The opening story in the Old Testament book of Samuel features two female characters: (1) Hannah, and (2) Peninah. Hannah and Peninah are the wives of Elkanah. The storyteller explains why Elkanah has two wives. He has two wives because Hannah, his first wife, cannot conceive. It was common practice in ancient Near Eastern culture for a man to take a second wife if his first could not bear him children (as we also see in the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar in Genesis).
Having two wives in the house creates all sort of problems for Elkanah (it is a theme throughout the Scriptures that having more than one wife never results in things getting better). For starters, Peninah is jealous of Hannah because Elkanah gives her special treatment as his first love. He also favors Hannah out of his pity for her that she cannot conceive (which was a bigger deal back then than it is now). Elkanah’s favoring of Hannah causes Peninah to be bitter and resentful towards Hannah. This results in Peninah ridiculing Hannah. The Bible says that Peninnah was relentless in giving Hannah a hard time. Hurt people hurt people.
Peninah, then, is a problem for Hannah, literally heaping insult upon injury. Hannah has two problems, then: (1) an internal problem, and (2) an external problem. Her internal problem is that she cannot conceive. Her external problem is that Peninah won’t let it go.
Hannah is a model for all of us. Everyone has both internal problems and external problems. Internally, we all suffer from the consequences of sin. We are all hypocrites. Everyone. We all manipulate, lie, cheat, and steal. We all take advantage of people and circumstances. Everyone is guilty. This is the result of the sinfulness of humanity. The Apostle Paul says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Anyone who thinks they are an exception to this is naive. Furthermore, anyone who thinks they are an exception to this proves it to be true in thinking they are an exception. “I’m better than everyone else.”
Externally, well, it’s not hard to prove this one. Look at the world around us. Watch the news. Pay attention to what’s going on. Life kicks us in the butt. External problems are endless. The existence of nuclear weapons proves this (or any weapon for that matter). The fact that humans have a proclivity to weaponize anything at all demonstrates the external problem (and the internal problem).
It’s critical that we pay attention to how Hannah’s issues get resolved. Hannah goes to God in prayer. Hannah is opposite Peninah in this. Peninah takes her pain out on other people, Hannah goes to God. In going to God in prayer, Hannah asks for a son. Notice that Hannah didn’t ask God to change Peninah, he asked her to fix her internal problem.
Thankfully, God answers her prayer. And in answering her prayer, her external problem is fixed as well (at least there is no more mention of Peninah’s ridicule once Hannah’s internal problem is fixed). God always answers our prayers to fix our internal problems. This isn’t the case with our external problems.
Once again, this is a model for us. If we want the world around us to change, we need to address our internal problems. Our problems, not the sins of other people, are the ones only we can deal with. Anyone who thinks they can change the world by changing other people is dead wrong. We can only change the world by being courageous enough to look at our own problems, pains, and internal corruption in the face, and ask God to deal with it. Once that happens, things around us begin to change.
