Eli's Wicked Sons
Notes
Transcript
Handout
To what extent do you think parents should be held accountable when their children break the law?
How does the passage describe Eli’s sons and what does it teach us? (v. 12)
They do not know the Lord.
Not everyone that serves in every church knows the Lord. One sign of this separation from God is that they will be corrupt.
They do not love the brethren. Their motives and decisions are simply not motivated from a love of God, God’s people, or a brokenness for lost souls.
Instead of bringing unity to God’s people, they bring a disunity. Their actions tend to tear down and split apart instead of building up and bringing together.
The people they are supposed to be teaching, training, and bringing closer to God are actually falling farther away.
Corruption is a devil’s scheme and like he does many times, it will be masqueraded and camouflaged so that it blends in as long as possible.
Satan wants to take that which is good and corrupt it, or change it to where it is no longer good. This is what he does and he is good at it.
That is why praying through every decision is most important.
That is why heaven will be so great. It will be incorruptible.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
How were the sons of Eli committing sin before the Lord? (vv. 13-16)
God had designated certain portions of the sacrifice to be given to the priests. Instead of accepting that which God had given them, they wanted other portions of the meat, so they forced the people to give it to them. This meat belonged to the person who was offering the sacrifice up, therefore these two priests were stealing from their own people.
34 For the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering I have taken from the children of Israel, from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the children of Israel by a statute forever.’ ”
35 This is the consecrated portion for Aaron and his sons, from the offerings made by fire to the Lord, on the day when Moses presented them to minister to the Lord as priests.
God had also designated that all fat be burned upon the altar as a sweet smelling aroma unto Him. The fat was the Lord’s.
3 Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the Lord. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,
4 the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;
5 and Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is on the wood that is on the fire, as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.
16 and the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma; all the fat is the Lord’s.
17 ‘This shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall eat neither fat nor blood.’ ”
What was the result of their sin among the people? (v. 17, 24)
People quit bringing sacrifices unto the Lord, because they were tired of getting taken advantage of. They did not trust these priests and therefore quit doing what God had commanded them to do.
They caused the people to transgress.
What was Samuel’s practice and how does it contrast the sons of Eli? (v. 18)
Samuel ministered before the Lord, even at a young age. His faithfulness to God at such a young age, despite the corrupted actions of his peers, is no doubt a testament to his parents teaching and training of him.
This contrasts the actions of Eli’s sons and how he allowed their corruption to continue without repercussion.
What did Eli do about his sons’ sinful practices? (vv. 23-24)
He talked to them....he shared his disgust with their actions but took no further action against them.
What does the prophet’s questions and prophecy teach us about Eli and God? (vv. 27-36)
His questions:
God chose their family line to be priests.
God had designated certain portions of the sacrifice to be given to the priests, therefore acknowledging their need for sustenance.
Why do you honor your sons more than me?
God cared for His people and had made provisions for them, but their were stipulations on what that was supposed to look like.
Eli, knowing all of this, decided to allow it to continue. Therefore, he chose his sons over God.
What does God mean by the pronouncement, “you honor your sons more than me”?
Eli knew what could be done to stop their evil and knew that he should take action, but he allowed it to continue nonetheless. Eli chose to have grace upon his sons instead of receiving grace from his Father.
How might Eli have responded differently to reports of his sons’ behavior?
He could have stopped them from serving in the temple.
He could have taken them before the judges/council so that their actions were judged honestly and fairly.
How can we begin now to teach our families the proper fear of God?
By reading the Scriptures to them and showing both God’s justification and judgment.
By showing them discipline when necessary, mimicking the Father.
By providing examples of others who have made very poor decisions and suffered greatly because of it.