Evangel
High School Class

Series: Biblical Lives to Live By
Genesis-II Samuel

Noah Abraham & Sarah Rebekah Jacob Joseph Moses Joshua Deborah & Jael Gideon Samson Hannah Samuel Naomi & Ruth David

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Hannah
This lesson is based on the following passages: (If you are online, you can look them up at Bible Gateway.)

• I Samuel 1:1-2:11 and 2:19-21
• Luke 1:26-55 and 2:1-7
• Refresh your memory briefly by skimming Genesis 16:1-6; 18:10-15; 21:1-13; Judges 5; Judges 13:2-10 and 24-25.

Discuss the following questions:

1. What is Hannah's problem?
2. How does she attempt to solve her problem?
3. How does God respond to Hannah?
4. What does Hannah do in response to God's miracle in her life?
5. Who is the story about in Luke 1 and 2? in Genesis 16-18? in Judges 5? in Judges 13?
6. What parallels do you see between the story of Hannah and the story of Mary?
7. What parallels do you see between the story of Hannah and the story of Sarah?
8. What parallels do you see between the story of Hannah and the story of Samson's mother?
9. Are there significant differences between these stories?
10. How is the poetic passage in I Samuel 2 similar to Mary's song that starts at Luke 1:46?
11. How is the poetic passage in I Samuel 2 different from the one in Judges 5?
12. What does our study of these women teach us about women? About God? About living in this world?

Our lives often seem incomplete. We want something very much, and we don't seem to be able to be content without it. Some times this lack of contentment is what the Bible calls covetousness--wanting something other than what God has ordained for us. Some times, however, God is giving us a desire for something in His will, and even though we have the desire, God has not yet given us what He wants to give us.

The story of Hannah is a story about a woman who very much wanted to have children, but she was unable to conceive. In her case, her identity was probably tied up with having children. There weren't opportunities for women to have careers or to make a name for themselves in other ways, and so most women found a sense of identity by being someone's wife and by having children and raising them. For some women, at least, being unable to have children was like having no purpose, or like having no identity in life.

As our story develops, we see that Hannah's barreness was made even worse because she was one of two wives, and the other wife had many children and ridiculed Hannah because she was unable to conceive. So Hannah sought the Lord, asking Him to give her a child and promising that she would give the child back to God as a servant if she were able to conceive.

God heard her prayer, and she conceived and gave birth to Samuel, one of the most important prophets and leaders in the Old Testament. As she had promised, she gave Samuel back to God by taking him to live at the tabernacle of God when he was old enough to be weaned. God then blessed Hannah--she had several children after Samuel.

It is interesting to compare Hannah's story with stories of other women in the Bible, like Sarah, like Samson's mother, and like Mary.

• All of these women experienced miraculous conceptions: Sarah had been barren for most of her life and then conceived in her old age; Samson's mother was barren until an angel appeared to her; Mary was still unmarried when the angel appeared to her to tell her that she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
• All of these women sacrificed their children for God's service. Although Abraham did not actually kill Isaac on the altar, he did offer him in sacrifice to God. Samson was set aside for God's service (he was a Nazarite) and he ended his life by sacrificing himself to kill Israel's enemies. And Jesus, of course, gave his life as an atonement for the sins of the whole world.

So, then, it seems to me that there are three things to consider based on our study. First, what are you discontent about? Are you discontent because you want something that God has not planned for you, or are you in that period of time when God is asking you to be patient until the time of promise is complete? Second, it is good to ask God to take care of the problem that is making us discontent, but to do so understanding that He may have a different plan in mind. Whether He says yes or no to our request, we need patience. God will act in His own time frame, not ours. Third, when God says yes to our requests, He does so in order for us to be better servants for Him. That means that we should be ready to offer back to Him the gift He has given to us. He gave it to us to glorify Himself, not to satisfy our selfish desires.