Judgement Begins at God’s House 1 Samuel 2:11-36

Introduction

Here we come to a portion of scripture that contrasts the faithful life and the unfaithful life. Samuel had been given back to the Lord by his parents and we will see his faithfulness to God and His house, and on the other side we find Eli’s son’s who do not even know God and are unfaithful to his house. God isn’t going to allow anyone to disrespect the sacrifice or his house, but especially not the priests themselves. In Hannah’s prayer found in verses 1-10 she alluded to the arrogant, the mighty, the wicked and those who contend with the Lord and here we find all of those attributes in two men, and they weren’t Philistines or Canaanites, they weren’t the enemies of God, they were the priests of Israel.

Faithful vs. Unfaithful vs. 11-26

Here in verse 11-26 we see two narratives running parallel to one another, that of Samuel and that of Hophni and Phineas

Samuel found serving vs. 11

After Elkanah returns home to Ramah, we find Samuel ministering unto the Lord before Eli

What Samuel was given back to the Lord to do, he did.

Notice we don’t find Samuel complaining after his parents left him with Eli, we see him ministering.

The word minister here mean to attend and serve.

We find Samuel serving, proving that no matter whether people are doing right in their own eyes rather than the eyes of the Lord, you can still serve the Lord faithfully.

Eli’s sons disgracing the sacrifice vs. 12-17

The writer here introduces us to the sons of Eli and tells us they were the sons of Belial

In Deut 13:13 We find the Children of Belial again

Deuteronomy 13:13 “13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;”

Not only were they sons of Belial, they knew not the Lord.

What a tragic way to describe the Spiritual leaders of God’s people

As people who attend church regularly we must be careful that we don’t just have a head knowledge of who God is, but we also have a heart knowledge.

Both of Eli’s sons had no regard for God, his people or his house.

In Leviticus 7:28-36 we find what was supposed to happen during the offerings

Leviticus 7:28-36- Turn

The priests were allotted the breast and the right shoulder of the sacrifice

Notice here that Eli’s sons grabbed a three pronged fork and dug in to the worshippers portion of the post sacrificial meal he and his family should enjoy

Not only were they taking more than they should, they asked for the meat before the fat was burned off.

In Leviticus 3 we read about the fat and how they were supposed to burn it as an offering made by fire, of a sweet smelling savour unto the Lord

If anyone brought this up to them, look what verse 16 says they would do.

Their sin was very great before the Lord

Because of their sin men began to abhor or hate the offering of the Lord.

Samuel found serving vs. 18-21

After we read about the Elis sons sin in the sacrifice we turn back to Samuel.

One commentary wrote about these little snippets of Samuel in this way “These brief Samuel-notes are noteworthy. They tell us that the Lord is already at work providing for new, godly leadership for his people. There are no slogans, no campaigns, no speeches. It is all very quiet. Growth seldom makes noise, and the Lord is growing his new leader. Eli’s sons dominated the picture. All Israel suffered under the arrogant, cynical, immoral priesthood, clergy who savored prime cuts over teaching godliness, who much preferred having a woman in bed than interceding for the Lord’s flock. It must have seemed to many like there was no hope of improvement, no exit from the night. But in the middle of it all the text keeps whispering, “Don’t forget Samuel—you see how Samuel is serving.” That is the Lords manner—quietly providing for the next moment even in the middle of the darkest moments.”

We find Samuel again serving before the Lord

While the temple is being disgraced by Hophni and Phineas, Samuel is still serving the Lord faithfully.

Every year his mom comes and brings him a coat

In verses 20-21 we see God rewarding Hannah for her faithfulness of bringing Samuel back to the Lord

Hannah who was once barren had three sons and two daughters.

God always blesses those who are faithful to him

Hannah and her husband disappear from the story, but they remain a testimony of the faithfulness of our great God

The moral failure of Eli’s sons vs. 22-25

Not only had Eli’s sons disgraced the sacrifices, but they had morally disgraced the Lord.

Notice Eli was an old man, and people had told him what his sons were doing.

They had turned the place of confession of sin to a place where sins were committed.

Eli tried to warn his sons with the dangers of the path they were on in verses 23- the first part of verse 25.

Notice in the second part of verse 25 that Eli’s sons hearkened not or didn’t listen to the voice of their father

The didn’t listen because the Lord would slay them

Like we have said many times, God is a God of Mercy, but He is also Just. His attributes don’t cancel each other out.

We have a similar thought given in Romans 1:18-32. - turn

Special attention to verse 24, 26, 28

Samuel continues to grow vs. 26

Samuel remains faithful despite what’s going on around him. He does that by keeping close to God. Notice he grew in favour both with God and Man.

We should never stop growing in favour with God and man. Even when the world around us does wicked, grow in favour with God and man. People ought to know that you’ve been with Jesus.

The Rebuke of Eli and his son’s vs. 27-36

All of a sudden a man of God appears to Eli with a message from God. We don’t know who this is or where he came from, but we do know why he came, to rebuke the evil being done in the house of the lord by the priests.

The Lord’s reminder vs. 27-28

The story of previous grace (vv. 27–28) always makes the present sin (v. 29) appear as dismal as it is. Yahweh had granted to the “house of your father” (v. 27; probably = Aaron) the privilege of the priesthood, of serving at the altar, burning incense, wearing the ephod (see Exod. 28), and enjoying the food offerings (v. 28).

The Lord’s Charge vs. 29

Notice that his sons had taken advantage of people and their sacrifice, they made themselves fat off of other peoples offerings, and the accusation is that Eli honours his sons more than he honours the Lord.

Eli did nothing to remove his sons from the priesthood although they were polluting the priesthood.

One commentary said it this way “There was public, scandalous sin at Shiloh. It was ongoing; it was unchecked. Nothing (beyond verbal exhortations) was being done about it. No surprise that God’s people became cynical about worship and sacrifice. Then out of the blue comes a man of God with the word of God. Here is nothing less than the invasion of the word of God, which by announcing judgment on sin and exposing sin protects the people of God from being wholly overcome by its evil. If Hophni and Phinehas threaten to destroy God’s people then Hophni and Phinehas will be destroyed to spare God’s people. It is a work of judgment, it is a harsh word, but it is at the same time a saving word, a merciful word, a protecting word for the people of God. If the true church is to be preserved her false servants must be removed”

The Lord’s judgement vs. 30-36

The burden of the prophet’s message was centered on the future (1 Sam. 2:30–36).

God had given the priesthood to Aaron and his descendants forever, and nobody could take this honor (Ex. 29:9; 40:15; Num. 18:7; Deut. 18:5). However, God’s servants can’t live any way they please and expect the Lord to honor them, for “them that honour me I will honour”

The privilege of the priesthood would remain with the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron, but God would take it away from Eli’s branch of the family. Eli’s descendants would become weak and die off, and there would be no more old men like Eli in the family. They would have to beg for their food and would plead for an opportunity to serve

Verse 35 was an immediate reference to Zadok, but ultimately points to Jesus Christ who alone could have a sure house and be God’s anointed forever.

Conclusion

This morning we saw the difference between a faithful servant and an unfaithful priest. God will only allow so much and then he must do something. Remain faithful even when the world and “christian” leaders around you are going crazy.

This morning if you’re here and you have never trusted Christ as your saviour don’t wait. Come this morning and we can show you from God’s word how you can be saved.