he's I I laid him down on the seats and I've been sitting on the plane I you know I got to run and use the restroom real quick and and you don't want to leave a seven-year-old and so I saw this lady there and I said I said I'm just gonna leave him for a minute and I'll be right back and she looked real worried so I said now if I don't come back make sure and get him a good education listen you look worried like I wasn't gonna come back but you know here they drop off this three and they say I gave him the Lord now if someone did that to us here at the church what will we do here's my three-year-old I've given them to the Lord some of you are getting ideas by that but you notice they brought three bulls they sacrifice one the most expensive animal you could offer was a bull that was very in Oxon was he very expense so they got skinned of wine they got flour they've got the oxen they said we're gonna cover the cost and we we supplied his clothes and here he is to worship the Lord and they can see from his long hair he's a Nazarite consecrated to God and then Hannah prays before the Lord this is one of the most beautiful prayers in the Bible I'm gonna read this to you my heart rejoices in the Lord my horn is exalted in the Lord I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation no one is holy like the Lord for there is none beside you nor is there any rock like our rock talk no more so proudly nor let arrogance come from your mouth for the Lord is God of God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed the bow of the mighty men are broken and those who stumbled are girded with strength those who are mighty or weak the weak are strong notice you'll see this transition all through her prayer those who are full have hired himself out for bread and the hungry of cease to hunger even the barren has born 7 and she who has many children has become feeble now I want to pause right there because that's a really prophetic statement there are seven examples and you may have heard me touch on this before in the Bible of women who were barren that had miracle births you can name them with me real quick I'll start with Sarah Rebecca all three wives Abraham Isaac and Jacob it says they were barren but then through a miracle they had prayer they had a baby their miracle their prayer they had a baby Sarah Rebecca Rachel - Shunammite woman Samson's mother John the Baptist's mother Who am I forgetting hey now there does yeah the one I'm talking about right now I'm leaving someone out he Anna so that's seven all of them when they had a miracle birth all the babies were boys why is that because all those miracle births are types of Christ you've got Abraham has Isaac type of Christ he's offered by the father you've got Jacob who's the father of the patriarchs you have Joseph Rachel's son who ends up saving the nation as Jesus saved he forgave his brothers had sold him as Jesus forgave those that sold him Samson who becomes too great delivered you know what it says about Samson he slew more by his death than he did by his life of the enemies of God's people he stretches out his arms he sacrifices himself like Jesus you got the Shunammite son he's out in the field laboring with his father Christ is out laboring in the field the harvest is great and he's resurrected a resurrection is a type of Christ and here you got Samuel who ends up becoming prophet judge and priests of the nation that brings them back to God Jesus as our prophet our priest and our judge and then John the Baptist his last one so the Baron has born seven she says in her prayer anyway so this is just a wonderful story and you can read also for instance in Isaiah 54 verse 3 sing o barren you who have not born break forth into singing and cry aloud you who have not labored with child for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman says the Lord enlarge the place of your tent and let them stretch up the curtains of your dwellings do not spare lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes for you shall expand to the right and the left and your descendants will inherit the nation's and make the desolate cities inhabited what is he talking about here he's talking about growing the church Hannah is a type of the church sometimes we may feel very but it was through a miracle that she gave birth and then it's really pretty you read here if you go to chapter 2 of Samuel it says Samuel ministered before the Lord even as a child wearing a linen ephod he's like a little priest moreover his mother used to make him a little robe and bring it to him what his clothing represent it's a symbol of light righteousness and she'd bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice notice the regularity it talks about them a year-by-year they come and Eli would bless Elkanah his and his wife and say the Lord give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the Lord Sammy was such a good boy he was so dependable he was so spiritual and Eli Eli saw in Samuel what he had always wanted in his own sons he felt like he was a failure as a father but he thought with this boy I don't want to make the same mistake and Eli did everything he could to train him right and so he loves Samuel and so he prayed that God would bless Elkanah in Hannah and you know what it says they would go to their own home and the Lord visited Hannah so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters meanwhile the child samuel grew up before the Lord she'd bring him his coat every year now this is a story of salvation because what's the greatest gift that you could give wouldn't it be - do you think well can I give more than my life do parents love their children more than their lives and so to give your child to the Lord that'd be the greatest gift now isn't this what the Lord did for us God so loved the world he gave His Son and so you know there's just something about a mother's love you even see it in the animal kingdom it says better to meet a fool Rob better to meet a mother bear robbed of her cubs than to meet a fool in this folly in the Bible it talks about the fury of a mother a mother Jesus said he said Jerusalem how often I would have delivered you and I wanted to protect you under my wings as a hand as her chicks but you would not he talks about the protection of the the mother for its children I remember walking down the road one time and I came upon a mother quail and all her little day just hatched they were just little peepers about that bit quail or small anyway these are little bitty thing they look like ants running across the ground and I'd stumbled on the nest walking through the woods and know what the mother did she ran at me not to attack me she ran at me and began to flutter around in a circle to distract me looking like she had a broken wing stuck out one wing and began to do this strange dance and and you become so distracted and she gives this call and all of the little chicks run off in the grass so you can't see him but she was like offering she was exposing herself right here at my feet so I'd go after her and the chicks would escape God pre wires mothers somehow it's probably a good thing or we would devour our young right but he pre wires mothers to love and to protect their young and so for a mother to say I am gonna love the Lord even more than my child you know that's what I think makes a godly mother a godly mother is that God comes first even before the children seek first the kingdom of God and to say I'm gonna put the Lord first hand as a wonderful example you know she said if you'll give your maidservant a child you know what Mary said when the angel spoke to her be it unto me be it unto your maidservant as you said hannah begins the era of the kings with a miracle birth Mary begins the era of the King of Kings with a miracle birth Hannah the Old Testament Mary the New Testament but Samuel is certainly a type of Christ and it's just talking about the greatest love and you know what happens when you give to the Lord when you give your best gift to the Lord what could you give more valuable than your child did God give back she gave one she got five back so whenever whatever you give to the Lord can you out give God wouldn't you have been worried if you had gone maybe fifteen years of marriage no children finally you have one would you want to give that one away it's a man it took me forever to have one she gives that one away and because she trusted the Lord he gave her five more you know as always are kind of a tough message because I've had people come to me and say pastor Doug my spouse and I have we've been trying to have children for years and you know it's always hard to your Mother's Day sermon and and I know that I can appreciate that that would be difficult I also know several friends that waited and waited to have children and they adopted and you know what happens right after they adopt how many of you know something like that so you never know what God might have planned for you but this is really a message about the church and about Jesus and in the way that she gave him to serve the nation God gave his son to save the world and the whole nation was brought back to God and delivered from their enemies because of the life of Samuel and really but it's a story about Jesus and God so loving the world he gave His Son and his love for us that's why we're gonna sing a familiar song for this Mother's Day message jesus loves me any of you know that why don't we stand together we'll bring our song leaders out and we'll sing that one ninety [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] father in heaven we are so thankful for your love for us Lord we're very thankful for the the wonderful example we see of not only a godly mother but just a godly person in the story of Hannah now Lord I pray that whatever our treasure is in our life we'll follow that example and give all to you Lord just to put everything on the altar knowing that you'll bless and you'll multiply as we trust you we so thankful Lord that you loved us so much that you you demonstrated this in giving your child giving your son that we might be forgiven help us to show our appreciation for this sacrifice by living for you we thank you Lord for your presence here this morning for the Sabbath day and we just ask for you to bless through the remainder of the day with your presence in Christ's name Amen and please

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Length: 58min 58sec (3538 seconds)

Published: Sun May 06 2018