“Much food is in the tillage of the poor” (Prov. 13:23). Naomi, whose history precedes that of Hannah, has already illustrated this. In her day she had only a very small part of the written Word of God, but that small part had 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. Their faith acted on this, and these poor widows reaped a rich harvest. What a testimony against those who now possess the whole Word of God, yet because of unbelief, reap nothing!
The book of Ruth typically shows us a soul brought into new relationships with God by faith through redemption. Hannah’s story follows and shows us how these new relationships become more deeply prized and enjoyed. Both were women of faith, and they were tenderly loved. Yet Hannah was in the depths of sorrow, while Ruth was happy. Why was this, and what instruction is there in it for us?
Purposes in the Incarnation
In Hebrews 2:14-18 we learn a twofold purpose in the incarnation of the Son of God. He came in flesh to make propitiation for the sins of the people and to obtain for them eternal redemption. But also, “in the days of His flesh,” He suffered being tempted (sin apart) and entered thus into all the afflictions of His people, that He might succor them in all their temptations. These two purposes must be kept clearly before the soul: (1) that redemption is perfect and secure and (2) that suited 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. It will not do then to leave off with the history of Ruth; we must go on to that of Hannah. 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 fall in perfectly with the close of the book of Ruth. The three days without water and the bitterness of that in Marah (Ex. 15:22-27) are more in character with the books of Samuel.
Ruth and Hannah
Thus we find these things repeated with great variety of detail, yet with perfect unity of design. Ruth and Naomi rejoice before the Lord, 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? We shall find it expressed in brief but most explicit terms in Psalm 81:7. In verse 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. 2:2). But in verse 7 it is another thing: “Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder.” Here is 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. It is not 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 gives meaning and force to this striking expression. Job well describes the power of God as displayed in nature. He sets it forth in magnificent style in his answer to Bildad in Job 26. The last is the crowning verse to it all: “Lo, these are the borders of His ways; but what a whisper of a word do we hear of Him! And the thunder of His power, who can understand?” (Job 26:14 JND).
The Answers to Prayers of Faith
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 a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). As the naturalist pursues his researches, he ought to discern the borders of the ways of God, to catch some whisper of Him, but this is not the way 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.
Hannah had a problem 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. God must be trusted to work outside the course of nature, as in the case of Abraham: “God, who quickeneth the dead” (Rom. 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 worshiped 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 her 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 such individuals, for never were they more needed.
W. Barker (adapted), Bible Treasury, Vol. 18