Hannah

The message on May 11, 2025 was about “Hannah” and her witness of a faithful mother to Samuel, her son, on this Mother’s Day message. We covered 1 Samuel 1:1-28 KJV looking at how Hannah handled being one of two wives of Elkanah. 1 Samuel 1:2-7 KJV “2 And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. 4 And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: 5 But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the Lord had shut up her womb. 6 And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb. 7 And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.” This is a great story of faithfulness and asking the Lord for a child and making a vow which she kept after the Lord gave her a child. Samuel, whose name means “heard of God,” was dedicated to God by his mother, Hannah, as part of a vow she made before he was born (1 Samuel 1:11 KJV). Hannah had been barren and prayed so fervently for a child that Eli the priest thought she was drunk (1 Samuel 1). God granted Hannah’s request, and, true to her promise, Hannah dedicated Samuel to the Lord. After Samuel was weaned, likely around the age of four, he was brought to the tabernacle to serve under Eli the priest (1 Samuel 1:22–25 KJV). Even as a child, Samuel was given his own tunic, a garment normally reserved for a priest as he ministered before the Lord in the tent of meeting at Shiloh, where the ark of the covenant was kept (1 Samuel 2:18; 3:3 KJV). Traditionally, the sons of the priest would succeed their father’s ministry; however, Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were wicked in that they were immoral and showed contempt for the Lord’s offering (1 Samuel 2:17, 22 KJV). Meanwhile, Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men (1 Samuel 2:26 KJV). What a great Mother’s Day story.

The scripture reading was from Daniel 5:21-31 KJV “21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. 22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; 23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: 24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. 25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. 28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. 29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.”