I Samuel 1

I Samuel 1:1:
“Now there was a certain man of Ramathimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zeph, and Ephrathite.”

​Americans have fallen into the same trap that the Old Testament Israelites fell into when they asked for “a king to judge us like all the nations” (I Sam 8:5). In short, they looked to civil authority to provide what God said He would provide–their economic sustenance.

I Samuel 1:6-7: And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.

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​Look at the words provoke, grievously, and irritate. The word for 'irritate' is a denominative verb from raam meaning thunder, or roar). Remember this. Peninnah 'thundered'. It seems there was a lot of sinning on Peninnah's part and it certainly must have been a stress for Hannah to live under those conditions. It's like, but worse than when you go to Thanksgiving at your mother-in-law's house, and you know your cousin will be there, and she always lobs those loaded barbs at you. "That's a nice outfit, for the selections available in your size." "Your daughter seems to be doing well at her piano lessons, though Julliard is obviously out of the question." "Now that we're moving to our new house, be sure to visit us, it won't be as cramped as when we come to your house." "It's so nice you're not embarrassed driving a big car in these days of expensive gas." The Thanksgiving meal seems like it'll go on forever with all the provocations coming out her mouth. All you want to do after ten minutes is throw the gravy at her. Hannah's provocations were worse because they were intentional with malice. Peninnah was loud and proud about her provocations. They struck at Hannah's very womanhood, and raison d'etre of a woman in those days. They cast salt on a wound, for what woman who wants children isn't mournful when she doesn't have them. Peninnah heaping salt on the wound was just insensitive and hard-hearted. Peninnah must have made life very hard for Hannah. This went on every day, "year by year." -[The End Time: Hannah who loved and Peninnah who thundered