“ Much food is in the tillage of the poor” (Prov. 13:2323Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment. (Proverbs 13:23)). Naomi, whose history precedes that of Hannah, has already afforded us an illustration of this. In her day, as we have seen, the written word of God was probably limited to the books of Moses, and but a very small part was applicable to her case. That small part, however, awakened in her soul faith in the goodness and grace of God. In it He had made provision for her need and that of Ruth, and He also had raised up Boaz to accomplish His purposes of mercy for them. On this their faith acted; and the rich harvest of blessing bestowed on these poor widows tells the abundance of food that was in their tillage.
What a testimony against those who now possess the whole word of God, yet, because of unbelief, reap nothing!
The book of Ruth then typically sets forth the introduction of a soul into new and eternal relationships with God and with Christ by faith through redemption. Hannah's story follows as a necessary supplement, descriptive of the processes whereby, after introduction, these new relationships become more deeply prized and enjoyed. The estate of each was equally established: both were women of unfeigned faith, and piety; and they were tenderly loved. Indeed Elkanah, Hannah's husband, assured her of it in the most affectionate terms (ver. 8); but she was in the depths of sorrow while Ruth was happy. Why was this, and what instruction is there in it for us?
In Heb. 2:14-1814Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. (Hebrews 2:14‑18) we learn a two-fold purpose in the incarnation of the Son of God. He came in flesh that He might make propitiation for the sins of the people, and by the sacrifice of Himself obtain for them eternal redemption. But there was yet another object. In the days of His flesh He suffered being tempted, and while ever without sin, entered thus into all the afflictions of His people that He might succor them in all their temptations. (Heb. 4:1515For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15); Heb. 5) These two purposes must be kept clearly and distinctly before the soul, that redemption may be seen to be perfect, secure and eternal; and that suited and effectual help in every distress is, at the same time, made certain. Both are proofs of the abundant provision made for man, whether an anxious sinner or a tried saint, by God in Christ Jesus. The story of Ruth illustrates the former, while that of Hannah shows the need of the latter. We have only here to add that the end and purpose of redemption in the case of Ruth was, that she might be united to her redeemer. Boaz, as we have seen, purchased her to be his wife. So now, the redeemed of the Lord are joined to Him, and thus one Spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:1717But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:17)): a truth that cannot be too earnestly pressed in this day, when almost everything vital to the interests of Christ in them that are His seems to be called in question. It is by the gift of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:1313In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13)) that Christ secures, not only the possession, but the love of those He has bought with His blood, and their joy in loving Him is unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:88Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (1 Peter 1:8)).
Yet the same apostle tells us, that those who thus truly love the Lord and are redeemed by His precious blood may be “in heaviness [grief] through manifold temptations” (ver. 6), and it is by these afflictions that Satan endeavors to shake their faith. Paul's anxiety for the Thessalonians sprang from this; and, if we read 1 Thess. 3:1-51Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone; 2And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlaborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith: 3That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. 4For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know. 5For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain. (1 Thessalonians 3:1‑5), and compare it with chapter 1, we shall see what a very real anxiety it was. It will not do then to leave off with the history of Ruth; we must go on to that of Hannah.
But it may be well to remember, that all through scripture we have these important distinctions as to experience maintained. The songs of joy, the timbrels and the dances when the people of Israel were fully delivered from Egypt and brought to God, fall in perfectly with the close of the book of Ruth; while the three days without water, and the bitterness of that in Marah (Ex. 15), are more in character with the books of Samuel. On the shore of the Red Sea, the children of Israel saw that the right hand of the Lord, glorious in power, had dashed in pieces their enemies; but in their journeyings they learned, that “in all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and He carried them all the days of old” (Isa. 63:99In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. (Isaiah 63:9)). The language of the Psalms also furnishes us with a very perfect expression of these experiences, descending at times to cries of almost despair, and rising at the close to a full chorus of praise. In the New Testament, although accomplished redemption and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit give clearer apprehension of the ways of God, yet we see, as in the case of Paul, there is the same mosaic of joys and sorrows. “What son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?” And the last book tells us how the disciple whom Jesus loved, and to whom was given abundance of revelation, was a companion of his brethren in tribulation, a banished man in the Isle of Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Thus we find these things repeated with great variety of detail, yet with perfect unity of design. Praise is comely, but, in order to its being perfected, prayer is a necessity. Ruth and Naomi rejoice before the Lord, and all their neighbors join them in His praise; but Hannah, before she can sing, must pour out her soul in secret before the King and weep sore.
What then is the purpose of God in this? In His grace He has told us in many passages, but we shall find it expressed in brief but most explicit terms in Psa. 81:77Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah. (Psalm 81:7). In ver. 6 we have the grand deliverance effected by redemption. Speaking of Israel, the Lord says, “I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots [baskets].” They were free, no longer toiling under the lash for Pharaoh and his people, and the day of their freedom from them was the day of their espousals to Jehovah. (Jer. 2:22Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. (Jeremiah 2:2).) But in ver. 7 it is another thing, “Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder” —the trouble we have been considering; but why “the secret place of thunder”? The form of the expression is striking, and evidently intended to awaken attention. Let us not think it to be merely the elevated language of poetry. Hannah, we shall find, got her answer in and from “the secret place of thunder”. She had to abandon every hope from natural laws, and this it is that gives meaning and force to this striking expression; for Job well describes the power of God as displayed in nature. He sets it forth in a magnificent style in his answer to Bildad in Job 26. As given in the R. V. it is very beautiful, but the last is the crowning verse to it all— “Lo, these are but the outskirts of His ways: and how small a whisper do we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand? “
In these two passages of scripture we have His works in nature, and their revelation of Him distinguished from His answer to the cry of His people in trouble and their consequent knowledge of Him. As the sound of a whisper, so is the witness to God in the works of nature, wonderful as they are. As the voice of thunder, so is His answer to believing prayer. It is impossible for the suppliant not to hear it and rejoice—"God is, and He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”
As the naturalist pursues his researches, he ought to discern the outskirts of the ways of God, to catch some whisper of Him; but it is not thus the Lord responds to the call of His people in trouble. They command the thunder of His power and learn to understand it and to praise Him Whose voice it is.
That laborious student of nature, the distinguished author of the Origin of Species, expressed, at the close of it, his belief “in life having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms, or one.” Thence would he derive, not only species, but man! Faint indeed was the whisper heard by him in his studies, and even that, how misunderstood! Still he does trace us back to the Creator, though in a way of his own. Others, as laborious, if not so distinguished as he, refuse even this. Biogenesis (birth from the living) concedes, they say, too much. The latent power of matter may effectuate everything, though here their microscopes fail them and the origin of life is for them “not proven.”
Hannah had a problem of another kind, which no science could solve; yet the future of the nation, and we may say of the whole world, hung upon its solution. The richest provision of mercy for man in man had failed. The priesthood, utterly corrupt, taught the people to transgress, and a sweeping judgment was impending. (If permitted to look a little into the truths revealed in her song, this will come before us fully.) God must be looked to to work outside the course of nature, as in the case of Abraham— “God Who quickeneth the dead” (Rom. 4:1717(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. (Romans 4:17)). The denial of miracles is an attempt to silence the voice of the Almighty, an attempt as cruel to man as it is audacious to Him. Had Hannah been a mother, like Peninnah, she would have been thankful to the Lord; but she never would have worshipped Him in the magnificent strains of her song. It was no mere whisper of Him that called forth such rapturous notes of praise. In her Samuel (asked of God) she heard His voice, not in the laws of nature, but answering her tears and b er cries from “the secret place of thunder.” Would that we all knew more of this! There are few now, it is to be feared, who have Hannah's singleness of purpose in their desires; few who pray such prayers, or who can sing such a song. The Lord multiply them. Never were they more needed. W. B.