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Folly or Faithfulness?By
Wayne Dailey, | |
Now the sons
of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not
the Lord. I Samuel 2:12 |
These two were not just Eli’s sons, but they
were really children of Belial: an expression as to say they were devilish.
They knew not the Lord. They were priests – yet knew not the Lord. Supposing you had two preachers, and neither
of them knew the Lord – yet they were leading your spiritual life! You’re really going to grow, aren’t you: grow
mischievous, grow carnally. This time when Eli’s sons were priests was
a declining time, an erring time. It was
like a falling away taking place. As we read on we see that the state of things
were really bad. Nothing great is basically
happening here. It was taking its form
at the tabernacle in AN UNGODLY EXAMPLE So these two sons – we want to follow this
a bit because I have something I want to say about this for your benefit. I Samuel 2:13,14 And the priests’ custom with
the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came,
while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand;
and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook
brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in These were the sacrifices which were being
offering in the tabernacle. The Levites
had a place here. And then amongst them
there was the priesthood. Eli was the priest
at this time. He was an old man by now.
When he died he was in his nineties. So
his two sons were not young kids. The priesthood was given to Aaron and his
sons, and on down the line generation to generation. But the Levites also had a part in the ministry.
They had their work to do in the tabernacle pertaining to the upkeep and
the sacrifices. So, here in I Samuel, it is dealing with
the priesthood. We have to examine their
ways further to understand the condition of things here. In the realm of the offerings, there were
duties here that were given specifically to the priests. And from the offerings, the priests had their
portion of food provided. Here it speaks of the priest’s custom with
the people: don’t confuse this custom with the Word of God. Many customs and traditions of man are contrary
to God’s Word. So if you just take everything
that man sets up as being of God, without checking it out in God’s Word, you might
thing it’s ok in God’s eyes. But the custom of the priests was to come
when the offering was being prepared and get their share. Let’s look further to see what this is really
leading to: I Samuel 2:15 Also before they burnt the
fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh
to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.
This sounds demanding. He doesn’t want what he should have, what was
rightfully his. What he is saying is, I
want what I want, when I want it! Don’t
tell me! I know what I want! I Samuel 2:16 And if any man said unto him,
Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul
desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if
not, I will take it by force. Does that sound priestly? Does it sound like a priestly manner of doing
business? We already had an introduction to the sons
of Eli, or the sons of Belial as they were called in the Scriptures. And here we see their manner of doing things:
Give it to me – or I’ll take it by force! The people were only asking that the service
of the Lord would be carried out just as the Lord said they should be carried
out. But these priests weren’t interested
in the service of the Lord. They were interested
in what they could get their hands on and claim as theirs. Why should there be a problem? Why should there be a division here? Why should there be hard feelings at the tabernacle?
SIN’S EFFECT It was there, and this was the result: I Samuel 1:17 Wherefore the sin of the young
men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.
It brought people to the place where they
didn’t want to offer unto the Lord, because of these ungodly priests. Why were these two ungodly men priests?
Because they were part of the hereditary calling that followed all the
way back to Aaron, and his sons, and their sons, and so on down here to Eli and
his sons. The only way this would ever stop would be
if something tragic took place where there would be nobody left in the family
to follow on in this calling. But here we see that the sons of Eli had
their place in the priestly lineage, yet were these kinds of men – sons of Belial.
This stirred a feeling within the tabernacle
where nobody wanted to go there, where the offerings were abhorred.
The house of God was evil spoken of. We think of this in the light of what is
given to us, then, and see that these two had their ways – which were evil and
wrong. They weren’t going by the Word of
God. I Samuel 1:27-29 And there came a man of God
unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the
house of thy father, when they were in Wherefore kick ye at My sacrifice
and at Mine offering, which I have commanded in My habitation; and honourest thy
sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of
Israel My people? We see an illustration here for our benefit,
so we can know what God’s viewpoint of all this was. God sent a prophet to question them about
what they were doing. It was an open rebuke
to Eli concerning his sons for what he was allowing to go on in the house of God.
Eli was in charge here, yet was doing nothing to stop this that was so
contrary. God stated that all the offerings made by
fire were given to the priests. It was
God’s way of supplying their meat. But,
here, the sons of Levi are kicking up their heels. They don’t want it God’s way. They devised their own way and caused the people
to abhor coming to God’s house. Eli needs dealt with. If you’re in charge, that’s where God’s dealings
would begin – with those to whom He has given authority in overseeing His flock.
When He sent the prophet, He sent him to
deal with Eli. God is not only going to
rebuke Eli here, but is also going to bring His judgment because of the evil dealings
which were going on. This place is about
ready to shut down. The people abhorred
it because of Eli’s sons, and the doors might as well be closed. That’s how bad things had gotten. The tabernacle was to be the place where
all this spiritual activity should be going on, day and night, day after day.
It was to be a place where the sacrifices were being made, where the atonement
was made. The worship that took place in the tabernacle
out there in the wilderness was to continue here in I Samuel 1:29 Wherefore kick ye at My sacrifice
and at Mine offering, which I have commanded in My habitation; and honourest thy
sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of
Israel My people? The priest now was honoring his sons much
more than he was honoring God. What would
that make one think? Here he is in the
place of authority – yet exercising none. Eli
was in the place where he should be taking the things of God and insisting they
be done the way God said they should be done. He’s in charge – but he’s not taking his rightful
place of authority. His sons are doing
all these evil things, and he’s doing nothing to stop them. Where does this put him? Right down to where the judgment of God is about
to fall upon his life. Bear in mind that
he was warned of God very strongly here. God expresses his sore displeasure, sending
a prophet to deal with him. The thing that we ought to begin to see is
this: we should feel privileged if we have a clean, pure church and a clean, pure
ministry. We ought to feel privileged if
God and His Word are honored in our church. We could be in the uncomfortable place that
many are, going to a church where they stay only because they feel they should
be loyal – regardless of what is taking place there. Church is an important place. Church should be a holy place, a place where
one comes to worship a holy God. We should
be in that place where we have a great respect for the house of God.
But how can one respect ministers who live
like the sons of Eli were living, doing what they were doing? What we have read thus far is just the tip
of the iceberg. It is a blatant violation
of the law of God in taking what was rightfully theirs and doing as they pleased
with it, disregarding God’s way. As you read the Old Testament you find there
were many types of sacrifices made in the tabernacle: sacrifices for sin, where
sacrifices were made by those seeking to purge their sins by offering blood.
These sacrifices were not established of men, but of God.
All were a type of the final sacrifice, that of the Lamb of God on the
cross of Back here in Eli’s day we see where the house
of God was abhorred. It should never be
thought of that way. But this is what these
two sons with their sins had really caused. SIN’S CONSEQUENCES I Samuel 1:30 Wherefore the Lord God of
Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should
walk before Me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from Me; for them that
honour Me I will honour, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.
Here are God’s feelings: them that honour
Me I will honour. If you want God to honour
you this shows you how: honour God in your life in all that you do, exalting Him
at all times. It’s in this realm where
you have to stop and see that you are privileged to be in the Body of Christ.
But it behooves us to look at the examples
of others who utterly failed. And here
in I Samuel we find such an example. God is dealing, now, with this. He isn’t going to honor these men. If they were true to His Word He would honor
them. I Samuel 1:31,32 Behold, the days come, that
I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall
not be an old man in thine house. And thou
shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give These are very strong things which God is
saying here. There would never be an old
man in their house . . . We
all get older, unless we die at an early age.
Here everyone would be cut off before they could be any old men in this
family. I Samuel 1:33 And the man of thine, whom
I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve
thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their
age. Die in their youth! They just wouldn’t make it to their old age.
Why would all this come? Because of what old Eli would allow his sons
to do, never doing anything to stop them. It wasn’t only his dealing with priests,
but his dealing with his own sons who were priests. We should recognize that in the house of
God respect for God is important. Esteeming God and honoring Him is important
to every family. To the family that really honors God, God
will honor that family. But to the family
that would be like Eli’s family was here, who lightly esteem God and His Word,
how could God bless that family? That family
would certainly be under judgment. All the young people in that family would be
cut off in the flower of their age. I Samuel 1:34 And this shall be a sign unto
thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they
shall die both of them. Do you like signs? Eli was told of a sign here: in one day both
of his sons would die. God speaks of judgment
on Eli’s two boys as being a sign unto him. It would be a sign that He was doing just as
He said he would do. I Samuel 1:35 And I will raise Me up a faithful
priest, that shall do according to that which is in Mine heart and in My mind:
and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before Mine anointed for
ever. Now, this is what God would do to replace
these two sons of Belial, Eli’s two boys. They
were judgment prone, and the prophet of God told Eli just what would take place
in bringing judgment down on his house. This judgment would come because of their
evil and wicked ways. They would be removed
in the same day, dying at the same time. And, then, God would raise Himself up a faithful
priest who would do things according to that which is in God’s heart and mind.
A GODLY EXAMPLE Who was that faithful priest that God raised
up? He had a faithful man in mind, someone
who would walk faithfully with Him. Samuel was just a young boy when God spoke
this. He was in the Tabernacle every day
ministering before the Lord. He was like
a priest, even wearing a linen ephod – and yet he was only a young boy. He was still too young to put in the place God
was calling Him to. But in God’s time,
He would raise Samuel up and put him in that place. Samuel wasn’t only called to be a priest,
but also to be a prophet and a judge. He
was the last judge to We think of Samuel, then, being a faithful
priest. One other thing we want to note
is the book of Samuel. The Lord referred
to the book of Samuel when He was on the road to Emmaus, relating all of the prophets
and the things they spoke pertaining to the Christ – Luke 24:25-27. Before Samuel died, he anointed two kings
for HOW ABOUT US? But we want to take to heart a lesson here:
God looks for faithful people. He looks
for those whose hearts are really after Him, hearts from which He can put His
own ways and His own mind, those He can work right through. The Spirit of God in us gives God the golden
opportunity to speak His will through us. But one thing is always necessary: we’ve got
to be true and faithful. You want God to bless you? Are you honoring Him in your life? If you are, then you can go by His Word here
and expect that He would honor you. Our own position will always be such that,
as we walk with God and live for God and love God and honor God in all we do,
He is the object of our life, the purpose of our living; we live to do His will;
we put our heart into serving Him with a heart of love. This is what God has always wanted of His
people: that they would love Him with their all: God loves us, and He would desire
that we love Him. In His Word you can find that there were
those who loved Him and had such a sweet relationship with Him. David is an example of such a one, someone with
a heart after God. He had no trouble in
talking with God, praying and receiving from God. Then, as we look at the folly of some, we
wonder why they would do the things they do – wonder why they would do things
presumptuously, why they were self-willed. Being
presumptuous and self-willed is nothing more than folly. If we want to walk with God, we want to walk
uprightly, walk before Him with a clean and pure heart, walk with Him in holiness.
Don’t do things contrary. Don’t do things the way you want to do them.
Follow God with your whole heart, faithfully doing things His way.
SIN’S JUDGMENT People who commit folly generally get hurt,
because they do things like the two sons of Eli did things in committing folly
in I Samuel 1:36 And it shall come to pass,
that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a
piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into
one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread. God is speaking now of the faithful priest
whom He would raise up, and how some of those who were left of Eli’s family would
come begging for a position in one of the priests’ offices – at least, then, they
would be assured of a piece of bread to eat. In other words, the appearance here is that
they would be in need, that they wouldn’t prosper. The prosperity of Eli’s house was being cut
off. It wasn’t going to endure. Now, God would take Eli and his sons out
in one day. When they were having war with
the Philistines, these two priests took the ark of God up to the battle.
In that battle, they both lost their lives.
A messenger ran real fast, for the battle was sore against I Samuel 4:9 Be strong, and quit yourselves
like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they
have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. The Philistines were getting ready to go out there to the battle
and give it all they’ve got. Would it work?
I Samuel 4:10,11 And the Philistines fought,
and I Samuel 4:12-19 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the
army, and came to Talk about bad news coming one after the
other. Yet, Eli should have expected this
news. God had told him this would be a
sign unto him. Eli not only heard the bad news about his
sons, but also that the ark of God had been taken by the enemy. I Samuel 4:18 And it came to pass, when
he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by
the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man,
and heavy. And he had judged God had told him that his family would be cut off, that his sons
would be cut off in one day, and that others would be cut off before they were
old – and that there would be those coming and begging for a priest’s office that
they might have bread. Well, it’s all a matter of judgment. And all of this judgment was for what? For evil things that had been done at the house
of God. LESSONS TO LEARN One thing we should get out of this account is this: we should appreciate
it when we have a pure church; and we should strive with all of our heart to be
God’s people, walking in uprightness and holiness before Him; to be clean inwardly,
clean in our hearts, obeying the Word of God, obeying God’s commandments, obeying
the teachings of Christ. We ought to be yielding our lives and giving ourselves. We’re only fooling ourselves when we are half-hearted
with God, for we could find ourselves in the place of being lightly esteemed by
God. God was cleaning this mess up. Young
Samuel grew up in The next thing you know, they’re all taken away. But, the strangest thing about Now, Samuel – after you get past this place and read about Samuel,
you see where he was very faithful. He
made many offerings. He offered for the
people wherever he went. But Does God honour us? Well,
we have to understand always that He honors those who honour Him. The question is, not does God honour us, but
do we honour God? For, if we honour God
we are told that He will honour us. But
if we are not going to honour God, if we lightly esteem God in anywise, we will
be lightly esteemed. Think in your heart
of the importance of your walk. We’re asking
God for great things, and we should believe Him. He wants to move and He wants to bless. We live in a time that’s a lot like the time spoken of here in Samuel.
There’s a lot of falling away, a lot of corrupt things going on today.
Realize there are a lot of things going on in the name of the Lord that
would cause you to wonder why God hasn’t done something about it. But let’s bear in our minds to be true, to be
faithful, to walk with God – and the blessing will be upon our lives. You know if the blessing of God is in your life. You know if you really honour God, or if you
lightly esteem Him in some realms. Bear in your mind that it’s important that you hold fast, that you
keep the faith, that you walk in the light, and that you love the Lord with all
of your heart – and that you always put God first. God should be the whole object of our living. What else is there? We have other things that we love, such as our
families, our friends. But what matters
in the end? What’s going to matter when
Jesus comes? If there ever was a crucial test, that will be the test of tests.
When He comes, many will be left behind because they were not prepared,
not ready to meet Him at His coming. But know that we can be ready. We
can be prepared. We can walk with God from
day to day with a heart of love, in obedience to His Word. Know that He will bless those who honour Him. That’s the secret: whether back there in the
Old Testament under the law, or today under grace. There are those under grace who, like the sons of Eli, don’t honor
God. They turn the grace of God into lasciviousness,
trampling under foot the Blood of Jesus. Yes, there are many today who dishonor God:
but woe to them. Let’s be as true and as faithful as we know how. Remember, it’s for our good. So, being faithful is no accident. Being faithful comes from the heart, a heart
that is filled with love for the Lord. Look back at your life. The
older you are the farther back you can look. There’s
a story back there in the life of every Christian. One story that comes out of the life of someone
who loves the Lord and has served the Lord is seeing the faithfulness of God down
through the years, His faithfulness to bring them to where they are today.
How faithful and good He was to them in bringing them to that place: the
personal love and fellowship He gave to them, the blessings, the answers to prayer,
the spiritual things. You look back and see the day you started out walking with the Lord.
God was good then. He was very good then: and He’s very good now.
This blessing doesn’t diminish. It gets richer the farther you go. Let’s live out the life we have inside, deep within. And live for the Lord with all of our heart
– not just obeying some code, nor some rules and regulations, but obeying His
Word with a heart of love. As He said in
John 14:15, If you love Me, keep My commandments. If you have Christ living in you, the old life is dead. Let’s live this new life to the fullest. You want joy: Great joy comes in service, comes
in letting the Lord have His way. If you
want your life to become a lot brighter, a lot more joyous, then do a lot more
for the kingdom. Let God use you however
He will – and be faithful. So there was a mess at Hannah never knew what she was really doing when she prayed. She was bitter in her heart for the way she
had been treated because she couldn’t have any children. But, then, God heard her cry and answered her
by giving her a son. And she did what she
said she would do, giving him back to the Lord. Samuel never departed out of the way. He loved God, and he faithfully followed God.
The only thing I know that Hannah did was to believe – and obey from
her heart. And, as the result, God brought
forth a man into this world who was really needed. Samuel was surely a man of the hour. Thank God for such faithful people – may we
follow their example. |