“Then Hannah prayed; she said:
‘My heart exults in Adonai!
My dignity has been restored by Adonai!
I can gloat over my enemies,
because of my joy at your saving me.”
-1 Samuel 2:1
In her prayer to God Hannah boasts how she can now “gloat over my enemies” because God has rescued her.
This was actually a common saying in the ancient Middle East.
However, the word “gloat” might not be the best word to use here.
The dictionary definition of “gloat” is “to dwell on one’s own success or another’s misfortune with smugness or malignant pleasure”.
Using the word “gloat” imparts the idea that Hannah was now arrogantly parading herself in front of P’ninah (Elkanah’s other wife) and letting her know she was just as good or even better than her because Adonai had finally given her a son.
That’s not the true Hebrew sense of the word.
The word is actually much stronger.
It more means to completely engulf or swallow up the enemy to the point where the enemy doesn’t even exist.
And the enemy in this case was NOT P’ninah even though that’s what everybody thinks because P’ninah acted so nastily towards Hannah.
I get it though but the truth is as much as P’ninah mocked Hannah, they were NOT enemies.
Well, if that’s the case, then who were Hannah’s enemies?
The answer is Hannah’s enemies were God’s enemies.
Think about the context of Hannah’s prayer for a sec.
Hannah is rightfully acknowledging the Lord is responsible for everything good and bad in her life.
And is giving the Lord credit for “raising up her horn” and restoring her strength and dignity as a woman.
As a result, wouldn’t it make sense to say that Hannah’s enemies had now become the Lord’s enemies?
And the Lord’s enemies had become Hannah’s enemies?
Think about that last sentence for a sec homies.
If you’re a believer and a worshipper of the God of Israel…
Then by default, God’s enemies have become your enemies.
And the opposite is also true.
Our enemies become His enemies.
And God will seek to protect and save us from our enemies.
However, there is a caveat to this.
If we attempt to side with those who are God’s enemies, all bets are off baby!
A perfect example is the Christian church siding with the Muslim world and the Palestinians against God’s People & their land.
I don’t give two hoots if you consider yourself to be a part of the “body of Christ”…
If you side with God’s enemies, you’ve just separated yourself from the body of Messiah…
And are now on God’s hit list.
Consider this to be a fair warning!
To add a collolary to this statement, when you come against God’s people, you come against God.
Ask the Egyptians, who used to be the most powerful people in the known world; ask the Babylonians, the Philistines, the Assyrians, England, Spain, France, Germany, or today go to Syria and Jordan.
Even with all their oil, the “local” enemies of God’s people have very little else.
When you mess with God’s people, you are messing with God, and that is a no-win scenario.
True…that is one of the foundational philosophies of my blog. Be blessed!