Priests of God

1 Samuel 2:12–36 ESV

Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt. Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod. And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home. Indeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord. Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death. Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man. And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever. And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests’ places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.” ’ ”

Last week - the example of a godly family in the faithful Hannah and Elkanah - and the birth of Samuel

This week we will consider another family, only unlike the family of Hannah, Elkanah, and Samuel, this is a family that is anything but faithful to God.

We met Eli and his sons - a family of priests - last week, and I said they would come back into play. We didn’t need to wait long - here we read more about them, and their character comes into view pretty clearly.

1 Samuel 2:12–17 ESV

Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

First, I want to talk about God this morning. Probably a good thing, right? In particular, I want us to look at the word “Lord” - these men did not know the Lord. In our English translations, when we see the word “Lord” or sometimes even “God” spelled in small capital letters, what is being translated is the covenant name of God: YHWH.

And the name has been disputed over the centuries - how to pronounce it and what the word actually means, because while it is a form of the Hebrew verb “to be”, there are no uses of this form anywhere else in Hebrew writings. So does it mean “I am” or “He is” or “He causes to be”?

Well, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that this is covenant name of God. And that’s important, because as we saw last week, being in covenant with God means that we are in a specific reciprocal relationship with God.

He is our Savior Who allows us into His presence. We are His people, who should know that everything we have - including our salvation - is from Him, so we let Him use everything we are and everything we have as He sees fit for His glory. We honor Him with what He has given us, and offer freely what He demands.

That is the covenant Christ spilled His blood to make with us.

Second, we are told outright here that these two priests of YHWH did not know Him. And when the Old Testament talks about knowledge of YHWH, it is akin to how we in modern terms would talk about “being saved.” It speaks of being in that saving, covenant relationship with God.

And here, we see that these priests of God were not saved. Though they were, as Israelites, in a covenant relationship with God, they were not in a saving covenant relationship with God. They did not know Him as Savior.

And even though they were priests in name - and even did some of the things that you would expect a priest to do - maybe outwardly to most they seemed to fit the bill - but these men were not priests inwardly.

They went to the right place. They did some of the right things. But their hearts were not right with God.

Now think about this. Let’s put this in historical perspective.

Joshua - who led Israel into the Promised Land - died around 1245 BC. Eli, the High Priest and judge of Israel, died around 1067 BC.

So that means, at this point in time in our passage - Israel has been in the land less than 180 years. They had been a nation - a political entity - for less time than the US has been a country.

But here’s the thing - they were a theocracy. They were ruled by God. He was their King. And, as we saw, He is sovereign over all - He does what He wants, and what He wants to do is save.

And yet, we see here that Israel has already deteriorated religiously as a nation. They have already fallen far enough away from the Law and what God commanded them to be - that there were unsaved priests ministering in the Tabernacle.

And the sad truth, is that it didn’t even take that long.

We see prior to this, in the book of Judges, that this was already happening. People God saved, forgot Who God was and what He had done for them.

There is a cycle - a repeated pattern - that we see in the book of Judges. Remember, God allows certain situations to repeat over and over again in the Old Testament because they point us to ultimate truth.

So in the book of Judges, God acts, and that generation that sees His salvation is faithful to Him. Then the next generation falls away, and God allows them to suffer. So they cry out to God and He graciously saves them when they repent, and they see His salvation, and believe, until that Judge dies and the next generation falls away, and the cycle starts all over again.

And for many, this really started earlier than that. At the Exodus, God performed great miracles - He sovereignly acted to bring salvation to those He chose. He showed His saving power through the ten plagues: Exodus chapters 7-13. He miraculously opens the waters of the sea to save His people and then uses that water to destroy His enemies - Exodus chapter 14.

Moses and all the people sing a song of praise to YHWH for His salvation - Exodus chapter 15. And at the end of that chapter, we read that the people complained because they were thirsty. So God miraculously provided water.

Then chapter 16 begins with the people complaining that they were hungry - they actually say “we never should have left Egypt” - and God miraculously provides food.

Chapter 17, they’re thirsty again and they complain - “we never should have left Egypt” - yet God miraculously provides water for them.

What’s the point? We see two things in the Old Testament that we do not in the New Testament. The New Testament is four narratives about the life of Jesus, one about the early church, and then it’s all theology. All of the letters teach us what all the narratives of the Bible mean.

But most of those narratives are in the Old Testament. And these stories aren’t in the Bible just to give us a history of God’s people. There is a purpose in what God has included and how He has organized it.

The stories of the Old Testament are given by God that we may know ourselves and know Him. And throughout, the two things we see very clearly are man’s heart, and God’s heart. These are very evident in the Old Testament narratives.

Man’s heart is focused on man. We want what we want when we want it. From Adam in the Garden to the returned exiles that the prophet Malachi spoke against.

And even for those who come to the end of ourselves, and our heart cries out to God when we need salvation, and even when God provides it, we see that we are only a short time away from reverting to our default. Man’s heart knows what God has done, but still asks “what have You done for me lately?”

But we see that while man’s heart is for man, God’s heart is for man.

God is patient. He is kind. He is loving. He saves His people because only He can. And they complain. And yet, God is gracious, so He provides for them. And they forget what He’s already done. And still God lovingly provides for them what they can’t provide for themselves. And they get annoyed at what they don’t have. And still God provides.

God provides the Land to His people. And generation after generation forgets what He has done and they turn from Him and go their own way. And when that inevitably turns out horribly for them, they turn to God, and because His heart is for His people, God provides what they need. He saves. He gives and gives and gives.

And then it all happens again.

God not only saved them - but fulfilled every promise and more. And yet their hearts led them away from Him time and time again.

This is what has been set up at this point in Old Testament history.

And we get to Eli’s sons. Here are two “priests”, given the greatest responsibility and the greatest honor man can receive. God has called them as priests. And in the Law, God makes special provision for the priests. He provides for them abundantly.

God provided for the priests through the meats and grains that were sacrificed to God - God shares what is His with His priests. They got a portion that God provided. But these two men, like Israel at the Exodus. Like Israel during the time of the Judges - like most people today - they completely overlooked God’s provision and blessing and they just did what they wanted.

They ignored all God had given them - all He had done for them - and they took more.

And notice that it was the offering of the Lord that they treated with contempt. When they took what they wanted, they took what rightfully belonged to God. And we see, when they - and when we - take matters into our own hands and take beyond what the Lord has not graciously given - our sin is very great in the sight of the Lord.

It was true for Israel. It was true for these two men. And it’s true for us.

Now that begs the questions: how do we today know when we are taking more than God is giving us? There were laws - detailed laws - for the priests in the Old Testament. How do we know when we’re accepting what God provides, and when we’re taking more than He’s giving?

His Word. Yes: these priests had very specific details about the offerings and what they had a right to, and they violated that knowingly and willingly.

But we have very specific details in the New Testament about what God wants from us on this side of the cross. We know what He has given us, and we know how to use what He has given us. And God’s expectations of His people are as explicit now as they were when He gave the Law.

And while we don’t have 613 individual commands like Israel did, as we saw a few weeks ago: we have a very explicit command to love each other like Jesus loves us.

And how does Jesus love us?

Well, as we just saw: in His deity, He saved the people of Israel And He was patient with Israel after He saved them. His heart was for them no matter where their hearts were. He provided even when they complained. Even when they forgot what He had already done for them.

And every time they went their own way and they rightly suffered the horrible consequences His heart was for them. And every time they repented He saved them. He provided what they needed when they asked.

When we were going our own way - when we were oblivious to all God had graciously provided for us - when we were headed for the horrible consequences of our sin - which we should rightly suffer - He graciously saved us.

And to do it, God took on humanity. And in His humanity, He provided us with everything we can and will ever need by giving up all He had.

And He tells us - our offering to Him - our living sacrifice - the offering of YHWH: is to love like He loves.

Are we doing that?

Because, think about what these two men were doing. It’s bad enough that they were contemptuous toward YHWH - that they had contempt for His offering. But what they were doing was also affecting everyone else who came to worship in the presence of God.

They did this, we are told, to all the Israelites that came there.

The sin of these men was very great in the sight - in the presence - of YHWH, because they treated His offering with contempt. Including the offering that others brought to Him. Failure to give God His due doesn’t just affect one person. It affects all the worshipers of God.

And we see here, in these two men, the fallen, sinful heart of man. They did not know the Lord. And we see how that heart lives. It lives for itself.

But in contrast to Hophni and Phinehas, we have that faithful family:

1 Samuel 2:18–21 ESV

Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod. And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home. Indeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.

First, note that Samuel was clothed in a linen ephod. This isn’t an insignificant detail. This is the garb of a priest. Samuel is being described as a priest here. As opposed to the sons of Eli who did not know YHWH, and treated the offering of God with contempt - whose sin was great in God’s presence - here we have Samuel, faithfully ministering in the presence of God.

And he is a true priest. As opposed to Hophni and Phinehas - priests by descent - we have Samuel, the freewill offering to God acting as priest. As opposed to a priest in name that maybe did some of the right things and played the part of a priest outwardly, we have a young man who was a priest inwardly.

And we see that Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord. Remember, because of our covenant relationship with God, He allows us to live in His presence. And our part of that is that we are to live in His presence.

Samuel did that, and he grew in the presence of the Lord. This is not just speaking physically. He grew as a man of God - as someone that knew God - in modern terms: Samuel grew in his Christian walk by living His life in the presence of God. His faith grew. His holiness grew. His love for God grew.

And then we have Hannah. We see that her and her husband remained faithful to God by coming for the annual feasts. We see that she would bless her son - how proud she must have been of him - by bringing him a new robe every year.

And we see that God rewards her for her faithfulness. She has offered God the firstfruits of what she had in Samuel, and God blessed her. He gives her five more children after Samuel.

And so we see another contrast. As opposed to Hannah - faithful to God, giving her child unto God - putting him in the presence of God - we have Eli. What did he do with his children?

Let’s see.

1 Samuel 2:22 ESV

Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

So Eli was very old. As the High Priest, this meant that the time was coming for a new High Priest. And typically, one of the sons of the High Priest would take the job when his father passed on. So we see the problem.

And we see that Eli heard about what his sons were doing. And it goes beyond what they were doing with the offerings people were bringing. They were taking even more for themselves. We are told that they were taking for themselves the women who served at the Tabernacle.

Who were these women?

We read about them first in Exodus 38. Bezalel the artisan made all of the fixtures needed for the Tabernacle.

Exodus 38:8 ESV

He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting.

There was an order of women who dedicated themselves to the service of God and His people. They served outside the Tabernacle at the door since women were not allowed to serve in the Tabernacle.

And while we know most of what we know about these women from extra-Biblical writings, we see here that they gave up their worldly belongings - like the Levites who had no possessions in the land - but instead chose God as their portion.

They gave their mirrors - which would be made of polished bronze - and let them be melted down to make some of the fixtures for the Tabernacle.

So when we read that these two men were laying with these women, what we see is that, once again, they were taking for themselves what belonged to God.

They took these women - who freely offered themselves to God - for themselves.

And Eli didn’t just hear of it. We are told that he kept hearing of it. And I find it hard to believe that he didn’t already know about it, since he was the High Priest, and since we saw that he sat at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Let’s say that he didn’t just turn a blind eye to what his sons were doing and only had to act because word had gotten out. He still turned a deaf ear, at least for a time, because he kept hearing about it.

And what does he do?

1 Samuel 2:23–25 (ESV)

And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?”

He hears from all these people. We don’t get the impression that Eli was appalled at the behavior of his sons. Even if he didn’t see it, he heard it from all these people before he did something about it.

And that it isn’t good that this is being spread abroad in Eli’s opinion shows that he is more concerned with appearances, than he is with honoring God. It shows his apathy toward the things of God - towards the covenant, his own responsibility, the people of God. Eli was apathetic towards it all.

But he now has to rebuke his sons - which he doesn’t do very harshly - because news is now out of their sinful relationships with these women. The apathetic Eli was forced to act here.

So Eli warns them: if someone does wrong to another person, God is the mediator. God will do justice - and show mercy and grace. But if someone sins against YHWH, who can intercede for him?

And of course, we know Who will intercede for those who sin against God with justice, and mercy, and grace. That’s why Christ came. To serve justice on our behalf so that those who have sinned against God could receive mercy and grace.

And all those who place their faith in Christ - who enter into covenant with Him - who know Him - have justice served, receive grace and mercy, and have a great Intercessor.

But those that don’t - those that don’t know God - have none of this.

Which is why we see yet another contrast drawn:

1 Samuel 2:25–26 (ESV)

But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.

Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.

We have Hophni and Phinehas - contemptuous toward God, taking for themselves what belongs to God, ignoring all God has given them, not even caring that their sin is public knowledge and that people are complaining about them - they did what they wanted when they wanted.

And then we have Samuel - a freewill offering to the Lord, who continued to grow both in stature and favor with the Lord and with man. And we see a pointer to Christ here because the same thing is said about Him in Luke 2:52.

But we also see God’s sovereignty in this contrast. Remember, Hannah praised God with her prayer, and she said that the Lord kills and the Lord brings to life. He guards the feet of the faithful but breaks to pieces the wicked.

We are seeing this playing out in the contrast between the sons of Eli and Samuel. The sovereignty of God in death and life - remember, He alone is sovereign over life and gives it to whom He will.

And note what this says. It doesn’t say that these men wouldn’t listen so God wanted to put them to death. It says they wouldn’t listen because God wanted to put them to death.

Samuel, on the other hand, grew in favor with the Lord - God’s favor was upon Him.

So we see God’s sovereign grace, and we see God’s sovereign judgment.

But man still has responsibility for himself in salvation. And so we also see here the contrast of two different hearts - that fallen heart we talked about a few minutes ago - the heart that has contempt towards God, that seeks its own way and forgets what God has given and takes what it wants.

And the heart that gives to God what He wants. The heart that doesn’t seek its own way, but seeks God.

And here’s the question: are these the only two options? Is there a middle ground? Well, while it may seem as if there is here in Eli, who is just apathetic towards the things of God, we are going to see that God doesn’t treat apathy different from contempt.

1 Samuel 2:27–28 ESV

And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel.

God has a prophet come to Eli because of everything that has happened, and through him God asks some rhetorical questions.

Did He reveal Himself to Eli’s father in Egypt? Yes.

Did God choose him as priest along with his tribe? Yes. As we saw last week: God chose the tribe of Levi to serve Him. But out of Levi, He chose the line of Aaron - Moses’s brother - as priests. This is speaking of Aaron the Levite.

Did God choose the priests to make offerings on the altar, to burn incense in His presence, and to wear the ephod? Yes.

And we see why it was important to know that Samuel wore the ephod and was acting as a priest. The writer is drawing contrast after contrast to show two types of people. Those that are for God and who God is for, and those who are against God and who God is against.

Those who honor God and who He honors - and everyone else.

There are those against God - who like these two unbelieving priests do not offer to God what is due to Him, but take for themselves what rightfully belongs to Him. And there are those who are for God and who offer Him what is rightfully His, which is everything.

God says here to Eli: you are called to go to the altar, burn incense, and wear the ephod. And in Christ, this is what we are all called to. We are to come into God’s presence, offer acceptable sacrifices, and be a priest.

We are all priests of God if we are in covenant with Christ.

And what the writer is doing here is showing just a bit of what becomes clearer the further we get into the Old Testament. That God calls all people - not just one physical people, but all people - to be for Him. To honor Him. To repent and believe. To be one of His people by coming into His presence, offering all we have to Him, and being His priest.

God asks Eli - didn’t I call the house of Aaron to be my priests and offer to me acceptable sacrifices? And the answer to all of this is yes. Then He asks:

1 Samuel 2:29 ESV

Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’

Note that God is now including Eli - the apathetic Eli - in with his sons. Eli made his choice - he chose to honor his sons over God. It was easier. So Eli is right there with them in their sin. You have fattened yourselves, God says, by taking what was mine and what belongs to my true worshipers.

You scorned My sacrifice - what was due to Me. You took for yourselves what belonged to me. And you took it from my people.

This is what apathy towards God does.

And God treats the apathetic and the contemptuous the same way:

1 Samuel 2:30 ESV

Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

The priesthood was given to Aaron and his physical offspring - BUT. The priesthood was according to physical descent - but now YHWH declares: far be it from Him. Because it really has nothing to do with physical descent, because it is a spiritual matter

Those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me I will despise. The “lightly esteemed” here means to be despised our counted as nothing.

Those who are for Me, God says, I will be for. I will honor those who honor Me. But those who are against me - whether apathetic or outright contemptuous - they will be counted as nothing,

1 Samuel 2:31–34 ESV

Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day.

God says he will cut off Eli and his family from the priesthood, and He will cut off his father’s house from the priesthood. That’s important. This is about more than just Eli’s sons. God will cut off the strength of the Aaronic priesthood.

And the sign to Eli that this will happen will be the death of his unbelieving sons.

This is why these contrasts have been drawn so far in the book. God is calling for a change in understanding, here. The change begins with Samuel, who serves as priest, and is a Levite, but not a descendant of Aaron!

And we will see the change continue when later we will see David himself - the king - from the tribe of Judah! - perform the duties of a priest and God accept him doing so.

This is not a physical matter, but a spiritual one.

And as the history of redemption unfolds, God makes it clearer and clearer that this is not just about who is called a priest, but it’s about who are His true people.

God in His grace saved Israel and gave them the land.

God in His mercy was patient with them and forgave them over and over and over again and kept providing for them.

God kept His promises and more.

But God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance.

And all He required was that they would be for Him. That they would honor Him. That they would give to Him what was already rightfully His.

Because those who do not honor Him, will be counted as nothing by Him.

And as Israel’s history unfolds, we see them reject God again and again - like they did from the start. They reject Him as King, as we will see in this book. They eventually reject Him as their God. They break the covenant, and lose everything.

But in His grace, God provides something better for all who honor Him.

And we see here this formulaic “the days are coming”:

1 Samuel 2:31 (ESV)

Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.

This “the days are coming” is used only one time outside of the prophetic books. Right here.

And as history unfolds, and God sends more prophets to His people like He does here, we see more and more of the plan of redemption that will be completed in the coming days.

Can only scratch the surface here

Physical Israel will be rejected:

Isaiah 39:6 ESV

Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord.

Which is the end of the Old Covenant:

Jeremiah 9:25–26 ESV

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

God lumps Israel in with the rest of the world - removes the physical distinction - and promises a better covenant for all:

Jeremiah 31:31–34 ESV

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

And this will be fulfilled in Christ:

Jeremiah 23:5 ESV

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

This is what God promises here:

1 Samuel 2:35 ESV

And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.

This is God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. And God is already revealing this to His people here.

Already, God is pointing us towards the greater fulfillment of all His promises. The greater covenant. The greater salvation. The greater King.

And a greater judgment.

A judgment for those who despise Him. He says to Eli:

1 Samuel 2:36 ESV

And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests’ places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.” ’ ”

As opposed to Hannah who as we saw was blessed with children because she gave her child to God, the house of Eli will lack food because they took food from God.

To those who have will be given even more, to those who don’t have - even what they have will be taken away.

The humble will be exalted, and the exalted will be humbled.

And in this, God is here showing us types of judgment. He is showing us types of salvation. He is showing us types of Christ. He is showing us types of the church. It’s all here. God will do what He promised.

God has done what He promised, and He will do even more.

So the question is not about what God will do. As usual, the question is about what we will do.

So I have a question - as those called to be priests of God - what kind of priests will we be?

Will we be like Hophni and Phinehas - priests in name, wanting the honor but not the responsibility of our priesthood? Showing God contempt by ignoring what He has plainly told us, begrudging what He has given us, and just doing things our way?

Outwardly doing some of the right things, saying some of the right things, being in the right place - while inwardly our hearts are far from God. While our hearts are for ourselves instead of Him?

Will we be like Eli - apathetic towards the things of God. Yes, we’ll do the “right thing” when we have to, but we’d just as soon turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to what’s going on around us.

Ignoring the work God has called us to. Ignoring sin - and taking part in sin by doing so.

Comfortable just sitting - watching the Hophnis and Phinehases dishonor God and doing nothing about it. Watching the Samuels do the work God called them to, and doing nothing to help them?

Will we be like Samuel - freely offering to God what He asks for, and more - remembering that He has kept every promise to us, and more? Taking the responsibility along with the honor of being called as God’s seriously. Inwardly honoring God - serving Him with our whole heart.

And thereby growing in faith. Growing in holiness. And growing in love for God.

What kind of priests will we be?

If you don’t know God - there is a mediator. There is One Who has and will intercede on your behalf - Jesus Christ.

the Gospel*

If you know Him and are feeling far from Him. Maybe doing the outward, but missing something inwardly - offer yourself to Jesus this morning.

If you are feeling apathetic in your walk - offer yourself to Jesus this morning.

If you want to take more seriously the responsibility God has given you as - offer yourself to Jesus this morning

If you are a Samuel, and your heart is on fire for God and you want to honor Him with all you are and all you have - offer yourself to Jesus this morning