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The story of 1 Samuel takes place during the time of the Judges. The theme of the day was, “each man did what was right in his own eyes.”

The nation was not following God, this brought trouble upon trouble. They were oppressed by their enemies. They were not in a good place spiritually, any word from the Lord was rare in those days and visions were infrequent.

There was corruption in the priesthood as well. Eli was priest in Shiloh at that time. His two sons were corrupt, and they used their position in the priesthood corruptly. In other words, there were rats in the priesthood. And while Eli knew what they were doing, he did nothing to stop it. This was the condition in the nation of Israel when the events of chapter 1 take place.

One of the great lessons out of this book is the same lesson we saw in Ruth and Boaz; you get to choose your own way. You don’t have to be like everyone else. If everyone else turns their back on God, you can be different, you can choose to follow God wholeheartedly. God always has a remnant.

Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are they who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14.

In this first chapter, we meet a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Elkanah. He is a good man, with a good heart, who follows after God. The man, however, had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Whenever you read, “the man had two wives,” you can be sure that trouble will surely follow.

Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. The assumption could be that because Hannah was barren, Elkanah took Peninnah as a second wife to have children, to raise up an inheritor, to keep his land in his family.

If a woman did not have children in that time, however, it was thought that God withheld children from her for some reason and she could be severely looked down upon.

Elkanah loved Hannah very much, which very likely made Peninnah jealous. She would provoke Hannah bitterly, on purpose, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.

I. Don’t Let Anyone Cut in on You

 Hannah's situation was difficult to tolerate. Her husband loved her more than he loved Peninnah. He gave her double portions because he loved her more.

 That made matters worse. Peninnah deliberately provoked her bitterly, on purpose, to irritate her.

 The pain of Peninnah’s taunts was made worse by the cultural belief that a woman was barren because God was against her.

 How do you respond when someone deliberately, on purpose, irritates you? Hannah had a heart after God, but she had an agitator in her life. This deeply troubled her and she would weep and cry, but her faith was undisturbed.

 Hannah is a great example of not letting anyone cut in on you. Don’t let anyone disturb your faith. Your soul may be troubled, but faith must remain strong.

Galatians 5:7, You were running well; who cut in on you? Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

A. Don’t retaliate

 Hannah endured Peninnah's accusations and taunts, and this went on year after year, yet you do not see any evidence that she retaliated.

 Hannah could have taunted Peninnah right back; Elkanah clearly loved Hannah more.

 There is a life lesson here. Many find themselves in a conflict or in an unjust situation and respond by retaliating, by hurting the other person with bitter words, but not Hannah, there’s maturity in her faith. Her heart after God has given her character.

 … Although I certainly understand; in the flesh, it's tempting to want to get even... I think everyone has been tempted to “even the score.”


Pastor Rich Jones
Pastor Matthew Dodd
Rich Jones Calvary Chapel
Calvary Chapel Worship Center
Calvary Chapel Hillsboro
Calvary Chapel Oregon
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