The Man Of God Who Spoke To Eli, The High Priest

Text: 1 Samuel 2:27: And there came a man of God (identity unknown) unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?

Thoughts: This unnamed man of God was one of the first to be called a “man of God” in the Bible. Samson’s parents had seen a Being they called “a man of God” but that Man of God was most likely Jesus Himself, before He came to this world as a Baby.

The text does not state where he was from, or which tribe he was born into, or even the names of his parents. What is known is that he came to Eli and delivered God’s message. Something to keep in mind is that this man of God spoke directly to Eli, with a message from God, before Samuel relayed God’s message to him (1 Samuel 3).

And the message this man of God spoke to Eli was not a pleasant one. The remaining verses of 1 Samuel 2 list a number of things Eli had either done, or neglected, and this message would be the next to last warning Eli would ever receive to make positive change. That nothing of any permanence took place shows Eli paid little, if any, attention to the message.

In sum, being a man of God sometimes means bringing unpleasant messages. It may also mean that the audience (from one person to many people) will not listen, or if they listen won’t do anything about the message they’ve heard. No matter. The important thing for any man of God to do is hear and deliver God’s message, and trust God for the rest.

This unsung hero did exactly what God wanted him to do. If he preached or delivered any other messages, we know nothing about this. We do have this one message—and it was powerful and direct—delivered to the high priest. When the time comes to bring God’s message to any person or group of people, may there be a mighty army of God’s men willing to do just that.

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).