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The Book of 1Samuel—2:12-17

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The Book of 1Samuel—2:12-17 The Book of 1Samuel—2:12-17 “The Importance of Godly Leadership” Pt.1 (2/8/15) When we started 1Samuel we said that the main issue this book deals with is the issue of leadership. In fact both 1 & 2 Samuel chronicle for us the lives of three of Israel’s most famous leaders— Samuel, Saul and David. Samuel served the nation as a prophet, priest and judge; Saul as its first king and David as its second king. Since these things were written for our learning (Rom.15:4)—the thing we learn from the history of Israel is that in the absence of godly leadership a nation will suffer and decline—whereas in the presence of godly leadership it will prosper and be strengthened. Now up to this point, the focus has been on Elkanah and his family (1:1–2:11)—but now it will shift to Eli and his family (2:12–3:21). And we’re going to see how the Holy Spirit will be contrasting the corrupt leadership of Eli and his sons (priesthood) with the godly leadership God was raising up in the person of Samuel. For example—Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas “abhorred the offering of the Lord” (2:17)—but “Samuel ministered before the Lord” (v. 18). 1 The two brothers committed evil deeds at the tabernacle and invited God’s judgment—but Samuel served at the tabernacle and grew in God’s favor (v. 26). The priestly line would end in Eli’s family—but Samuel would be called of God to carry on a holy priesthood (2:34–3:1). Verse 17 tells us that because of the corruption of Eli’s sons, who were supposed to be representatives, ministers of God—the people hated coming to the house of God to offer Him sacrifices (worship). This is still a problem today in the ministry. Ministry is like any other profession (even though I don’t think of ministry as a career but a calling)— But having said that, ministry is like any other profession that is supposed to serve others, whether we’re talking about law enforcement, civil service, or even the medical profession— We see people in these professions that have good hearts and only want to serve others—and then we see some that are attracted to these professions to benefit themselves. And the same is true with the ministry—we see many people get into ministry who have good hearts, who only want to serve the Lord and help people— But it also attracts people that only see the ministry as a way to benefit and enrich themselves. These corrupt and selfish ‘ministers’ see the ministry as a way to make a buck and people as nothing more than pawns to be used to achieve those selfish objectives. 2 Of course the devil uses them to make the rest of us look bad also. There are many in our country that look at Christianity and see these people in ministry, they see the greed, the scandals and the constant emphasis placed on money and it turns them off to church. Of course atheists and secularists use this to prove that Christianity is a joke, loaded with crooks and phonies that are up on stage playing a part, acting like sincere men of God when all they really are are religious hucksters and con-men—and certainly some of that is true as our text demonstrates. The problem is that the atheists and secularists divide the world into two groups—the religious and the secular—and when it comes to the religious they lump the good in with the bad and condemn us all— Christian con-artists, Muslim terrorists, Satanists, Scientologists—anyone that believes in the spiritual regardless of what that spirituality is is lumped together and categorized and condemned as clueless idiots at best and evil nut-jobs at worst. When in reality the world is divided into three groups not two—not just the religious and secular—it is divided into the religious, the secular and true believers otherwise known as the Body of Christ. Those that look at the religious phonies masquerading as Christians and reject Jesus because of them will stand before God someday and give an account— “Well God I didn’t believe in You because of all the phonies and hypocrites in the church…” And the LORD will say to them, “I didn’t tell you to believe in the phonies and hypocrites in the church I told you to believe in My Son…” 3 From a human perspective it looked as though Eli’s evil sons were getting away with their wicked practices but God was preparing them for judgment—just as He is doing with the corrupt pastors and preachers we see in the church today— 2 Peter 2:1-3 (NLT) 1 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed. I’d like to divide this section into two main parts: 1. The Corruption of Eli’s Sons in Ministry; 2. The Preparation of Samuel for Ministry I. The Corruption of Eli’s Sons in Ministry A. The practices of Eli’s sons—v.12-17, 22 1 Samuel 2:12-17 (NKJV) 12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD. 13 And the priests' custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. 14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, "Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw." 16 And if the man said to him, "They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires," he would then answer him, "No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force." 17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for men abhorred the offering of the LORD… 22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 4 The number one reason there is so much corruption in the ministry is stated right here in v.12— “Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD.” The reason these men were so wicked and corrupt was because they were unbelievers— which is the number one reason for the vast majority of corruption among leaders in the church. The church has become infested with false teachers and preachers—even though God warned us over and over in His Word to be on guard against them. Matthew 7:15 (NKJV) 15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. Jesus begins a section warning us against false prophets in Matt.7:15 with the warning— “Beware”. The Greek word translated ‘beware’ means “to pay attention to, to keep on the lookout for, to be on one’s guard against”. And Jesus is very clear as to those He is warning us to beware of—“Beware of false prophets”. A ‘prophet’ is anyone that speaks on behalf of God—pastor, teacher, preacher etc. False prophets are nothing new or unique to the Church Age—they have been around from the beginning— “But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you…” (2Peter 2:1 NLT) 5 So false prophets have been around since the beginning—in fact much of the ministry of God’s true prophets in the O.T. was taken up with confronting, correcting and rebuking false prophets who were like a cancer in the land of Israel— Jeremiah 14:14 (NKJV) 14 And the Lord said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. Of course there would be no false prophets if there wasn’t a market for their lies— Isaiah 30:9-11 (NLT) These people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the LORD’s instructions. 10 They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the (true) prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. 11 Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” (Comment) Of course that was in exactly the opposite message Jesus gave us when He said that the narrow path (Him) was the only path that leads to heaven—the Broadway leads to destruction (hell).
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