Another Forgotten Foremother: Hannah

Posted on by Laura Savage-Rains

Three seldom-mentioned women found in the Hebrew Scriptures, or what is also known as the Old Testament, or what Dr. Lisa Wilson Davison likes to call the “First Testament” are Hagar, Hannah, and Huldah. I wrote about Hagar a couple of weeks ago. I will share about Huldah on another day in the near future. Today, I want us to reconsider Hannah.

Her story begins in 1 Samuel 1-2, but her influence continues throughout the history of Israel and even into the life of a young Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is within her story that the term “the anointed one” is FIRST used in scripture. This term is what is translated into English as Messiah. See the end of her prayer in 1 Samuel 2:10. Some scholars consider this prayer to be prophetic in that it mentions a king even BEFORE Israel had a king.

Hannah was the childless wife of a man named Elkanah in the days before Jerusalem was the center of the Israelites’ faith. The temple did not yet exist in Jerusalem, and the center for Israelite faith was at the tabernacle at Shiloh, which was led by the priest Eli. Hannah was made miserable by Elkanah’s other wife who had already borne him numerous sons and daughters and took every opportunity to irritate and humiliate Hannah because of her barrenness. As a faithful family, they would all go on their annual trip to Shiloh to worship God there. On one particular trip, Hannah went alone to pray near the entrance to the tabernacle. The priest Eli saw her and accused her of being drunk since she was moving her lips, but not praying aloud, and silent prayer was an uncommon thing to do at that time. When she defended herself with an explanation that she was not drunk, only pouring her heart out to the Lord, Eli believed her and said a blessing over her that God would indeed grant her request.

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In Memory of Mom

Posted on by Laura Savage-Rains

My thoughts this week have turned to memories of my mom, Joyce Savage. Feb 12 is the anniversary of her death–or, more appropriately, the anniversary of her home-going. She even announced to the staff of her assisted living facility several days before she died that she was “going home on the 12th.” And, then, sure enough, she passed away from this life and into her heavenly home on Feb 12, 2012, which was just 4 days before her 84th birthday. I am grateful for the upbringing she and my dad provided for me. And, as is true for many of us, the older I get, the wiser they become. Am I right?!

Thinking of my mom also led me to reconsider a particular biblical woman: Tabitha (her Hebrew name), also known as Dorcas (in Greek), because both my mom and Tabitha shared a common passion–sewing. My dear mom made most of my clothes when I was growing up, and I did not really appreciate that until I was an adult and had to start purchasing them for myself. My mom would have rather spent time sewing than eating or sleeping. It was an all-consuming love of hers.

According to the brief, yet dramatic, story in Acts 9:36-42 about Tabitha, she spent much of her time sewing for others in need, even though she was also a widow and could have been in need herself. Her ministry really touched the lives of a lot of people in her port city of Joppa on the coast of Israel, about 35 miles northwest of Jerusalem. As a matter of fact, she is the first and only named woman in scripture with the title of “disciple.” Some biblical scholars even consider her a deacon.

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Who’s on first?

Posted on by Laura Savage-Rains

That question is usually the beginning of a joke that goes around in circles. But today, I want it to be a question that makes you re-think a character in the early part of our Judeo-Christian faith story.

Over the years, I have been discovering–with the help of many wonderful biblical commentators and theologians–how a woman was chosen to be the “first” person to do something in the scriptural text. The amazing thing to me is the level of importance of some of these “doings” and yet, I have seldom if ever heard sermons highlighting these women as examples of discipleship or leadership.

So, for this next week, I want us to ponder the woman Hagar we meet in Genesis 16 and see again in Genesis chapters 21 and 25. Hagar was an Egyptian slave in the house of Abram and Sarai. She was a foreigner. She was property. She was used by humans to accomplish their desires without consideration of her personal needs or desires.

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A Biblical Super Bowl?

Posted on by Laura Savage-Rains

This coming Sunday, Feb 1, 2015, most of the US and much of the rest of the world will be watching Super Bowl XLIX where the New England Patriots will play the Seattle Seahawks. Now, I realize, there was no football in the Bible, but there were certainly lots of competitions, battles, and struggles which had losers and winners.

So, which event or events in the Bible would you compare to the Super Bowl? There are probably several possibilities, so I will choose one that everyone would at least agree was a showdown of epic proportions. After all, one of the best-loved movies of all time, “The Ten Commandments,” still brings this event to life at least once a year on our televisions. The event I’m thinking of is the Egyptians vs. the Hebrews at the parting of the Red Sea, or you could narrow it down even more to Pharaoh vs. Moses. The winner was Moses and the Israelites. See the book of Exodus for details.

While most anyone who knows movie trivia or knows even one Bible story, this is probably the one they know: Moses leading the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt and toward the Promised Land in Canaan. But if you were to ask the names of the women in the story, folks would probably have a more difficult time identifying the important female characters.

So, in this blog, I want to introduce you to–or remind you of–some of the female characters without whom the story would not even be known.

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Getting Out There!

Posted on by Laura Savage-Rains

Welcome to my first adventure into blogging and getting out there! I have discovered that I get most excited when I get to teach others about the women of the Bible and their amazing accomplishments in spite of the patriarchal world that tried to hold them back. If you share that interest or are curious to learn more, then follow this blog and we’ll explore the lives of these women together.

The background photo on my title page is a detail of an icon of Mary Magdalene fulfilling Christ’s commission to her to “go tell my brothers that I am ascending” (see John 20:17-18), making her the FIRST person in history to share the resurrection news. This is a life-changing moment for her and for all women in that it demonstrates Christ’s willingness to break down the cultural, religious, and gender barriers of his day to empower an unlikely messenger with the most important news in history: Christ is Risen!

You see, the Risen Christ could have chosen to make his first appearance to his male disciples or even to his mother, but instead, he chose to appear first in his resurrected body to Mary Magdalene, one of his faithful disciples and supporters (see Luke 8:1-3), and entrusted her with this incredible news. What makes this effort on Christ’s part so encouraging to women is that in the culture of that day, a woman’s testimony was not accepted without male corroboration, and yet Christ chose a woman to be the first to share that testimony–with men! And, of course, the men did not believe her. And we see in Luke’s gospel that Christ chastised the disciples for not believing the woman’s testimony (see Luke 24:22-27)! Jesus had full confidence in women and their ability to share the Good News!

Question of the day: What has God asked you to do that others have questioned or doubted and where did you find the courage to do it anyway?

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