The House of Eli (1 Samuel)

Between 1990 and 2010, The Bureau of Justice Statistics show that crime rate for Young people have gone down, yeah by a huge percentage rate to. But it’s true, we still have young people doing crazy stuff. I was one of those young people between the time of 1990 and

2010, I fit somewhere in the statistics. I grew up without a father, I never knew my blood dad and my step dad was lock up in a federal jail. My mom and brothers were doing stupid stuff to. You can know more if you read my other book, old life new life.  All the way up to high school, just wild crazy living. I done thing’s my family have no clue I did. If I told them, they wouldn’t believe me. I turn to Christ in 10th grade, God became my father and I started trying to follow Him and be just like Jesus. Now today I’m somewhere better in life, than where I should be apart from Christ.

Why did I just tell you that, what does my story, or those states about 1990 to 2010 have to do with something that happen about 5000 years ago? For one reason, nothing is new under the sun. Everyone struggles with the same issues in this life. You got financial problems, the homeless guy has the same thing. Maybe you are addicted to drugs, so is the coffee drinker or cigarette smoker. Nothing new under the sun. No one has an issue going on that the next guy or girl doesn’t have going on, now the level of the problem might be different. Like for Example, I love Coffee, I drink coffee 5 times a day, even before bed, I’m drinking coffee. Now the person smoking weed or doing cocaine, speed or weed, they love the stuff, so they just can’t stop. Everyone on the face of the earth has something the next guy or girl doesn’t have. You and me are all sinners, broke every rule in the book and therefore are guilty. Now let’s wrap it up, everyone has a biological father and every father has a son. And every son has a father, even if the father isn’t a biological father, everyone son has a father. Every young male is look up at an older male and following his lead.

So what does any of this have to do with any of us today? Okay so to understand anything that we are about to read about, go to Exodus 32.

Moses was gone for a long time and the people got tired of waiting for him to return. So they told Moses right hand guy to make false gods for them, so they can worship them and say they these brought them out of Egypt and saved them. They took the glory of God and all his works and paid honor to melted down gold in shape of a calve. 12 chapters before, or you can say, 2 or 3 weeks ago, Moses gave the Hebrews the Law and the very first thing on it was “Don’t have no other gods besides me” Exodus 20:3. Not only do they brake this law, they go in a step farther and give credit to these gods for what the True Living God of Host did for them. So imagine yourself at work, you just did all these things and then your co works and bosses credit someone else and throws a party for someone else for something you did. You’re not just going to be standing there and be like “I forgive ya’ll” No you going to burn with anger and might even want to hurt someone. That’s pretty much how God feels at this time. And that’s how I felt last month when I had that meeting and arrange everyone under me where they need to be and what expected of them and then my boss’s, boss’s boss comes and tells me I don’t do my job right than not even let me explain to him what I had going on. I want to hurt him at that point, but can’t, we all been there, but God being righteous, and Just and love, punishes the Hebrews. He didn’t put the law there for design, so “27 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’” 28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. 29 Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”” Exodus 32:27-29

So God has some people killed for the great sin and then sets apart the Levites as the priest and servants of the Jewish people. So remember that, the innocent guys in the house of the Lord interceding for the Jewish people got there because they turn their own sword against their own people. It’s crazy, but it’s true and that’s in this boring, outdated book called the bible. Not so boring any more, now is it, people pay money to see a movie now day’s with that kind of Twist. We have a lot of preachers that saw God will bring our enemies against this nation if we keep rebelling, well, maybe, or he might bring your own nation people against each other as a beginning sign of judgment, like a warning sign. Have we seen that lately, we got Clowns stabbing people, people in the governmental offices lying to us and passing laws we never heard of, Black lives mater movement causing mass destruction in major cities, police getting killed cold blood in the streets, even police killing people for no reason. BJS reported little over 1000 people under age 18, in jail for murder, like straight manslaughter. That’s crazy, how much more crazy to try tell ourselves that no one needs a gun, it be much safer place without one. Be much safer place without people thinking that way. The beginning signs of judgment on a nation will begin with the nation becoming un-united. Wow all that truth in an outdated book called the bible.

Now let jump back into 1 Samuel. We first read about Eli in chapter 1, in verse 9, we find out that he was the Priest in Shiloh. For some reason the author tells us that he was seating in a chair by the door post of the Lord’s Temple and if you like in Hebrew, Eli means “My God”.  So generations later after the exodus event, Eli, Hannah, the book of Samuel, history is being unfolded. Did you cross the bridge yet? Skip over the Samuel 2:12-15.

Eli had 2 sons that also minister before the Lord in Shiloh, Hophni, which in Hebrew means “Swords man” and Phinehas, in Hebrew “Mouth of Bass”. So Swords Man and Mouth of Brass where bold ministers. Like for example, they were so bold, they treated the Lord’s offering with contempt. You had one job, and you screwed it. It’s like me and you have jobs right? Hopefully, your boss gave you an Assignment to do and you just blow it off and didn’t care and did the assignment your own way, you deserve to get fired, right? Now imagine Holy God, dealing with a Sinful, trying to make his people set apart from all nations, people, tribes, etc. and then these 2 priest come and start messing it up and making it about them and their desires, instead of interceding between God and the Hebrews. So God is angry right now. But he knew, this was going to happen, he plan out a backup plan to surprise everyone. So in verse 17-18, “…offering with contempt. (But) Samuel was ministering before the Lord…”.

Everywhere you look, you see evil in the government, evil in the old, evil in the new and evil in the churches and evil, evil, evil. You started wondering what is the world coming to? “(But) _________was ministering before the Lord.” You feel in the blank. Are you ministering before the Lord? Are you seeking him? Are you devoting yourself to him? If not then your part of the issue in your city, state and nation.

This is a classic example, that God is going to us you and me, rather we are for or against him, but just because he going to use us, doesn’t mean he going to save us. Judgement came on the 2 sons of Eli we read about later on. God tells Samuel in Chapter 3 what was about to happen and at the end of chapter 2, God tells Eli what is about to happen. Pretty much that God is going to cut off everyone in Eli’s family and at the prime of their life they will die. That’s so sad like reading it. You find that in 1 Samuel 2:30-33

Why would God do that? Cause his future descendants to be cursed? See the Sin of Hophni and Phinehas didn’t just start with them, it started with Eli. See, Eli most likely didn’t teach his son when they were kids to fear the Lord and Shun Evil. He might of just teach his sons, how to dress, do the job, understand the book, and do all these things, but not how to Fear the Lord and shun Evil. That’s what they lack and they grew older and years past by and they got convertible in their job and they would soon pass it down to their kids  and so farther so on, it was just another job they had to do because they were Levites. It was just a role they were playing. But they played it the wrong way and got the wrong official, God, upset. They forgot, God is alive, real and active, he isn’t a joke. So they answered for their sins. God is Just. But Eli is still to answer for it, so his entire blood line got cursed, to die at prime of life. I’m so glad I’m not in that guys blood line.

This is a sad story. But I want to pull out some points for fathers.

  • Raise your kids, not in your stupid ways. But give them the bible and raise them in that righteous way. Teach them to fear the Lord and Shun evil. (Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 15:20; Proverbs 22:6)
  • Discipline your kids, the bible teaches that God has a Rod and a Staff one to lead his people and other to bring pain into our lives to help us go to right direction. It not fun to admit but it’s true. Fathers needs a Rod and a Staff to comfort their kids. (Psalms 23:4)
  • You yourself walk with God. Do I need to get a verse to back that one up? Your kid’s needs a living human as an example of what a walk with God looks like and you are that example.

And now some points everyone, what can just the average Joe or Sue take from this story?

  • The Sons had no regard for God. You and me and us, the body of God, claiming to be priest of the Most High better of a regard for God and not just lukewarm and going through the motions and not just church Sunday morning and life apart from the teachings Monday through Have a Regard for God, fear the Lord.
  • The Sons treated the Lord’s offering with Contempt. Ask yourself, are you treating the anything in the Grace of God with Contempt? Sin after sin after Sin, its okay God’s Grace covers all my sins. That’s dangerous, stop doing that.
  • These Sons where intellectual, theoretical, in our times, they would be like PHD students. They had no relationship with God, knew things about God and got close to God’s stuff, but didn’t know God. We got to be careful and examine ourselves daily to make sure that our relationship is more than what we “know about” or “do for” God. That we Know and Walk with God.

That’s okay, if you want to play with God’s, he’ll spit you out of his mouth one day. “Revelation 3:16”