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Sunday, March 16, 2014

Hannah's Grace: A Parable about Temple Covenants



The story of Hannah is found in the first two chapters of 1 Samuel.  In it, Hannah is married to a man named Elkanah, who is also married to another woman named Penninah.  Penninah is able to have children, but Hannah is completely barren and unable to produce offspring.  Because of this, our heroine is tormented by Penninah at every opportunity, until eventually she becomes too distraught to eat.  Upon noticing her anguish, Elkanah makes a pretty classic husband statement, “Hannah, what’s wrong?  Don’t I make you happier than ten sons?”  Of course, she doesn’t bother dignifying that with a response.

Hannah didn’t have it easy, nor was she immune to feelings of inadequacy, but she understood that there was only one thing powerful enough to change her dreary fate.  She went to the house of the Lord, and there she made a covenant that if God would give her a son, she would give her son to the Lord.  About that time, Eli the priest wandered by and promised Hannah her plea would not go unanswered, and so she walked away joyfully, freed at last from bitterness of soul and a heavy heart.  She had not yet received the blessing, but she had a testimony of temples, of covenants, and of the fact that God never goes back on a promise.  And sure enough, she was given a son, she did give that son back to the Lord, and as a result she was blessed with five more children.

Without a doubt, covenants can enable things in our lives which otherwise would not be possible.  The most important covenants we make are our temple covenants, which enable us to obtain eternal life and exaltation.  If we look closely at the story of Hannah, particularly at the names of those involved, I think we’ll see that it actually applies to these covenants.  For instance, you’ll recognize the name Eli from when Jesus was on the cross and called out, “Eli, Eli, why have you forsaken me?”  Eli means “my God”, and just as Eli visited Hannah in the temple and promised her the Lord would honor His promise, when I go to the temple I can receive a promise from my God.

Hannah, of course, is the star of the story, and Hannah means “grace”.  The Bible dictionary defines grace as “the enabling power that allows men and women to take hold on eternal life and exaltation” and in The Book of Mormon, Nephi writes that we are saved by grace, after all we can do.  Without grace we cannot hope to receive eternal life, and so our primary goal should be focused on finding this grace.  Unfortunately, the phrase “after all we can do” is a little vague and a bit intimidating.  Luckily, the story of Hannah puts grace in its proper place: directly alongside our temple covenants.

Elkanah also plays a pivotal role in the story; in fact we’re introduced to him before we’re introduced to Hannah!  His name means “God has purchased” and I like to think he represents each of us, because Christ has already paid the terrible price for our sins, allowing us a way to repent and draw nearer to him.  In the beginning of the story Elkanah has two marriages, but only one of them is producing any fruit: Penninah has lots of children, but Hannah can’t have any.  Unlike Elkanah we do not participate in plural marriages, but there may be times in our lives when we are tempted to participate in a dual relationship.  On one hand we’ll have a relationship with Hannah: with grace and our temple covenants, but on the other hand we may want a relationship with Penninah whose name means “pearl” and she represents our worldly treasures and passions.  However, these things are at odds, and if our primary focus is on our worldly treasures and passions we may in fact be diminishing the power of grace to bear fruit in our lives.

So what is the secret to gaining more grace in our lives?  According to the story of Hannah it is as simple as making and keeping temple covenants.  

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