Out of the Empty Place

I recently finished the book of Ruth on my journey through the Bible and this week, began to read 1st Samuel.

These two books each begin with a woman in a painfully desperate situation.
Chances are, you may hear about one of these two women today in a sermon.

So in honor of Mother's Day, I will dedicate this post to three very influential mothers in my life: my own wife, her mother and my mother.

Both Ruth and 1st Samuel begin with women that would each play a pivotal role in the spiritual and political destiny of a nation - and when we meet them, they are both having problems.

The book of Ruth is very much about her mother-in-law - Naomi and the Bible gets down to business with the "down and dirty" of her life. She and her husband left their homeland to avoid a famine; in the foreign country her husband and her two sons died.

Naomi returned to her homeland with only her daughter-in-law, Ruth, a stranger to the customs and culture of Israel.

Naomi is bitter and empty.

I tend to think that God cannot use whiners...maybe I don't know what I am talking about, because God used this bitter lady to bring a godly king to the throne of Israel.

But she didn't know any of that was going to happen when she was bitter and empty - Israel wasn't a monarchy at this time - there were no kings.

God, who spoke when the earth was void and empty - and creation exploded into place at His command, often moves with His filling power when there is emptiness.

Naomi (and maybe God, too) played matchmaker in helping to arrange a romance and marriage between her noble daughter-in-law, Ruth and Boaz - a relative of hers.

They would bear children and their great-grandchild, David would become a king of great destiny.

1st Samuel could have begun about the same time as the book of Ruth... I don't have proof, but I think it is possible that Ruth and Boaz's son, Obed, could very well have been a contemporary of Samuel.

But the book begins with another woman in desperation: Hannah.

I don't think westerners can fully understand the conflict and turmoil that can come about in polygamist families. Hannah was a second wife of Elkanah and his first wife was very fertile while Hannah could not bear children.

There's nothing like the holidays to bring out the worst in family conflicts: every year, Elkanah would pack his entire family into the family station wagon and head to Shiloh for a religious feast. And every year, as Hannah sat in the back of the station wagon with the kid that got carsick, she had to endure the jibes of the other wife who was sitting up front with Elkanah.
All because she could bear children... many ... many children - and Hannah could not.

One night it became too much for Hannah to bear, so she left the table and went to the place of worship. There she poured out her soul to God.

Knowing that He was hearing her, she didn't have to pray aloud - she just moved her lips.
Verse 10 of the first chapter points out that she was in bitterness of soul . . . a couple of verses later we see that she was in grief.

Grief.

A sense of loss - emptiness.

The old priest took notice of her. He -at first scolded her, because he thought she was drunk - but then he prophesied that her prayer would be answered by the Lord.

And while God did answer that prayer and give Hannah a son - she had, in the same prayer, vowed to give him back to God.

Little Samuel - the last judge of Israel - was born and at an early age he was turned over to that old priest.

Samuel would grow to become known as the "man of God" in the land, and his presence in a village could strike fear in every heart.

Samuel would preside over a major political / spiritual change in the nation. The nation of Israel would reject direct leadership from God - choosing rather to become like other nations and be ruled by kings.

Samuel would eventually usher in the kingdom of Ruth's great-grandson, David.

I am pretty sure that -this side of heaven- neither Naomi, nor Ruth, nor Hannah had any idea of the greatness of their role in bringing about God's plan for Israel and the world.

I am even more certain that they must have thought their roles especially insignificant when all seemed to be anguish and empty bitterness.

Mom's, your role is never insignificant.

Thank you.

(and I know they didn't have station-wagons in the Bible!)