powerpoint presentation designed by claro ruiz vicente Adult Bible Study Guide Oct Nov Dec 2010 Adult Bible Study Guide Oct Nov Dec 2010

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Background Characters in the Old Testament Contents 1. Story and History 2. Caleb: Living With the Wait 3. Hannah: Learning to Be Someone 4. Jonathan: Born for Greatness 5. Abigail: No Victim of Circumstances 6. Uriah: Faith of a Foreigner 7. Abiathar: The Priest 8. Joab: David’s Weak Strongman 9. Rizpah: The Influence of Faithfulness 10. The Man of God: Obedience is Not Optional 11. The Widow of Zarephath: The Leap of Faith 12. Gehazi: Missing the Mark 13. Baruch: Building a Legacy in a Crumbling World

Background Characters in the Old Testament Our Goals {181} T o “learn things that can help us to write a different and better story for ourselves.” To “read Scripture afresh, looking beyond the obvious to discover the joy of learning new truths from God’s Word.” To “remember the power of our own lives and examples.”

Background Characters in the Old Testament Lesson 3, October 16 Background Characters in the Old Testament Lesson 3, October 16 Hannah: Learning to Be Someone

Key Text 1 Samuel 2:1, 2 NIV T hen Hannah prayed and said: ‘My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God’ ”

Hannah: Learning to Be Someone Initial Words {209} B y looking at the life of Hannah, a woman without any claim to political or religious greatness, we will catch a glimpse of a God who loves us intimately and personally and of a God who tells us that we are somebody, even though it’s easy to get the message from the world that we are nobody.

Hannah: Learning to Be Someone Quick Look 1. Hannah’s PREDICAMENT (1 Samuel 1:1, 2) 2. Hannah’s PARENTHOOD (1 Samuel 1:20-22) 3. Hannah’s PAIN and PRAISE (1 Samuel 1:10; 2:1)

Hannah: Learning to Be Someone 1. Predicament 1 Samuel 1:1, 2 NKJV E lkanah … had two wives: … Hannah, and … Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.”

1.Predicament What Am I Worth? {210} T o have no male child meant to have no security in one’s old age. Both in the public and in the family sphere, a woman without a child had to live with a stigma of supposedly being cursed by God. Obviously, this affected her value in the eyes of society, her own self-esteem, and her relationship with God.

Remember also that in Hannah’s time, a woman’s role in society was associated primarily with child bearing and rearing. There were no other career possibilities. A woman could not just change careers and find fulfillment in another occupation. To her, without children her life had no real meaning. 1.Predicament What Am I Worth? {210}

1.Predicament With Friends Like These… {212} With Peninnah’s constant provocations, it is not surprising that Hannah’s life became bitter. Year in and year out, the same old story. This was not just a quick, sly remark. This seemed to have been a premeditated and conscious strategy by Peninnah to provoke Hannah into doing something stupid.

Hannah: Learning to Be Someone 2. Parenthood 1 Samuel 1:20-22 NKJV H annah conceived and bore a son…. Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the L ORD the yearly sacrifice… But Hannah … said … ‘I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the L ORD and remain there forever.’ ”

2. Parenthood God’s Investment Plan {218} H annah could have refused to give her boy to the Lord and selfishly clung to him as her only security. However, by giving him to God, she not only received five more children, but her giving Samuel to the Lord also had a profound influence on Samuel himself. He became God’s special mouthpiece and one of the greatest educators and leaders of Israel.

God is in the business of taking whatever we give to Him, multiplying it, and giving it completely new dimensions that we never would have dreamed of. 2. Parenthood God’s Investment Plan {218} The greatest treasures are really secure only when given to God. That which we hoard for ourselves here can, in an instant, be gone. Hannah knew who she was in God’s eyes. This sense of her own worth gave her the freedom to give.

1 Samuel 1:10; 2:1 NKJV A nd she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the L ORD and wept in anguish. And Hannah prayed and said: ‘My heart rejoices in the L ORD ; my horn is exalted in the L ORD. I smile at my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation.’ ” Hannah: Learning to Be Someone 3. Pain and Praise

Pouring Your Heart Out {218} W hile God does not always answer our prayers immediately, when we pour out our hearts before Him we can be assured that He hears and will answer us (Psalm 37:4) in His own time and way. This can give us hope and confidence as we wait to see God’s leading in our future.

Hannah now knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is fully able to control the circumstances of history, as well as her own personal experience. She sees her life from a totally new perspective. Things that others strive for and take as an absolute are in reality very flimsy and could be gone tomorrow. 3. Pain and Praise Singing His Praises {216}

Hannah makes surprising contrasts to underline the fact that life’s circumstances are not always as they appear. Things we give value to are often not as permanent as they appear. 3. Pain and Praise Singing His Praises {216} True security depends not on circumstances but on knowing our God, who does not change. He is the One who tells us that we each are special. He is the One who gives us value.

Hannah: Learning to Be Someone Final Words {218} W e must remember that everything we have, all that we are, and all that we own, are ours only because of God’s grace and goodness to us. How should that thought help us be more willing to give back to the Lord rather than hoard for ourselves? What does hoarding tell us about ourselves, our character, and our lack of trust in God?