Jesus in the Old Testament 028: Jesus Messiah

 

Jesus in the Old Testament 028:
Jesus the Coming Messiah

1 Sam 2:1-10

 

Thesis: Hannah’s song is born out of God’s setting right what was, in her perspective, a great injustice in granting her a son.  Her song is used by the Holy Spirit to not only celebrate her own justification but to look forward to the great justification which will be wrought by the coming Messiah, whose title as such is first used in this passage.

 

1. Nutshell w/Kids
1. What is injustice? Can you give me some examples?
2. What words do we use to describe someone who fixes injustice? Hero? Avenger?
3. The Hebrew word “Messiah,” and its Greek parallel, “Christ,” both mean “anointed one.”  What does that mean?
4. In the Bible, three kinds of people were anointed: Prophets, Priests, and Kings.  They were all “messiahs” in one sense, but God’s word speaks about a person who would be all three of these kinds of people and more.  He would be God!
5. He would come and set the greatest injustices right forever in solving our sin problem. 
6. Hannah’s Song in 1 Sam 2 uses the term “Messiah” for the first time in the Bible, and it is focusing on His lovingly setting right the injustices of the world.

 

2. Deeper w/ Adults
1. Summarize 1 Sam 1, the struggle between the wives of Elkanah.
1. Hannah’s problem:

a)    She is barren.

b)    Rival wife mocks her.

c)    Her husband doesn’t understand.

d)    God seems distant.

2. Hannah pledges to the Lord that, if she is given a son:

a)    He will be given to the Lord all the days of his life (In actual fulfillment of Ex 13).

b)    He will be a Nazarite from birth (Samson, John the Baptist).

3. God answers her prayer, and she follows through on her promise, delivering him to Shiloh to be raised by Eli in the tabernacle.
1. Two broad parallel passages:
1. Psalm 113
2. Luke 1:46-55, Mary’s song.
2. In the context of her song of praise, she uses the phrase, “Messiah” for the first time as a title noun, not a verb.
1. Messiah means to anoint or anointed one.  It had been used as a verb 3 times earlier in the Bible to describe someone pouring oil on something, but never to indicate an anointed person.
2. For the first time, in 1Sam 2:10, we have a person called “his [Gods] anointed.”  The Messiah.
3. Psalm 89:27 for additional clarity on the king and Son of God.
4. This passage gives prophetic pictures of the Messiah interwoven with joy over God having set her injustices right.
3. The song is an inclusio, having components repeated at the top and the bottom of the song that frame the ideas in between.
1. “My heart exults in the Lord” vs 1 and “He will give strength to his king.” vs 10.

a)    Hannah has seen the right-putting power of God in her life rejoices in it. She finds joy in her God exonerating her in her home.

b)    The words are different, but the flow in verses 9 and 10 makes me think of the Father as rejoicing in and celebrating the justice that the Messiah will bring.  He adds His strength to the cause of the Messiah.

2. “My horn is exalted in the Lord” vs 1 and “and exalt the horn of his anointed” vs 10.

a)    Horns are symbols of strength in scripture. Hannah’s status and position in her home are strengthened--she has more power--because she is now a mother as well.

b)    God exalts Messiah and adds to His strength and glory in recognition of His execution of justice and sacrifice.

(1)  2 Sam 22:2-3, 47

(2)  Luke 22:69

(3)  Eph 4:10

(4)  Phil 2:10-11

3. “I rejoice in your salvation” vs 1 and “his anointed,” vs 10.

a)    Salvation is Yashua, Jesus’ name. 

b)    Messiah is his title or office.

4. “There is no rock like our God,” vs 2 and “The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces.” vs 9. 

a)    From Hannah’s perspective, God is a place of refuge, a place to flee in her distress, as David often will.

(1)  Deut 32:4;

(2)  Isa 8:14

(3)  Isa 28:16

b)    From the perspective of those opposed to God and His Messiah, He is something impossibly hard and indelible.  When you run up against it.  You are broken, God is not.

(1)  Psa 18:2

(2)  Psa 118;22-23

(3)  Dan 2:34

(4)  1 Pet 2:6-8

5. “Talk no more so very proudly” vs 3 and “The bows of the mighty are broken” vs 4 and “For not by might will a man prevail.” vs 9.

a)    Again, Hannah sees that, in her life, those who are strong physically, in status, or in office were of no good to her.  The rival wife who was a mother mocked her.  Her husband did not understand her pain or act in a caring manner.  The priest of God initially rebukes her and thinks she’s drunk.  The powerful in her life we of no use, but God saved her.

b)    In vs 9, we understand that God’s salvation through Messiah will have nothing to do with human strength. 

(1)  Zech 4:6

(2)  Isa 53:2-3.

6. “The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him, actions are weighed” vs    3 and “The Lord will judge the ends of the earth” vs 10

a)    Hannah is declaring that what she prayed quietly to herself, with her lips moving but no sound, God has judged publicly with his knowledge in giving her a son.

b)    Messiah, when he comes to judge, will do so with perfect knowledge as well.

(1)  Acts 10:42

(2)  Acts 17:31

(3)  Heb 4:13

5. In the midst of these bookends, the main idea of the song is that God presides over the fortunes of men.  These merisms use two contrasting extremes to help you understand that the entire spectrum of life is included in God’s sovereign justice. Those who enjoy ill-got fortune or power at the expense of others will have it stripped of them.  The righteous poor or downtrodden will be lifted up and have their needs met.
1. Blind arrogance and pride vs God’s knowledge vs 3
2. Military and physical power vs weakness vs 4
3. Those with an abundance of food and the hungry vs 5
4. Those with many children and the barren vs 5.

a)    Closest to Hannah’s heart, and right in the middle of this passage.

b)    7 is the number of perfection or completion. To “bear 7 sons” would be a perfect outcome for a woman in this culture.

(1)  Ruth 4:15 in a positive sense.

(2)  Jer 15:9, as here, one who is at a high station and will be abased in the judgment of God.

c)    The word “forlorn” in the ESV means to waste away, to shrivel up.  Frequently used to describe those women who have lost their husbands and become widows. God will take away that which gives them a self-centered sense of importance and value and leave them with nothing.

d)    Hannah will eventually bear 6 children, 2:21.

5. The Living and the Dead.   vs 6

a)    God claims elsewhere as well to hold life and death in his hand.

(1)  Deut 32:39

b)    It is interesting that God is not only the God of life and death, but the order is significant. He brings life out of death. He raises up out of Sheol.

c)    Here we have the resurrection of the saved prefigured.

(1)  Job 19:25-26

(2)  Psalm 16:9

(3)  Psalm 17:15

(4)  Psalm 30:3

(5)  John 5:28-29

(6)  Eph 4:8-10

(7)  1 Pet 4:6

(8)  Rev 20:4-5

6. The poor and the rich, vs 7-8

a)    The poor are pictured as amongst the dust (symbols of death) and the dung pile (pile of refuse).

b)    The contrasting couplet for wealth here does not have to do with possessions but with fellowship.  It is the company one keeps and the honor one enjoys that is seen as the principal benefit of wealth. 

c)    This can be seen salvifically as well.  We were once children of wrath like the rest of mankind, with whom we had fellowship (Eph 2:4), but now we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies (Eph 2:6) and are in fellowship with fellow believers as we are in fellowship with Him (1 John 1:7).

6. Vs 8b: If everything is going to be turned on its head by the justice of God, this does not mean that the world is out of control or that the moral order or the divine decree has been scrambled. God is the one who has set the earth on its foundation.  He has established “the way of things,” and he can alter it without violating the stability of the universe. (Psalm 104:5)
7. Vs 9: Statement of the preservation of the saints
1. The “faithful ones” are kept not by their own strength but by the action of God to keep their feet from slipping.  It is God’s pledge of steadfast love that secures their fate.

a)    Deut 32:35

b)    Isa 46:3-4

c)    Joel 3:16

2. The wicked are going to be judged and cannot do anything to save themselves from that fate.
7. Vs 10: Other notes on this verse:
1. Prophetic reference to thundering against God’s enemies fulfilled in 1 Sam 7:10.
2. God’s judgment reaching to the ends of the earth cannot be said to have been fulfilled in David or Solomon.  Must be Christ (Ps 2:8)
8. Applications:
1. God is sovereign in all things.  He really is in control. 
2. God will save and restore the broken in this world.
3. God will guard and protect those who have turned to him in faith.
4. God’s power to make right on the large scale is the same power He uses in our individual lives.

 

 

Discussion Questions:

1. How has God demonstrated His sovereign control in your lives recently?
2. Hannah was looking for God’s rescue in her life and in the world at large.  Messiah was her answer in both areas.
1. What needs restoration in the world at large?
2. What needs restoration in your life?
3. Are there areas in your life that are difficult for you to see in light of God’s goodness?  If so, spend a moment as a family praying for God to show himself in this area.