Eli’s Response

30. April 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello: 

Let’s continue our Story. Our text for today is:

I Samuel 1:12 “And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth. 13 Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. 14 And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.”  (KJV)

While Hannah is praying, Eli the priest comes in and sees her moving her lips.  Hannah is in so much pain about her situation that words can’t even come out of her mouth.  She is praying from within.  Have you ever been in so much pain that you’re speechless?       

Some very close friends of mine years ago lost their son in a fire.  With failed attempts, both the mother and father tried to break through the child’s door and save the young boy. When I arrived on the scene, they were bringing out the boy’s body in a body bag and I remember seeing my friend just move his lips with no words coming out because the pain was so intense but I knew what he was saying.  He was trying to tell me that he tried, but he couldn’t get to his child.  His hands were all cut up from using them to smash through the window in an attempt to reach his son.  I watched the mother just rock back and forth speechless.  I will never forget the images of that night, He was like my son.  I just wanted God to take that pain away.  It was worst than anything that I’ve ever experienced.     

Remember, the text teaches us that she prayed from “bitterness of soul.”   Hannah was not saying a word and the text says that Eli thought she was drunk.   Now, before you jump to conclusions and get upset with Eli for not being sensitive to Hannah because after all, he is a “man of God” and he should understand that she was a woman in desperate need to hear from God.  Wow!!!!!!!!  How insensitive it must have been.  All that Hannah was going through and now she is being labeled a drunk by the “man of God.”   

In Eli’s defense, let’s go back to our historical context information that we discovered when we started this study.   We talked about the times in which this story was created.  It was the period of the judges, when everyone did what was right in their own eyes.  This was a period where the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas (who were in charge of the tabernacle) were wicked and evil.   The text teaches us that they would have sex with the women that worked at the “tent of meeting”,  they took the sacrifices that were meant to be offered up to God, etc.   Eli saw Hannah moving her lips and because of the evil of the day and the many wicked things that people were doing at the temple, he assumed that she was drunk.   

Tomorrow, we will discuss what Hannah’s response is to Eli labeling her as a drunk. 

God Bless. 

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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