The story of Hannah in the bible is one we are all familiar with.
Hannah was married to a very devoted husband,a polygamist and who in spite
of having children from one wife and no child at all from the other, did not
mistreat the barren wife for that reason.
1st Samuel 1:1
Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of themountains
of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the
son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph,an
Ephraimite. 2And he had two wives: the name of one wasHannah,
and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no
children.
Nowadays, a lot of men are not so supportive of their wives
especially when she is delayed in having the fruit of the woman. It’s sad to
see men joining forces with their family members to mount pressure on such a
woman and in some cases; another woman is brought to the house as a wife. I
used to think it happened only in home videos, but there are a lot of true life
stories that portray this anomaly.
Peninnah was already blessed with children, but instead of
empathizing with Hannah, she chose to make her life miserable. She had a proud look and proud words came out of her mouth as well.The bible in 1st Samuel
1: 6 says that Hannah’s rival (Peninnah) “provoked her severely, to make her miserable”. There are loads of instances of people provoking others to make
them miserable. It’s an act of wickedness out there nowadays which
is not limited to only family settings. We see colleagues envying and back
stabbing colleagues in order to get the person’s position or in order to rise
through the ladder. We see a friend painting another friend bad so as to be in
the good books of another friend. We see even siblings warring against
each other for no just cause. The devil is at the root of all of these no doubt!
Peninnah can be likened to a modern day man or woman who’s got so
much of possessions and cruelly treats those who don’t have as
much as he or she does. A Peninnah will look down on you at the slightest
opportunity, just because you have a need or you don’t seem to measure as much
as they do in the society. They just delight in provoking people sorely, for no
good reason. Even if there’s a good reason to get back at your neighbor for a
wrongdoing, it's best left in God’s hands to handle.
A Peninnah is a proud person who has no authority or regard for
those who are ahead of her and could talk to anyone rudely .The bible
listed Hannah as first and Peninnah as the second wife and most
likely Hannah was the older wife; in terms of age and even in marriage. It was
apparent Elkanah loved Hannah and if Peninnah regarded him, should she not
have shown some amount of respect for Hannah as well? Maybe Elkannah bowed to
pressure at some point to marry another wife since his first wife was not
bearing children; might have been a difficult one for him but he was devoted and committed to her;
never maltreating Hannah for a single day.
1st Samuel 1:19-Then they
rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And
Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered
her.20So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah
conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel,saying, “Because I
have asked for him from the Lord.”
God is never far away from the weak, the vulnerable and helpless.
It won’t be long before he justifies the needy, the poor and sets them on high
to ride with princes. He is the One who shuts the mouths of the Peninnahs and
puts a song in the mouths of the Hannahs of life. Peninnah’s name was
mentioned expressly three times and referred to twice, all in five (5) verses in
1st Samuel and thereafter, we never heard about her again. It looked like she was
having the upper hand, the final say with her many sons and daughters but not even
a single name was mentioned amongst her children as becoming anything great, neither was anything heard about them again.
Hannah waited for years before she bore the promise child; Samuel , the great
prophet of all times who brought about a revolution to Israel and her
wait would be eternally celebrated. It seemed God was coming late, but He came
big. The truth is God never makes mistakes. There was a need for him to send a
prophet into the world, and there was a woman who was willing to give up a
child God gave her unto Him for His use; talk of an equilibrium point between
Demand and Supply!
God heard her heartfelt prayer, granted her desires and gave her 5
more children after Samuel. I stand to be corrected, but I think one of the
reasons why we never heard about Peninnah was because she must have packed away from
her husband’s house in shame.
1st Samuel 2:18
But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child,wearing a linen ephod. 19Moreover
his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year
by year when shecame up with her husband to
offer the yearly sacrifice. 20And
Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The Lord give you descendants from this
woman for the loan that was given to the Lord.” Then they would go to their own
home.
In chapter one, Elkanah was always going to Shiloh with his
"family" but as time went on, year after year, we see only Hannah coming up with her
husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Where was Peninah! As long as she was on
the face of the earth and lived in Israel in those days, she must have gotten
to know how influential Samuel was, how powerfully God was using him and how proud
Hannah must have been. She must have been ashamed of those years in which she
humiliated Hannah and she probably might have wallowed in shame and died in obscurity.
You may be in a position of influence right now, all may be going
well, and you may have a lot of people under you. Keep it real, remain sane,
remain under the shadow of the Almighty, and give all the glory to Him. God
changes times and seasons, He resists the proud but always, He will grace to
the humble!
With God in the picture of our lives,our stories will end well; only in favour
of those who seek and hold on to Him!
Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour yet? If you don’t, then say the prayers Here.
The Pen.....
Picture Credit:maralynnash.com.au
