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1 Samuel chapter 1 verse 1 the Bible reads now there was a certain man of Ramathayim Zohim of Mount Ephraim and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zeph and Epaphite. Now, first of all, everything in the Bible is important. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for obstruction in righteousness. A lot of times we get to genealogies and things like that in the Bible and we want to just kind of blow past them. I've even heard some people say, well, I just skip those when I'm reading my Bible. But I encourage you to not skip any word because the Bible teaches us that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Keep your finger in 1 Samuel. Go to 1 Chronicles chapter 6. Now, one of those portions that's probably, in fact, I would say anyone would probably agree that this is the most difficult passage in the Bible. 1 Chronicles chapters 1 through 8 are about 90 some percent just names. Eight chapters back to back of just 90 percent names. I think it's a tough part in the Bible, but there is so much to learn in each of these eight chapters. I mean, there are many, many discoveries that I've made in each chapter and things that God's trying to teach us. And one of these important discoveries I made just as a teenage boy reading through the book of 1 Chronicles, plowing through it as I think I was about 18, 19 years old, plowing through it, and I made a really important discovery here because a lot of people have a misconception about who Samuel was. A lot of people don't understand the fact that later on in Samuel's life, and that's who we're just being introduced to in chapter 1, Samuel is going to be born later in the chapter. A lot of people don't understand why later in his life Samuel was fulfilling the office of being a priest unto the Lord. He's being a high priest. And he offered the sacrifice and he led Israel. And a lot of people are confused by the fact that he was the priest because only the Levites were the priests. And a lot of people just look at verse 1 on face value and say, well, this guy's an Ephrathite. Now, Ephrath is another name for Bethlehem. I'm not going to turn there, but Genesis 48.7 and Genesis 35.19 tell us that Bethlehem and Ephrath are just two names from the same place. And so a lot of people will look at the fact that he's from Bethlehem and say, oh, he's from the tribe of Judah, just like Jesus Christ, who is from the tribe of Judah because he was from Bethlehem, David, and others that came from Bethlehem. But in 1 Chronicles chapter 6, we see for a fact here that Samuel was a Levite. Even though he lived in Ephrath, even though he lived in the borders of the land of Judah, he was a Levite. Because if you look at verse 16 of 1 Chronicles 6, it says, the sons of Levi, Gershom, Kohath, and Merariah, and really all of 1 Chronicles 6 is documenting the children of Levi. If you jump down to verse 25, it says, the sons of Elkanah, Amasi and Ahimaath, Asgir-Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah, Zophi, his son, and Nahath, his son, Eliab, his son, Jeroham, his son, Elkanah, his son, and the sons of Samuel, the firstborn, Vashni, and Abiath. So Samuel's father, Elkanah, is the Elkanah there at the end of verse 27. And you say, well, how do you know that for sure? Because in 1 Samuel 1, 1, it says, Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zoph. Guess what? All those people are listed right there. If you go backwards up the chain here, you've got Jeroham there in verse 27, you've got Eliab, you've got Nahath, Zophi. Zophi is just another spelling of Zoph because hundreds and hundreds of years went by between the writing of 1 Chronicles and the writing of 1 Samuel. So it's important. God gives us that genealogy in chapter 1, verse 1 of 1 Samuel so that we can compare it with 1 Chronicles and see that Samuel had a legitimate right to be a priest because he was a Levite. He descended from Levi. You don't have to turn there, but in Judges 17, 7, the Bible talks about a Levite who was living in Bethlehem, Judah. The Bible also talks about it in Judges 19, 1. So there were a lot of Levites that lived in Bethlehem because the Levites lived in certain cities that were scattered throughout the nation of Israel that were called the cities of refuge. And just in the middle of Judah, in the middle of these other tribes, there would just be a town that belonged unto the Levites and cities of refuge and also other towns for the Levites. And so we see Levites living in Bethlehem, Judah, and that was the case here. Samuel was a Levite from Bethlehem. So back to 1 Samuel chapter 1. I don't want to spend all night on that. I've got a ton of references listed proving that, but you get the point. Compare 1 Chronicles 6 with 1 Samuel chapter 1. You can compare the names of Samuel's children. It's all the same guy. So now that we know who Samuel is, verse 2. This man Elkanah, this is Samuel's dad. It says he had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. Now, God never allowed people to have multiple wives. A lot of people think that, well, back then it was okay. They were allowed to have multiple wives. That's what the Mormons teach and some other people teach, that God somehow endorsed polygamy. But Jesus Christ made it very clear. He said, at the beginning, God made them male and female, and he commanded that a man would leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife, singular, and they too shall be one flesh. God commanded the kings of Israel in the book of Deuteronomy not to multiply wives or have multiple wives. Did most of the kings end up having multiple wives? Absolutely. Because no one was ever intended. No human being that's a sinner can be in the position of being a king without that power corrupting them. And men are not designed to have that kind of power given unto them. That's why God designed a system of judges, and the book of 1 Samuel takes place during the time of the judges. He never designed the children of Israel to have a human sinful king over them. That's something that in chapter 8, they're going to demand against God's will. And so these men got too much power, they had multiple wives. Doesn't make it right. God commanded against multiple wives. He said, one man, one woman shall cleave together and be one flesh, what therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. But this man had two wives. Just because the Bible records something that happened doesn't make it right. Doesn't mean he did the right thing. That's just what he did. He had two wives. And it gives us their names. This man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hopniah and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Paninah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters portions. But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion, for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her womb and her what? Look at verse 6. What's that word? Adversary. So is having two wives a good idea? No. Because of course they're enemies. I mean, good night. How would you like to live in a home with two women who hate each other, who are enemies, who fight with each other? What a nightmare. You know, and these guys, oh, it would be great if we could have multiple wives. No, it wouldn't. Because they're going to be enemies. They're going to hate each other. And you know, whenever man sins, it always seems like it's going to be a great idea. Hey, I'm going to have double the enjoyment, two wives. But you know what? It's going to be a double nightmare. Because God did not design, and not that women are bad, but God did not design two women with one man under the same roof. That's going to be a horrible situation. And so we always think in our understanding that sin looks good, right? We could look at sin, and obviously we're probably not tempted by polygamy in our society in America. That's not what we're thinking about. But you know what? We just call it something else. I mean, today, these college kids over here at ASU, you think that they're just one man and one woman for life over there? No. They're not marrying these women, but they're having multiple women. And it seems like it's going to be fun, and it's going to be pleasurable. But you know what? God is always going to curse sin. And whenever you commit sin, it's going to turn out worse than you thought. And obviously Al-Qaeda thought that a second wife was going to be great. Turned out to be a bad situation, caused all kinds of problems in his home, and these women just hate each other. Now, he has these two wives. One of them has a lot of children. She's got sons. She's got daughters. The other one has no children. And it's not because she doesn't want to have children. It's because God has closed up her womb. Now, the Bible is really clear on this. God is the one who opens and closes the womb. All throughout the Bible, all throughout Genesis, we see women whose wounds the Lord had closed. And we see other places where he opens the womb. He closes the womb. And you see, this is God's doing. God is the one who decides when a child is conceived and when a child is not conceived. It's God's doing. Now, today, people don't believe this anymore. And they think that if a woman doesn't have children, even in a really short time, literally, two years will go by. So, you know, they'll try having a child for literally about two years, and then they say, consult a physician. Consult, you know, you need to go to the doctor. And it's not just to go to the doctor just to, you know, get healthy. Like, let's say you're sick or ill. I'm all for people who are sick and ill to go to a doctor. The Bible says they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. So if you're sick or have an injury, I'm all for going to the doctor. But they're not going to the doctor to get well. They're going to the doctor to basically tamper with nature, to tamper with God's plan, and to do all kinds of test tube babies and IVF and in vitro fertilization, whatever you want to call it, and all the other different procedures that are out there, and to tamper with God's plan. You know what? If a woman is not getting pregnant, that just means it's not God's will at this time. And if a woman becomes pregnant, that means that God has allowed that to happen. That is God's will at this time for that to take place. God is the one who opens and closes the wound. Now you say, well, it's easy for you to say, Pastor Harrison, because your wife is fertile and has had all these children. But you know what, though? Show me one woman in the entire Bible who couldn't have children. And I'll say that to people, and they'll say, well, Hannah. But wait a minute. Hannah had many children. The first one was Samuel. Oh, what about Rebecca? Talking about Jacob and Esau? I mean, you could go down the list. Every time there was a woman in the Bible, 100% of the time, there was a woman in the Bible who could not have children. When she prayed unto the Lord, God answered that prayer, and eventually she had a child. Sometimes it was 20 years that would go by like with Rebecca. Rebecca waited. She got married to Isaac when Isaac was 40. And Isaac was 60 when she finally gave birth to children. And so they prayed and waited for 20 years. Not two years, 20 years. And one of those children was Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, who was a prince with God. And so don't take things into your own hands. Don't be like Abraham and Sarah, where they took the anger, the handmaid, and taken into their own hands. Wait on the Lord. Wait on God. Because if God doesn't want you to have a child at this time, you just wait. You know, there could be other reasons that you don't understand right now. God has reasons for the things that he does. And I think he had a reason here with what he was doing. And so wait on God. It's not always God's will to just instantly give us what we want right now. I want it, so give it to me right now. And if you don't give it to me, I'm going to take it by force. Now the Bible says children are inherited to the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. So God gives children as a gift or a blessing or a reward. And so if you're going to basically say, well, God has closed my womb. I'm just going to go find a way to have children anywhere. It's like you're stealing from God. It's like you're robbing God, because he is offering a reward or a blessing, and you're taking it by force instead of waiting for him to give it unto you of his own accord. And so this is just yet another example of every time in the Bible there was a woman who was barren. She eventually had children every single time, and God answered that prayer. And so we see that he favored Hannah. He gave her a worthy portion. He gave her more. He treated her a little better than Peninnah, probably just to make up for the fact that Peninnah had all these children, and Hannah was deprived at this time in that area. And it says in verse 7, as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her. This is the one light provoking the other. Therefore, she wept and did not eat, then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? And why eatest thou not? And why is thy heart greedy? Am not I better to thee than ten sons? That was a real... I've used that line a couple times, not really. But, you know, here's the thing. When women get in fights with other women, you know, and I'm not talking about a fist fight now, but I just mean, you know, when there's anger between women, it could get ugly. You know, the gossip and the back fighting, and, you know, I'm not saying that men don't do the same thing, but let's face it. You know, there have been some times when women have gotten really angry at each other and they get really emotional and get really angry and fight with each other. What do they call it? A cat fight? And so, can you imagine having that in your house? Can you imagine having both of them living with you? I mean, what a bad situation. It says, so Hannah... That's what happens when you have two wives. And so, verse 9, so Hannah rose up after they had eaten at Shiloh and after they had drunk. Now, Eli the priest... I don't know if she ever answered that question of whether he was better than ten sons or not, but my wife didn't answer me either, so... But anyway, it says, so Hannah rose up after they had eaten at Shiloh and after they had drunk. Now, Eli the priest sat upon a scene by a post at the temple of the Lord, and she was in bitterness of soul and praying unto the Lord and wept and sore. So, she's just crying, she's bawling, she's bitter, she's sad, she's upset. Now, this is really bothering her. And she vowed to bow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. Now, this is where she's bowing his bow, but if she gets the son, you know, she's going to wholly dedicate him to the Lord, she's going to lend him to the Lord. Now, if you remember, and I don't want to do a big dissertation on this, but back at the time of the Passover, remember when God killed all the firstborn of Egypt? Well, at that time, he basically said that the firstborn of the children of Israel would belong to him and be sanctified unto him, but they would be redeemed. Instead of actually taking the firstborn to serve him in the capacity of the tabernacle and the sacrifices and so forth, instead he took the tribe of Levi and then they would just pay a certain amount to the tribe of Levi to redeem their firstborn son, and there's a lot of things pictured there about salvation and redemption and so forth, but that's where this kind of goes back to, but here's what I want to point out. Hannah is dedicating this one child to the Lord. She's going to lend him to the Lord all the days of his life. He's basically going to be a servant for God. Basically, he's not going to go into business. He's not going to work the family farm. He's not going to be living the life of just the average person, but he's going to serve God with his life. Full-time, like the Levites did at that time. Now, here's what I find interesting. A lot of people preach, and I've heard this preached a lot, you know, your children don't belong to you. They belong to God. Have you ever heard somebody preach something like that? Now, I strongly disagree, and I believe that this passage proves that that's false. I've even had people use this passage trying to prove that, but guess what? That's false, because if our children belong to God and they did not belong to us, then why would she have to specifically lend one of them to the Lord? She's going to have five more children, I believe. Then why would she have to specifically lend one unto the Lord if it was already belonged to him? And why is it alone? Why is it lent to the Lord? Because you see, a lot of people who are preaching that, sometimes there's a nefarious reason why they preach that. In my mind, it varies. Maybe not in their mind. But basically what they're trying to tell you is, you know, let us raise your children. Let us take your children. We will tell them what to do. We will instruct them on how they're going to live their life. And really taking the authority away from the parents in the home to raise their own children and say, well, the church is going to raise your child. Basically, this is something that they use when they say, you know, those children, you know, put them in the Christian school. Let us raise them and teach them the way that we want to teach them. But really, God has given our children unto us. They are our children. Now you say, well, that sounds really selfish of you. It doesn't matter. It's the truth. It's biblical. The Bible says children are inherited to the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward. He gives us children and they belong to us. You see, today, you say, why would you even make a point about that? Why does that even matter? I'll tell you why it matters. Because the government doesn't think they belong to us. They think it belongs to the village. It takes a village to raise the child. They believe that the child is the responsibility of the state and of the government to make sure that it gets breakfast and lunch and that it's taught and raised and trained. And if they don't like the way that you're raising your child, well, then they'll just take your child away from you because it belongs to them. And so it's really important doctrinally that we understand today in 2011 that children belong to their parents. That's who they belong to. Your children do not belong to Faithful Word Baptist Church. They don't belong to Pastor Steve Anderson. They don't belong to the city of Tempe. They don't belong to the state of Arizona. They don't belong to the United States of America. Your children belong to you and they are your responsibility, not my responsibility, not this church's responsibility, not the government's responsibility, but their real responsibility. Look, this ought to be obvious. This ought to be basic. But I'm preaching it because people are mixed up on this, both in regard to the government and the church. They think it's the job of the church to raise a child. I'm not going to raise your child. Don't drop your child off here and expect me to raise your child. And that's all Christian school is. I'm sorry, but my children are raised by their parents. They're raised by mom and dad, not by a church. Now, here, this is a different situation. This is a situation where he's going to grow up and be the priest of the Lord. This is where he's going to work. He's going to do the sacrifices. He's going to be a Levite. He's going to do all this. He had the lineage for it, but his family wasn't doing it, and so he's being sent there to do this work and to do it. But this is just one of the many children that you have. This is a special case. This isn't every child of the children of Israel getting dropped off. Every child, all millions of Israelite children, were not being dropped off at the tabernacle to be raised by Eli. Okay. And by the way, Eli wasn't very good at raising children, I might add. Notice he's sitting around. You know what? Right here, we see him sitting around. But guess what? He's going to be sitting around for the next several chapters. He's always, every time you see Eli, he's always sitting down every time, and then the Bible tells you he's a very heavy man. That's what it says. He was very at-bat. Thank you for translating that for me. So he was a very heavy man. He's always sitting on his big behind, and his children grew up to be wicked. Hobnite and Phinehas grew up to be wicked. They're fornicating. They're stealing from God. They're horrible people. And in fact, they're called children of Belial. I'm going to get to that in a moment. Wicked sons. And God rebukes Eli harshly and blames Eli and says, it's your fault that your two sons are wicked. He said, you have not restrained them. Because by the way, restraining your children takes work. It takes work to discipline and to train and to bring up your children in the nurturing avenues of the Lord. Eli didn't want to do that work. He'd rather sit around. And he let his children go to hell, literally. And so let's keep reading, though. I'm going to get to Eli's children a little bit more in a moment. But basically, she makes this vow that she's going to lend him unto the Lord. She's going to give this first child unto the Lord. Children belong to the parents. This is a special case where one child is being lent unto the Lord. Special circumstance, not the norm. And then later, she's going to have other children that they will raise, her and her husband, and that will belong to them. Now, when they grow up, they leave father and mother and cleave unto their wife, and they are no longer under the control of the parents. I mean, I do not belong to my parents anymore. I've grown up now and left my home and gotten married. So now I have my own home. I run my own household. My parents are no longer an authority in my life. But when I was a child, they were my authority. And I did belong to them, not the state and not the church or the other institution. So let's keep reading. It says, she bowed this vow. It says in verse 12, It came to pass that she continued praying before the Lord that Eli marked her mouth. Now, Hannah, she spake in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore, Eli thought she'd been drunken. So basically, she's a little bit disheveled because she's been crying and weeping and upset, and she's moving her lips, but no words are coming out because she's just praying silently, moving her lips. Well, Eli, he gets the wrong idea. And so Eli thinks she's drunk. And he says, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my Lord. I am a woman of the sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Now, she calls him my Lord. You see, that word, we don't really use it today. But in Spanish, you know how you say my Lord in Spanish? Señor. So it's just a way of addressing people back then. They would call, Sarah called her husband Lord. Lord just means basically boss. That's pretty much, if you want to break it down. And so the opposite of the Lord would be the servant. You know, you can study that in the Bible. That's why we see that the Lord is obeyed by his servants. And so basically, the Lord is the boss. He's the leader. He's someone of a higher rank. It's called Lord. So that's just the way she's addressing him. She's just calling him Lord because he's a person that's to be respected because he's the high priest. He's the leader of the people. So she's just addressing him in a respectful way because he's the leader of the people. And she says, No, my Lord. I am a woman of the sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken in it too. Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace. So he realizes that he had made an error. So he says, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thy position that thou hast asked of him. Now, what is a child of Belial? What is a daughter of Belial? Or Belial, as some people will pronounce that. What does that mean? Well, this term is used throughout the Bible. It's mainly used in the Old Testament, but it's used one time in the New Testament. Go to 2 Corinthians 6 because I think 2 Corinthians 6 gives a pretty good definition. Now, I'm not going to turn to every single instance where Belial or Belial was used. But let me just kind of give them to you, though. Let me just explain to you some of the instances. First of all, this term is never used about someone who's saved. No one who's saved in the Bible is ever called a son or daughter or child of Belial. No one who we know is saved. It always seems to be referring to unsaved people. It refers to... We'll go there in a second, but go to 2 Corinthians 6, and I'll read this to you first. Verse 14 says, Be not equally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Now, notice something about this list. Do you notice that everything is an opposite here pretty much? Because we see the opposite of righteousness is unrighteousness. The opposite of light is darkness. The opposite of him that believeth is an infidel. Infidel is just another word for unbeliever. In means non. Fidel is the Latin word for faith. It just means non-believer, no faith. So what concord hath Christ with Belial? See, Belial is a person. Do you understand that? Because Christ is a person, and Belial is a person. Notice it's always capitalized in the Bible because the translators were showing us, hey, this is a person. It's capitalizing. So a son or daughter of Belial, we're talking about a child of a person called Belial. Now, who do you think Belial is? I mean, do you think it's a good person? Okay. Well, the Bible uses another term, Baal, talking about, you know, basically Satan, Baal's above. And keep in mind, the Bible does talk about the children of the devil, the children of the wicked one, the children of Satan, the tares, remember the tares and the wheat, the tares and the children of the wicked one? Go back to 1 Samuel where we were, and I'm going to show you a little bit later on in chapter 2, 1 Samuel 2, verse 12. Remember about the sons of Levi. It says, now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. They knew not the Lord. So these guys aren't saved. So that's what I was telling you. Everybody who this is about is not saved. Let me give you some other examples. The Sodomites, the homosexuals in Judges 19, who basically try to attack these men and basically violate them, these predators, these perverts, these sodomites in Judges 19 are called children of Belial, repeatedly. Okay. All throughout the Bible, it's an extremely derogatory term used about very... Also, the first time it's used, I believe, is Deuteronomy 13, where it's warning about people who try to get you to worship other gods, false prophets and false teachers who will try to get you to worship other gods. So we see it associated with preaching a wicked false religion, worshipping a false god. We see it associated with perversion and sodomy. So it's really just talking about the children of Satan. What I believe that this is referring to is probably none other than reprobates, because the children of the devil in the New Testament is referring to those that are reprobate, that are rejected, that are just... They've just gone so far in being wicked that they've been turned over to a reprobate mind. That's what I believe, because I believe that Belial is just another term for the wicked one, Satan. And so I just wanted to clarify that. Now, you say, well, why does she bring that up? That's kind of an extreme thing to say. Well, count not. I serve it as a daughter of Belial. I have it for a daughter of Belial. You see, she had a very derogatory negative opinion of drinking, obviously. Isn't that right? I mean, she looked at it, and you say, well, she was being a little extreme there. Well, she probably was exaggerating or being extreme by saying, you know, by accusing me of being drunk, what do you think I am, some kind of a daughter of Belial? But still, that shows just a disgust for drinking. And we ought to have a disgust for drinking. And, you know, I'm not saying that she wasn't exaggerating, because I think she probably was exaggerating. But the bottom line is, she didn't drink, and she didn't want to be accused of being drunk, and she had a very low opinion of people who were drunk and who got drunk. See, drinking is a lot worse than a lot of people make it out to be. A lot of people try to tone it down or soften up drinking. But turn to Habakkuk 2.15, and I'll quote you some other verses while you turn to Habakkuk 2.15. Of course, we know the familiar passage in Proverbs 23 that explains the effects of alcohol, and it says, "'Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thy mouth shall utter perverse things.'" Now, look, I don't want my eyes to behold strange women. I don't want my mouth to utter perverse things. Therefore, I do not drink. Now, drinking alcohol will cause those things to take place, according to Proverbs 23. The Bible talks about their wine and their vine in Deuteronomy is the vine of Sodom. He said that their wine is the poison of dragons. So the Bible calls alcohol the poison of dragons, the vine of Sodom. The first time alcohol is mentioned in the whole Bible is in Genesis chapter 9. Noah drinks alcohol, gets drunk, and he's naked, and molestation takes place, horrible things. And then the next time, the second time alcohol is mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis chapter 19, where Lot is violated by his two own daughters. So, I mean, that gives us a picture. That's the first two times that alcohol is even mentioned in the Bible. Habakkuk 2.15 is a famous verse that basically is along those exact same lines. It says, "'Go unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that putteth thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness.'" What I want to point out about this is all the male pronouns. "'Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink.'" So who's giving out booze? Man or woman? It's a man, right? "'That putteth thy bottle to him.'" So who's he giving the booze to? Another man. "'And makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness.'" That's pretty bad. That makes me want to stay away from the bars. That makes me want to stay away from the drunken parties. Because people use alcohol to take advantage of other people. Men will use alcohol to take advantage of women. And even worse, here we see men who are sonomites using alcohol to take advantage in Habakkuk 2.15. That's horrible. We ought to run screaming in the other direction from alcohol. And we, you know, if you want to, you can make excuses and find all kinds of preachers that'll tell you that alcohol is fine. And you know, you can even find a few verses in the Bible that are kind of vague, that you can kind of twist and say, oh, I think this is saying it's okay to drink. But there is an overwhelming amount of Bible that tells us, look not on the wine when it is red, when it gives its color in the cup, when it moves itself awry. It tells us, don't even look at it. And there is wine in the Bible that's a good wine. The Bible talks about wine being in the cluster of a grape while it's on the vine. So when the Bible used the word wine, sometimes it's just referring to juice. Because we know that what's inside of a grape while it's growing on the vine is not alcoholic beverage. I mean, you don't go through a grape vine, you don't go to like a U-pick grape orchard, or I don't know, they call it an orchard or vineyard, sorry. You know, you don't go to a U-pick grape vineyard and, you know, get a DUI on the way home. You know, like these U-pick strawberry patches and you can eat as much as you... You know, you don't have to just, I don't know, get out. Uh-oh. Dad, you know, kids, go in your room. Dad's been down to the, you know, the produce section. Like grapes. So that's proof right there. That's in Isaiah, that's at the very end of the book of Isaiah. That proves right there that the word wine is not referring to an alcoholic beverage all the time. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. You say, well, how do you know it's one? Because half the time, God's using wine in a very positive way. He added it to his disciples and said, take it, drink it all. Other times he said, woe unto him. That, you know, woe to them that tarry long at the wine and that seek after mixed wine. Look not on the wine when it's red. Don't look at a certain type of wine, he's saying. And there's a certain type of wine that's fine. Just a grape juice or any other juice. The Bible doesn't just use wine for grape juice, it uses it for any fruit juice it uses the word wine. And so let's get off that subject, but we see that boy Hannah didn't touch alcohol and she was very offended at being accused of being drunk. She said, what do you think, I am a daughter of Belial? Do you think I'm some kind of reprobate? Do you think I'm just this total child of Satan? OK. So anyway, it says in verse number 17 that Eli answered and said, go in peace and the God of Israel granted that petition that thou hast asked of him. And she said, let thy hand make fine grace and thy sight. So the woman went her way and did eat and her countenance was no more sad. Here's a verse from the New Testament. The Bible says, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds to Christ Jesus. The Bible tells us that if we pray to God and we supplicate unto him, that we should then basically cast all our cares upon him. He said, let your requests be known unto God and then you can have peace about it. See, there are a lot of times I'll pray and ask God for something. Sometimes I'm going to get what I ask for and sometimes I'm not. But guess what, I know that if I prayed and asked, if God doesn't give it to me, then that just means that that's not his will and that's not what I need at this time. Because sometimes we pray for things and we don't really know what's good for us. And so we pray for things and the Bible says that the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered because we know not how to pray as we should. We don't know what to ask for sometimes. And so we might ask for the wrong things. And so God's not going to answer our prayer when we ask for the wrong things. So if we have a situation, let's say there's a stressful situation coming up and there's something negative that could happen and we're really worried and stressed out about it, we could just pray to God and then we should have peace and say, you know what, I'm putting it in his hands. Let God deal with it. And that's what she did here. She prayed. She knew that God heard her prayer. Even the high priest agreed with her on that because the Bible even talks about, you know, two or three of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that you'll ask of the Father and it'll be done for you. So she's even got Eli blessing her and praying with her and now she has peace about it. She knows that God's will is going to be done. Whether she has a child or not has a child, she knows that it's in God's name. You see, God promises to answer our prayers. The Bible says, and this is the confidence that we have in him, that whatsoever we ask for in you is will here with us. And we know... Good night. I'm messing up the verse. I'm sorry. I'll turn there. I'm pretty good at quoting that verse, but now when I'm standing in front of people, they're all staring at me. So let me turn here. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him. So notice it says that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. He said just a few chapters earlier in 1 John 3, he said, verse 22, and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. Now, you say, well, wait a minute, Pastor Anderson. God doesn't answer every prayer. But here's the thing. God says that if we ask anything that is according to his will, he will answer us. The Bible says ye have not because ye ask not. Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss that ye may consume it upon your lusts. So if you're praying for something to satisfy your own lust, no, you're not guaranteed an answer to that prayer. If you pray for something and you're not keeping God's commandments, then God's not going to answer your prayer either because the Bible says, whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. So in order to get your prayers answered, you have to keep God's commandments. You have to do those things that are pleasing in his sight, and you have to pray according to God's will, not according to the fulfillment of your fleshly lust, whether it be the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. God is not necessarily going to answer that prayer. And you say, wait a minute Pastor Anderson, there are some places in the Bible where God just gives a blank check and just says that he'll answer any prayer and he'll answer it no matter what and there aren't any of these stipulations. It's interesting because if you look at those cases, look at who he's talking to, he's talking unto his disciples who had just said, Lord, weep for sake and all and fall with you. He's talking to people that are doing the things that are pleasing in his sight, that are keeping his commandments, that are walking in the will of God, that have forsaken the things of flesh, and he's telling them that whatever they ask, they shall receive. And that if they ask for this mountain, you know, to be removed and cast into the sea, if they have faith as a grain of mustard seed, it would be done unto them and nothing would be impossible. I mean, Joshua literally just looked up and said, Son, stand thou still and pray to God and cause the Son to stand still. That shows that God, you say, God, really, somebody pray and pick up a mountain, you know, to me it's more amazing for the Son to stand still than for a mountain to be picked up and thrown into the sea. I mean, the Son's standing, the Son's a lot bigger than a mountain. The Son's huge. And he prayed and the Son stood still. But still, that's amazing. That's an answer to prayer. That shows that Jesus wasn't just saying that. But the question is, do we keep his commandments? Do we do the things that are pleasing to Satan? And it is what we're asking for, the will of God. Many times we're asking for things and we think that they're what we need, but later on down the road we'll say, hey, I'm glad God didn't answer that prayer because I didn't even know what was good for me. I didn't know what I needed. But if you're asking for things, you should be getting your prayers answered. I've had many, many prayers answered and hopefully you can look back. And a lot of times if you write things down, it'll help you because sometimes you forget that you prayed for things. Write it down and then check it six months later whether or not that prayer was answered. And so that's why she had that peace. Because once you ask God and tell him and pray unto him and you know that you've done what you're supposed to do, there's no reason to fret and worry about it. Just live your life. And it's up to him and that's where Hannah went. Now it's good that she cried. It's good that she had bitterness and sorrow. It's good that she poured out her soul to the Lord. But once she had done that and she'd done her fasting and praying and whatever she needed to do, she can't just go on like that. It's time to get up and to live life and to say, you know what, I poured it out to God. Now it's time for me to live my life. And her countenance was no more sad. She ate and she went on with her life. And of course, God answered the prayer. It says that in verse 19, they rose up in the morning early. And that'd be a good idea for some people who sleep in too much. And worshiped before the Lord and returned and came to their house to Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife. That's a euphemism for the fact that they basically, well, they knew each other. And it says that the Lord remembered her and wherefore it came to pass when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived that she bear a son and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord. And the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah went not up, for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him that he may appear before the Lord and thereby forever. Now what does it mean to be weaned? Basically, when a baby's first born, it's breastfed. And then when it's weaned is when it switches to solid foods. Now you remember when Isaac was weaned. They threw a big party. They celebrated it. And then Ishmael was making fun of Isaac. And that's when Ishmael and Hagar got kicked out and so forth. And so the Bible uses that term a lot. It's when solid foods are introduced and when the child is no longer. Actually, I think the word weaned isn't just when the solids are introduced. It's when the breast milk is completely taken out of the regimen. Am I right about that, honey? It's when they stop drinking the milk. That's when they're weaned, okay? And so she says, Well, I'm not going to go down to the house of the Lord until the child's weaned, and then I'm going to bring him down there, and he's going to be given unto the Lord. And it says in verse 23, And on pain or harassment said to her, Do what seemeth thee good, tarry until thou have weaned him, only the Lord established his word. So the woman abode and gave her son suck until she weaned him. So that the Bible defines itself. You know, people say the words of the Bible are these big words. I can't understand, but God really lays things out and defines them for us. She gave her son suck until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her with three bullocks and one eaf of flour and a bottle of wine and brought him unto the house of the Lord. Yeah, she brings a bottle of booze after. She just got accused of being drunk. Hey, remember me? I was that lady that you thought was drunk. Here's a bottle of booze. Huh? Remember me? That's what people think, is they think every time it says wine, it's like my alcohol. You think that's what you want to give Eli? Eli just chewed you out because he thought you might be drinking and now you're bringing him booze? I doubt it. And so she brings a bottle of wine and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh and the child was young. Now, how old is the child when they're weaned? I've heard some really stupid things on this because most children are weaned at about like one year old, maybe two years old max. Okay? But usually around one year is pretty customary. But, you know, somewhere around there. I was in Christian school. They tried to tell me, well, the Bible says they've breastfed a lot longer and it was like six or seven. Well, you know what? You've lost your mind. Whoever says that or believes that has completely lost their mind. Or they've just never had children or they just are on some kind of medication or something. I mean, six or seven. You know, that's ridiculous. Okay? No. Do I have to explain it to you? I mean, the oldest that a child is nursing is probably two. Wouldn't that be kind of extreme as it is? I mean, that's already, that's really pushing it. Okay? Average would be like one year. Okay? So, no, we're not talking about a seven-year-old here. Okay? As I was taught at Christian school. And I think my parents should give their money back for that month. Just for that one thing that I was taught. Because it's so weird. But anyway, it says the child was young. Okay? He was young. He wasn't old. He wasn't seven. And they slew a bullock and brought the child to Eli. And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here praying unto the lord. For this child I prayed, and the lord hath given me my petition, which I asked of him. Therefore also I have lent him to the lord. As long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the lord. And he worshiped the lord there. So she made her vow and she fulfilled it. That's very important. If you make a vow to the lord, you better fulfill it. The bible says it's better to just not make a vow than to make a vow and then to break it. Don't make vows to God. Don't go around saying, I swear to God. And a lot of people say that. It's almost like they're just taking God's name in vain anyway. It's kind of like all the little, you know, Oh my God. And by the way, don't do your little OMG abbreviation either. You know, this little text message, OMG. That ought not be on any Christians texting or emails or writing it down. Because we shouldn't even abbreviate God's name in vain. And it's funny, the same people would cringe at words that are deemed by the world to be cuss words will then just throw God's name around. Which God specifically says, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. And by the way, God is one of his names. That's not just a title as people try to say. That's a name. God is a name. The Lord is his name. He has many names. Job, Jehovah, God, the Lord, Jesus Christ. None of these names should be taken in vain. God said I will not hold him guiltless to take my name in vain. It's blasphemy to throw around God's name and to be disrespectful towards God's name. So don't even throw the run. I swear to God. Now if you're talking about God, use God's name. Some of the Jews will be so bizarre about this that they will never even use God's name. Have you ever seen these people where they bleep it out like it's a cuss word? You know like G blank D or like L blank blank D? I mean, you know, L with a bunch of symbols or something. They're afraid to even use God's name. That's bizarre. We ought to use God's name, but we ought to use it properly and with respect. Here's what I teach my children. Do not use any of God's names unless you're either talking about God or to God. If you're talking to God, use his name. If you're talking about God, use his name. But don't just throw it out there as a figure of speech. Oh my God, I swear to God. You know, you better be swearing at the God and you probably shouldn't be swearing at the God anyway. And so quit blowing off your mouth with God's name and don't even abbreviate it. Don't even say O-M-G or oh my gosh or whatever you want to abbreviate it. Have respect for God's name and do not blaspheme the name of the Lord. And we ought not be flippant about it just because the world considers it acceptable. And, you know, sometimes you can get around people that are saying that a lot, but you know what? I, you know, I strongly teach my children to never take God's name in vain and it's a very, very big deal. It really matters a lot. God mentions it many times. I remember I heard a story about a pastor. He was somewhere. I think he was getting his hair cut. And the guy next to him getting his hair cut just kept taking God's name in vain and he walked up to the guy and said, praise the Lord. And the guy was like, huh? I said, hallelujah. He was like, huh? He's like, man, you're the, you're a Christian, right? He said, you're the most religious person I've ever met. I mean, you just, you keep, the whole time you've been talking about God and Jesus and the Lord, you know. You must be a really religious guy. And the guy was like, ugh. He was just glad, you know, and obviously the pastor was just making a mockery of the guy, but he was trying to show the guy, hey, quit throwing God's name around. You know, quit blaspheming God. And it isn't right. Let's bow our heads in that word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, dear God, and we thank you for your promises and thank you that you do answer prayer and that when we make a prayer unto you and make our petitions to you, you can, we can rest assured that you hear us and that you will do your will. We know that if we don't ask, we're not going to get it, but help us to ask and receive, as Hannah did, and please help us to stay away from alcohol, help us to be, help us to stay away from polygamy or even just, you know, multiple girlfriends or multiple, whatever these, the world considers as okay. And the United States, dear God, help us to get on your program of just getting married, just one man, one woman for life. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen.