Real People- Real Problems
A study of 1 Samuel
Part 2
“Eli”
1 Samuel 2: 12-36
Today we are going to continue our study of 1 Samuel
And the series titled
Real People- Real Problems
Last week we studied a great woman of faith
Hannah
And learned how she overcome her problems,
By
Placing God first
Praying intensely
Receiving the provision of God
Keeping her promises
And by Praising and Worshipping God
To recap just a bit
We talked a lot about the fact that as Believers we are not immune to problems in this life
We will face problems
But
We ---as I said last week
As believers have not one but 2 aces in the hole
The written word to show us how to handle our problems- giveus instructions
And the Holy Spirit living inside of us
To tell us how to handle our problems
Comfort us and guide us through the valleys
Last week we saw how Hannah suffered from
Low self esteem
Social embarrassment
Emotional depression
And persecution from her own family
Because she had no children
This meant in that culture that she was not fulfilling her purpose
Real problems, not unlike the problems we often face
And Hannah was a great model to follow on how
“To”
Overcome
Today we are going to look at how “not to overcome problems”
But how to actually create and increase problems
Our series and the book of 1 Samuel take us to a man named Eli today
He is a prophet
He is a priest; actually he is the high priest
And He is Israel’s’ Judge
On top of that he is a father
And he has some series problems
Let’s read
1 Samuel 1:3 and 2: 12
To introduce this man and his problems
1 Samuel 1:3
“3 Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the LORD at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas.”
1 Samuel 2:12
“12 Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the LORD “
The NASB states it a bit harsher
“12 Now the sons of Eli were [a]worthless men; they did not know the Lord”
Eli was called by God to serve as a priest
He was from the line of Aaron
Which means he was a Levite?
Set aside for the priesthood from birth
He was elevated to the role of high priest
Which says that at some time in his life?
He like Hannah must have placed God first
He was also made Judge of all of Israel
A position that is appointed by God himself
Which also looks good on this man’s resume?
Then on top of that he is called to be Father to at least 2 sons
Hophni and Phinehas
No mention is made of other children
No mention is made of a wife
This in no way means they are not in the picture
It simply means they are not of importance for the story
Here in God’s word
Eli suffers from a problem that many of us suffer from
Kid problems
His kids have gone wild
Gone Bad on me
As John Wayne said in the cowboys of his sons
“Or “As the Duke said
“I went bad on them”
I think both apply in this message
Of the many thousands and even millions of problems that we can suffer in this life
One of the hardest is kid problems
Even when we have done everything to raise our kid’s right
If we are honest few of us have done everything right
It does not go right
Sometimes they make choices that tear down everything they have been taught
And we end up beating ourselves up for years
We often take the blame
And even make excuses
But
I need you to know first that
Everyone has to make their own choices
And their own decisions
Deuteronomy 24:16
“Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.
Remember from Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
In real simple terms this means each person is responsible for making a choice about their own salvation
The wages of their sin is death- eternal separation from God
They can accept or reject the free gift of salvation
They have free will
I like to say
Momma or the preacher can’t save you
Only Jesus can
But
You must make a decision
Listen
The fact that Eli’s sons went bad is not entirely his fault – they mad choices
But he does have a dog in this race
And this is where he gets into a real problem
And he and his family suffer the consequences
Of disobedience
Let’s go back to God’s word to see how Eli
Had a part in the problem
1 Samuel 2:12-17
12 Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the LORD 13 or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli’s sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling, 14 the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli’s sons. All the Israelites who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way. 15 Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal’s fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting.
16 The man offering the sacrifice might reply, “Take as much as you want, but the fat must be burned first.” Then the servant would demand, “No, give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.” 17 So the sin of these young men was very serious in the LORD’s sight, for they treated the LORD’s offerings with contempt.
These boys had completely disregarded any instruction they may have had on Holiness
They had been taught about God , but they did not Know God
They were using their positions to bully the ones they were called to minister to
They were taking advantage of the goodness of God
They were bringing shame on the tabernacle
On God
And the things of God
In today’s culture
Where sacrifice is about giving ourselves to God
Sometimes we don’t understand the importance of animal sacrifice from the Old Testament
Let me give you a reader’s digest version and then kind of a cowboy analogy of what they were doing and why it was so bad
In the Old Testament
Under the Old Covenant
The people were required to offer a sacrifice to God for their sins
There were many types of sacrifices
And that is another subject for another day
But today let’s focus on animal sacrifice
The people brought their sacrifices to the tabernacle in this passage
Later to the temple
And they gave it to God
The animal was killed
And butchered
Then
In the case of a offering that was not a burnt offering where the whole animal would be burned on the altar
The meat would be boiled
The fat cut off and burned on the altar
Then
The priest would take a portion set aside for them by God’s word
And the ones offering the sacrifice would share a meal with family and friends
Committing the food and their lives to God
But
Hophni and Phinehas
Would demand their portion first
Prior to the offering to God
Prior to the fat being burned
Prior to the correct procedures
Make no mistake
The Lord had set up provision for the priests
They were to be taken care of by the House of God for their service to the house of God
The problem is these boys
Wanted what they wanted
Their way
And they often took it by force
Let me give you a fictional image of just how bad this was
Let’s say we passed a plate here at Cowboy Church
And you handed me the money to put in the plate and I took what I wanted and put the rest in the offering
Let’s say it was even worse and we met you at the door and demanded your offering
Now the bible says that the ox that trends the gain is not to be muzzled
This in simple terms means the we are to pay the preacher ---it is biblical
And the church has agreed to compensate me for my service
But, I get compensated after God gets glorified
What these boys were doing was taking theirs first without regard to the offering
Without regard to the one making the offering
Or without regard to God
Verse 17
“So the sin of these young men was very serious in the LORD’s sight, for they treated the LORD’s offerings with contempt.”
And this is WRONG
Next they were also taking advantage of the women coming to serve in the tabernacle
1 Samuel 2:22b
“He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle
So these boys were disregarding God
The things of God
The tabernacle
The Holiness of the offerings
They were taking advantage of the people of Israel
By stealing from them
Threatening them
Bullying them
Using their positions to seduce the women
In the process
They were breaking down the trust of the people for God and the things of God
And God
Was not happy
These boys have a real problem
But Eli has a problem as well
He is giving his sons more honor than his is giving God
Skip down to verses 28-29 with me
28 I chose your ancestor Aaron[a] from among all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly vest[b] as he served me. And I assigned the sacrificial offerings to you priests. 29 So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me—for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel!
Eli has kid problems
But he also has a priest problem
He is letting his kids run wild
Letting them do as they please
Remember I told you every time we read the words “ and they all did as the pleased” in scripture a wreck soon follows
And one is coming
But Eli also has a duty to God
As high priest
To keep the things of God Holy
And he is failing miserably
So let’s look at how not to deal with kid problems in our lives
By looking at the failures of Eli
1st
Eli knew what was going on but looked the other way
Verse 22
22 Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel.
He knew his boys were sinning
He knew they were stealing
He knew they were taking advantage of their positions
He knew taking advantage of the sheep they were called to shepherd
He knew they were disrespecting him
He knew they were disrespecting the house of God
And he knew they were Disrespecting God himself
He knew they were not believers and should not even be in the positions they held
But he did not act
Guys I know it is often hard to make a child stop doing things that are going to hurt themselves and others, especially when they are grown
And I can sympathize with Eli here
On that point
But
He was the high priest
He had an obligation to God
He had placed his sons in this position’
And what they were doing was a crime punishable by death
At the minimum he had duty to remove them from their position
But he failed to do so
He knew they were sinning
He had the ability to stop them from sinning against God in their positions and he simply looked the other way
Several reasons come to mind as to why he would do this
Maybe he did not want confrontation, don’t we sometimes avoid confrontation by looking away
Maybe he felt as if he was showing love to his kids by letting them do what they wanted
Maybe he was embarrassed and afraid of the publicity that would come from removing them or even disciplining them
Maybe he was too busy to care
Maybe he thought if he ignored the problem it would just go away
Maybe he was too self absorbed to see or care
At any rate he was placing his kids in a higher position than he placed God
Verse 29a
29 So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me.
Listen
I don’t know why he did not act
But I do know that he did not- God’s word tells us that much
If we go back to our Bona Fide series
James says in James 4:17
17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
Looking the other way is not handling the problem it will only make it worse in the long run
2nd
He attempted to discipline them but his bark had no bite
Verses 23-25a
“23 Eli said to them, “I have been hearing reports from all the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning? 24 You must stop, my sons! The reports I hear among the LORD’s people are not good. 25 If someone sins against another person, God[g] can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede?”
He simply talked- all hat and no cows
Look at verse 25b with me
“But Eli’s sons wouldn’t listen to their father”
I suspect that Eli had spared the rod when they were young
I suspect that these boys had done as they pleased all their lives
I would feel safe in saying
The boys had no fear of punishment
Eli was their Dad
And their boss
And still they just kept doing what they wanted
I would wager to guess that if Eli would have gotten their attention earlier in their lives
That when he spoke later
They like EF Hutton would have listened
You have all seen a Mom or Dad in a grocery store with a kid who is just going crazy
You may be that parent if so I will pray for you as your kids grows up
And they say if you don’t stop you are going to get a spanking
And they don’t stop
And they don’t get the spanking or the time out or the whatever that was threatened
Listen
Kids are smart
It only takes a couple of times for them to learn that if punishment is threatened and does not come
There is no bite in the bark and that they can do what they want
I am not telling you that you have to whip your kids
And I will never advocate child abuse
But I will tell you if you don’t discipline your kids
Don’t cry when they don’t do what you want
Nuff said
Next
Eli Not only looked the other way
Not only failed to discipline his kids
3rd
He Profited from their disobedience
You may say “do what preacher”
What do you mean He profited by their sin
Look at verse 25b
“for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel!”
The priests were to be cared for by the congregation and that was biblical as we have already discussed
But these boys were taking more than their share
They were taking the choice portions
They were taking them before the fat was burned
Before the sacrifice was made
And they were grilling their meat instead of waiting for the sacrifice to be properly boiled
And they and Eli were getting Fat on the backs of the people
I don’t want to get real political here
But this kind of sounds a little like how our politicians don’t have the same retirement plans that we have
How they don’t have to work for years to earn it
How they pass laws to make us have health care but are not bound to have the same care they force on us
Back to Eli
If you are a fan of old west history like I am
You might be familiar with the term “high grading”
The term comes from the old west Gold Mines
Where the miners would place the best ore in their pockets and would leave at the end of the day with the companies gold
This is what these boys were doing and Eli was getting fat on the ore as well
What he was doing was legitimizing their sin
Minimizing their sin
He was normalizing their sin
He was embracing their sin
In a real world illustration
Say your kid is stealing from his or her job; you know it and you don’t stop it
And then you eat or use what they stole- Big problem
Eli had big problems
Eli failed to do the jobs he had been called to do
And Eli, his sons, and the generations of his family to come suffered
We will cover the suffering in a couple of weeks
But here is the meat of today’s study
As Parents
As Men and Women of God we have a responsibility
To our kids
To ourselves
To those we are responsible for
And
To God
We need to address wrong doing and sin
We need to do this in love but we must do it head on- beating around the bush won’t get it done
Looking the other way never solves the problems
And ignoring it will not make it go away
We need to make sure we hold our children and those we have authority over accountable
Teach them right from wrong then call them on the wrongs and praise them for the rights
Make sure that we use proper discipline whatever that is for you
But this is important – whatever that is for you--we must do we do what we say
We must always be aware and wary of allowing ourselves to prophet off of their sin and wrong doing because then it becomes ours as well
Hannah placed God first Eli did not
When place him first everything else will begin to fall into place
We must pray for and with our children, Hannah did, no mention is made of Eli doing so
We must worship God and God alone, we cannot allow our families to take the place of God in our lives
And we must lead by example
Proverbs 22:6 says
“Direct your children onto the right path,
and when they are older, they will not leave it.”
Listen
Parents
We will make a lot of mistakes
But
When we parent by the book
We are prone to make less of them
But when we do make mistakes and we will
We need to learn from them and not allow ourselves to make the same ones over and over
Real People with Real Problems
A Real God with Real solutions
Close form the heart
Pray
