The birth of Samuel may have seemed inconsequential, but it was a divine intervention in history.
Whatever the deficiencies in Elkanah’s family, no one can deny that the words of 1 Samuel 1:19 are like rays of sunshine breaking through dark clouds. In spite of abounding wickedness, we read the family “rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord” before heading back to their home in Ramah. What joy it must bring to the Father’s heart to see families doing this in our day. Sure enough, the prayer of Hannah was answered, and soon a little boy was born into the household, named Samuel by his mother. Although there is debate around the meaning of his name, it might be good to listen to the reason his mother named him that: “Because I have asked for him from the Lord” (v 20). Thus the most likely translation would seem to be shema’ + el = heard by God. As the story continues, “the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow” (v 21). Hannah, however, believed her focus should be on raising her little boy until he was weaned. Elkanah seems to have grown in his appreciation of Hannah’s spiritual insights, and responded, “Do what seems best to you;…Only let the Lord establish His word” (v 23). Ah, that’s it! It’s not about the husband or wife getting their way; we want the Lord’s way. Eventually the day came when the child Samuel was weaned, and it was time to take him to Shiloh and leave him there. Wait, you mean leave him in the hands of old Eli and his sons? “Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord” (2:12). I’m not doing that, Hannah could say. “I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life” (1:11). Our children grow up in a dangerous world, but even when we cannot be there for them, the Lord will be their Protector.