1 Samuel 2

Intro:

Moldy House

When a house is referred to in Scripture it means more than the building

It refers to the life of the family

Eli’s house was corrupt and wicked, but it was soon coming to an end

Read 1 Samuel 2:1-3

I. Hannah’s Prayer vs. 1-11

Vs. 1-11 is a continuation of the worship seen in vs. 28

This is the song Hannah sang to the Lord

vs. 1-3 Exalt the Lord

She starts out by exalting the Lord

All worship should start with praise

Matthew 6:9 ESV

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Worship is to give worth to the one who is worthy

Hannah’s heart explodes in joy over how good the Lord is

Her mouth smiles at her enemies

The ESV says derides but the Hebrew word means to enlarge or grow wide

It was closed in silence and shame before but now He has opened it up and it smiles

She is rejoicing in the Lord answering her prayers

Sunday I told people to send in their praise reports and we received several reports of how God is answering

If you don’t receive the prayer requests send an email to [e-mail] and he will add you

vs. 3 Be careful what you say because you might eat your words

God weighs the actions and he knows everything

vs. 4-8 God is Sovereign

This next section Hannah lays out all of those years of frustration

She goes after Peninnah

The bows of the mighty are broken

But the feeble find strength

The one with many children is forlorn

but the barren has borne seven

Then she shifts to God’s sovereignty

The Lord Kills and brings life

The makes poor and rich

He raises the needy to sit with princes

The pillars of the earth are the Lord’s

vs. 9-11 The Lord Guards the Faithful

Finally, Hannah ends with proclaiming the Lord guards the faithful

We don’t prevail by our might

Zechariah 4:6 ESV

Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

The enemies of the Lord will be broken into pieces

He will judge and exalt

Then Elkanah and Hannah went home without Samuel

The boy ministered to the Lord

God answered Hannah’s prayer and Hannah kept her word

II. Eli’s Worthless Sons vs. 12-21

Next the author of 1 Samuel turns to the house of Eli

Eli is the priest who is past his time of service but His boys don’t know the Lord so he is forced to remain at the temple

His house is out of order

God had strict requirements for the Priests

Leviticus 21:6–8 ESV

They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord’s food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy.

The chief goal of a priest was to remain clean so they could offer sacrifices

They had to set themselves apart

That continues in the NT

1 Timothy 3:2–5 ESV

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?

Eli failed both of these tests

They were more like the World than like the Lord

Every church faces the danger

vs. 12-17 Serving Their Own Interests

When people came to sacrifice God would get a portion, the priest would get a portion, then the family would get the rest

Originally the priest was supposed to get the shoulder and the breast

Deuteronomy 18:3 ESV

And this shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach.

Somehow the tradition has changed to the Priest sticking a fork in the boiling pot and getting whatever they pulled out

Eli’s sons would take the meat before it was cooked

Grilled meat is always better than boiled, but there is a problem

The Lord got the first portion

That included the fat which is often the best

They were subverting the principle of the First fruits

First fruits mean the first and best

Proverbs 3:9–10 ESV

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

If people tried to keep the law they would take it by force

So there was a spirit of intimidation around the temple

They were bullying the people

This sin was very great in the eyes of the Lord and He is not turning a blind eye

vs. 18-21 Samuel Ministers before the Lord

Notice the contrast

It started in vs. 11

1 Samuel 2:11 ESV

Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. And the boy was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.

Samuel was a young boy of 4-5 and he was ministering

The boys of Eli were serving themselves

Now once again we see Samuel ministering before the Lord

He is well adjusted and faithful

God is raising up his person and the people are starting to notice

Most notably was his mother

Hannah brought him a robe, or ehpod

The Ephod was the upper vest that went over the linen robe

Each year Hannah would bring him a new set of clothes that would fit

A Mother’s love never stops

Samuel was a blessing to Eli because Eli would bless his parents every year

He would say “May the Lord give you children”

She bore five more children after Samuel

This shows us that if we dedicate our children to the Lord and raise them to know Scripture and walk in the footsteps they will not depart from it

Stop for a second and think about this

For years Hannah was barren and ridiculed

They were silent once she got pregnant, but had to flare up again when she left Samuel at the temple

Then God blesses her with five more children

What a testimony to the power of God and our being faithful

III. Eli Rebukes Sons vs. 22-26

It only gets worse for Eli’s corrupt house

Eli is hearing bad reports from the people of the wicked acts

vs. 22-25 A Bad Report

Eli was very old

His sons should’ve taken over but they don’t know the Lord

They were caught up in the age of the judges and were a perfect picture of how people acted

They were laying with the women serving at the entrance of the temple

This means the sons of Eli were committing sexual immorality with the women who came to worship at the tabernacle.

This was an ancient version of the modern sex scandals among pastors or preachers.

It was also similar to the pagan worship rituals of Baal where there were temple prostitutes

This passage is not focused on Eli’s sons as much as it is on Eli himself.

He was old and in no condition to lead Israel as high priest.

He heard everything his sons did but Eli only rebuked them about it.

They should’ve been put to death like Aarons sons

Godly people told Eli about his sons’ sins, and he spoke to them about their conduct, but it did no good.

He wasn’t much of a godly father or spiritual leader, and his sons disregarded his warnings.

It’s tragic when a father—and a spiritual leader at that—loses his influence over his own family and can only wait for God’s hand of judgment to fall.

vs. 26 Samuel Grows in Stature

Once again we get to the contrast of Samuel

Even though he was young he was more righteous the Hophni and Phineas

Now he was growing in stature and favor

The people of Israel were discerning even though the times were wicked

IV. Eli’s House Rejected vs. 27-36

vs. 27-30 Prophet visits Eli

Then a man of God:

We don’t know who this was; this man of God is one of the wonderful anonymous characters of the Bible.

But it doesn’t matter who he was.

He was a man of God, and God raised him up to speak to Eli and Eli’s whole family at this important time.

Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father:

The father referred to is Aaron, who was the first High Priest.

Since the High Priesthood was a hereditary office, Eli was a descendant of Aaron, whom God had revealed Himself to.

To be My priest: First and foremost, the job of the High Priest was to minister unto the LORD. Before he served the people, he was a servant of God. He was not first the people’s priest, he was first the priest of God.

To offer upon My altar: The priest brought sacrifices for atonement and worship.

To burn incense: Burning incense was a picture of prayer, because the smoke and the scent of the incense ascends up to the heavens. The priest was to lead the nation in prayer, and to pray for the nation.

To wear an ephod before Me: The priest was clothed in specific garments, for glory and for beauty (Exodus 28:2). He was to represent the majesty, dignity, glory, and beauty of God to the people.

All the offerings: The priest was also charged with the responsibility to receive the offerings of God’s people and to make good use of them.

Why do you kick at My sacrifice: It would have been easy for Eli to say, “I’m not doing it! My sons are!” But Eli had a double accountability for his sons, both as a father (though this was diminished because the sons were adults), and as the High Priest. His sons “worked” for him as priests, and Eli was a bad “boss.”

And honor your sons more than Me: Since Eli did not correct his sons the way he should, he essentially preferred them to the LORD. If Eli were more afraid of offending God and less afraid of offending his sons he would have corrected them as he should have.

vs. 31-34 House Cut Off

I will cut off your arm:

Not literally, but since the arm was a picture of strength and might in Hebrew thinking (Psalms 10:15, 77:15, and 89:10), this said the house of Eli would be left powerless and without strength.

‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever’; but now the LORD says:

God promised that the priestly line would not stay with Eli and his descendants but would pass to another line of descendants from Aaron.

This was fulfilled many years later, in Solomon’s day.

Abiathar (from Eli’s family) was deposed as high priest and replaced with Zadok (who was from another family).

1 Kings 2:27 ESV

So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, thus fulfilling the word of the Lord that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

i“I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever,” but now the LORD says:

This was a promise to Aaron

Exodus 29:9 ESV

and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

God did not remove the priesthood from the line of Aaron, but He did remove it from the line of Eli.

There shall not be an old man in your house forever… And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age:

This idea is repeated twice in these few verses. God wanted to emphasize that He would not bless the descendants of Eli with a long life.

Shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart: The descendants of Eli who did live a little longer would not live blessed lives. Their end would be painful to see.

vs. 35-36 Raise Up a Priest

Now this shall be a sign to you:

Since the fulfillment of the judgment would be many years away (in the days of Solomon), God gave Eli an immediate sign to demonstrate His truthfulness.

Eli’s sons will die in one day; Eli will see this and know the judgment of God has come against his house.

Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest:

Who is the faithful priest predicted here?

He was a great priest, because he did according to what is in [God’s] heart and in [God’s] mind.

He was a blessed priest, because God said of him, I will build him a sure house, and he will walk before My anointed forever.

This promise was partially fulfilled in Samuel, because he functioned as a godly priest, effectively replacing the ungodly sons of Eli.

The promise was partially fulfilled in Zadok, in the days of Solomon, because he replaced Eli’s family line in the priesthood.

The promise was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, because He is a priest forever in the order of Melchezedek (Hebrews 7:12-17).

Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver:

This is a fitting judgment, since much of the sin of Eli’s sons was greed and stealing from God’s people.

Instead of receiving the priestly portions that were rightfully theirs, Eli’s family would one day be reduced to begging.