Women of Note in the Old Testament
33
Sisera, the enemy of God and of His people, her purpose changed. As
he lay before her asleep, she overcame her natural reluctance to such
an act, and slew him by driving a nail through his temples, pinning
him to the earth. As Barak, in pursuit of his enemy, passed that way,
he was called in by Jael to behold the vainglorious captain dead at his
feet—slain by the hand of a woman.
Deborah celebrated the triumph of Israel in a most sublime and
impassioned song. She ascribed to God all the glory of their deliver-
ance, and bade the people praise Him for His wonderful works. She
called upon the kings and princes of surrounding nations to hear what
God had wrought for Israel, and to take warning not to do them harm.
She showed that honor and power belong to God, and not to men, or
to their idols. She portrayed the awful exhibitions of divine power and
majesty displayed at Sinai. She set before Israel their helpless and
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distressed condition, under the oppression of their enemies, and related
in glowing language the history of their deliverance.—
The Signs of
the Times, June 16, 1881
.
Hannah, Mother of Samuel
This chapter is based on
1 Samuel 1, 2
.
Hannah, first and best-loved wife of Elkanah, a Levite, was barren
and greatly desired a child. At the yearly feast at Shiloh she silently
cried and prayed to the Lord to grant her a child. Eli, the priest, heard
her and told her to “go in peace, and may the Lord, the God of Israel,
answer your prayer.”
The father of Samuel was Elkanah, a Levite, who dwelt at Ramah,
in Mount Ephraim. He was a person of wealth and influence, a kind
husband, and a man who feared and reverenced God. Hannah, the
wife of Elkanah, was a woman of piety and devotion. Humility, con-
scientiousness, and a firm reliance upon God, were ruling traits in her
character. Of Hannah it might truly be said, in the words of the wise
man: “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.”—
The Signs
of the Times, October 27, 1881
.
The blessing so earnestly sought by every Hebrew was denied this
godly pair; their home was not gladdened by the voice of childhood;
and the desire to perpetuate his name led the husband—as it had led