Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "This is what the Lord says: 'Did I not clearly reveal myself to your father's house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh? I chose your father out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your father's house all the offerings made with fire by the Israelites. Why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?' “
"Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: 'I promised that your house and your father's house would minister before me forever.' But now the Lord declares: 'Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained. The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your family line and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, in your family line there will never be an old man. Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.’ “
" 'And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you — they will both die on the same day. I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always. Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a crust of bread and plead, "Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat." ' "
1 Samuel 2:27-36
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As we have studied 1st Samuel, Chapter 2, we have read about the wicked ways of Eli’s sons…about how they had no regard for the Lord and treated His sacrifices with contempt…about how they shamelessly displayed sexual promiscuity in the vicinity of the holy Tent of Meeting by sleeping with women at its entrance. We have also read how Eli scolded his sons and warned them that there were dangerous consequences attached to willfully sinning against the Lord. In this study passage, we see Eli’s words validated as the Lord passes His judgment, not only on Eli’s sons but to Eli too.
We first see where God speaks to Eli through a man which is commonplace when He wants to send a message. For He typically does it by way of a messenger or sometimes in the form of a vision or dream.
As we read the first paragraph of God’s message to Eli, we notice how God reminds him what He has done in the past, another common element God uses when addressing His people. He does so to further illuminate the deplorable nature of man’s sin against Him. In Eli’s case, God reminds him of how he established the holy position of high priest that he serves in, having clearly revealed Himself to Eli’s “father's house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh” and later choosing Eli’s father “out of all the tribes of Israel to be (His) priest, to go up to (His) altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in (His) presence.” God also reminded Eli that He had given his “father's house all the offerings made with fire by the Israelites”. You’ll recall that Eli’s father was none other than Aaron, the first high priest.
After God had gotten done reminding Eli about what He had done…telling him how He had established him to his place of honor…He turns to a series of questions. For given all that He had done, God wanted to know:
“Why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling?”
“Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?“
Although we might wonder why God would be chastising Eli for the actions of his sons, we need only consider that Eli had done nothing to stop his sons from doing what they were doing. His condoning their actions led to God holding him just as accountable as they were. If only Eli had spoke out against his sons in the act of their sinfulness instead of well after the fact, maybe things would have been different. But that’s not what happened.
We should learn a valuable lesson from this passage because God expects us to act when we see people openly sinning against Him. We are not to just look the other way or allow the sinful behavior to continue feeling like it isn’t our problem because we can see in Eli’s case that it indeed is our problem. Condoning sinful behavior is akin to being partner to that sin yourself. That’s the message God sends loud and clear.
And so what would come from this? What consequences would result from the actions of Eli’s sons and Eli’s inaction? God answered those questions with the remainder of the verses in Chapter 2.
We read where God intended on removing Eli’s right to serve Him…and his families right as well. For although God had “promised that (Eli’s) house and (his) father's (Aaron) house would minister before (Him) forever”, He would remove that promise from Eli, vowing to “cut short (his) strength and the strength of (his) father's (Aaron) house, so that there (would) not be an old man in (Eli’s) family line”. The family line of high priests under Eli’s lineage was going to end with every descendant either “cut off from (God’s) altar” or spared only so their eyes might be blinded with tears and their hearts grieved. In the end, all of Eli’s descendants would “die in the prime of life” with his “two sons, Hophni and Phinehas” dying “on the same day”.
So who would serve after Eli? God answered that question as well, telling Eli that He would “raise up…a faithful priest” to “do according to what is in My heart and mind”. God required that His servants be obedient and willing to partner with Him in a way that would show them as like-minded. For His selected priest, God promised to “firmly establish his house” so he could “minister before my anointed one always”.
And what would happen to Eli’s family members? Well, “everyone left in (his) family line (would) come and bow down before (the new priest)”, asking “for a piece of silver and a crust of bread” while pleading, "Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat." Indeed, hard times were ahead for Eli and his family…and it never had to be that way.
Friends, we need to wake up now to the fact that God despises sin and will not tolerate willing disobedience and disrespect to Him. He is GOD…and ALL things on heaven and earth are a result of His Almighty Power. This is not a GOD who is to be discounted or slighted. No…this is a GOD who is to be revered and honored always…now and forever. For God said in our scripture, “Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.”
I don’t know about you but I’m choosing honor because as we can see with Eli and his sons, being disdained by God is not a place any of us should want to be. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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