1Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country 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. 2He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of Armies in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to Yahweh, were there. 4When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters; 5but he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved Hannah, but Yahweh had shut up her womb. 6Her rival provoked her severely, to irritate her, because Yahweh had shut up her womb. 7So year by year, when she went up to Yahweh’s house, her rival provoked her. Therefore she wept, and didn’t eat. 8Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
Hannah is a young woman who is married but does not have any children, this was a great source of heartbreak for her. The cultural background and tradition made this situation even worse. In her heartbreak, society also heaped unnecessary shame upon her too, making her feel rejected and unacceptable. This is not the view that God had of her in fact he had a very special role for Hannah.
Did you know that when childless women are mentioned in the bible we should pay attention because it usually means something very significant is about to happen, that will change the course of history! Through Sarah, God made the family of Abraham into a great nation. Think about the story of Rachel Genesis 30, she eventually gave birth to Joseph who saved the whole of Egypt and the people of God from famine. Elizabeth (Luke 1) married for years with no family then gives birth to John the Baptist who will prepare the way for Jesus. These women are history makers.
They were scorned by the society they lived in and made to feel lesser. However, they were not lesser in the eyes of God, they became heralds of hope in their time. Thankfully, society has changed in its views surrounding infertility. However, there are many situations and times that we are made to feel lesser. Wealth, image, perfection and status are all held in high regard by society and we are often made to feel unacceptable if our lives don’t match up to these unrealistic ideals. It is important to remember, that God, just like with Hannah sees something of great value in us all. He has chosen each one of us to be heralds of his hope in our time.