[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message.
[00:00:02] Speaker B: My name is Jason and I'm one.
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[00:00:39] Speaker B: Thank you for joining us tonight. If you want to go ahead and open your Bibles to the book of First Samuel, that's where we'll be. If you're with us online, we're excited that you're joining us as well. We have Mr. David Tennyson on the ones and twos. He's going to be watching the stream for us. So if you have any input, any questions or comments, be sure and type those down below and he will relay those thoughts onto us. Here in the classroom.
We're going to continue encounters with God, and this week we're talking about Samuel and we're going to talk some about Samuel. But we can't talk about Samuel without talking about the whole picture of Samuel's life. It's a little bit like several weeks ago, starting in Exodus 3 with Moses at the burning bush. You can't get the full picture until you go to Exodus 1 and 2 to see how he got to the burning bush there in Midian. So we are going to start actually in chapter one of First Samuel, and we are going to do a good bit of reading tonight because this is just quite an interesting story. So turn with me to First Samuel, Chapter one. There is a man from Ramathaim, Zophim, from the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanam. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, son of Zuf, son of an Ephraimite, and he had two wives. The name of the first was Hannah, and the name of the second.
All day long I've been calling her Panini, but I don't think that's how it's pronounced. Peninnah, we'll say, and she had children, but Hannah had no children. And this man would go up from his city year after year to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven's armies at Shiloh. It was there that the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas served as the Lord's priests. And these two guys are going to be very important as we get through our study tonight. So the day came, and Elkanah sacrificed. Now, he used to give meat portions to his wives and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah, he loved Hannah. Excuse me, keep skipping lines here. But to Hannah, he would give a double portion because he loved Hannah. Although the Lord had not enabled her to have children, her rival used to aggravate her to the point of exasperation just to irritate her. Since the Lord had not enabled her to have children, this is how it would go year after year, as often as she went up to the Lord's house. Not panini would offend her in that way. So she cried and refused to eat. We get to verse seven, and she gets to this point, and Hannah is crying and she refuses to eat. Verse 8 says her husband Elkanah said to her, hannah, why are you crying? And why won't you eat? Why are you so upset? And I love this. This is like the typical husband line. Am I not better to you than 10 sons? Like, look right here, lady. What you got? You know, just man swinging a miss. So Hannah got up. So she gets up. And after they finish eating and drinking in Shiloh, I feel like that's also potentially a modern example there of what happens not in our relationship, because I just realized my wife is in here, but perhaps in other people's. Let's move on.
So we have Hannah, who is grief stricken. Hannah is unable to have children. And she is in this household with another wife who clearly can have children. And we've seen this dynamic played out multiple times so far in our study this quarter. This is killing her inside. And so she pleads to God and she prays to God. And when she prays to God, she sort of makes a deal that if you give me a son, then I will dedicate him to you. It turned out that she did a great deal of praying before the lord in verse 12. Meanwhile, Eli was watching. Excuse me, man, keep skipping over. Sorry. As for Hannah, she was very distressed. She prayed to the Lord. This is verse 10, and was in fact, weeping. She made a vow saying, o Lord of heaven's armies, if you would truly look on the suffering of your servant and would keep me in mind and not neglect your servant and give your servant a male child Then I will dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut. She makes this Nazarite vow with God, if he blesses her with the Son, and she will dedicate him to the service there in the temple.
It turned out she did a great deal of praying before the Lord. Meanwhile, Eli was watching her mouth. Eli, of course, the high priest. As for Hannah, she was speaking in her mind. Only her lips were moving. Her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was a drunkard. That's the logical thought, I guess. There someone's talking to themselves. Then she said to her, how much longer do you intend to get drunk? He said to her, put away your wine. I feel like that's really snarky for a priest, you know? How much longer are you going to be drunk there? But Hannah replied, not so, my Lord. I am a woman under a great deal of distress. I haven't drunk wine or beer, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord. Don't consider your servant a wicked woman. It's just that to this point, I have spoken from my deep pain and anguish. To Eli's credit, his tone appears to change there in verse 17. Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request that you have asked of him. She said, may I, your servant, find favor in your sight? So the woman went her way and got something to eat. Her face no longer looked sad. They got up early the next morning, and then they worshiped the Lord and returned to their home at Ramothaim. Elkanah was intimate with his wife, Hannah, and the Lord called her to mind. And then Hannah became pregnant.
So this is the setting within which Samuel comes into being, in which his life begins. There's this. For years, this dynamic between his mother and his other stepmother, whatever she would be called, the other wife that's in his life.
When Samuel comes into the world. I don't think anybody really fully understands what's going to be on the horizon for their family. But what we're going to see here is both the faithfulness of parents will help and hurt their children. The faithfulness of the influence of mentors can help and hurt children and all of us as adults in our lives and the way that we relate to God as we grow. So that's kind of the first setting when you review this. And the Bible Project does a really good job of kind of summarizing this section. It says, Hannah asked for a son, and then God provides a son. God's blessing became Hannah's sacrifice we're going to see in just a few verses. God hears the prayer. God answers the prayer, and then the answer to that prayer is a son that then Hannah relinquishes and lets go of.
I think that in and of itself is a really. I mean, that's a whole series of ideas right there. I don't know everybody's story and everybody's experience in this room. I think the odds are pretty high that many, if not most of us have had different times in our lives where we have prayed with desperation for something and longed so deeply for an outcome or for a situation, for a relationship or whatever, and we had to wait. Or perhaps the answer is still no. And we look back on that time with probably all of the emotions of hurt, of anguish, maybe, hopefully, peace at some point and acceptance of God's presence and God's will in our life.
But the situation for our study tonight is not just an ancient situation. It is a very modern, contemporary situation in so many, many ways and so many different angles.
Well, you got anything?
[00:07:52] Speaker C: Sorry, no, I just. You know, every time I read this, it is amazing to think about what Hannah was experiencing in her mind that she did not express. You know, making this long pilgrimage when you want a kid and then you got with you the person that seems to be a baby factory and what that feels like.
And then it seems like. And I'm not sure necessarily his reasoning, but even Elkin is like, why are you weeping? I'm like, well, she. It's pretty obvious she wants a baby, man. You know? Yeah. But anyway, that's always stuck out to me. Just.
And then I love that verse where it says that her lips were moving, but her voice wasn't heard. To kind of get back what you mentioned, you know, it makes me think of, you know, the groanings too deep for words that we've all experienced. And that's the beauty of the Holy Spirit. He offers up those words when we don't know what to say.
[00:08:50] Speaker B: But I think oftentimes when you long for something that you see someone else has, it's really hard to stave off, like bitterness and resentment.
And obviously, Panini here was not Panini. Sorry, Panini. That's her name. Was not Panini.
When she goes the extra mile to. She's not sensitive to that hurt. She's aware of it, and she intentionally brings it up and throws it in Hannah's face.
I don't get a sense of anger from Hannah. I get a sense of desperation towards God reading this. And maybe that's reading into it, but there doesn't seem to be. She doesn't plot against this woman. She doesn't seem to be screaming in anger at her.
She goes to God with that anger, excuse me, with that anguish and with that desperation. And I think that's also something for us to glean, is desperation is not a bad thing at all. In fact, I think we lack that too often in regards to how we rely on God and how often we look to God and the depths to which we look to God to provide, to give us provision, to give us safety and to give him credit in our lives. We look to the stuff too often as opposed to looking to God to find our comfort and safety.
[00:10:14] Speaker C: Yeah. And kind of to that. If how, you know, I think part of, you know, the reason maybe she didn't lash out to her, but, you know, took her frustrations to God is I wonder too, if she saw how hurt Panina also was. Because if you remember what it said earlier is that Hannah got the double portion, which technically panini or whatever you want to call her, she's supposed to get it, but Hannah gets it. And so there's also that difficulty. So you almost wonder if maybe Hannah's also in tune to the fact that she's also in a difficult spot and it's kind of the hurt people, hurt people thing that maybe, I don't know, she's able to see, I guess, is what I'm saying.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Should have also put on a slide. Don't have multiple wives. Just kind of a common theme that I'm picking up on. Just don't do that. Point number one. Yes.
So what does Hannah's willingness to dedicate, Samuel, tell us about our response to God's provision in our lives when we see Hannah pray so deeply and for so long for this situation to come about? And she has a husband. Excuse me. She has a husband. She has a son. She's very quick to then dedicate, to come through on her end of the deal. I don't think she made that promise lightly. So what does that tell us about us and our relationship to God and the way we sort of relate to him in the quest of Him?
[00:11:42] Speaker D: I guess when you vow a vow, defer not to pay it.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: When you vow a vow, defer not to pay it. Defer not to pay it.
[00:11:50] Speaker D: That's the King Jane.
[00:11:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:54] Speaker D: Kind of the antithesis of the rich young ruler.
[00:11:59] Speaker B: The one thing that's most important is.
[00:12:00] Speaker D: His life is money.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: That's a good point.
The one thing that's most important in her life is a son, she immediately gives it up. Yep, that's really good. Yes, ma'am.
[00:12:14] Speaker E: I was reading something the other day that said sometimes we get so caught up in what God can do for us and what he can give us versus understanding that he is the prize. His presence is the. And so, I don't know, maybe she had the perspective that it's about the relationship with God, not what he can.
[00:12:33] Speaker B: Do for what he can do.
They're also going to Shiloh to offer sacrifice. And when you offer sacrifice, you offer the best. And that's part of the reason why Eli's sons are in the trouble they're in is because they take the best for themselves. But in some sense here, the best thing that she has to offer is God's answer to her prayer. And she offers that back to him. Offers him back to him.
So we look at her prayer and sorry moment. This is the summary that came from the Bible Project that I thought was good.
God opposes the proud and exalts the humble. Despite human evil, God is at work. And then ultimately God will raise up a messianic king. This is the Cliff Notes version of her prayer here in chapter two.
This is her response to God. The very first verse there is, my heart has rejoiced in the Lord. My horn has been raised high because of the Lord. I have loudly denounced my enemies. Indeed, I rejoice in your deliverance. So the first thing she does is she gives credit to him. She gives glory and honor to him. We've talked about this. We're talking about angels and some other passages as well. The first response that she seems to have here is to worship God. I think too often our first response is not to worship. Worship is not our first response. But that seems to be one of these themes that keeps emerging from these encounters that we're reading about is when we are blessed, we worship. When we don't feel blessed, we still worship. But especially in those moments where it's easy for us to, I think, keep credit in our heart for our own actions or for our own accomplishments. What we see in righteous people is that they give credit to God, they give glory to God, and they worship him.
Alright, now we get to the interesting stuff. So Eli is the high priest here, and the song of the day would be, eli's coming. Hide your hearts, girl. Eli's sons are coming. Hide your girls, hide your daughters. Apparently these are bad guys. They're not very good. Eli, up to this point, we have every reason to believe Is a pretty good guy. He's a high priest. Seems to be a pretty good high priest. But the boy Samuel was serving the Lord with the favor of Eli the priest. This is verse 11.
But the sons of Eli were wicked men. They did not acknowledge the Lord's authority.
I looked this up in a few different translations I thought was kind of interesting. The NIV says Eli's sons were scoundrels. They had no regard for the Lord. I think that's my favorite. Just because it scoundrel. I feel like it's got to have a British accent. Maybe new American standards says that the sons of Eli were useless men and they did not know the Lord. Now the sons of Eli were worthless men in the esv. They did not know the Lord and the new English translation says, but the sons of Eli were wicked men. They did not acknowledge the Lord's authority.
Here are two men that presumably were raised quite literally in the temple, their father being the high priest. Two men that absolutely knew who God was.
This they did not know the Lord doesn't mean that they don't know who he is. What is it? They do not know the Lord. What is that saying there? What does it really mean?
Yep, no relationship at all. They had. And that's why I like ultimately the new English translation that they did not acknowledge his authority.
We can know a lot about God. We can intellectually have facts about him without ever knowing and acknowledging who he really is and accepting his authority in our life. I heard the phrase a lot growing up that everybody wants a Savior, but nobody wants a Lord.
Well, if Jesus is our Lord and Savior, then that constant dying to self really important.
It's something that doesn't come naturally I think to most of us, right. Is this willingness to submit will and authority over to someone. It's kind of anti American really in some ways. Right. We fought the revolution so we didn't have to have a monarch. Well, now we have this king and Jesus to some degree. Our mind has to shift and to make sure that that our hearts are in line with God. More so even than our patriotism, so to speak.
I think that's a big thing to point out here. Their attitude and their hearts were not engaged in the service that they were employed in. Even in ministry. It can be a challenge, maybe even more so. I grew up in the public school system in Montgomery, so I feel like I have some street cred.
It was interesting.
It was actually I found it at times to be easier to be faithful to God in that setting than it was at the Christian college that I went to. Because at the Christian college, everybody right, quote, unquote, was faithful. But I found out there were a lot of different definitions of faithful and conviction there. Everybody wore the. Everybody had the jersey, but not everybody was really on the same team there. But in the public school setting, it was an us versus them. There was a little bit more clarity. And at least the people that didn't care about God were open about that. They weren't trying to talk out of both sides of their mouth. That's a lot more difficult, I think, to deal with and to navigate than someone that is just opposed to God. Because I know where you stand, right? So these guys, they're trying to.
They grew up in this role. I don't know that they had a lot of choice on what to do as an occupation. They became priests, but they certainly were not engaged in the work of a priest. They were certainly not engaged in the work of someone that loved God, that wanted to please God, that was speaking to God on behalf of the Israelites.
Let's take a look and see some of the things that they did. They didn't acknowledge his authority. This was the priest routine with the people. Whenever anyone was making a sacrifice, the priest attendant would come with a three pronged fork in his hand. Just as the meat was boiling, he would jab it into the basin, kettle, cauldron or pot. Everything that the fork would bring up, the priest would take for himself. This is how they used to treat all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. I don't know, this is probably not good, but I'm thinking of the O'Doyle family in Billy Madison where all they do is live to pick on people. This is the bully in the cafeteria coming with his fork and just like getting the best part off your plate. This is what they did on a regular basis to people who were bringing a sacrifice to God. So this is a holy setting, a holy moment, and this is their response. Also, before they burn the fat, the priest attendant would come and say to the person who was making the sacrifice, give some meat for the priest to roast. He won't accept boiled meat from you, but only raw. If the individual said to him, they should certainly burn the fat away first, then take for yourself whatever you wish. Then he would say, no, give it now. If not, I'll take it by force. The sin of these young men was very great in the Lord's sight, for they treated the Lord's offering with contempt. They basically became the mafia. When you came to offer your sacrifice, they took the best portion for themselves. They made a mockery of a very holy moment. They actually. They ruined the sacrifice of the people that were there to bring their gift as well. So it's not just between them and God. They're also disrupting Israel's relationship to God in this moment.
[00:20:02] Speaker C: It's just interesting that both Samuel and these boys grew up basically in the same atmosphere, seen the same stuff, but had completely different takeaways and results.
And one of the things that one translation I think says three times in these two chapters that Samuel was ministering. Samuel was ministering. And most people believe by first Samuel three, three, Samuel would have been 12 years old. So he could have been like even 10 to 11 in chapter two.
And that makes me think a few things. Number one, the value of not just teaching facts to our kids, because it does seem like he had expectations for his boys, but not the same as Samuel. To me, he even had higher expectations for Samuel than his own kids.
But also how we can just know the importance of challenging our kids in ministry. Like to serve people, to engage with people.
And that is knowing about God is so important. But also ministering to God's people is also incredibly important. And I, you know, just think if he's already been doing that, because I think when he was in chapter three, it said he had been ministering. He was 12, working in that atmosphere, opening the doors and doing all the things, but also ministering. So I don't know, something to think about.
[00:21:29] Speaker B: Anybody else?
Yes, ma'am.
[00:21:33] Speaker E: I'm getting wrong, but I don't think there's any mention in Eli's son's mom.
[00:21:41] Speaker B: Eli's.
[00:21:43] Speaker E: That would be.
[00:21:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:45] Speaker E: So I just think it's interesting, like the difference in the sons. When you see the commitment of the mother.
Eli son's mother.
[00:21:58] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:22:00] Speaker E: Does that make sense?
[00:22:01] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. It's a good observation.
[00:22:04] Speaker E: If she was more faithful, maybe they would have mentioned it. I don't know. I think there is lack of mention of the mother and parents of Eli sons, maybe. And just the impacts that mom can have on the faith.
[00:22:21] Speaker B: Yeah, that's very good.
[00:22:23] Speaker F: Also interesting to note, you know, Samuel was not born into that. He his parent, his dad wasn't a priest. But Eli sends were. So it was kind of not gifted to them, but it was, you know, family plan. But Samuel is given to do that like, that he's told he has no option.
And I don't know that, you know, if that's really not being told that he didn't have an option. But it's different when you work for something and something that's given.
[00:23:06] Speaker B: Yeah, that trust fund baby mentality that people talk about where it's all laid out for you.
Great observation. Alright, let's look in verse 18.
Now Samuel was ministering with the favor of the Lord. The boy was dressed in a linen ephod. His mother used to make him a small robe and bring it to him from time to time when she would go up with her husband to make the annual sacrifice. And this just makes it as human as possible. You know, his mom sends him off and gets to see him basically once a year when they make their annual trip. And so every trip to Shiloh now was deeper. Every time she would go to worship and offer her sacrifice, she was also reminded of God's promise. I mean if you take just a minute and lift that sink in, you desperately wanted a child. God answered that you willingly gave up that child.
I can't help but go back to Exodus and Moses.
Both of these boys stayed with their mother until they were weaned and then they were basically given up to serve God in some really big ways. Moses of course in Pharaoh's house and and Samuel in the temple.
But from a parental instinct standpoint, that's opposite of our instincts. Which means it was a choice and it was conviction. And that is definitely to me the longer you think on that, the heavier that reality becomes.
And it was the faithfulness of Samuel's parents that was a great thought about Samuel, Eli's mom not seemingly in the picture. I think it also stands out here that Hannah's husband, although having two wives and not really handling that super great a part of their family culture is they're going every year to Shiloh to offer their sacrifice. They are faithful in that. And when it references that, it's a they, it's not just Hannah, it is they. So he is taking his family with regularity. I think being not being with his family but seeing them show up every year, it's not just to get a new sweater, but showing up to come and worship. They're still living faithfully and showing their faith to their son. And showing up to me that also stands out. Even though it's not the day to day interactions that they have with him, the annual presence speaks volumes. And I think for us, for different family dynamics, even if you don't have day to day interactions with your parents or with your children or with just anybody at work, even getting outside the family, you still have influence and your Consistency speaks volumes. My youth minister used to always tell us, you may be the only Bible someone ever reads. So our actions and the consistency of our actions and our willingness to come and to worship God and to be a part of his family and to live that life, that alone probably speaks louder than any sermon we could give or Bible class. We could lead or talk. We could give. Right. Our actions speak very, very loudly. So from every angle, that's what we see in this narrative. Also, God requires sacrifice.
He's always required sacrifice, and he's always rewarded faithfulness. In Hannah, we see both of those. We see God's reward and hand of sacrifice.
For God to give of his son freely was sacrifice. God's sacrifice is ultimately our reward.
So it's got so much depth, like every verse and every passage in the Bible. But the more you look at it and you try to put yourself in different people's shoes in these instances, I just feel like the deeper it gets of the connection of what we see here. Anything else jump out to anybody?
All right, we will keep moving then. In verse 22. Oops, sorry. You do? Yes, sir.
[00:27:11] Speaker G: So this. This kind of clarity for me. So in verse 20, he says, may the Lord give you children. Right. So is that. Is that a proclamation or is that like a hope? Because I. I can read it either way, but it doesn't happen.
She's not blessed with children until, you know, that proclamation or that statement is given. Right?
[00:27:33] Speaker B: Yeah. Children will come later. Yep.
[00:27:35] Speaker G: It doesn't choose to act until after that is said. So I guess my question is, is. Is.
Well, I guess my question is, was God. Was. Was God waiting on them to ask or that proclamation to be made? Or is that just a statement, like a hope?
[00:28:00] Speaker B: That seems to me like a blessing from Eli, from the high priest that God makes good on would be my understanding there as well.
Yeah. Because then may the Lord establish the descendants. In verse 21, indeed, the Lord attended to Hannah. She got pregnant, gave birth to three sons and two daughters.
Yep. Verse 22. I love this. Eli was very old, and old can be relative methuselah, you know, mid-900s. Here Eli seems to be about mid-90s, which by our standards is still a fairly aged person. He would hear about everything that his sons used to do to all the people of Israel and how they used to go to bed with women who were stationed at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Not only are they going and taking the sacrifice, but they're creeps. They sexually assault women that were working in the temple. And attending in the temple.
These are just. They're just not good people. But what jumps out to me here is that Eli hears about this.
I don't think there's hardly any connection between he and his sons. And maybe I'm reading too much into it, but he's going off for rumors and hearsay, and that's not good. So then he confronts them. And maybe this isn't like a real strong endorsement of gentle parenting, but he says to them, why do you do these things, these evil things that I hear about from all these people? No, my sons. For the report that I hear circulating among the Lord's people is not good. If a man sins against a man, one may appeal to God on his behalf. But if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him? But Eli's sons would not listen to their father. Indeed, the Lord had decided to kill them. However, the boy Samuel was growing up and finding favor with the Lord and with people. Verse 26 is this transition statement contrasting faithfulness and faithlessness.
Samuel and Phinehas and Ferb. Right.
These three young men growing up in a similar environment.
Very different responses. Very different responses.
Again, Eli here very old, heard rumors. Allegedly an effective priest, but not as effective as a Father. Verse 26. However, Samuel was growing up and finding favor both with the Lord and with the people. Where else have we heard that phrase? Jesus.
Mr. Jim Brody.
[00:30:24] Speaker D: When Jesus, after they found him in the temple.
[00:30:27] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:30:27] Speaker D: You don't hear anything else about him except for that?
[00:30:30] Speaker B: Yep. So you have this continued.
That's right. That's right. With people and with God. And we see that same attribute first applied here to Samuel.
So we get to this message that's given to eli in verse 27, the man of God. This man of God, who is sort of nondescript, comes to Eli and says to him, this is what the Lord has said. I plainly revealed myself to your ancestor's house when they were slaves to the house of Pharaoh in Egypt. I chose your ancestor from all the tribes of Israel to be my priests, to offer sacrifice on my altar, to burn incense, and to bear the Ephod before me. I gave to your ancestor's house all the fire offerings made by the Israelites. Why are you scorning my sacrifice and my offering that I commanded for my dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than you have me by having made yourselves fat from the best parts of all the offerings of my people, Israel.
This is a scary thing. God puts the responsibility squarely on the shoulders Of Eli up to this point, it's his sons have done these things, his sons have done these things. And God says, here, you have honored your sons more than you have me by having made yourselves so. He groups them together, saying that he has benefited from their wickedness, fat from the best parts of all the offerings of my people, Israel. This tells me that I think Eli had opportunity to at least not participate in the shenanigans of his son, to do more than say, boys, don't do that.
Clearly, if he's held responsible to this extent, then he had opportunity to this extent as well.
Read a few more verses here and then we'll pause. Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel says, I really did say that your house and your ancestors house would serve me forever. But now the Lord says, may it never be. For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed. In fact, days are coming when I will remove your strength and the strength of your father's house. There will not be an old man in your house. Now, Eli was just described as an old man. And then God uses that. This man of God says that there will not be old man in your house. You're going to be the last you will see trouble in my dwelling place. Israel will experience blessings, but there will not be an old man in your house for all time. Whenever it's repeated, there's emphasis there.
Any man of yours that I do not cut off from my altar, I will cause his eyes to fail and will cause him grief. All those born to your family will die by the sword of man. This will be a confirming sign for you that will be fulfilled through your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. In a single day they will both die. Then I will raise up for myself a faithful priest. He will do what is in my heart and soul. I will build for him a lasting dynasty, and he will serve my chosen one for all time. Everyone who remains in your house will come to bow before him for a little money and for a scrap of bread. Each will say, assign me to a priestly task so I can eat a scrap of bread.
This is.
This is intense.
Eli just gets the news that he's also to blame and guilty for the sins of his son. Also, they're going to die also. He's going to be around to experience that as well as others in his house.
When God makes a promise, I think sometimes if it's a promise that is in a person's favorite, there's this impatience for it. To come to fruition.
But when God makes a promise like this, I think all you want is time, right, is for him to be slow in fulfilling that promise. Ultimately, the priesthood would change, but it's going to take about 130 years for that part of the promise to change. Ultimately here the big picture, he's talking about Jesus. The short term, it's going to move from his. The priesthood would move from his house. Zadok would be appointed priest by Solomon about 130 years later.
God is not slack in his promises that benefit us. And God is not slack in his promises concerning judgment as well. And I think both of those should cause us to pause to worship and to try and practice more patience.
All three of those responses are good and right, but oftentimes they're. They're the most difficult responses as well.
You got anything to add on that one?
Yeah, it's getting a little hot. All right, so we get to chapter three and now we get the call. And this is with 10 minutes left in class, we get to the encounter with God. Good. Here we are.
Chapter three, verse one. It says, now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord also. I don't know how much time, sorry to jump back and forth. I don't know how much time went from the end of that last sentence to this next session. But Eli's walking around with this knowledge and still having to serve in the temple, still hearing things about his children, still getting older, becoming more and more blind, and he's still carrying the weight of not just their guilt, but also the impending punishment.
I just think that's significant here. Now, the boy Samuel continued serving in the Lord under Eli's supervision. Receiving a message from the Lord was rare in those days. Revelatory visions were infrequent. Eli's eyes had begun to fail so that he was unable to see. Well, at that time, he was lying down in his place and the lamp of God had not yet been extinguished. This would have been the menorah that was lit in the temple, that they would put oil in it. And at some point in the night, most likely, from what I can tell, around 3 to 4am, middle of the night, as we would refer to it, would go out, so it would just burn until it naturally used up its oil.
And the ark of God was also there. And the Lord called to Samuel in verse 4, and he replied, here I am. Then he ran to Eli and said, here I am, for you called me.
But Eli said, I didn't call you. Go back and lie down. So he went back and lay down. The Lord again called Samuel. So Samuel got up and he went to Eli and he said, here I am, for you called me. But Eli said, I didn't call you, my son. Go back and lie down. Anybody that's ever had a kid that just keeps getting up in the middle of the night, you're not getting any more milk, go to bed, Right.
He sends him back. And yet Now, Samuel, verse 7, did not yet know the Lord. We just talked about this a second ago. Samuel doesn't know the Lord yet he's serving the Lord. How is that possible?
[00:37:07] Speaker C: I think that's how it happens.
[00:37:09] Speaker B: That's how that happens? Yeah, to a certain degree. How so?
[00:37:14] Speaker C: Well, ministering to get to know him more. It's, you know, when you minister to people, when you love people and even whatever that might look like, you start to see him more.
I guess what I'm saying is maybe that was what got him to that point. Maybe.
[00:37:34] Speaker B: And he doesn't have any knowledge. Your first thought would not be that this is the voice of the Lord, because God hadn't been talking to him in a long time.
[00:37:42] Speaker D: Eli didn't have a good track record with them other two scoundrels, as you say.
[00:37:49] Speaker C: Yeah. And that also makes you wonder if maybe Eli is trying to make up for what he missed with his own sons. But also that can be an encouragement if you're. If you feel like I messed up, because everybody is going to think, well, I did this wrong, and we all did this wrong. And sometimes we can let that cause us, maybe in frustration or spite, not to love someone else's kids. But at the same time, when my kids go away, I want someone to love them because the mistakes I made. I guess that's what I'm saying.
[00:38:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, what was unique in Eli's relationship to his sons is that it wasn't just father to son, it was high priest to priest. So there's an extra. I think that's where some of this extra measure of judgment comes in as well, is that there's layers to their relationship, which only makes it heavier if you think about it. But.
So verse 8, then the Lord called Samuel a third time. Here I am, called me. And then Eli realized that it was the Lord who.
So Eli said to Samuel, go back and lie down. When he calls, you say, speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. So Samuel went back and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood nearby, calling as he had previously done. Samuel, Samuel. Samuel replied, speak for your Servant is listening.
The Lord said to Samuel, look, I am about to do something in Israel. When anyone hears about it, both his ears will tingle. And on that day, I will carry out against Eli everything that I spoke about his house from start to finish. You should tell him that I am about to judge his house forever because of the sin that he knew about. For his sons were cursing God and he did not rebuke them. Therefore, I swore an oath to the house of Eli. The sin of the house of Eli can never be forgiven by sacrifice or by grain offering.
Let's see. So Eli there in verse eight, is the one that realizes, oh, this is the voice of God. And to your point just a moment ago that you were talking about, as complicated as Eli is, Eli is still trying to train Samuel in the way of following God, in faithfulness. He seemed effective as a priest, more so than he did as a father. But here he is extremely effective as a mentor.
Samuel didn't think that that was. Didn't think about it being the voice of God, Eli pointed him in that direction. We may fail, and this is, especially today, getting further into this part. As a parent, you know you have failings. As a son or a daughter, you know your parents have failings.
That does not. Any failing we have does not then negate our usefulness to God and his kingdom and his will.
It does not negate that our best attempt at failure still falls short of God's worst attempt at saving us, because God sent Jesus to save us wholly from sin.
Psalm 51, I think it's quoted, as well as in Hebrews, that animal sacrifice you do not desire, but a broken and contrite heart.
He's always wanted us. And what I see in God is what we teach our kids sometimes in basketball and T ball, is, you're probably going to fall down.
That's not, that's not the. That's a given. It's how you get back up that determines your success. And so often in life it's the same, that we are going to have moral failings. We're going to have moments of poor judgment. It's how we respond to those moments. And I think that you see with Eli was a pattern of not holding his sons accountable as what ultimately caused his situation.
Samuel heard God one because his parents, his mom, made a vow that put him in the temple to begin with. And Samuel heard God because then Eli said, hey, that's the voice of God. You need to listen. And this is how you respond to hearing God's voice and to Samuel's credit, he obeyed.
And that's where we come in is we need mentors, we need wise counsel. We need people in our lives that God may not. Using the analogy here, God wasn't talking directly to Eli. Here, God was talking to Samuel. And Eli had the humility enough in that moment to not be jealous or frustrated by that, but to say, go and listen and then come and tell me everything that he told you. I think there's something to learn there as well. Sometimes the next generation is able to do some things that the previous generation wasn't able to do. You look at David and Solomon. David wasn't able to build the temple. Solomon was the one that God wanted to build the temple.
Eli is also complicated like us in that our kids can absolutely break our hearts.
And as kids we can absolutely break our parents hearts.
As a parent, it may even be our fault.
But those truths, again, they will never prevent us from being completely ineffective for God. We are useful to him because we are designed and created by Him. We are loved so deeply by Him. That's what reconciliation is all about. That's where repentance comes in.
You make a mistake, we're not going to repeat that mistake. We'll make new mistakes because we're trying, right? This whole idea that we become a Christian and we've arrived is just a really dangerous theology. It's a dangerous mentality and acceptance of who God is. It's incomplete because it's a relationship. And you grow in your relationship. If you do have a spouse, you grow in that marriage, right? If you have friendships, it's not stagnant. If it's stagnant, then it's probably dying. It's probably not healthy. But a healthy relationship has growth. It experiences new chapters of life, just like our relationships with God. Samuel, here we have a case of nature and nurture. It's both of them, right? That's also a case of copy paste without updating the next one.
So we'll sit here for just a second for the remaining moments we have. I think one of the things that Eli shows us is that we are capable of doing some really, really great things and some really, really hurtful things.
I think inaction in Eli's life had consequences that went well beyond just him personally. And when we know to do good and we don't do it, to us it is sin. That's what the New Testament would tell us. So sometimes inaction. I just recently watched the new movie on Bonhoeffer and that's one of his things. Was to not act is to sin. Basically, Bonhoeffer was a German theologian and a pastor and a whole host of spy, all these things, and took an active role in an assassination plot against Hitler because he felt like to not try and end this evil was a greater evil than to just be passive.
Yes, sir.
[00:44:38] Speaker D: One part of this encounter that's the scariest one to me is verse 14, when he says, therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli. The iniquity of Eli's house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice of altar. Can I. You know, that's. That's something that we sometimes feel. This is kind of the. In my mind, this is like the, you know, reference here, the blasphemy that's referred to in verse 13 by his sons. And is this a acknowledgment by God that they. His foreknowledge knows that they will never repent, and therefore that's the reason why there won't be an eternity is because they won't repent, or is this God saying, even if you do repent, I won't forgive?
[00:45:29] Speaker B: I think that this is saying that the course of your lineage as a priesthood is changing direction. That's unchangeable.
Personally, you get into chapter four, and spoiler alert, Phinehas and Ferb die, and so does their father. On the same day in this great battle when Israel loses the Ark of the Covenant, Eli is told the news that his sons have been killed. He falls awkwardly and breaks his neck and dies instantly.
You want to read about the saddest day ever? Like, that's chapter four again. That's God executing his promise, his judgment. And we've talked about this, that God promises both things, both grace, mercy, joy, and judgment. He's capable of both of those and executes both of those accordingly to his will.
I don't know if that answers. That's my thought on your question.
Any other thoughts to wrap us up before we dismiss?
Not a real, like, spunky class tonight, but it's the Bible, so this is humanity. And I think that's what we're seeing in each of these encounters is true humanity. And what these people that sometimes we kind of make a caricature of in our minds because they're Bible heroes or Bible villains. They're real people. So thank you for being with us tonight. Love you very much. And Lord willing, we'll see you on Sunday.
