Our story today is a study in contrast between Good and Evil; between Godly child rearing and the opposite, that leads to destruction. If you are a parent or have aspirations of becoming a parent, this story can have a significant impact on your life and upon your children. The Bible is a timeless book that is relevant to our 21st Century daily lives.
A very wise pastor, who is now 70 years old and in his 50th year in ministry; has had literally thousands of people ask him the question, “Pastor, is this a heaven and hell issue?” Exasperated by their motivation to live; as close to sin as possible; he bellowed out in his thunderous voice, “It is ALL a heaven and hell issue!” Crossing the line into wickedness is stretching the tether of righteousness beyond its maximum. It is like bungee jumping over the gateway into hell to see if one can survive. It truly is insane. The crossover into wickedness can be one major heinous sin, but more likely, it will start with one thought that is entertained and multiplied, that leads to an attitude that becomes all consuming and sustaining, that is birthed in speech and action over time
Samuel’s parents left him in the hands of Eli, the High Priest, for service in the matters of God. Eli’s had sons who were a scourge on the women of Israel. They were irreverent to God and thought nothing of fornicating with the women who would come to the door of the Tabernacle, a Holy place. Their blatant sexual appetites were only rivaled by their gluttony and sacrilege for the sacrifices brought before the LORD. Now the priests and all of their family, the entire tribe of Levi were sustained by meat and grain from the offerings brought by the people. There were specific rules for every type of offering. Eli’s son would send a servant in with a three pronged fork and stick it into a pot that was boiling a particular offering and demand that what ever it hooked was for Eli’s sons. Many times this was done before the completion of the ceremony, before the fat could be removed, which was sacred to the LORD and to be burnt on the altar. They even took raw meat which was a greater abomination. They treated the offerings of the LORD with utter contempt.
1 Samuel 2:12-15 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.
In contrast, Samuel was only a little boy, but he served the LORD and even wore a white linen garment like the priest. Every year his mother would make him a small coat and bring it to him when she came with Elkanah to sacrifice. Eli would bless them before they returned home and pronounced blessings of additional children for them. The LORD blessed them with three sons and two daughter and Samuel grew up serving the LORD.
1 Samuel 2:21 ESV Indeed the LORD visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the young man Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD.
Eli was very elderly, but he knew what was going on with his sons. He heard the reports of his sons seducing the women that worked at the gate of the Tabernacle. This was an abomination to the people of Israel and if he needed help in dealing with his sons, surely many would have offered to help. To pretend to be powerless over the situation did not please the LORD! A messenger of the LORD came to Eli with some very hard words. Because Eli stood by and did nothing to stop his son’s abominations, and because Eli and his sons grew fat treating the sacrifices of the LORD with contempt; Eli’s branch of the priesthood would die with him. Furthermore, none of the members of his family would live past the age of 32; that Eli would witness prosperity on the people, but his household would survive in sadness and all of his grandchildren would die violent deaths. Eli’s lineage would be utterly wiped out! To prove that all of this would happen, Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phinehas, would die on the same day. Any surviving relatives would have to beg for food, because Levites had no land and no inheritance except from the service of the tabernacle which was about to be forever cut off.
1 Samuel 2:33-34 ESV The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. (34) And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day.
During the time that Samuel was growing up, messages from God were not common. One night Samuel was sleeping and he was awakened; by the call of his name. He arose and went into Eli and said, “Here I am.” Eli had not called him so Samuel went back to sleep. This happened again and on the third time; Eli realized that the LORD was calling out to Samuel. He instructed Samuel that if it happens again say, “Speak LORD, your servant is listening.” The LORD did call out to Samuel again and he said what Eli told him. The LORD then proceeded to tell Samuel that He was going to fulfill all of His curses upon Eli. Jewish sacred texts, the Tanakh and the Talmud, claim that Samuel was ten years old when the LORD first spoke to him.
1 Samuel 3:10-13 ESV And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant hears." (11) Then the LORD said to Samuel, "Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. (12) On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. (13) And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.
The next morning Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what the LORD had said, but Eli asked him and he told him all. He held back nothing. The apathy of Eli’s response was shocking. He basically said, “Let the LORD do what he wants.” He was in his nineties, but it comes across as if he really didn’t care.
1 Samuel 3:18 ESV So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, "It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him."
From that time forward, the LORD was with Samuel and he never failed to speak all that the LORD gave him to proclaim. All of Israel knew that Samuel was confirmed a prophet from the LORD.
1 Samuel 3:19-20 ESV And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. (20) And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD.
We are living in a time when the LORD could return suddenly. We are living in the time that the prophet Joel spoke about. Jesus Christ is alive in His church and we have experienced the manifestation of the Holy Ghost. The time of miracles is upon us. From my childhood, miracles were common in the church of my youth. Signs and wonders have been present and witnessed among the true people of God. Supernatural protection from deadly things was also accompanied by healings and other signs and wonders. The last century of the last millennium, was ushered in with the Azusa Street Revival on April 14, 1906; as African American preacher, William Seymour began to conduct Apostolic Pentecostal services in the old abandoned Methodist church on 312 Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California.
Joel 2:28-32 KJV And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: (29) And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. (30) And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. (31) The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. (32) And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
This generation of children needs to be brought up in the presence of the LORD as Samuel was. Children are a precious gift and the hope of the future. We started this study with a focus on the contrasts of God’s way verses the way of the world. The story of Eli makes it clear that everything in life is a matter of God’s way or Satan’s way; Good or Evil; Obedience or Rebellion; Life or Death; Blessings or Curses; it is all a Heaven or Hell issue. This generation of children has a great calling awaiting them. We have entered the time when whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD Jesus shall be saved!
Prayer: Father in Heaven, you have called me out of this world from my youth and have revealed yourself to me when I was a little child of four years old. I understand the calling upon a ten year old boy like Samuel. LORD I pray that all parents would nurture their children in the LORD. Your anointing is a powerful blessing, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Copyright © 2006, 2011 Thomas C. Blake
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