“Stop acting so proud and haughty! Don’t speak with such arrogance! For the LORD is a God who knows what you have done; he will judge your actions. [1 Samuel 2.3]
Like so much Bible truth, Hannah's words here are quickly dismissed as "Old Testament" and, therefore disregarded by "New Testament believers."
Let it be established here right now... If one is truly a New Testament believer, he is also every bit an Old Testament believer. Jesus said:
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! [John 5.39]
Jesus was talking about the Old Testament! With this established, we should go on to consider the context of Hannah's words in 1 Samuel 2.3 by understanding what follows it:
The bow of the mighty is now broken, and those who stumbled are now strong. Those who were well fed are now starving, and those who were starving are now full. The childless woman now has seven children, and the woman with many children wastes away. The LORD gives both death and life; he brings some down to the grave but raises others up. The LORD makes some poor and others rich; he brings some down and lifts others up. He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor. For all the earth is the LORD’s, and he has set the world in order. [1 Samuel 2.4-8]
1 Samuel 2.4-8 is an explanation of God's judgment spoken of in 1 Samuel 2.3. It has everything to do with the blessings and curses pronounced upon obedience or disobedience respectively in Deuteronomy 28. It has everything to do with the fact that God is a God of order: he has set the world in order.
There are those who very much wish to believe that 1 Samuel 2.4-8 supports the idea that God randomly blesses or curses people, but that is quite impossible to prove based on the combined understanding of 1 Samuel 2.3, For the LORD is a God who knows what you have done; he will judge your actions, and the last sentence of 1 Samuel 2.8, For all the earth is the LORD’s, and he has set the world in order.
What's worse is that there are those who very much wish to believe that Jesus somehow broke God's order - which, is a ludicrous idea. These same people believe God randomly blesses and curses people according to some random purpose that is completely unknown to man. They will quote John 3.16 without hesitation but must defensively resort to manmade doctrine (not the Bible) while hoping not to have to explain what follows John 3.16:
God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” [John 3.17-21]
God's order is blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. All manner of curses, like those contrasted to blessings in Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel 2, are God's judgment with the ultimate curse being eternal separation from God. Because man is sinful by birth, he is under judgment from birth and it is that judgment that Jesus came to redeem man from.
But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” [Galatians 3.13]
So, if, as the result of man's "saving faith" in Him, Jesus redeemed man from the curse, why do "Christians" still suffer curses? Aaaaand, Pandora's Box of proud religious ideas is opened.
Curses are indicators of sin today no less than they ever were:
Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim. [Proverbs 26.2]
And yet, in deceived arrogant pride "Christians" deny God's established order. They must concoct elaborate "open-ended" doctrines that usurp God's established order of things (confusing God's establishment of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience). These "open-ended" doctrines all purport various versions of "why bad things happen to good people" but few, if any, accurately (Biblically) trace "curses" to "disobedience" thus requiring repentance. They push right past repentance and go straight to "faith," be it faith in Jesus to endure or faith in Jesus to overcome, but few if any effectively teach us to repent until the curse is lifted. By the way, "declaring" the curse is lifted is indeed scriptural if the curse is lifted, but if not, continuing to "declare" might better be replaced with repentance. Curses don't lie. And, if a curse cannot be broken with words, that means the blood of Jesus has not been applied. That means that genuine repentance and faith in Christ has not occurred and that true Biblical redemption lies dormant and unrealized.
We can argue my previous paragraph all we want, be we cannot deny Hannah's words in 1 Samuel 2.3:
“Stop acting so proud and haughty! Don’t speak with such arrogance! For the LORD is a God who knows what you have done; he will judge your actions. [1 Samuel 2.3]
It is foolish to declare "Christ has redeemed me" and remain burdened with curses. However, it is wise to declare "Christ offers redemption" and proceed in Biblical repentance and faith until the curses are lifted. But, alas, who really wants to live in daily repentance and faith? <<crickets>>
It all comes down to how we each interpret "give up your own way" and "take up your cross."
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]
If there are any self-prescribed allowances made in response to Jesus' demand you must give up your own way then there is no redemption in a person's life but rather a deceptive dilution of idolatry (to self, if nothing else). Try telling Jesus "it's too hard" when He took the sin of the world to His Cross. Our emotion is our enemy. Only full obedience to Jesus transports us to the title "follower of Christ." We can make every possible confession of faith imaginable, but no amount of "rolling the engine over" in confession will start the engine of salvation without the fuel of repentance and faith (giving up our way for His way - the way of the cross - the way of obedience).
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. [Philippians 2.5-8]
It is no surprise that most folks do not quote verse 5 of the passage above You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had! They want the "blessings" of Jesus' death on the Cross, but they do not want or see the need for the same attitude Jesus had - they are unwilling to give up their own way, take up their cross, and follow Jesus. Such a person cannot be saved until that attitude is changed.
God's order will not and cannot be changed. Again, to even think Jesus changed God's order is to deny that Jesus is God.
God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? [Numbers 23.19]
It is no mistake in the grand arrangement of God's Word that immediately following Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel 2, we find contrast in Eli and his sons who made their own rules to live by (doctrines to justify their actions) that resulted in the following warning from God:
So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me—for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel! [1 Samuel 2.29]
Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were unwilling to give up their own self-indulgent ways and they interpreted God's Word to mean what they selfishly and arrogantly wanted it to mean and not what God said. Oh, I wish this was not true among alleged Christians today!
The solution to the problem described here is also found in chapter 1 of 1 Samuel:
Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD. [1 Samuel 1.10]
In her curse of infertility, Hannah was in deep anguish and cried bitterly to the LORD. She would not have done that if she believed God was random in any way at all. And, she certainly would not have made the commitment to give the child she was asking for to the LORD. Why? Because God is a God of order. Hannah's repentance and faith started with deep anguish and bitter crying and continued with the act of giving her child to God. Her repentant attitude was rewarded not so much with the birth of Samuel (because giving him to God was still the act of her repentance), but with the birth of five more children afterwards.
Hannah's prayer of side by side blessings and curses was a revelation following her repentance and faith - no arrogant doctrinal explanation needed. God's order is established forever.
Father, much has been said here that should solicit response by all who read it. Whether people agree or disagree, I ask that You cause them to go to Your Word to know where they stand. And, may their stance (our stance) be that of Jesus on the Cross - not so much a "stance" however as it is a "hanging" - hanging helplessly submitted to the cross, having given up our own way, that Your resurrection life might follow. So be it.
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