Douglas Jacoby Podcast

OT Characters: Hannah

Episode Summary

Douglas continues his series on Old Testament characters now examining the story of Hannah. In this episode he covers some things we learn about God from Hannah's story as well as ideas for how to share this material in a devotional with your children. We hope you enjoy.

Episode Notes

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas' website.

Hebrew words:

• Channah (Hannah) -- 13x in 1 Samuel 1-2. From chen (HAYN, with a very hard 'h'), which means grace.
• N.T. Anna in the Greek is actually Hannah.
• Shmuel (Samuel) -- her son

Further study:

• Passages covered in this podcast
  • 1 Samuel 1:1-2:18
  • Referred to: Genesis 29-30, Numbers 6, Deuteronomy 16:16, Psalm 113:7, Luke 1:46-55
• Parenting study: See the analysis of Elkanah and Hannah in the chapter on the Nazirites in The Quiver.

Some things we learn about God:

• God hears prayer, though sometimes he leaves us waiting a painfully long time.
• Being spiritual is no guarantee of God's blessings, or even that life will be fair.
• God will take care of our children, even when church leadership is not as spiritual is it should be. We mustn't put our hope in the arm of flesh, but in the arm of the Lord.

For kids:

• Read selections from 1 Samuel 1-2, depending on the age and maturity of the children in the devotional / discussion. Introduce the major characters. Elkanah is the husband. How many wives does he have? How many children does Peninnah have? (At least four.) How about Hannah? (None.) How do you think that made her feel?
• Talk about teasing. Role-play: One child plays sad Hannah, the other taunting Peninnah. Why was it unkind of Peninnah to tease her sister? Does Hannah tease her back when God gives her children?
• Talk about prayer. In the ancient world, most people prayed aloud. And read aloud (see the Ethiopian in Acts 8). That’s why it looked funny to Eli; he saw her lips moving, but without any sound. What did he suspect she had been up to? How do you best pray – aloud or silently?
• Talk about Samuel. How would you have felt if your mother had delivered you to church when you were three years old, and then only visited you once a year? Deep question: What if Hannah had never prayer her prayer, promising Samuel as an assistant to the priest at Shiloh? Then he might never have been born. Which was better: to be born, though separated from his family after a few years, or for him never to be born? Can God work through difficult situations and hard times, and can we still end up happy people with good lives? (Of course!)
• Pray about the lessons we can learn from the family of Elkanah.

Key verses:

• 1 Samuel 1:7 – Hannah’s rival continues to provoke her for her inability to conceive.
• 1 Samuel 1:11ff – Hannah offers her (prospective) son as a Nazirite. Eli misinterprets her prayer.
• 1 Samuel 1:20 – Samuel is born.
• 1 Samuel 1:28 – Hannah relinquishes her son to the care of Eli.
• 1 Samuel 2:21 – Hannah has five additional children.

Next lesson: Eli