Monday 11 January 2010
- Bible Book:
- 1 Samuel
"There was a certain man ... this man used to go year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts." (v.1, 3)
Background
This is the beginning of the book of Samuel. It is divided intotwo parts in the Bible - 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. There is a lotabout politics in the book, but it starts with a story about a manand his family who went to worship and to sacrifice to God - theLord of hosts - each year.
The man's name was Elkanah and he had two wives. That was notuncommon in those days, but there was tension between the twowomen. One of them (Peninnah) was blessed with children, the other(Hannah) was not. Perhaps it didn't bother Elkanah - after all hehad children, and he tries to comfort Hannah. In the Bible thereare several accounts of childless women, and the rivalry betweenthem and others - Sarai and Hagar (
People thought that God was punishing them by not blessing themwith children - thankfully not a modern view. We are left wonderingwhat happens next. Read on if you are intrigued...
To Ponder
Do you think there are people today who feel thatGod is punishing them when good things don't happen to them?
How do you cope when other people don't seem toacknowledge that you are feeling sad?