Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 8 Lesson 74
This week in Sunday school, we look at how God raises up Israel’s last judge: Samuel. How is Israel doing spiritually at the end of the Judges period? Why does God condemn and curse the previous judge, Eli? And what do these chapters show us about walking before God in pride or in humility? We’ll consider these questions and more.
Our text for this lesson is 1 Samuel 1:1-4:22.
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and it’s time to get started so let me say good morning everyone and thank you for joining the Calvary Community Church Sunday School class we are M and I are now here on the East Coast thank you for those of us you or those of you who are praying for us got us safely here and a very interesting day of transport especially at the airport and on the airplane talk about that story another time but we’re continuing on today in our study of the answers Bible curriculum moving chronologically through the Bible and we now find ourselves in the books of Samuel we moved on from the book of Judges but we’re still in the judges period last time we looked at Ruth and the wonderful account of how God showed himself to be the great Redeemer but today we’re looking at God’s call to Samuel o also happy Mother’s Day just want to say that officially since everyone is here on this dream now the past is one of the passage will be kind of moving past today has to do with Mother’s won’t be camping there Hannah’s prayer and Hannah’s experience has a lot to do with mothers so hopefully maybe you can go back and look at that as part of your Mother’s Day observance but we’re talking more specifically about Samuel today now our accounts is found at the beginning of the book of 1st Samuel 1st and 2nd Samuel were originally composed as one book later split just for convenience non inspired split but this history book this book of Samuel is a book filled with notable contrasts it especially contrasts the proud and the humble before God and we’re going to see this already in the beginning of the book with what we’re looking at today when we hear about the last two judges in Israel Eli and Samuel now how is it that these two judge delivers that God raised up both of them himself how is it that they contrast so much what did God do with Eli and with Samuel and what can we learn when it comes to our own necessary living humbly before God even amid an ongoing difficult coronavirus quarantine situation yes this is a situation where we need you if we’re going to walk rightly before God so we need to hear what the Word of God has for us today and take it to heart so let’s ask God’s blessing on this time of study pray with me Heavenly Father we thank you for your word and help me to be able to explain it accurately and hopefully and Lord I pray that the people would be attentive all those who are listening today so they would be very careful to observe what you are saying not really what I am saying but Lord what you say in your word what the god of the universe says in his word Lord and I pray that we would all be encouraged convicted and transformed by it than Jesus name Amen all right please take your Bibles and open to the book of 1st Samuel 1st samuel appears right after the Old Testament books of judges and Ruth we’re gonna start in 1st Samuel not at the very beginning but actually at the beginning of chapter 2 right where we see the song of Hannah this prayer song this praise song this prayer poem of Hannah right at the beginning of 1st Samuel chapter 2 we’re gonna look at this song because I want us to see that theme that I talked about and just a moment ago about the contrast between the humble and the proud look at 1st Samuel 2 verses 1 to 10 where it says then Hannah prayed and said my heart exalts in the Lord that is yahwah covenant name there my horn is exalted in yahweh my mouth speaks boldly against my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation there is no one holy like Yahweh indeed there was no one besides you nor is there any rock like our God boast no more so very proudly you know let arrogance come out of your mouth for Yahweh is a God of knowledge and with him actions are weighed the bows of the mighty are shattered but the feeble gird on strength those who were full hired themselves out for bread but those who are hungry ceased to hunger even the barren gives birth to seven but she who has many children languishes yahweh kills and makes alive he brings down to and raises up Yahweh makes pouring rich he brings low he also exalts he raises the poor from the dust he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobles and inherit a seat of Honor for the pillar of the earth are the lords our that is Yahweh’s and he set the world on them he keeps the feet of his godly ones but the wicked ones are silenced in darkness for not by might shall a man prevail those who contend with Yahweh will be shattered against them he will thunder in the heavens and Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth and he will give strength to his king and he will exalt the Horn of his Anointed One second year I see I have to advance the slides in a little different way than I’m used to okay now we have a fair amount of text to cover today so won’t be able to look at this section very much in depth but do notice the contrast that is presented between the humble and the proud whom does this text say God humbles and destroys it is the proud it is the great it is the wicked but whom does God exalts and bless well does the humble and does the poor it is the righteous theme of the proud versus the humble and how God treats each of them it’s presented throughout the scripture but especially here in the books of Samuel fundamentally we hear in the scriptures again and again God as opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble he will judge the haughty and bring them down but he will exalt the humble and vindicate their trust in him now this was very much true in the life of Hannah and we don’t have time to go back to chapter 1 and read all about it but let me just bring some of those details back to your mind Hannah was one of the two wives of an affair might Nant man named Elkanah hannah though was barren she couldn’t have any children while her arrival the other wife pnina was able to have children and was bearing children for Elkanah penina frequently proudly provoked hana over this baroness that hannah had and remember that baroness was considered a great shame and a sign of divine disfavor in those days but hana cries out to God in faith filled prayer and God hears Hannah’s cry he exalts Hannah Eve indicates her trust in Yahweh by giving her a son whom she named Samuel Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for God hears or God listens now this theme of the proud verse the humble like I said it plays out again and again for Samuel and sometimes a person in the account my King David will experience both exultation and humbling based on how that person is responding to God and walking before God but we see it already at the beginning of this book right even in Hannah’s prayer but do you notice something else in their prayer in verse 10 Hannah makes a reference to something that does not yet exist in Israel she says that God will give strength to his king I’m gonna exalt the Horn of his anointed there’s no king in Israel yeah Hannah knows that a king is coming God specially anointed a specially empowered king will come to Israel and this is another theme that we see in the books of Samuel God will raise up and strengthen his chosen King and this is something an issue really needs because if we’ve been following along the narrative in the book of Judges Israel needs someone to lead them in righteousness back to Yahweh every man is doing what’s right in his own eyes they need someone to lead them after the Lord now this kind of sets the stage a little bit but let’s look at the state of the judgeship in Israel and even Israel spiritual state which we hear about next in chapter 2 in 1st Samuel 2 verses 12 to 17 we’re here about the current judge Eli and his family let’s see what it says about Eli first you were first Samuel – starting verse 12 now the sons of Eli were worthless men they did not know Yahweh and the custom of the priesthood the people when any man was offering a sacrifice the priests servants would come while a meat was boiling with a three-pronged fork in his hand then he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot all that the fort brought up the priest would take for himself thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there also before they burned the fat the priests servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing gives the priests meat for roasting as he will not take boiled meat from you only raw if the man said to him he must surely burn the fat first and then take as much as you desire then he would say no but you shall give it to me now and if not I will take it by force thus the sin of the young men was very great before Yahweh and the men despised the offering of Yahweh now boy they have been wondering as we’ve moved through the book of Judges where are the priests in all this what’s going on with the tabernacle what are gods specially chosen priests doing during all this downward spiral in Israel Israel’s turning to idolatry what are the priests doing well we get a bit of an answer here just some observations on this section of text we see that Eli is both high priest and judge in Israel he’s one of those judge delivers one of those adjudicators in Israel and here we see the sons of Eli are also serving as priests but immediately we’re told that these sons are worthless men they do not know Yahweh in fact these two sons and we hear their names later hoffa and Phineas they’ve been inaugurated to wicked practices when it comes to God’s offerings notice the first part they steal part of the boiled offerings with a three-pronged fork now that God did make provision in his law that some of the offerings would belong to the priests part of the offerings but it wasn’t this provision this is something that these sons have added on and second sons demand part of the raw offerings even before the fat has been even before where the fat has been burned now what’s the big deal about the fat well according to the law of Moses the fat belongs to the Lord all the fat has to be removed and burned on the altar as a as an offering to Yahweh but here we’re told the priest insists on taking the meat with the fat and if the offer refuses to give it up the priest will take it by force verse 17 summarizes that these acts are very great sin before Yahweh and they are signs of Eli sons utter contempt for God’s holy sacrifices and you can just imagine what this must have been like for the worshipers coming to the tabernacle they’re looking to honor God they want to worship God with these offerings and they’re seeing the priests themselves are full of greed and utter disregard for God’s law that would have been extremely discouraging bewildering demoralizing for the few in Israel who are actually trying to be faithful I mean if anybody should be following Yahweh faithfully shouldn’t it be God’s priests and after all these are sons of a judge before telling us more the author takes a quick aside in verses 18 to 21 I’ll just summarize that briefly there’s another reference to Samuel Samuel is dedicated by Hanna as a servant to Yahweh from his boyhood after weaning him at about three years old she basically drops him off at the tabernacle says Eli he is going to be a servant to the Lord he’s actually been dedicated as a Nazarite kind of like Samson was from his youth and we’re told in these verses that he is ministering before Yahweh every day Hanna his mother continues to make garments for young Samuel and God bless his Hannah with five more children so there’s a quick aside in verse 22 they come back to Eli’s sons verse 22 to 25 let’s read a little bit more about them in verse 22 it says now Eli was very old and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway the tent of meeting he sense them why do you do such things the evil things that I hear from all these people know my sons the report is not good which I hear the always people circulating if one man sins against another God will mediate for him but for man’s sins against Yahweh who can intercede for him they would not listen to the voice of their father for Yahweh desire to put them to death whoa we see here about Eli sons beyond their greedy desire for more meat they’re actually sleeping with the women who are ministering and serving at God’s Tabernacle sin is all over the tabernacle and it starts with the priests Eli’s own sons and the sin is not secret all Israel knows about it and Eli hears about it from Israel all y’all ways people are giving this report about Eli’s sons so Eli therefore confronts his sons we’ve seen the text he warns them about the consequences of their sin before God but they do not listen and why not the text says because God desired to put them to death they would not he would not let them repent and so be saved now this is not absolving him responsibility surely they also did not listen because they were proud and because they love their own sin this was also partly a judgment on God a judgment from God he was hardening their hearts now I know we’re kind of moving briskly as we have a lot of text to cover but after this little section you ought that gives us another aside regarding Samuel look at verse 26 chapter 2 verse 26 it says now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with Yahweh and with men so notice while Eli sons the priests they’re stealing meat sleeping around Samuel is growing up and growing in favor with God now looking at these chapters of this far we might we might want to save Eli well his sons are bad but he lies decent he’s pretty good after all he rebuked his sons they just wouldn’t listen to him I mean I guess he’s too old to do anything more but at least he tried least he tried to set things right well before we come to that conclusion speed the rest of chapter 2 because God has a slightly different opinion of Eli and he sends a special message to Eli be an unnamed prophet look at first email 2 verses 27 to 36 it says that a man of God came to Uihlein said to him thus says Yahweh did I not indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house then I’ll not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be my priests to go up to my altar to burn incense to carry an ephod before me did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering which I have commanded in my dwelling and honor your son’s above me by making yourselves fat with a choicest of every offering of my people Israel therefore Yahweh God of Israel declares I did indeed say that your house in the house of your father should walk before me forever but now y’all way declares far be it from me for those who honor me I will honor and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed behold the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house you will see the distress of mind welling in spite of all the good that I do for Israel and an old man will not be in your house forever yet I will not cut off every man of yours from my altar so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life this will be the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons hophni and Phinehas on same day both of them will die but I will raise it for myself a faithful priest will do according to what is in my heart and in my soul I will build him an enduring house and he will walk before my anointed always everyone who was left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of sewer or a loaf of bread and say please assign me to one of the priests offices so that I may eat a piece of bread this section is quite striking let’s make some observations here God through this anonymous man of God he first reminds you life something starting in verse 27 God reminds Eli that God chose Eli’s house that is the house of Aaron to minister as priests on behalf of Israel this was an exalted position but it is one that carried serious responsibilities God then lays out a series of condemnation Zhan Eli and Eli’s house notice God uses the term you yourselves Eli is concluded in this from what does God condemn Eli for treating God’s holy offerings with contempt for honoring his sons above God and for fattening himself along with his sons on the choices part of the peoples offerings and this is interesting because we just saw earlier in the chapter that Eli rebukes his sons and yet what is he like doing he’s eating of the same meat as his sons the meat that did not belong to the priest he tells his songs you shouldn’t do that but he’s eating the meat too and pointedly in Chapter four when we hear about the death of Eli part of the reason why he dies is because he’s old and it says heavy he literally fattened himself up on meat that did not belong to him God rebukes him and in verse 30 God pronounces a change to what was previously promised to Eli as a descendant of Aaron God says I said your house would walk before me forever my god says far be it from me to do this for you and why because of the principle that god declares and this is a very important principle for us to remember those who honor me I will honor and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed isn’t this exactly the same principle that we saw essentially presented in Hannah’s prayer in Chapter two God humbles the proud but he exalts the humble those who honor God he will honor but those who treat him with contempt God will cast them down God is really trying to emphasize something to us today we need to take that to heart starting in verse 31 God announces a curse on Eli’s house that is his dynastic line and this curse has several components he says first that Eli’s family’s strength will be broken there will be no old men left in it they will all die in the prime of life he also says that he will not completely cut off Eli’s line but rather than a mercy the purpose of it appears to be so that Eli’s family will never stop grieving says Eli you and those after you they will never stop weeping I’m not gonna completely cut you off but I’m gonna keep on bringing tragedy to your family and then he God also gives a sign that this judgment will come to pass and notice what the sign is it’s that both of Eli’s sons will die on the same day and that’s not the judgment that’s part of the judgment it’s a sign that the judgment will come to pass says this will be the sign god also says that he’s going to raise up a new faithful priest who will have an enduring house that is an enduring lineage unlike the broken lineage that we’re going to see happen with Eli’s house there’s gonna be a different priest with a new and lasting lineage and God says this priest will be there to walk before my anointed always and there’s that term anointed again who is God’s anointed well that’s actually the term from what we from where we get Messiah from this is another reference to God’s King he says this priests this new priest I’m going to raise up he’s going to walk before my anointed king and when this happened God says anyone left an Eli’s house will come begging to this new priest for food from money or for position to fill now notice what Eli’s reaction is to all of this actually you can’t really notice it because we don’t hear about it it’s not presented what did he think of this what did he say to Yahweh we’re not told but let’s observe one more section having to do with Eli and his sons before we take a step back and ask some interpretation questions look at chapter 3 and we’ll read the whole chapter going to the first verse of chapter 4 chapter 3 we start again with the reference to Samuel it says now the boy samuel was ministering to Yahweh before Eli and word from Yahweh was rare in those days visions were infrequent it happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place as eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well and the lamp of God had not yet gone out and Samuel was lying down in the temple of Yahweh where the Ark of God was now Yahweh called Samuel and he said Here I am and you ran to Eli and said Here I am for you called me but he said I did not call lie down again so he went and lay down yeah I call yet again Samuel so Samuel arose and went to Eli and said Here I am for you called me but he answered I did not call my son lie down again now Samuel did not yet know Yahweh nor had the word of Yahweh yet been revealed to him so Yahweh called Samuel again for the third time and he arose and went to Eli and said Here I am before you called me then Eli discerned that Yahweh was calling the boy and Eli said to Samuel go lie down and it shall be if he calls you then you shall say speak Yahweh for your servant is listening so Samuel went and lay down in his place and Yahweh came and stood and called us at other times Samuel Samuel and Samuel said speak for your servant is listening you always said to Samuel behold I’m about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle and that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house from beginning to end or I have told him and I’m about to judge his house forever but the iniquity which he knew because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them therefore I’ve sworn to the house of you like that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever so Samuel lay down until morning and he opened the doors to the house of Yahweh as Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli then Eli called Samuel and said Samuel my son and he said Here I am he said what is the word that he spoke to you please do not hide it from me may God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all the words that he spoke to you so Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him and he said it is Yahweh let him do what seems good to him and Samuel grew and Yahweh was with him and let none of his words fail all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of Yahweh and Yahweh appeared again at Shiloh because Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of Yahweh thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel let’s observe this last passage we see Samuels again ministering before Yahweh we’re also told that supernatural words from Yahweh are infrequent in these days and Samuel Eli are both lying down to sleep while the lamp of God is burning so this is that night and the lamp of God is of course the golden lampstand of the tabernacle appears that Samuel is sleeping nearby this lamp in the tabernacle or in the tabernacle complex a notice to whom the Lord supernaturally calls out doesn’t call out to Eli calls out to Samuel but Samuel thinks that Eli is calling him and the text tells us why because Samuel did not yet know Yahweh and Yahweh the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to Samuel three times God calls Samuel and each time Samuel goes running to Eli Eli tells Samuel at first just go back to bed by the third time he realizes that God is calling Samuel Eli tell Samuel next time to ask God to speak and so the fourth time that God calls Samuel Samuel responds as Eli instructed and notice the message that God gives to Samuel God tells Samuel he is about to fulfill his judgment on the house of Eli and really it reiterates this Samuel why this judgment is coming down it’s because Eli knew the evil of his sons but he did not rebuke them in the morning Sam was afraid to tell Eli the vision and you can understand why do you like commands Samuel to share everything or else may God curse Samuel so Samuel tells you lie everything and news he lives reaction here this time we do get his reaction he says let Yahweh do what seems good to him in other words Eli accepts God’s judgment and then told God continues to be with Samuel confirms him as a prophet in Israel and we’re also told that God appears to Samuel at the Tabernacle in Shiloh and it’s because Samuel was there well we’ve looked at a lot of texts but let’s bring all these details weasal we’ve observed together and try and answer some questions of interpretation remember when we did the inductive Bible study method we’re first just looking to observe the basic details with the text and then we try and answer questions that are not explicitly answered by the text but based on the details we can come to accurate conclusions on or at least probable conclusions so here’s the first question that we want to consider in chapter 2 we see Eli rebuking his sons but in chapter 3 God says judgment is coming down on Eli for not rebuking his sons wait a second is this a contradiction how are we to reconcile this from what God says to Eli about his fattening himself up on the food but we can see that Eli’s your buek was what it was superficial this is not a true rebuke when his sons did not repent you know I did nothing else I mean based on what they were doing in Israel they deserve to be put to death Betty you know I didn’t do that he didn’t do anything to punish them nor even remove them from the priesthood rather Eli / took and the results of their sin so he did not truly rebuke them it was just a superficial rebuke thus Eli’s rebuked by God here’s another question when he like years for a second time that God’s judgment on him in his house is coming simply accepts it but is this a righteous response or should Eli have acted differently what do you think you can type an answer in the chat box is it righteous merely to accept the judgment of God well consider some other examples of Scripture what certain persons are told that judgment is coming and then they react by repentance think of Nineveh in the Book of Jonah right God says yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown but the people of Nineveh repented and what did God do he relented of the judgment he spared them and we even see that with some of the wicked kings and Judah initial God says judgments coming down in your house and all of a sudden what did they do they repent and humble themselves before God and God says have you seen the way this guy is humbled humble himself and God relents to the judgment or he postpones the judgment I mean even if God didn’t change the judgment if you truly love God and you want to honor him you don’t just continue in sin when God says hey judgment is coming down on you because of your sin you don’t just say oh okay I accept that no you repent of your sin why why would you continue in the sin and that God our gonna judge you for so this resignation of Eli this acceptance of God’s judgment huh I don’t think we should see this as a righteous response you say oh you know he’s submitting to Yahweh I don’t think so this is someone who’s even when he’s told that judgment is coming is not willing to change the situation part of it maybe is that he’s not super able but he doesn’t even seem to be willing this is not a response that we want to emulate another question oh yeah yeah some of you also mentioned other sections like when David mourned and prayed when he was told that his son would die and he pleaded for God’s mercy I didn’t give it there but that was a righteous response and sometimes God does show mercy because right just as as Steve is saying God is a merciful God now here’s another question why is the account keep switching back and forth between Eli and Samuel certainly is to present that contrast right you see Eli and his house being unfaithful but Samuel is being faithful to Yahweh and what is God doing for Samuel it’s exalting him before the people he confirms him as a prophet he’s now giving his word to Samuel and not Eli yeah that’s kind of a big deal right you’re the judge or the high priest that God says I’m not giving my word to you anymore I’m gonna give it to this little kid I’m gonna raise him up this is to present that contrast between the humble that God exalts and the proud that God cast down and it isn’t this exactly what sorry I just did something on my screen here isn’t this exactly what we were seeing from Hannah song we’re seeing that that principle being lived out in the lives of the people of these chapters chapters 2 3 and 4 Eli and his unfaithful house were being cast down while Samuel is being raised up as a faithful and humble prophet and judge before God now one other question before we move on who is the faithful priest the God says he’s going to raise up now immediately we might want to say Oh Samuel clearly look God’s casting down Eli and he’s bringing up Samuel Samuel must be the faithful priest but doesn’t really fit with the details of the text because if we go back to 1st Samuel 1 want we’re told that Samuels father is an III of mind he’s not a Levite he’s not even her yeah he’s not coming up the line of Aaron and he’s not even a Levite now it’s true 1st chronicles 6 does mention several Elkanah us who are in the line of Levi but there’s no indication that that’s the same Elkanah there’s actually a bunch of them in the genealogies there sorry that might be second Chronicles but even there and really throughout the scriptures there is no reference to Samuel being in the line of priests or his sons being the line of priests so it’s probably not a reference to Samuel Samuel does have an important role to play before Yahweh and the people of Israel but his role seems to be more like Moses’s role rather than Aaron’s role he certainly is able to offer sacrifices and do various things that sometimes only priests can do but he’s not himself a priest or raising up a line of priests so not Samuel no maybe then the reference is to Jesus Christ isn’t Jesus Christ a faithful high priest and isn’t he raised up instead of the line of Aaron well that’s true and we do praise the Lord for this new priesthood and the order of Melchizedek that God raises up and our faithful high priest is sympathetic high priest as the New Testament expounds but again the details the texts don’t really fit with Jesus being the faithful high priest because what does God foretell about this priest that he’s going to raise up it says this priest will walk before my anointed wait a second he’s saying that the king and the priest are gonna be two separate people the Messiah God’s anointed king is gonna have this faithful priest walking before him that doesn’t fit with Jesus he is the king he is the prophet he is the precede all of those so Jesus doesn’t really fit as an answer either so who then is the faithful high priest that God has in mind what we’ll come back to that question because it has to do with the fulfillment of the judgment on the house of Eli now I’d really like to go through the next three chapters with you but we’re already kind of moving quickly through these texts and we don’t have time to go through each of these three chapters I again recommend you do this on your own but just let me summarize what happens next what’s the aftermath of what we’ve seen in 1st Samuel 1 2 4 well in chapter 4 as we read through that chapter we see Israel finds itself at war again with the Philistines and we saw them with Samson they were pressing part of Israel subjugated part of Israel this is still that same time period his rule goes to battle against the Philistines but they’re defeated four thousand Israelites die in the battle against the Philistines and if we look at first samuel 4 verses 3 & 4 we see the people react by saying oh man why has yahweh defeated us before the Philistines and that’s a great question to ask but they don’t really answer that question at least not in a way that is biblical and helpful they say let’s go get the ark let’s go get the ark so we can make sure that we’re victorious I mean the ark is the place of God’s presence if we’ve got God with us then surely we will win the battle against the Philistines so hophni and Phinehas actually come from Shiloh with the ark they bring it to the battlefield all Israel rejoices and they are sure they’re gonna win the next day and the Philistines when they hear about a pair trembling they are cowering they say oh man they’re their gods have come into their camp how are we ever gonna beat them but what’s the result of the battle so continue on in 1st Samuel for unusual returns to battle their massacred 30,000 Israelites die hophni and Phinehas die and the ark is captured talk about a reversal of what Israel expected Eli back in Shiloh he’s anxious for news about the battle and especially news about the Ark and when a messenger comes and gives the message it gives the news to Eli what happens well he life falls off his seat breaks his neck and dies even Eli’s pregnant daughter-in-law what she hears that Eli has died on top of all these other calamities even the death of her husband and that the Ark has been captured she’s so traumatized that she immediately goes into labor she even dies in childbirth but not before naming her new son Nick Abad which means something like no glory because she says the glory has departed from Israel I mean this really must have felt like the end of the world for Israelites I mean totally defeated in battle all these people have died the judge has died the Ark is gone yawns Yahweh’s presence is no longer with his people what’s gonna happen to us and certainly the Philistines work exulting in their triumph our gods are superior to the God of Israel but God was to make sure that Philistines didn’t get the wrong message we won’t go through it but God sovereignly arranges circumstances even via miraculous judgments and plagues he arranges that the ark does return to Israel temporarily captured but soon in first name of five and six returned to the Land of Israel but more importantly the first samuel 7 samuel who’s now all grown up he brings the people visual together and he says brothers it’s time to repent it’s time to repent before God and if you do he will deliver you from the Philistines put away these false gods serve Yahweh alone humble yourselves before Yahweh repent and serve him only and He will vindicate your trust and that’s what the people do and so what happens usual is delivered from the Philistines and thus we see that same cycle that we’ve seen throughout the judges period playing out again the people’s sin turn away from y’all away God sends an oppressor the people repent and then God raises up a judge to deliver the people from that oppressor and that’s exactly what we see happening with Samuel and all this is related to that theme of when you humble yourself before God he will in due time vindicate and exalt you he will provide just as he promised but if you stubbornly continue in sin in your own way before God God will cast you down just like it cast down Eli and you license and even all Israel because they would not follow y’all but with the death of Eli sons his gods prophesy against the house of Eli totally fulfilled I’ll remember the death of the sons in the same day was just the sign of the prophecy coming to pass that was just kind of like the appetizer it was just the first indication that these things will all come to pass where do we see God’s curse totally fulfilled and even the faithful priest that replaces them appear well as we move on in the scripture well let me summarize a number of events we’re kind of gonna move through a number of books just so you see the end of this prophecy God’s Word is fulfilled in due time you guys disentis do continue to serve as priests but a certain man arises by the name of David yes that’s eventual King David but David one day fleeing from Saul he stops at the residence of a certain high priest named ahem elec who is a descendant of Eli David asks the hymn elect for help him a lot complies but when the king of Israel saw hears about how ahem elec aid David saw wickedly kills the him elec and ahem elects all whole household in fact he puts the whole city of knob which was a city where thee these priests lived he puts the whole city to the sword only one man of ahem elects line which is also Eli’s line escapes and that’s a man by the name of a buyeth or a by far and another man who’s also from the line of Aaron but not from the line of EDA Eli Zadok they follow David and they serve David faithfully as priests in the kingship of David but at the end of David’s reign a buyeth are decides to endorse David’s son add an idea as king instead of the one that David had chosen Solomon this was essentially a treasonous act and when Solomon becomes king he dismisses abaya thought and I want you to see how this happens look at first Kings two first Kings to verse 26 column a Solomon his address by far and notice what it says first Kings to 26 then to a buyeth are the priests the King said go to Anathoth to your own field for you deserve to die but I will not put you to death at this time because you carried the Ark of the Lord Yahweh before my father David and because you were afflicted in everything in which my father was afflicted this verse 27 so Solomon dismiss Tabitha from being the priest from being priests to Yahweh in order to fulfill the word of Yahweh which he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh wow this is many years later after the prophecy given to Eli after that curse and yet God’s Word comes to pass in due time the house of Eli is totally devastated by Saul but not destroyed and later Eli’s descent abathur is officially dismissed from the priesthood by Solomon and it’s here where we see the faithful priest appear the replacement because who is it that Solomon appoints what line to replace abathur and Eli’s line in the priesthood the only other priestly line that’s serving at the time and that’s the line of say doc God confirms as a doc in the scriptures as a faithful priest and even as a faithful line of priests and God even promises I’m kind of an astounding way that when the eschatological Kingdom comes to Israel when God restores the kingdom to Israel he promises that the sons of Zadok will again Minister has priests Ezekiel 44 Ezekiel 44 verses 15 to 16 says says this speaking of the future but the Levitical priests the sons of Zadok who kept charge of my sanctuary when the sun’s visual went astray from me shall come near to me to minister to me and they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood declares the Lord Yahweh they shall enter my sanctuary they shall come near to my table to minister to me and keep my charge there you see it God confirms even when all of Israel was not being faithful to Yahweh the sons of Zadok were being faith Yahweh and God says I’ll remember that and I will make sure to exalt you when I restore the kingdom to Israel now there are certainly some details of that that we don’t fully understand because we have the high priesthood of Christ and the fulfilled work at Calvary and yet God says a doc has an important place in the future and this is all in fulfillment of that basic principle that we heard God Himself declare those who honor me I will honor but those who despise me will be lightly esteemed it is God who has the power to raise up and the power to cast down and God delights it is his joy it is his delight to exalt the humble and humble the proud so you’re seeing that main theme today and certainly that’s gonna have an important application for us but can we get more specific how can we apply as we look at the beginning of first Samuel here the lives of Samuel and Eli how can we specifically apply this text because of course that is the the last part of Bible study that we always need to include observe interpret and then apply well that’s something for you to continue to think about but let me give you three suggested applications based on what we’ve observed and what we’ve concluded from the text we’ve looked at today first surely God’s Spirit instructing us from this text that we need to live humbly before God Eli and his sons lived in a way that was wise in their own eyes they thus treated with contempt the commands of God they paid no attention to them they didn’t care if they violated them again and again yes so we need to ask ourselves do we do the same even though speaking in a way that were you need to speak to yourself even though you know that what you’re doing is wrong do you continue to do it because after all you haven’t really felt the consequences of it yet nobody else knows about it there hasn’t any big calamities in your life so what’s the big deal I’ll just continue doing what I want to do if that’s been your attitude then dear friend I ask you to remember realize that your sin will be found out by God he already knows about it he’s keeping her firm record of it and judgment will come eventually when God determines it should God has been patient with you but God sees your sin and he will call you to account so learn the lesson of this text don’t remain stubborn and proud humble yourself before God repent of your sins believe in Jesus Christ as your king and as your total substitutionary Savior he’s the only one who can make things right between you and God you can’t do it none of your good works can do it if you will humble yourself before God and pursue him in faithful obedience and what will God do remember what he said those who honor me I will honor God will raise you up at the right time God will provide for you as you need and God will grant you everlasting life with him forever this is the inheritance that comes to the humble and isn’t that exactly what Jesus says in the Beatitudes the Spirit is telling us we need to walk live humbly before God that’s certainly a main application from our text here’s another one and I’m going a literate of here live humbly before God but also love your brethren enough to confront sin we often think that it’s loving to just overlook the sins of others and in a certain respect it is in certain certain context a prudent man overlooks an insult the Proverbs say but it is not loving to overlook ongoing and heinous sins it’s actually selfish arrogance isn’t that exactly what Eli was doing he gave a superficial rebuke but never really dealt with this sin that was taking place right in the priesthood and think about the Corinthians in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 they had this man who was committing gross immorality in their midst and Paul says why didn’t you confront and deal with this man instead what do you do he says you boast in your arrogance they were boasting about it somehow maybe boasting that they were so loving and so tolerant but he says you shouldn’t have done that that wasn’t a loving thing to do that wasn’t a righteous thing to do instead should have done what God called you to do which is pursue the process of confrontation is described in Matthew 18 now it’s true as the scriptures say love covers a multitude of sins but how does it do so James 5:20 actually clarifies that the way that happens is by confrontation and repentance he who goes after someone who has gone astray it says James says let that person know that he saves his soul from death and covers a multitude of sins you want to see people’s sin covered and help them to repent and their sins will be covered before God don’t just sweep it under the rug before man help that person be reconciled to God I see Mark’s comment there we should as Christians expect that we’re gonna need reproof from time to time we know the deceitfulness of the flesh there’s a deceitfulness of sin certainly many righteous persons in the scriptures were in need of reproof think of Peter think of David and they were grateful for it when they received it and when we give reproof and even when we receive it it needs to be with that humble attitude of course there’s a way of coming all high-and-mighty against somebody or in an unloving fashion and that that doesn’t really lead to effective or proof that doesn’t really help someone be restored but we do need to do the hard work of corporate sanctification not just individual say I don’t know what they’re doing but I’m follow god that’s good but you need to worry about them too because you’re connected to them you’re part of the same body ask yourselves do you love your brethren enough to care about the damage that sin does to them and to others no sin stays isolated especially in the church Paul says again in 1st Corinthians 5 don’t you know a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough if we ignore sin everyone suffers for it so then will we pursue the necessary hard conversations that will help one another overcome besetting sins and this isn’t going to always be a one-time thing sometimes it is see sometimes you go to that person express your concern and they say oh thank you you know what I need to I need to repent thanks for thanks for coming to me and they change but a lot of times they need more ongoing help they’re gonna need your regular discipleship they’re gonna need your accountability so are you willing to do that are you willing to receive that such as what it means to walk humbly before God may God never have to rebuke us like he rebuked Eli saying you were aware of ongoing sin and yet you did nothing about it or you just acted superficially ain’t God not rebuke us that way one other application to bring to your attention live humbly before God love your brother enough to confront sin but I believe the Spirit is also directing us to understand from our text look forward to God’s an indication God announces a number of prophetic words in our passage and we see them come to pass God’s judgment on Eli’s house came to pass just as God promised God’s word of blessing came to pass on the house of Zadok just as God promised in a similar way for God’s people his promises of blessing provision deliverance they will come to pass for his people at the right time but do you believe this do we believe this and Quarantine is a time well we definitely have to test we test we’re tested as to whether we believe that because what do we have to do in quarantine I got a wait and waiting is fundamentally a time of testing because the longer we wait the more attempt it to become discontent to doubt and to complain I get tired of the virus tired of the lockdown tired of people not following the guidelines and getting away with it but don’t you believe that God knows what he’s doing God knows your needs he’s put you in this circumstance exactly as he intended don’t you believe that he’s promised to take care of you through the trial yes he’ll deliver you from the trial at the right time but he has a purpose in it so do you trust that he will provide for you through the trial whatever happens therefore you must we must trust obey proceed by faith God will fulfill his word at the proper time look forward to it believe in it don’t get angry don’t get impatient don’t get fearful that’s not what God’s people do humble yourself before Yahweh it is a humbling thing to submit and wait yes do what you can do when it’s righteous but when you can’t do anything else wait wait on the Lord wait for God’s good promises to come to pass because they will the hallway is a covenant-keeping god he is a faithful God and you will keep his word those are some three applications and of course there are more so I hope that you will continue to meditate on them today and throughout this week now that’s all for my lesson I’ve got a couple of minutes left here so if you have a question or a comment that you’d like to offer based on what you’ve heard me say today or based on the text that we’ve looked at and First Samuel please feel free to put it in the chat or you can send me an email at daph Coppola at gmail.com and I do my best to interact with you that over email of course thank you so much for joining me today in our study of First Samuel where to continue in Samuel for a little while next time we’re going to talk about how Israel demands from their judge demands from Samuel a king one since this is what everybody’s been waiting for yes Israel needs a king and yet God says the way you’re asking for it is unrighteous you are committing great sins by asking for a king and we’ll talk about how those two seemingly contradictory truths interact when I close our time formally with prayer and then I’ll I will interact in the chat if any of you are interested in doing so are you praying Heavenly Father we thank you for your word it is it is a word that Lord we know necessarily needs to Humble us well this is something that we so easily forget we do become exalted in our own view of ourselves we think about maybe all the good that we do for your kingdom or all the hard work that we do and then we say well don’t I deserve when I deserve this circumstance to be different don’t I deserve comfort don’t I deserve a little time to enjoy some idols we think these things even if we don’t express them but Lord forgive us for where we do so Lord your word reminds us that the weight of blessing the way of life and joy is by walking humbly before you not stubbornly in sin noting that entitlement attitude not in that arrogance before you what do we need to remain serious about sin both in our own lives and in our church in the body not as policeman but as those who love one another and are concerned for the damage and the rot that sin brings well what I prayed it should be gracious as I save and sanctify those who have listened today Lord is so blessed to walk before you in humility but keep us there and Lord we know that trials are part of what do that so it helped us to learn from the trials what we need to learn Lord as they continue in worship at Calvary today I pray Lord that you would bless the pastor as he preaches and those others who lead the worship and minister in other ways I pray Lord that we continue to be transformed by your word in Jesus name Amen thank you again for being here and if you have anything you’d like to share in the chat please do so I’ll hang around for a little bit otherwise I’ll see you next time