The assumption made is that there is only a second wife
because Hannah is barren. Elkanah would
have been either allowed or compelled to take a second wife due to the
barrenness of the first wife after ten years.
The reason the Mishnah, traditional doctrine, spoke to this issue was
the commandment to be fruitful and multiply and if the wife was barren the man,
in order to keep the commandment, had to take another. Hannah's barrenness, then, was an issue for a
long period of time and the presence of this second wife, Penninah, was a
constant reminder of her situation.
There is a comparison here to the situation with Abraham, Sarah and
Hagar. Elkanah clearly loves Hannah
dearly, Penninah has not captured his heart by bearing his children. Hannah's situation is also like Job's, she is
righteous but her righteousness is in question due to her failure to bear children. Her cries are from years of frustration and
the taunts of her rival. We also meet
the priest, Eli, whose discernment isn't what it ought to be, and he mistakes
her for a drunken woman (Acts 2?) yet eventually blesses her and her
prayer. Hannah's prayer is answered and
now a child devoted to the Lord in a Nazirite vow will come into the world,
will Hannah be righteous with respect to this vow?
The parable of the wicked tenants is the clearest word Jesus
speaks concerning the present leadership and people of Israel. The reaction of the people to the parable,
"Surely not!" tells us they got the meaning and implication. The owner did everything to establish the
vineyard prior to giving it over to the tenants, all they had to do was tend it
and render to the owner the rental return, but they kept it all from this
absentee landlord. The parable clearly
speaks of prophets who came to remind the tenants that the landlord had a claim
yet they mistreated them, finally, the landlord sends his son, his beloved son,
believing that they will surely respect him and know that the landlord is still
around, but the son is killed in, perhaps, the mistaken belief that the
landlord is no more and if they kill the son they will have the vineyard
outright. The conclusion to the story is
natural and should not provoke alarm or surprise unless they knew its real
meaning. If He is Messiah, why does He
speak of throwing out not building up? He
is a dangerous man.
The disciples are still looking for the coming of the kingdom
in such a way that they will have thrones.
They don't understand, even at this time, what in the world is going
on. Jesus has been crucified and they
were in anguish but He came back and they were overjoyed. Now, He talks of going away again and then
they see Him ascend to the heavens. Will
He come back? The angels appear again,
like at the tomb and tell them to stop looking at the heavens but that He will
come back in the same way they just saw Him ascend? Doesn't that mean they should keep looking at
the heavens? Their mission, after they
are empowered, will be to spread the word all over the earth, a daunting task
to say the least. It may look bleak now,
but when the Holy Spirit is poured out, empowerment, they will be fruitful and
multiply and fill the earth with the knowledge of the Lord. Until empowerment comes, we can do nothing of
significance, and sometimes, like Hannah, waiting is the hardest part.
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