Lessons From Hannah and Eli
Robert Wurtz II
But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.” Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.” (1 Samuel 1:12–17 NKJV)
It is nearly impossible to read 1 Samuel 1 without feeling angered by Eli’s profound lack of spiritual discernment. When Hannah stood weeping before the Lord, pouring out her heart in agonizing prayer, the High Priest of Israel responded not with compassion or spiritual insight, but with a harsh and groundless accusation: “How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you” (1 Sam. 1:14).
Gross Misjudgment
How could a leader in the house of God misjudge a broken woman so completely? She was at the end of her rope. Her husband’s other wife tormented her like the Devil himself. She had no place to turn but to God. It’s vexing to know that when people are at their lowest point that people entrusted to watch for our souls look on with suspicion rather than compassion.
The gravity of Eli’s error comes into focus when contrasted with the conduct of his own household. His sons, Hophni and Phinehas, served beside him as priests, yet Scripture plainly calls them “worthless men” who “did not know the Lord” (1 Sam. 2:12). They routinely extorted the sacrifices of the people and committed blatant sexual immorality at the entrance of the tabernacle (1 Sam. 2:13–17, 22). People got to where they didn’t even want to worship anymore. And while Eli refused to restrain his sons, he was swift to condemn a broken, pious, praying woman who had run to God for help.
Outward Appearance
Eli based his accusation on mere outward appearance. Hannah prayed silently—her lips moved, but she made no sound (1 Sam. 1:13). Eli defaulted to cynical suspicion and assumed Hannah was drunk. Perhaps his sons’ wickedness had warped him; he had grown so accustomed to sin and hypocrisy that he could no longer recognize the real thing. When someone constantly suspects others and misreads them, we need to ask what kind of environment they live in?
Yet Hannah was nothing like Eli’s sons. While Hophni and Phinehas blasphemed the altar, Hannah approached it with utter brokenness and reverence. Her gentle soul gave a tender respectful response to Eli’s harsh reprimand—”No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit… I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord” (1 Sam. 1:15). Her reaction exposed the stark contrast between her righteousness and the hypocrisy surrounding her. She was setting the example for him and not the other way around.
A Tragic Indictment
Lest we forget, Hannah was falsely accused and Eli never apologized. He never admitted that his judgment was dead wrong. Most scholars give him slack and commend him for easing up and then blessing her. Perhaps this is a point that needs to be stressed more than all. We have to be careful assuming things about people that are not true. It puts us in a place where it’s hard to walk back accusations and apologize when we’re wrong. What happens when a person’s image is paramount and they can’t allow themselves to be wrong or appear to have misjudged?
Ultimately, this encounter serves as a tragic indictment of Eli’s leadership. He was quick to judge a vulnerable stranger, yet passive toward the rampant sin in his own home. This tragic double standard foreshadowed the divine judgment coming upon the house of Eli (1 Sam. 2:27–36) and set the stage for God to raise up Samuel, born of Hannah’s faithful prayer, to restore true prophetic vision to Israel.
Our Example
It is folly to pretend to have faculties of spiritual discernment and yet be void of basic common sense. Paul once told the Corinthians, who were keen on moving on the Spiritual gifts, “…does not even nature teach you?” (1 Cor. 11:14a) Any person who had even the faintest understanding of Jehovah would have known how evil these boys were in His sight. For starters, they were having sexual relations with women in the Temple. To make matters worse Phinehas had a pregnant wife at home. Moreover, in their gluttony they would take the largest portions of the offering for themselves causing the offering of the Lord to be despised. It is sobering to think that a sinner could probably been called in to bring correction to such high-handed disregard for the things of God. That’s how bad they were.
Why did Eli allow this to happen? God said it was because he honored his sons more than he honored YHWH (Jehovah God). Loyalty is when you will stand by a person even when they are in the wrong; faithfulness is when we will stand for truth no matter who it effects. Eli’s loyalty to his sons trumped his faithfulness to God. Absolutely nothing moved Eli to correct His sons. He was receiving undeniable and direct threats from God (not that God makes any idle threat). God spoke to him in the strongest of ways warning him of what would happen if he did not stop them. Nevertheless, he carried on into the 40th year as if God was not talking.
Our times are little different than the day Hannah prayed as Eli’s sons played. There are people today who are vexed by the high-handedness of our times and pray that God will send revival. All the while the reports come in each year of another minister or worship leader who duped the people for years while living to a greater or lesser degree like Hophni and Phinehas. Men and women who were lauded as being “anointed” and how you could “feel the presence of God” while they preached and sang — turn out to be in adulterous affairs or worse. There is a blindness today that is the direct result of prayerlessness. Some hear these things and are disillusioned while others line up in their defense.
While a chorus of articles will go on to press on the topic of “not judging” I think we need to ask a more pointed question; why do we seem to have so much sin in the camp and yet we laud the presence of God being among us? A cursory read of the Old Testament reveals that God does not dwell among people when sin is rife. I suggest that what people call the presence of God is not the presence of God at all. It’s the same goosebumps they would feel if they attended a secular concert. Modern technology moves people. In the old days people needed to pray so that God would honor the meetings. Today the musicians just play and the people think they are feeling God. Men can falsify the presence of God by creating an atmosphere with sound and lights. But the environment is often one of prayerlessness. Not prayer as in listen to your favorite worship singer and sing along… prayer as in getting away and praying with a pure conscience until you truly touch God.
When a person is right with God they don’t need modern technology to prop them up. the presence of God in the Old Testament was akin to our concept of “face to face” or “eye to eye.” When our conscience is clear we can know the presence of God. However, a person can be playing around in sin, switch the power button on to the sound system and fool themselves and other people into thinking it’s the presence of God. This is how these scandals go on for years and people still think God is with the person.
What happens? Prayerlessness is compensated for with music that generates a false presence of God. These are the cold facts. In the old days when someone was off of their game everyone could tell because they struggled to minister. They had no unction. Not today. Technology serves as a kind of life-support to keep things feeling and seeming to be spiritual. A preacher can crank up his microphone and many people will think he‘s anointed and “powerful.” Switch the power off and see what happens.
The same lack of discernment that characterized Eli’s life, and the same style playing around in the house of God is here today. Carnal professors of Christianity would rather rebuke the person who is trying to touch God than rebuke the people who are causing God’s presence to leave. The consolation that we have is that God will answer the Hannah’s of the world in due time. It took decades for things to turn around in Israel… but turn around it did.
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