If someone asked, “what was the legacy of Hannah,” we would certainly say Samuel! That is obvious. But let’s not fail to see some other portions in the story.
In 1 Sam. 1:18 we see that Hannah left a legacy of faith. Hannah reminds me a lot of Mary (or vise versa). Both wrote a song of praise that emphasized the way God exalts the humble. Remember that Elizabeth said of Mary that she had believed that what the Lord said to her would be accomplished (Lk. 1:45). Paul defined faith as being persuaded that God was able to do what He promised (Rom. 4:20-21). In Psalm 56 David acknowledge this idea when, at the point when he declared his trust in the LORD, he also praised God for His word (56:3-4,10-11).
Hannah had this kind of faith. How do I know? For one thing, upon hearing the words of Eli, the High Priest, she believed God had spoken, and she immediately turned from mourning over lack of a child and rejoined her feasting family. When she named “Samuel” she acknowledged that he was a gift from the LORD. She took care of the LORD’s possession, not even going for the yearly sacrifice. When she did go up, with Samuel, she took three bulls but only sacrificed one. Surely the other two went to Eli, perhaps in recognition that from then on Eli would be responsible for Samuel’s needs. For that same reason, each year Hannah made a robe for Samuel to wear.
All these things demonstrate Hannah’s commitment to the will of the LORD. In comparing Hannah and Mary you might think that Jesus was God’s idea while Samuel was Hannah’s idea. But of course, that is wrong: she had asked him from the LORD (v20) and the LORD had remembered her (v19). Both Samuel and Jesus were God’s idea!
We need to note one other aspect of Hannah’s legacy of faith: her prayer. The theme of her prayer, as we have said, is about God who exalts the humble and humbles the exalted. In that theme we see that Hannah had a “Messianic expectation.” Zacharias and Elizabeth had this (Lk. 1:6); as did Simeon (Lk. 2:25) and Anna and many others of her acquaintances (Lk. 2:38). There are two indications of this in Hannah’s prayer. In 1 Sam. 2:2 she says, nor is there any rock like our God. That tells me that she had memorized Psalm 32, “the Song of Moses.” Israel was supposed to memorize that song, so they would always remember that even in evil times God would not disown them. He would keep His promise to send a Redeemer, the Seed of the woman in Gen. 3. It is that Song that introduces Israel to the idea that the LORD is Israel’s “Rock.”
The other indication is at the very end: He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed. At the time, Israel had no king; not even a King David. It was the time of the Judges when there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Jud. 21:25). Hannah knew what every other believing Israelite knew as they saw the sons of Eli declaring their own rules at the tabernacle, contrary to God’s rules. Yet, Hannah believed that, at some time, there would be a king, God’s anointed (Heb. masiah, from which we get Messiah, Christ, the Anointed One). That is the essence of OT Messianic expectation. The Redeemer will come!
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