1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:17,560 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,440 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,680 We're going to start our Bible study here this evening. 10 00:00:25,970 --> 00:00:29,330 If you have your Bibles, we're going to be in First Samuel, chapter 11 00:00:29,330 --> 00:00:32,730 two, First Samuel, Chapter two. 12 00:00:32,730 --> 00:00:33,850 We're going to continue our study. 13 00:00:33,850 --> 00:00:39,170 If you've missed our first two studies here in First Samuel, we've 14 00:00:39,330 --> 00:00:40,410 talked about a few different things. 15 00:00:40,410 --> 00:00:42,370 I'll try to catch you up the best way that I can. 16 00:00:42,690 --> 00:00:46,570 We start out the book of 1st Samuel focusing on a woman named 17 00:00:46,570 --> 00:00:47,010 Hannah. 18 00:00:47,250 --> 00:00:50,850 Hannah's desire was to have a child, but at that point in time, 19 00:00:50,850 --> 00:00:52,890 God had not allowed her to have a child. 20 00:00:52,890 --> 00:00:53,810 And she was married. 21 00:00:54,350 --> 00:00:57,990 And her husband was also married to another woman who was 22 00:00:57,990 --> 00:00:58,910 blessed with children. 23 00:00:58,910 --> 00:01:02,990 And the other wife had a lot of pride and ego with that. 24 00:01:02,990 --> 00:01:06,310 And she would brag in front of Hannah and give Hannah problems with 25 00:01:06,310 --> 00:01:06,510 that. 26 00:01:06,510 --> 00:01:09,750 And obviously, Hannah was seeking the Lord's guidance on this 27 00:01:09,750 --> 00:01:11,310 and asking the Lord to bless her. 28 00:01:12,030 --> 00:01:16,230 And so in the midst of one of their travels to worship, Hannah's 29 00:01:16,230 --> 00:01:19,470 out praying, and God intervenes in her life by bringing 30 00:01:19,470 --> 00:01:21,870 a guy named Eli, who was the high priest at the time. 31 00:01:21,870 --> 00:01:25,060 And Eli tells her basically that God is going to bless you with 32 00:01:25,060 --> 00:01:25,460 a son. 33 00:01:25,460 --> 00:01:29,220 And if you remember, Hannah's promise to God was that if you bless 34 00:01:29,220 --> 00:01:31,220 me with a son, I will give him to you. 35 00:01:31,220 --> 00:01:34,140 I will give him to you in worship and in service. 36 00:01:34,540 --> 00:01:39,980 And so Eli's prophecy about her having a son comes to pass, and 37 00:01:40,140 --> 00:01:44,540 Samuel is born to Hannah, and she's so excited that she gives praise 38 00:01:44,540 --> 00:01:44,980 to God. 39 00:01:44,980 --> 00:01:46,900 That's all of the first part of chapter two. 40 00:01:46,900 --> 00:01:50,790 The first 11 verses in chapter two is Hannah's worship song and 41 00:01:50,790 --> 00:01:53,750 prayer to God for blessing her with a son. 42 00:01:54,150 --> 00:01:56,150 And we see that Hannah does keep her word. 43 00:01:56,310 --> 00:02:00,950 Hannah gives her son to the Lord by giving him over to Eli. 44 00:02:01,030 --> 00:02:04,349 And Eli, being the high priest, was going to utilize Samuel 45 00:02:04,349 --> 00:02:07,510 as a young man to minister for the Lord. 46 00:02:07,670 --> 00:02:09,990 And obviously a difficult thing for Hannah to do, right? 47 00:02:09,990 --> 00:02:13,830 God gives her a blessing, but yet she keeps her word by committing 48 00:02:13,830 --> 00:02:15,750 her promise to the Lord there. 49 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:18,200 And so that's where we left off. 50 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,720 We left off with Hannah giving her son Samuel over to the Lord, 51 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,480 giving Samuel over to a guy named Eli who's the high priest. 52 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,520 But the Bible already mentioned in chapter one that Eli 53 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:30,600 had a few sons. 54 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,680 And Hophni and Phineas are their names, Hophni and Phineas. 55 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:38,600 And we're going to find out that even though Samuel is a man 56 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,410 of integrity, or at this point, a boy of integrity, Eli's 57 00:02:42,410 --> 00:02:43,250 sons are not. 58 00:02:43,650 --> 00:02:46,330 Eli's sons are publicly living in sin. 59 00:02:46,330 --> 00:02:50,410 And we're going to see basically a contrast between the 60 00:02:50,410 --> 00:02:54,370 purity and righteousness of Samuel and his obedience to God and 61 00:02:54,450 --> 00:02:58,050 the other side of the coin, which would be rebellion and sinfulness. 62 00:02:58,130 --> 00:03:00,770 And that's going to be seen in the sons of Eli. 63 00:03:00,770 --> 00:03:04,450 And actually, what we see in this passage is that Eli does not 64 00:03:04,450 --> 00:03:05,730 raise his children well. 65 00:03:05,890 --> 00:03:07,970 He does not put them into discipline. 66 00:03:08,300 --> 00:03:11,020 He actually fears his children more than he fears God. 67 00:03:11,020 --> 00:03:14,340 And because of that, there's great punishment at the end of chapter 68 00:03:14,340 --> 00:03:14,620 two. 69 00:03:14,620 --> 00:03:18,700 So with that being said, let's look at verse number 12, and we're 70 00:03:18,700 --> 00:03:19,900 going to pick up the story here. 71 00:03:20,220 --> 00:03:23,740 This is going to be discussing the two sons of Eli. 72 00:03:23,980 --> 00:03:25,260 And it says here in verse 12. 73 00:03:25,260 --> 00:03:27,900 Now, the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. 74 00:03:28,700 --> 00:03:32,060 Now, we might not understand that statement in our context, but 75 00:03:32,140 --> 00:03:36,970 Belial was a pagan God of the time that represented rebellion, 76 00:03:37,450 --> 00:03:41,930 evil, hopelessness, all those different things that we discuss 77 00:03:41,930 --> 00:03:44,010 when it comes to sin and the results of sin. 78 00:03:44,170 --> 00:03:48,130 And so essentially what he's saying is that Eli's sons are sons 79 00:03:48,130 --> 00:03:50,570 of worthlessness and sons of wickedness. 80 00:03:51,210 --> 00:03:53,250 That's not what we would want to be described as. 81 00:03:53,250 --> 00:03:55,690 Okay, if someone's describing me, maybe they. 82 00:03:55,930 --> 00:03:57,450 They say, you know something about me. 83 00:03:57,450 --> 00:04:00,250 I would not want to be called a son of Belial, which means I'm 84 00:04:00,250 --> 00:04:01,130 a son of wickedness. 85 00:04:01,860 --> 00:04:05,540 These two men were characterized by their wickedness. 86 00:04:05,540 --> 00:04:08,580 And we see a little bit about their wickedness in this passage 87 00:04:08,580 --> 00:04:08,900 here. 88 00:04:09,220 --> 00:04:12,820 And what we can see is that actually these two boys, these two 89 00:04:12,820 --> 00:04:15,940 men were supposed to carry on the priestly line. 90 00:04:16,340 --> 00:04:17,859 If you remember back in. 91 00:04:17,940 --> 00:04:21,100 Further on in the Old Testament, the line of the priests 92 00:04:21,100 --> 00:04:22,420 were through the line of Aaron. 93 00:04:22,580 --> 00:04:24,620 And so Eli is in the line of Aaron. 94 00:04:24,620 --> 00:04:27,420 And so this would be something that was passed along biologically, 95 00:04:27,420 --> 00:04:31,310 but at the same time, there were still responsibilities of holiness 96 00:04:31,310 --> 00:04:32,470 that the priests needed to. 97 00:04:32,470 --> 00:04:33,230 To live out. 98 00:04:33,230 --> 00:04:33,590 And. 99 00:04:33,830 --> 00:04:36,710 And we're actually going to see that it's not just a behavioral 100 00:04:36,710 --> 00:04:37,110 problem. 101 00:04:37,670 --> 00:04:40,150 We actually are going to see here in a few moments that it was 102 00:04:40,150 --> 00:04:43,750 a relationship problem and not a relationship problem with their 103 00:04:43,750 --> 00:04:44,070 father. 104 00:04:44,070 --> 00:04:45,990 Even though that was a big problem. 105 00:04:46,230 --> 00:04:49,510 There was a bigger problem in who they didn't have a relationship 106 00:04:49,510 --> 00:04:49,830 with. 107 00:04:50,070 --> 00:04:51,750 And so it says now the Eli. 108 00:04:51,910 --> 00:04:56,150 The sons of Eli were sons of Belial, and they knew not the Lord. 109 00:04:57,540 --> 00:05:02,700 And so really, the core of the issue of these two men really was 110 00:05:02,700 --> 00:05:04,860 the fact that they did not know God. 111 00:05:04,860 --> 00:05:06,620 They did not have a relationship with God. 112 00:05:06,620 --> 00:05:07,780 They did not fear God. 113 00:05:07,780 --> 00:05:09,100 They did not obey God. 114 00:05:09,100 --> 00:05:10,340 They did not love God. 115 00:05:10,740 --> 00:05:14,500 And so even though their father Eli knew the Lord, Eli was 116 00:05:14,500 --> 00:05:17,140 not a perfect father, but Eli did know the Lord. 117 00:05:18,020 --> 00:05:22,140 Eli did have knowledge of the goodness of God, but he did not pass 118 00:05:22,140 --> 00:05:25,560 on to his sons the same type of lifestyle. 119 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,880 And what we can see here is that they did not know God for themselves. 120 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,440 And we actually see that through our own culture today that 121 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,840 many people look to their parents or their grandparents as 122 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:40,200 their hope for their salvation. 123 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:42,440 I've even talked to people and I say, you know what? 124 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:43,880 Hey, do you know the Lord? 125 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:44,520 Are you saved? 126 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:45,280 Do you have faith? 127 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:48,080 And they go, well, my grandfather used to go to church 128 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:48,480 or my. 129 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:50,520 My dad's a pastor or whatever it is. 130 00:05:50,860 --> 00:05:51,740 Those are all good things. 131 00:05:51,740 --> 00:05:55,860 But that does not necessarily equate an individual to have a relationship 132 00:05:55,860 --> 00:05:56,460 with God. 133 00:05:56,860 --> 00:05:59,900 It doesn't pass down genetically like the line of Aaron 134 00:05:59,900 --> 00:06:00,220 did. 135 00:06:00,700 --> 00:06:03,260 Just because I'm a Christian, that doesn't mean that my children 136 00:06:03,260 --> 00:06:04,540 are automatically Christians. 137 00:06:04,940 --> 00:06:06,420 I have to witness to them. 138 00:06:06,420 --> 00:06:08,140 I have to share my faith with them. 139 00:06:08,140 --> 00:06:11,900 I have to live a life of the Gospel in front of them. 140 00:06:11,900 --> 00:06:15,060 And I always tell people, my greatest evangelistic field, my greatest 141 00:06:15,060 --> 00:06:16,460 mission field is my home. 142 00:06:17,340 --> 00:06:20,500 If I'm trying to win people to the Lord outside in the community 143 00:06:20,500 --> 00:06:23,700 and forget about my own children, I'm missing the point of 144 00:06:23,700 --> 00:06:25,500 what God has laid out for me in my life. 145 00:06:25,500 --> 00:06:28,860 And so Eli was ministering to the people of Israel. 146 00:06:29,100 --> 00:06:31,500 I mean, he was doing the priestly duties, which. 147 00:06:31,500 --> 00:06:33,700 We'll talk more about what those priestly duties were. 148 00:06:33,700 --> 00:06:37,220 But one of those duties was basically to be the intermediary 149 00:06:37,220 --> 00:06:40,620 between God and man to go to the Lord for these people. 150 00:06:40,620 --> 00:06:42,140 And so he would do that. 151 00:06:42,140 --> 00:06:45,070 He would minister to these people, he would serve these people, 152 00:06:45,070 --> 00:06:47,830 but in the same time, he neglected his own sons. 153 00:06:47,830 --> 00:06:48,710 And so it's. 154 00:06:48,710 --> 00:06:52,710 We see the disconnect here is that the sons of Eli were sons of 155 00:06:52,710 --> 00:06:53,230 Belial. 156 00:06:53,230 --> 00:06:54,590 They were sons of wickedness. 157 00:06:54,830 --> 00:06:57,470 But at the core of it, again, it's not a behavioral problem. 158 00:06:57,790 --> 00:07:00,110 A lot of times people think, well, that person's just a bad person, 159 00:07:00,110 --> 00:07:02,830 or that person just has a lot of sin in their life. 160 00:07:02,830 --> 00:07:06,910 Yes, those are the outward workings of an inward problem, and 161 00:07:06,910 --> 00:07:09,070 the inward Problem is that they did not know God. 162 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,920 And so if I'm dealing with a person and they're living a life 163 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,440 of rebellion, if they're living a life of sin, if they're 164 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,680 living a life of brokenness and emptiness and whatever you want 165 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:21,480 to fill in the blank with when it comes to evil things, I don't 166 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:23,440 just look at them and say, stop doing what you're doing. 167 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:26,400 Here's some tools that get past these struggles in your life. 168 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:28,160 No, we go to the heart of the issue. 169 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:30,200 We go to their heart. 170 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,520 We go to the spirit behind all of their action. 171 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:35,720 And for us as Christians, what do we appeal to? 172 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:36,880 We appeal to the Holy Spirit. 173 00:07:37,470 --> 00:07:38,910 We, we appeal to conviction. 174 00:07:39,630 --> 00:07:42,710 We appeal to the idea that the word of God speaks truth to us and 175 00:07:42,710 --> 00:07:44,110 then therefore we obey him. 176 00:07:44,110 --> 00:07:48,030 And so that was impossible for these two brothers because they did 177 00:07:48,030 --> 00:07:50,590 not know God, they did not have a relationship with God. 178 00:07:50,910 --> 00:07:52,630 And so that's the, that's the setting. 179 00:07:52,630 --> 00:07:53,550 The setting is this. 180 00:07:53,550 --> 00:07:57,550 We have two men that did not have a relationship with God. 181 00:07:57,550 --> 00:08:00,790 And because they didn't have a relationship with God, the outcome 182 00:08:00,790 --> 00:08:04,430 was that they were the, what, sons of Belial or sons of wickedness? 183 00:08:05,210 --> 00:08:08,250 Let's go to verse 13, because what we're going to see here is that 184 00:08:08,250 --> 00:08:12,250 even though they were not qualified to hold the role of a priest, 185 00:08:12,570 --> 00:08:15,690 they were still doing the work of priests and they were actually 186 00:08:15,690 --> 00:08:19,290 abusing the people that were coming to worship. 187 00:08:19,450 --> 00:08:24,730 They were abusing and using and stealing and really at this case, 188 00:08:24,730 --> 00:08:27,770 lying to many people for what they were doing. 189 00:08:27,770 --> 00:08:28,410 In verse 13. 190 00:08:28,410 --> 00:08:32,150 And the priest custom with the people was that when any man's sacrifice, 191 00:08:32,470 --> 00:08:36,870 the priest's servant came while the flesh was in seething with 192 00:08:36,870 --> 00:08:39,310 the flesh of three teeth in his hand. 193 00:08:39,310 --> 00:08:41,430 So you say, what on earth are we talking about? 194 00:08:41,510 --> 00:08:45,470 Okay, so what would happen is, is as you know, the people, the way 195 00:08:45,470 --> 00:08:48,510 that they worship back then is they would give sacrifices of animals, 196 00:08:48,510 --> 00:08:48,870 right? 197 00:08:49,670 --> 00:08:52,030 And what would happen is, is they would come and bring their animal 198 00:08:52,030 --> 00:08:52,870 for sacrifice. 199 00:08:53,030 --> 00:08:55,950 The animal would be sacrificed and what they would do is they would 200 00:08:55,950 --> 00:08:57,110 cook the animal meat. 201 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,680 And back, farther back, we know that the priests were supposed 202 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:03,480 to take their portion for their food. 203 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:08,200 Okay, so back earlier on in, in the line of Moses and Aaron, originally 204 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,560 the priest would take the shoulder and the breast meat. 205 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,120 But for some reason for the, for these years that have passed 206 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:15,720 along, the. 207 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:19,360 The change had been that what they would do is the meat would be 208 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:20,200 cooking in the pot. 209 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,610 They would take a three pronged hook and they would throw 210 00:09:23,610 --> 00:09:24,410 it into the pot. 211 00:09:24,410 --> 00:09:27,050 And whatever meat they pulled out would be their meat to keep the 212 00:09:27,050 --> 00:09:27,370 priest. 213 00:09:27,370 --> 00:09:27,890 Okay? 214 00:09:27,890 --> 00:09:28,850 That would be the custom. 215 00:09:29,490 --> 00:09:33,450 So they were offering these offerings to the Lord, but ultimately 216 00:09:33,450 --> 00:09:35,650 the priest would be able to take some of the meat. 217 00:09:36,210 --> 00:09:38,370 And so that was the custom of the day. 218 00:09:38,370 --> 00:09:42,370 And so when people are bringing the sacrifices to the temple, 219 00:09:42,370 --> 00:09:45,090 their assumption was that this was going to the Lord. 220 00:09:45,490 --> 00:09:48,570 And so a portion was given to God, a portion was given to the priest. 221 00:09:48,570 --> 00:09:51,430 And actually, in some cases, a portion was kept for those doing 222 00:09:51,430 --> 00:09:52,110 the offering. 223 00:09:52,590 --> 00:09:56,510 And so according to the old Testament passages, 400 years before 224 00:09:56,510 --> 00:09:59,870 this, there was a particular part of the animal, like I mentioned, 225 00:09:59,870 --> 00:10:00,590 that should be taken. 226 00:10:00,590 --> 00:10:02,110 It was the shoulder and the breast meat. 227 00:10:02,510 --> 00:10:05,230 But in this time, this custom had changed. 228 00:10:05,230 --> 00:10:07,350 And they would throw a flesh hook in the pot. 229 00:10:07,350 --> 00:10:12,030 But everything sounds good until what happens next, okay? 230 00:10:12,910 --> 00:10:15,830 And he struck it in the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. 231 00:10:15,830 --> 00:10:18,350 All the flesh hook brought up, the priests took for himself. 232 00:10:18,350 --> 00:10:19,590 So they did in Shiloh. 233 00:10:19,590 --> 00:10:21,630 And to all the Israelites that came thither, so he. 234 00:10:22,010 --> 00:10:22,770 This is what they would do. 235 00:10:22,770 --> 00:10:24,410 They would pull up the meat in Shiloh. 236 00:10:24,410 --> 00:10:26,770 That's where the tabernacle was, and that's where they would 237 00:10:26,770 --> 00:10:27,610 bring the meat up. 238 00:10:27,850 --> 00:10:30,890 But verse 15 tells us where they go astray also. 239 00:10:30,890 --> 00:10:34,650 Before they burnt the fat, the priest servant came and said to the 240 00:10:34,650 --> 00:10:39,010 man that sacrificed, give flesh to roast for the priest, for 241 00:10:39,010 --> 00:10:42,890 he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw say, what? 242 00:10:42,890 --> 00:10:43,810 What are we talking about? 243 00:10:43,810 --> 00:10:46,170 And if we could get really lost in the weeds if we don't understand 244 00:10:46,730 --> 00:10:49,100 essentially what he's saying, the. 245 00:10:49,100 --> 00:10:51,020 The priest servants would come. 246 00:10:51,580 --> 00:10:54,620 So these two brothers would come and they would say, give us 247 00:10:54,620 --> 00:10:56,460 the meat before it's cooked. 248 00:10:57,180 --> 00:10:59,420 You'd say, well, why is that a big deal? 249 00:10:59,580 --> 00:11:02,820 Because they were wanting to steal that worship and use it for 250 00:11:02,820 --> 00:11:03,220 themselves. 251 00:11:03,220 --> 00:11:06,580 Either to eat themselves and cook it themselves, or possibly to 252 00:11:06,580 --> 00:11:08,860 go take that meat and go sell it and make a profit. 253 00:11:09,420 --> 00:11:12,740 And so instead of allowing it to be worshiped for the Lord, they 254 00:11:12,740 --> 00:11:14,060 were stealing it for themselves. 255 00:11:14,460 --> 00:11:16,820 And we actually see in verse 15, it says, and before they burned 256 00:11:16,820 --> 00:11:21,180 the fat, you say, what's so significant about the fat? 257 00:11:21,180 --> 00:11:24,820 Well, back at that time frame, the fat was the most important portion 258 00:11:24,820 --> 00:11:25,580 of the meat. 259 00:11:26,220 --> 00:11:27,660 They got their nutrients from that. 260 00:11:27,660 --> 00:11:29,140 It was a sign of wealth. 261 00:11:29,140 --> 00:11:30,779 It was a sign of excess. 262 00:11:31,020 --> 00:11:34,100 And so the fat was supposed to be the first thing that was cooked 263 00:11:34,100 --> 00:11:34,700 for the Lord. 264 00:11:35,100 --> 00:11:37,140 That was the first measure of the offering. 265 00:11:37,140 --> 00:11:39,860 So the Lord would always take the fat and then the rest of the 266 00:11:39,860 --> 00:11:41,900 meat, the Scraps would go to the priest. 267 00:11:42,470 --> 00:11:45,550 So what was happening is, is that Hophni and Phinehas said, we 268 00:11:45,550 --> 00:11:47,110 don't want the extras. 269 00:11:47,830 --> 00:11:48,190 We. 270 00:11:48,190 --> 00:11:49,430 We want to take everything. 271 00:11:49,910 --> 00:11:50,990 And so what did he say? 272 00:11:50,990 --> 00:11:55,150 He says at the end of verse 15, the priest doesn't want it cooked, 273 00:11:55,150 --> 00:11:56,390 the priest wants it raw. 274 00:11:56,790 --> 00:11:59,310 So this gives them opportunity, this gives them options, 275 00:11:59,310 --> 00:12:03,430 this gives them an opportunity to essentially steal from these people. 276 00:12:03,590 --> 00:12:03,990 And. 277 00:12:03,990 --> 00:12:06,510 And before God's portion was. 278 00:12:06,510 --> 00:12:07,470 Was given to him. 279 00:12:07,470 --> 00:12:10,190 And so basically they're stealing people's worship. 280 00:12:10,670 --> 00:12:12,990 And so the fat was supposed to be luxurious. 281 00:12:12,990 --> 00:12:15,150 The fat was supposed to be the first thing that was given to the 282 00:12:15,150 --> 00:12:15,470 Lord. 283 00:12:15,470 --> 00:12:19,670 And so it was their pride that said, we want the fat, we want the 284 00:12:19,670 --> 00:12:22,990 first fruits, we want the best, instead of saying, we got to 285 00:12:22,990 --> 00:12:23,750 give God the best. 286 00:12:23,750 --> 00:12:29,230 And we're going to see that even today in our culture, there 287 00:12:29,230 --> 00:12:32,910 are many people within the church setting that are utilizing 288 00:12:32,910 --> 00:12:37,250 this type of persuasion and manipulation and lying to get things 289 00:12:37,250 --> 00:12:37,890 for themselves. 290 00:12:38,370 --> 00:12:44,130 And so verse 16, he says, and if any man said unto him, let them 291 00:12:44,130 --> 00:12:47,650 not fail to burn the fat presently and then take as much as 292 00:12:47,650 --> 00:12:52,330 thy soul desire, then he would answer him, nay or no, but thou shalt 293 00:12:52,330 --> 00:12:54,650 give it to me now, and if not, I will take it by force. 294 00:12:54,650 --> 00:12:57,090 And so if people are like, no, no, no, I don't want you to take 295 00:12:57,090 --> 00:12:57,210 it. 296 00:12:57,210 --> 00:12:59,970 I want to see it cooked, I want to see it worshiped to the Lord, 297 00:13:00,250 --> 00:13:02,890 they would say, well, then we're taking it by force. 298 00:13:03,530 --> 00:13:05,290 We're just going to force you to do this. 299 00:13:05,290 --> 00:13:06,890 And so this shows their heart. 300 00:13:07,690 --> 00:13:13,050 So, so why did the sons of Eli not want this meat to be cooked? 301 00:13:13,050 --> 00:13:16,370 Well, I mentioned before, maybe they wanted to cook it a different 302 00:13:16,370 --> 00:13:16,530 way. 303 00:13:16,530 --> 00:13:17,930 Maybe they didn't want boiled meat. 304 00:13:18,010 --> 00:13:20,210 Maybe they wanted to throw it on the grill and have it a different 305 00:13:20,210 --> 00:13:23,250 way, or maybe they wanted to sell it and make profit. 306 00:13:23,250 --> 00:13:26,090 But at the end of it, it's a selfish thing, it's a, it's a prideful 307 00:13:26,090 --> 00:13:26,690 thing, it's a. 308 00:13:26,690 --> 00:13:27,560 It's greedy. 309 00:13:27,870 --> 00:13:31,590 And so the greed of Eli's sons was so bad that they didn't even 310 00:13:31,590 --> 00:13:35,350 hesitate to use violence and threaten people if they weren't going 311 00:13:35,350 --> 00:13:36,430 to do it their way. 312 00:13:36,590 --> 00:13:38,190 And that's essentially manipulation. 313 00:13:38,430 --> 00:13:39,830 It's trying to control the people. 314 00:13:39,830 --> 00:13:43,030 And what they were doing is they were misleading the people in 315 00:13:43,030 --> 00:13:46,870 worship and then utilizing those people's honest gifts to God 316 00:13:46,870 --> 00:13:48,510 as their own personal gain. 317 00:13:48,990 --> 00:13:52,310 And this speaks to, you know, people today that manipulate people, 318 00:13:52,310 --> 00:13:55,400 lie to people, say, worship a certain way, give us a Certain thing, 319 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,440 give it our way, and therefore they can use it for their own good 320 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:00,120 and their own wants and their own greed. 321 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:04,680 And so I think that we can certainly see many of those principles 322 00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:05,640 still lived out today. 323 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,920 And so verse 17, he says, Wherefore, the sin of the young men 324 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:10,840 was very great before the Lord. 325 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:13,120 So they weren't getting away with it. 326 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:13,480 They were. 327 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:15,840 They were essentially getting away with it with the people that 328 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:16,440 they were with. 329 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:20,120 People maybe got manipulated and didn't understand really what 330 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:20,680 they were doing. 331 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,600 Maybe some did, but at the end of the day, we know the Lord noticed 332 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:25,320 what they were doing. 333 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:28,640 And it says that the Lord noticed that they were in great sin. 334 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:29,400 It says, so wherefore. 335 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:31,640 The sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men 336 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:34,000 abhorred the offering of the Lord. 337 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,840 And so what we can actually see here happening is that not only 338 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:41,400 did God notice that they were sinning, and ultimately they're going 339 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:45,280 to be judged for this sin, but they were affecting other people's 340 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:45,720 worship. 341 00:14:47,170 --> 00:14:47,810 And so the. 342 00:14:47,890 --> 00:14:53,130 The great sin of these two men, it was becoming so evidently 343 00:14:53,130 --> 00:14:56,050 clear that their greed and violence, intimidation was affecting 344 00:14:56,050 --> 00:14:56,570 other people. 345 00:14:56,570 --> 00:14:58,050 It was affecting their worship. 346 00:14:58,370 --> 00:15:02,130 And so their sin was not only affecting their own lives, but their 347 00:15:02,130 --> 00:15:04,970 sin was affecting people that were trying to come to God and worship 348 00:15:04,970 --> 00:15:05,330 God. 349 00:15:05,810 --> 00:15:09,610 And so it was bad enough that they were sinning themselves, but 350 00:15:09,610 --> 00:15:12,530 I believe the greater sin was that they were coming and hurting 351 00:15:12,530 --> 00:15:15,940 other people with trying to come and worship the Lord. 352 00:15:15,940 --> 00:15:20,100 And I would say that again, this is the type of abuse that it 353 00:15:20,100 --> 00:15:22,220 didn't end there in First Samuel. 354 00:15:22,220 --> 00:15:24,700 It happened in the New Testament with the Pharisees. 355 00:15:24,860 --> 00:15:27,060 Some of you know the story of the Pharisees, they would come in 356 00:15:27,060 --> 00:15:30,340 and they would basically steal money from widows. 357 00:15:30,340 --> 00:15:33,060 The widows would come in and the widows would need help. 358 00:15:33,060 --> 00:15:35,460 And the Pharisees would say, hey, we're going to help you out. 359 00:15:35,460 --> 00:15:37,260 We're going to try to get your affairs in order. 360 00:15:37,260 --> 00:15:39,580 We're going to take over your land, let us do the business. 361 00:15:39,580 --> 00:15:42,120 And essentially they were stealing all the money from the widows. 362 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,680 And you get the story of the widow with two mites and all that. 363 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:48,480 And so we've always seen people, in the guise of religion, 364 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:52,840 abuse people for financial gain or for material gain and control. 365 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,200 And that was happening in 1st Samuel, was happening in the New 366 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:56,600 Testament. 367 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:57,480 It's happening today. 368 00:15:57,640 --> 00:15:58,960 And we have to be cautious of that. 369 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,560 We have to be aware, because when the individual or the group 370 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,640 of people that are telling people that they're worshiping God, 371 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:10,250 but yet using fear Tactics, abuse, violence. 372 00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:13,010 When they do that, it definitely affects people. 373 00:16:13,010 --> 00:16:15,250 It says, for men abhorred the offering. 374 00:16:15,250 --> 00:16:16,570 So what that meant was this. 375 00:16:16,650 --> 00:16:18,770 People did not like going to the temple anymore. 376 00:16:18,770 --> 00:16:20,610 They didn't like coming to the tabernacle. 377 00:16:20,610 --> 00:16:21,050 They were. 378 00:16:21,050 --> 00:16:23,210 They were uncomfortable with worshiping God. 379 00:16:24,010 --> 00:16:27,810 And, you know, can we take that picture and move it to today? 380 00:16:27,810 --> 00:16:28,090 Sure. 381 00:16:28,090 --> 00:16:31,050 I mean, I think that one of the saddest things is when someone 382 00:16:31,050 --> 00:16:33,050 has some of the greatest hurt within a church. 383 00:16:33,610 --> 00:16:35,330 You've heard people use the term church hurt. 384 00:16:35,330 --> 00:16:36,490 Like I got hurt at church. 385 00:16:36,490 --> 00:16:40,650 And because of that sin of that person who may be abused or 386 00:16:40,650 --> 00:16:44,610 maybe lied or maybe, you know, stole from somebody, then what happens 387 00:16:44,610 --> 00:16:48,290 is that people project that God is the source of that evil, and 388 00:16:48,290 --> 00:16:50,650 therefore they don't have joy in worshiping anymore. 389 00:16:50,970 --> 00:16:53,450 And how much of a responsibility is it for the church 390 00:16:53,450 --> 00:16:57,090 to live above that, to live above reproach, to try to do everything 391 00:16:57,090 --> 00:17:00,660 that we possibly can to take away all hindrances for worship? 392 00:17:00,660 --> 00:17:05,260 And so these two men were causing people to hate, to bring 393 00:17:05,260 --> 00:17:06,580 their offering to the Lord. 394 00:17:06,900 --> 00:17:08,340 And so they were hurting other people. 395 00:17:08,740 --> 00:17:11,340 And oftentimes people think, well, this isn't hurting anybody. 396 00:17:11,340 --> 00:17:13,460 You've heard people even say that, well, my, My. 397 00:17:13,460 --> 00:17:15,220 My sin isn't hurting anybody. 398 00:17:15,780 --> 00:17:16,660 So it's okay. 399 00:17:17,300 --> 00:17:17,660 It's. 400 00:17:17,660 --> 00:17:20,340 It's the classic state of, like, if I'm not hurting anybody, 401 00:17:20,340 --> 00:17:22,100 I can be free to do what I want to do. 402 00:17:22,260 --> 00:17:25,420 And even though we are free to choose what we want to do, we are 403 00:17:25,420 --> 00:17:28,169 not free to choose our repercussions and the punishments 404 00:17:28,169 --> 00:17:28,889 for our sin. 405 00:17:29,289 --> 00:17:31,689 And a lot of times what happens is that we think our sin 406 00:17:31,689 --> 00:17:34,169 isn't hindering anybody, it's not hurting anybody, but it really 407 00:17:34,169 --> 00:17:34,489 is. 408 00:17:34,969 --> 00:17:37,889 And in some cases it hurts people in their own Christian walk. 409 00:17:37,889 --> 00:17:39,689 And it's a stumbling block for other people. 410 00:17:40,089 --> 00:17:42,409 And that's exactly what was happening here for these. 411 00:17:42,409 --> 00:17:43,089 These two men. 412 00:17:43,089 --> 00:17:45,649 They were a stumbling block for people to come and worship the 413 00:17:45,649 --> 00:17:46,009 Lord. 414 00:17:47,289 --> 00:17:48,329 So not good guys. 415 00:17:48,329 --> 00:17:48,649 Not. 416 00:17:48,649 --> 00:17:49,249 Not good guys. 417 00:17:49,249 --> 00:17:51,209 They are not doing what God has called them to do. 418 00:17:51,209 --> 00:17:56,770 And so they're basically in the position of religious leadership, 419 00:17:56,770 --> 00:17:58,250 but they're abusing that leadership. 420 00:17:58,250 --> 00:17:59,450 Now pause there. 421 00:17:59,450 --> 00:18:02,850 We're going to insert Samuel into the story, and we're going to 422 00:18:02,850 --> 00:18:04,690 see a completely different type of person. 423 00:18:05,330 --> 00:18:05,930 Verse 18. 424 00:18:05,930 --> 00:18:08,450 But Samuel ministered before the Lord being a child. 425 00:18:09,170 --> 00:18:13,170 So you see these two men, and for pretty much what we can understand 426 00:18:13,170 --> 00:18:14,850 in this context, they were adults. 427 00:18:14,930 --> 00:18:17,970 So you have Hopney and Phineas, the sons of Eli were adults. 428 00:18:17,970 --> 00:18:20,610 They should be acting like the spiritually mature ones. 429 00:18:20,820 --> 00:18:22,380 And then you have a boy named Samuel. 430 00:18:22,380 --> 00:18:24,100 We know he's a boy through this passage here. 431 00:18:24,180 --> 00:18:27,620 He's the one that's actually living a life of spiritual maturity. 432 00:18:27,940 --> 00:18:31,220 It says, but Samuel minister before the Lord, being a child girded 433 00:18:31,220 --> 00:18:32,260 with linen ephod. 434 00:18:32,740 --> 00:18:36,100 And so this is describing who Samuel is and what he would do. 435 00:18:36,100 --> 00:18:39,660 And so, just as bad as Eli's sons were, Samuel was different. 436 00:18:39,660 --> 00:18:40,660 He was distinct. 437 00:18:41,700 --> 00:18:45,060 We know that God was leading Samuel, and Samuel was walking in 438 00:18:45,060 --> 00:18:45,620 obedience. 439 00:18:45,620 --> 00:18:48,580 And it even says at the end of verse 18, he was wearing a linen 440 00:18:48,580 --> 00:18:49,220 ephod. 441 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:50,120 What does that mean? 442 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:53,320 Well, that means that he was distinguishing himself in the service 443 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:53,920 to the Lord. 444 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,360 And so it was actually like a priestly garment that he would wear. 445 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:01,000 So he was not ashamed of living boldly for the Lord at this 446 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:01,240 time. 447 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:03,160 And it says, even as a child. 448 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:06,320 So even though he was a child, he was acting in a better way than 449 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:07,480 the sons of Eli were. 450 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:10,280 And so we look at verse 19. 451 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:14,280 Moreover, his mother made him a little coat and brought it to him 452 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:18,100 for year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the 453 00:19:18,100 --> 00:19:19,220 yearly sacrifice. 454 00:19:19,220 --> 00:19:20,460 And so I like verse 19. 455 00:19:21,260 --> 00:19:24,180 I find, you know, you know, there's some verses in Scripture 456 00:19:24,180 --> 00:19:25,260 that you're like, why is that there? 457 00:19:25,260 --> 00:19:26,340 I. I would read that. 458 00:19:26,340 --> 00:19:28,020 And I'm like, oh, that's kind of like an interesting point. 459 00:19:28,020 --> 00:19:30,940 But I think that's a beautiful verse to tell us that Samuel did 460 00:19:30,940 --> 00:19:32,660 not lose contact with his mom, Hannah. 461 00:19:32,660 --> 00:19:35,620 Hannah did not lose contact with her son, and there was still 462 00:19:35,620 --> 00:19:36,540 that relationship. 463 00:19:36,540 --> 00:19:37,420 And the. 464 00:19:37,420 --> 00:19:40,060 The awesome thing that we're going to see here in a few verses 465 00:19:40,060 --> 00:19:41,740 is that God did not forget about Hannah. 466 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,320 It kind of, if you just left the story of Hannah having a child 467 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:48,200 and giving it over to Eli, and then she has to go back and basically 468 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:49,840 live a life without a child in her home. 469 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:51,360 It seems kind of like, sad. 470 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:52,560 It kind of seems incomplete. 471 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:54,760 But we know that that's not the end of the story. 472 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:57,959 It just says in verse number 20, and Eli blessed Elkanan, his 473 00:19:57,959 --> 00:20:01,840 wife, and said, the Lord, give the seed of this woman for the loan 474 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:03,200 which is lent to the Lord. 475 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:04,560 And they went unto their own home. 476 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,680 And the Lord visited Hannah so that she conceived and bear three 477 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:08,680 sons and two daughters. 478 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:11,650 And the child Samuel grew before the Lord. 479 00:20:11,650 --> 00:20:15,770 And so what we can see here is that even though Hannah had a relationship 480 00:20:15,770 --> 00:20:19,330 with Samuel, God then blessed her even more and gave her three 481 00:20:19,330 --> 00:20:21,410 more sons and two more daughters. 482 00:20:22,050 --> 00:20:25,370 And God allowed her to live that life of abundance that she was 483 00:20:25,370 --> 00:20:26,850 seeking in chapter one. 484 00:20:27,410 --> 00:20:28,330 And so he gave her. 485 00:20:28,330 --> 00:20:29,210 So gave her so much. 486 00:20:29,210 --> 00:20:30,170 And that's really what God does. 487 00:20:30,170 --> 00:20:32,170 He gives us life and life more abundantly. 488 00:20:32,170 --> 00:20:34,970 He blesses us in many ways, in many gifts. 489 00:20:34,970 --> 00:20:39,480 And even James 1:17 tells us that every good gift comes from God. 490 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:43,440 And so we see this insert of Samuel's life right in the middle 491 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,800 of a description of these sons of Eli. 492 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,600 And I think it's just a way to show us the difference between the 493 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:49,880 two. 494 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:55,360 One had a godly mom who loved him and showed him the truth, and 495 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:56,400 Samuel obeyed. 496 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,480 And then one, we see Eli who had a lot of issues with raising 497 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:00,000 a son. 498 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,200 And ultimately these sons were living in rebellion. 499 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:04,280 Now we're going to get into some little bit more difficult things 500 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:04,520 here. 501 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:05,480 Verse 22. 502 00:21:05,860 --> 00:21:09,540 This is Hophni and Phineas's second offense. 503 00:21:09,540 --> 00:21:12,700 So their first offense was stealing from the people, abusing 504 00:21:12,700 --> 00:21:13,580 the offerings. 505 00:21:13,580 --> 00:21:15,980 And now we're going to see that they allowed other things to 506 00:21:15,980 --> 00:21:17,940 seep into their work. 507 00:21:18,100 --> 00:21:18,860 Verse 22. 508 00:21:18,860 --> 00:21:22,220 Now, Eli was very old and heard all that his sons did unto 509 00:21:22,220 --> 00:21:22,940 all Israel. 510 00:21:22,940 --> 00:21:27,060 So now we can see in this text that this isn't just private sin 511 00:21:27,060 --> 00:21:27,420 anymore. 512 00:21:27,420 --> 00:21:29,620 All of Israel knew what was happening. 513 00:21:30,100 --> 00:21:33,660 So now Eli is not just known for being the high priest, he's known 514 00:21:33,660 --> 00:21:36,680 as being the high priest that has the two sons who are living in 515 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:37,400 public sin. 516 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:38,960 It says, and how they. 517 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,480 This is what their sin was and how they lay with women that assembled 518 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,000 at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 519 00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:51,080 So this means that the sons of Eli were committing sexual immorality 520 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,880 with the women who were coming to worship at the temple. 521 00:21:54,440 --> 00:22:00,920 So it went from just material lust to then physical immorality. 522 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:04,520 And many times we see that abuse within churches happens really 523 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,120 in those two categories, with money and with immorality. 524 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:11,200 And that's what we see happening here with these two men. 525 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,240 They, they are wanting more. 526 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:15,320 With their greed, they're getting more. 527 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:18,120 They're stealing the worship, they're stealing the funds, they're 528 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:19,480 stealing everything that's coming in. 529 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:21,360 And then on top of that, they're abusing people. 530 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:25,120 And by context, we see that these women that would come were 531 00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:27,240 coming in light of worship. 532 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,420 They, the culture would have been that the women would have come 533 00:22:30,420 --> 00:22:33,020 for worship, and then they were misusing them. 534 00:22:33,020 --> 00:22:35,900 And so we don't know exactly how it all went about, but it says 535 00:22:35,900 --> 00:22:38,020 that the women assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the 536 00:22:38,020 --> 00:22:39,940 congregation, most likely to worship. 537 00:22:39,940 --> 00:22:41,740 And so there would have been some type of manipulation. 538 00:22:42,060 --> 00:22:45,340 There would have been Some type of usage to say, hey, look, 539 00:22:45,340 --> 00:22:47,020 you know what, if you want to worship God. 540 00:22:47,180 --> 00:22:50,220 And of course they abused that power and that privilege. 541 00:22:50,700 --> 00:22:53,460 And so this means that the sons of Eli were committing this 542 00:22:53,460 --> 00:22:56,340 immorality with those that came to worship. 543 00:22:56,900 --> 00:23:00,300 And so this would have been essentially like a modern day scandal 544 00:23:00,300 --> 00:23:02,980 that we're seeing in our churches today, all over the place 545 00:23:03,380 --> 00:23:05,620 that they're abusing their position. 546 00:23:06,340 --> 00:23:09,420 And it's sad, but we do see that history repeats itself. 547 00:23:09,420 --> 00:23:12,900 We see that a sin works in similar ways throughout history. 548 00:23:13,540 --> 00:23:16,340 And one of the things that we have to guard ourselves against within 549 00:23:16,340 --> 00:23:18,660 the church, not just leadership, but all of us in the 550 00:23:18,660 --> 00:23:22,600 church, we have to guard ourselves against those two terrible 551 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:23,240 things. 552 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:27,120 The, the greed, the, the money, the love of money, not money, 553 00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:29,640 by the way, the Bible doesn't say money is the root of all evil, 554 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:30,200 right? 555 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,520 Because we know that there are very godly people who lived with 556 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:32,760 money. 557 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,840 But it's the love of money, it's the love of that material wealth. 558 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:39,120 And then we obviously know that that immorality, that lust can 559 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:39,960 consume people. 560 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,800 And sometimes with power comes the feelings and beliefs that that 561 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:45,480 can be abused. 562 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:47,480 And so we have to be so on guard for that. 563 00:23:48,220 --> 00:23:51,860 I've mentioned this before, in even recent news, you've seen that 564 00:23:51,860 --> 00:23:54,700 there have been some really high level Christian authors and 565 00:23:54,700 --> 00:23:57,580 pastors that have confessed to terrible sins. 566 00:23:57,580 --> 00:23:59,180 And you wonder, how could that even happen? 567 00:23:59,180 --> 00:24:03,980 It comes through not being on guard, not allowing the Lord to pair 568 00:24:03,980 --> 00:24:06,900 our steps, not allowing ourselves to get to a place in our 569 00:24:06,900 --> 00:24:09,660 life where we fall into that, that sin of lust. 570 00:24:09,660 --> 00:24:13,340 And so therefore Eli's sons are abusing these people. 571 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:18,800 So Moving forward, verse 23, this is Eli's response. 572 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:23,000 He could have responded in obviously many different ways, but 573 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,040 he is going to come here and basically say, what are you doing? 574 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:30,200 He, Jesus says in verse 23, and he said unto them, why do you 575 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:30,960 do such things? 576 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,760 It's a little bit too late to ask that question. 577 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:35,520 He's like, why do you do this? 578 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,400 Well, he probably already knows why. 579 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:39,920 He knows their character. 580 00:24:40,620 --> 00:24:43,660 But he's asking that question of why are you doing these things? 581 00:24:43,820 --> 00:24:46,940 For I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. 582 00:24:47,580 --> 00:24:52,140 It says, name my sons, for it is no good report that I hear you 583 00:24:52,140 --> 00:24:53,740 make the Lord's people to transgress. 584 00:24:54,460 --> 00:24:56,540 So obviously Eli recognizes the problem. 585 00:24:57,420 --> 00:25:00,660 He recognizes that it's not just them sinning on their own, but 586 00:25:00,660 --> 00:25:01,740 they're affecting other people. 587 00:25:02,940 --> 00:25:05,940 And it is an understandable question, but one that I don't think 588 00:25:05,940 --> 00:25:08,380 he needs to ask because he should know why they're doing it, 589 00:25:08,380 --> 00:25:11,330 because they're living in sin and they're living in rebellion. 590 00:25:11,650 --> 00:25:13,890 And Eli basically does. 591 00:25:13,970 --> 00:25:15,170 He doesn't correct them. 592 00:25:15,970 --> 00:25:17,130 He doesn't really correct them. 593 00:25:17,130 --> 00:25:18,130 He just talks to them. 594 00:25:18,610 --> 00:25:20,210 And we're going to see a little bit here. 595 00:25:20,210 --> 00:25:20,850 Verse 25. 596 00:25:20,850 --> 00:25:23,730 He says, if one man sin under against another, the judge shall 597 00:25:23,730 --> 00:25:24,290 be judged. 598 00:25:24,290 --> 00:25:27,250 But if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat not him. 599 00:25:28,050 --> 00:25:31,450 And so there's this idea that there is problem here. 600 00:25:31,450 --> 00:25:33,890 Notwithstanding, they hearken not unto the voice of their Father, 601 00:25:34,050 --> 00:25:35,490 because the Lord would slay them. 602 00:25:36,070 --> 00:25:38,990 And the child Samuel grew on and was in favor both with the Lord 603 00:25:38,990 --> 00:25:40,070 and also with men. 604 00:25:40,790 --> 00:25:43,550 And so, so here in this case, we see that he just comes to them 605 00:25:43,550 --> 00:25:45,750 and he essentially says, why do you do this? 606 00:25:46,390 --> 00:25:49,750 You're making other people of the Lord sin. 607 00:25:50,550 --> 00:25:53,830 And again, he's just explaining what they did wrong. 608 00:25:54,550 --> 00:25:57,070 And so he says, if one man sins against another, God's going 609 00:25:57,070 --> 00:25:57,670 to judge him. 610 00:25:57,830 --> 00:26:00,910 But if a man sins against the Lord, who's going to intercede for 611 00:26:00,910 --> 00:26:01,190 him? 612 00:26:01,820 --> 00:26:02,820 He basically says this. 613 00:26:02,820 --> 00:26:07,260 You're sinning against other people, but you're sinning against 614 00:26:07,260 --> 00:26:07,820 the Lord. 615 00:26:07,900 --> 00:26:10,620 And if you sin against the Lord, who's going to be on your behalf? 616 00:26:10,620 --> 00:26:13,740 Well, thankfully we know that answer in First John, chapter one, 617 00:26:13,740 --> 00:26:15,900 or, excuse me, First John, chapter two, verse one. 618 00:26:16,220 --> 00:26:20,300 The Bible says that we have an advocate, Jesus, who, who intercedes 619 00:26:20,300 --> 00:26:20,780 for us. 620 00:26:21,260 --> 00:26:25,140 But when someone's living in rebellion to God, you know who's 621 00:26:25,140 --> 00:26:25,980 going to answer for this? 622 00:26:26,140 --> 00:26:26,820 Who's gonna. 623 00:26:26,820 --> 00:26:28,420 Who's gonna get away with this? 624 00:26:28,420 --> 00:26:29,220 And we know the answer. 625 00:26:29,220 --> 00:26:31,180 No one's going to get away with this when you sin against the 626 00:26:31,180 --> 00:26:31,500 lord. 627 00:26:31,580 --> 00:26:32,460 So verse 27. 628 00:26:32,460 --> 00:26:33,260 This is interesting. 629 00:26:33,740 --> 00:26:34,900 There came a man of God. 630 00:26:34,900 --> 00:26:36,220 Now, we don't know who this man is. 631 00:26:37,020 --> 00:26:39,860 There's some speculation of who this man might be, but he's an 632 00:26:39,860 --> 00:26:40,540 unknown man. 633 00:26:40,780 --> 00:26:45,620 But he is a man of God used by God to state the judgment that's 634 00:26:45,620 --> 00:26:47,580 going to come to Eli's house. 635 00:26:47,980 --> 00:26:50,780 And there came a man of God unto Eli and said unto him, thus 636 00:26:50,780 --> 00:26:51,580 saith the Lord. 637 00:26:51,980 --> 00:26:55,650 Did I plainly appear into the house of thy father when they were 638 00:26:55,650 --> 00:26:56,970 in Egypt and Pharaoh's house? 639 00:26:56,970 --> 00:26:58,170 And so he's asking a question. 640 00:26:58,170 --> 00:27:03,170 Basically, he says, didn't I show myself to your house when the 641 00:27:03,170 --> 00:27:04,090 people were in Egypt? 642 00:27:04,090 --> 00:27:05,450 And of course the answer is yes. 643 00:27:05,450 --> 00:27:09,010 And, and did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be 644 00:27:09,010 --> 00:27:11,930 my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an 645 00:27:11,930 --> 00:27:12,970 ephod before me? 646 00:27:12,970 --> 00:27:16,050 And did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made 647 00:27:16,050 --> 00:27:19,610 by fire the children of Israel, wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice 648 00:27:19,610 --> 00:27:22,880 and mine offering which I have commanded in my habitation, and honor 649 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:24,000 thy sons above me. 650 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,320 So verse 29 tells us that, hey, look, these are all the things 651 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:28,280 that God has done for you. 652 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:29,560 Why don't you realize that? 653 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,320 And why do you fear your sons more than you fear God? 654 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:34,240 That's essentially what he's saying here. 655 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,200 He says, why do you honor thy sons above me? 656 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:41,520 So essentially, what we see happening with Eli here is that he 657 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:42,000 has gone. 658 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,840 And some would argue that he probably didn't discipline his children 659 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:48,080 because he was worried about his children liking him more than 660 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:49,240 obviously honoring God. 661 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,490 And so the essential teaching that we see here is that one of Eli's 662 00:27:52,490 --> 00:27:56,410 biggest mistakes was that he was honoring his sons more than he 663 00:27:56,410 --> 00:27:57,050 would honor God. 664 00:27:57,050 --> 00:28:00,650 And that's sometimes a common misconception as a Christian, like, 665 00:28:00,650 --> 00:28:03,650 well, I need to make sure that I put my family first. 666 00:28:04,050 --> 00:28:05,490 Well, that is a good statement. 667 00:28:05,970 --> 00:28:09,410 But if we put our family first above God, then that's where we have 668 00:28:09,410 --> 00:28:10,010 a lot of issues. 669 00:28:10,010 --> 00:28:11,170 We got to put God first. 670 00:28:11,570 --> 00:28:14,330 And if we are putting God first and respecting him and loving 671 00:28:14,330 --> 00:28:17,430 him and obeying him, we'll be the type of parents that we need 672 00:28:17,430 --> 00:28:19,830 to be, will be the type of spouse we need to be, will be the 673 00:28:19,830 --> 00:28:23,630 type of whatever we are in the Christian life, the type of person 674 00:28:23,630 --> 00:28:24,430 that we need to be. 675 00:28:24,910 --> 00:28:28,270 So essentially, what happened with Eli is although he loved God, 676 00:28:28,430 --> 00:28:32,870 he was submitting himself to the will of his sons, and that became 677 00:28:32,870 --> 00:28:33,310 a problem. 678 00:28:34,430 --> 00:28:38,070 He says, and honors thy sons above me to make yourselves fat with 679 00:28:38,070 --> 00:28:40,990 the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel, my people. 680 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:44,360 And so he's calling him out. 681 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,600 He says, look, you have been called to be a priest. 682 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:49,600 You called to do these things, but at the end of the day, you have 683 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,040 not done what God has called you to do. 684 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:52,960 You have failed. 685 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,520 Even though there are some things that you have done well, you 686 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:57,960 have not completely followed me and obeyed me. 687 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:00,400 And he says that you're honoring your sons more than me. 688 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:02,960 And so since Eli did not correct his sons the way that he 689 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:06,160 should, he basically is showing more preference to them than 690 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:07,640 to the will of God in our lives. 691 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:08,560 And that's a tough thing to do. 692 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,620 I know that many of us that probably have had opportunities in 693 00:29:11,620 --> 00:29:12,460 our life, we've. 694 00:29:12,860 --> 00:29:14,180 Honestly, as a parent, I've. 695 00:29:14,180 --> 00:29:14,860 I've failed in this. 696 00:29:14,860 --> 00:29:17,540 You know, I've looked at something that might be easier to 697 00:29:17,540 --> 00:29:20,980 do or it might be something that might cause me less stress in 698 00:29:20,980 --> 00:29:23,660 my life, but the reality is, is that we're always supposed to 699 00:29:23,660 --> 00:29:26,460 do what God's will is, no matter how difficult it is, and how 700 00:29:26,700 --> 00:29:29,460 often that might cause us some stress in our own life. 701 00:29:29,460 --> 00:29:34,140 And so ultimately, Eli didn't want to press the issue early on, 702 00:29:34,140 --> 00:29:38,310 and now he's reaping what he was sewing earlier on in his life. 703 00:29:39,110 --> 00:29:41,870 So verse 30, he says, wherefore the Lord God of Israel 704 00:29:41,870 --> 00:29:45,110 saith, I said indeed, that thy house, and that the house of thy 705 00:29:45,110 --> 00:29:47,110 father should be before me forever. 706 00:29:47,270 --> 00:29:50,870 But now the Lord saith, be it far from me, for them that honor 707 00:29:50,870 --> 00:29:54,390 me, I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly 708 00:29:54,390 --> 00:29:55,030 esteemed. 709 00:29:56,150 --> 00:29:59,350 And so what we're seeing here in this case is that God is bringing 710 00:29:59,350 --> 00:30:02,550 judgment to the family of Eli, to the line of Eli. 711 00:30:02,830 --> 00:30:05,710 Behold, the days come that I will cut off thine arm. 712 00:30:06,350 --> 00:30:09,030 Now, that doesn't literally mean that he's cutting off Eli's 713 00:30:09,030 --> 00:30:09,390 arm. 714 00:30:10,670 --> 00:30:14,950 The anytime in scripture that you see the arm mentioned, it's talking 715 00:30:14,950 --> 00:30:15,710 about strength. 716 00:30:16,030 --> 00:30:17,670 So he says, I'm going to cut off the. 717 00:30:17,670 --> 00:30:19,870 The strength, the dexterity of your family. 718 00:30:20,830 --> 00:30:24,150 And he says, in the arm of thy father's house that there shall not 719 00:30:24,150 --> 00:30:27,150 be an old man in thine house, meaning nobody's going to grow to 720 00:30:27,150 --> 00:30:27,910 be old in your house. 721 00:30:27,910 --> 00:30:29,470 There's going to be judgment upon you. 722 00:30:29,670 --> 00:30:30,190 Verse 32. 723 00:30:30,190 --> 00:30:34,030 And thou shalt see an enemy in mine habitation, in all the wealth 724 00:30:34,030 --> 00:30:35,990 which God shall give Israel. 725 00:30:36,070 --> 00:30:39,030 And there shall not be an old man in thine house forever. 726 00:30:40,310 --> 00:30:43,910 And the man of thine whom I shall not cut off from mine altar 727 00:30:43,910 --> 00:30:46,990 shall be to consume thine eyes and to grieve thine heart, and all 728 00:30:46,990 --> 00:30:50,630 the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their 729 00:30:50,630 --> 00:30:50,950 age. 730 00:30:51,030 --> 00:30:54,870 And this shall be a sign unto thee that shall come upon thy two 731 00:30:54,870 --> 00:30:57,270 sons on Hophni and Phineas. 732 00:30:57,430 --> 00:30:59,590 In one day they shall die, both of them. 733 00:30:59,590 --> 00:31:02,750 So he says, there's going to be judgment to your family, not just 734 00:31:02,750 --> 00:31:03,990 now, but forever. 735 00:31:04,390 --> 00:31:07,550 And then he says, the way that I'm going, the way that God's going 736 00:31:07,550 --> 00:31:07,950 to prove that. 737 00:31:07,950 --> 00:31:09,510 So remember, this guy's speaking for the Lord. 738 00:31:09,590 --> 00:31:12,430 He says, the way that God's going to prove that is by confirming 739 00:31:12,430 --> 00:31:15,110 that with both of your sons dying on the same day. 740 00:31:15,910 --> 00:31:20,190 And so God promised that the priestly line would not stay in the 741 00:31:20,190 --> 00:31:21,190 family of Eli. 742 00:31:21,730 --> 00:31:23,570 And that would mean the descendants of Aaron. 743 00:31:24,050 --> 00:31:27,410 And this was fulfilled later on in. 744 00:31:27,410 --> 00:31:28,410 In Solomon's day. 745 00:31:28,410 --> 00:31:29,130 King Solomon's day. 746 00:31:29,130 --> 00:31:32,770 So you have King Saul and then King David and King Solomon. 747 00:31:32,850 --> 00:31:37,530 This prophecy is ultimately fulfilled in that time when the line 748 00:31:37,530 --> 00:31:41,890 of Eli's family was changed to be replaced with Zadok, who was from 749 00:31:41,890 --> 00:31:42,610 another family. 750 00:31:43,090 --> 00:31:46,450 So that's in First Kings, chapter 2, verse 27. 751 00:31:47,020 --> 00:31:49,100 And so eventually this does come to pass. 752 00:31:49,740 --> 00:31:54,500 And this is a big deal because it's taking the line out of Eli's 753 00:31:54,500 --> 00:31:57,180 family and this is showing that he's being judged. 754 00:31:57,500 --> 00:32:00,260 And so it's repeated twice that there would not be anyone that's 755 00:32:00,260 --> 00:32:02,540 going to grow to be old in his family. 756 00:32:02,780 --> 00:32:06,380 The descendants of Eli, who would not live very much longer, 757 00:32:06,380 --> 00:32:10,140 he said, will be completely seen in the sign of both of his sons 758 00:32:10,140 --> 00:32:14,220 being killed on the same day, which we know does come to pass. 759 00:32:14,650 --> 00:32:19,050 Then we look at verse 35 and 36, which is actually a really interesting 760 00:32:19,050 --> 00:32:23,210 passage here, because he says that he will raise up for himself. 761 00:32:23,210 --> 00:32:25,930 God says he will raise up for himself a faithful priest. 762 00:32:26,890 --> 00:32:31,850 Now, this could be partially fulfilled in Samuel, which we know 763 00:32:32,570 --> 00:32:33,450 could be the case. 764 00:32:33,930 --> 00:32:36,890 But then many people argue, which I would argue, that ultimately 765 00:32:36,890 --> 00:32:38,330 this is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. 766 00:32:38,570 --> 00:32:39,810 So he says, I will raise up. 767 00:32:39,810 --> 00:32:43,050 I'll raise me up a faithful priest that shall do according to 768 00:32:43,050 --> 00:32:45,330 that which is in mine heart and in my mind. 769 00:32:45,410 --> 00:32:49,330 And I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before mine 770 00:32:49,330 --> 00:32:50,610 anointed forever. 771 00:32:51,010 --> 00:32:54,050 And it shall come to pass that everyone that is left in thine house 772 00:32:54,050 --> 00:32:57,730 shall come and crouch to to him for a piece of silver and a morsel 773 00:32:57,730 --> 00:33:01,530 of bread and shall say, put me, I pray thee, into one of the 774 00:33:01,530 --> 00:33:04,930 priest offices that I may eat a piece of bread. 775 00:33:04,930 --> 00:33:10,140 So I believe that this promise about this faithful priest to come 776 00:33:10,140 --> 00:33:12,060 is partially fulfilled in Samuel. 777 00:33:12,220 --> 00:33:14,260 Obviously, we know that Samuel was a godly priest. 778 00:33:14,260 --> 00:33:18,300 He played a huge role in the anointing of King Saul and King David. 779 00:33:19,740 --> 00:33:24,860 And the promise was partially fulfilled in Zadok, who was the new 780 00:33:24,940 --> 00:33:28,020 line of priests that we see in the days of Solomon. 781 00:33:28,020 --> 00:33:31,660 But again, one could argue that this is a promise ultimately 782 00:33:31,660 --> 00:33:35,270 fulfilled in Jesus Christ, because we know that in Hebrews chapter 783 00:33:35,270 --> 00:33:38,870 seven, the Bible says that Jesus is the priest in the order 784 00:33:38,870 --> 00:33:42,630 of Melchizedek, which Jesus is prophet, priest and king. 785 00:33:42,630 --> 00:33:45,750 So Jesus isn't just limited as priest, even though he is our great 786 00:33:45,750 --> 00:33:47,590 high priest, as Hebrews chapter four says. 787 00:33:47,830 --> 00:33:51,670 And so I believe that this is a promise and prophecy of the great 788 00:33:51,670 --> 00:33:53,710 high priest who is to come, and that is Jesus Christ. 789 00:33:53,710 --> 00:33:57,430 And so essentially what he says at the very end of verse 36 790 00:33:57,430 --> 00:34:01,960 is this your family line will come into judgment and ultimately 791 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:05,480 humble themselves before the mighty high priest, which we know 792 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:07,640 is fully seen in Jesus Christ. 793 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:11,080 And so one day he's saying, basically, Eli, your family is going 794 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:12,200 to be reduced to begging. 795 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,120 They're going to be going around asking that they may have 796 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:16,040 a piece of bread. 797 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:20,200 So this shows the judgment that is found in the life of rebellion. 798 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:22,760 And some people read this passage and they say that's pretty 799 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:26,240 extreme, that God would do that to Eli and his family. 800 00:34:26,240 --> 00:34:27,960 But ultimately, God deals with sin. 801 00:34:28,490 --> 00:34:30,570 God does not let sin go unnoticed. 802 00:34:30,570 --> 00:34:34,570 And when there's rebellion, there always is going to be judgment. 803 00:34:34,650 --> 00:34:37,850 And until they come back in repentance, there is not going to 804 00:34:37,850 --> 00:34:38,730 be found forgiveness. 805 00:34:38,730 --> 00:34:43,290 And so God brings upon the line of Eli that shame and ultimately 806 00:34:43,290 --> 00:34:44,090 that judgment. 807 00:34:44,250 --> 00:34:48,370 So we see in that passage of Scripture two descriptions of very 808 00:34:48,370 --> 00:34:49,930 evil young men. 809 00:34:50,730 --> 00:34:53,010 And that ultimately is found in Hopney and Phineas. 810 00:34:53,010 --> 00:34:56,210 And they're stealing and they're materialism and their greed 811 00:34:56,210 --> 00:34:57,970 and ultimately their immorality. 812 00:34:57,970 --> 00:35:01,090 But then we also see a picture of an obedient young man. 813 00:35:01,090 --> 00:35:04,690 And that is the life of Samuel and his obedience to the Lord. 814 00:35:04,690 --> 00:35:08,370 And we know that coming up here in chapter three, there's this 815 00:35:08,370 --> 00:35:09,770 call from God to Samuel. 816 00:35:09,770 --> 00:35:11,490 And here I am, right? 817 00:35:11,570 --> 00:35:13,170 It's a recognition of obedience. 818 00:35:13,170 --> 00:35:17,730 And so the reason why Samuel is walking with the Lord is not just 819 00:35:17,730 --> 00:35:19,010 because he's a good boy. 820 00:35:19,090 --> 00:35:21,850 The reason why Samuel walks with the Lord is because the difference 821 00:35:21,850 --> 00:35:24,680 between Hop the infinious did not know God. 822 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:25,600 Samuel knew God. 823 00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:27,320 He had a personal relationship with God. 824 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:29,560 And I think that's important for us to note as well. 825 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:34,400 A person that is blessed by God is not just a person who's a 826 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:37,400 good person, who has a good disposition, who is obedient. 827 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:41,280 The person who stands before the Lord in a righteous setting is 828 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:44,040 someone who knows the Lord and understands his forgiveness. 829 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:45,480 And so that's the distinction. 830 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:49,660 You know, kids can be born and grow up, and they. 831 00:35:49,660 --> 00:35:49,980 You. 832 00:35:49,980 --> 00:35:53,340 You all know you could have one child who is a certain way and 833 00:35:53,340 --> 00:35:55,620 the other child who leans more to this disposition. 834 00:35:55,860 --> 00:35:58,540 And that doesn't effectively make them any better or worse than 835 00:35:58,540 --> 00:35:58,980 the other. 836 00:35:59,380 --> 00:36:02,460 But what makes it different is that does that child have a relationship 837 00:36:02,460 --> 00:36:03,140 with Jesus Christ? 838 00:36:03,140 --> 00:36:04,340 And ultimately, does that human. 839 00:36:04,419 --> 00:36:06,740 Does that adult have a relationship with Jesus Christ? 840 00:36:07,060 --> 00:36:10,100 It's not a matter of saying someone's a good person, saying someone's 841 00:36:10,100 --> 00:36:13,060 religious, saying someone tries really hard, someone has good 842 00:36:13,060 --> 00:36:13,620 intentions. 843 00:36:14,030 --> 00:36:16,390 I mean, the reality is, is that I could have great intentions, 844 00:36:16,390 --> 00:36:18,830 but if I'm not walking in the knowledge of who God is and what 845 00:36:18,830 --> 00:36:21,430 he has done for me, and then walking in faith in that, then that 846 00:36:21,430 --> 00:36:22,910 doesn't do anything for me. 847 00:36:23,230 --> 00:36:27,310 And so what we see here, I think if we could condense down the 848 00:36:27,310 --> 00:36:30,189 thought in First Samuel, chapter two, especially the second 849 00:36:30,189 --> 00:36:31,870 half of chapter, it's this. 850 00:36:32,030 --> 00:36:34,270 The ones that were in rebellion did not know God. 851 00:36:34,270 --> 00:36:36,270 The ones who were in obedience knew God. 852 00:36:36,430 --> 00:36:38,910 And that's, that's what we can see in that picture there. 853 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:42,520 And then ultimately that God judges those that are in rebellion, 854 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:46,280 that God does not take lightly, those that abuse his own. 855 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:51,000 And, and there, there is judgment for those that manipulate, 856 00:36:51,240 --> 00:36:54,400 steal from and abuse other Christians. 857 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,480 And I would say that God doesn't deal with that lightly does. 858 00:36:57,480 --> 00:36:59,640 A lot of people might think that people got in. 859 00:36:59,720 --> 00:37:04,320 And on this side of eternity, there might be people who have gotten 860 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:07,500 away with that and didn't get in trouble. 861 00:37:08,140 --> 00:37:11,380 But at the end of the day, we know that God ultimately is the one 862 00:37:11,380 --> 00:37:14,380 who is in control and he doesn't let anything go unnoticed. 863 00:37:14,620 --> 00:37:16,940 There is forgiveness found in sin. 864 00:37:17,500 --> 00:37:21,060 But God is a righteous judge and he will make right all those 865 00:37:21,060 --> 00:37:24,900 things that we see in this world that don't add up. 866 00:37:24,900 --> 00:37:27,500 And I know that that's something that all of us probably 867 00:37:27,740 --> 00:37:30,540 are struggling with at some degree, because there's times in 868 00:37:30,540 --> 00:37:32,140 my life where I look at something, I say, why did. 869 00:37:32,140 --> 00:37:33,580 How did that person get away with that? 870 00:37:33,930 --> 00:37:38,090 How is that person able to abuse and use these types of people 871 00:37:38,970 --> 00:37:40,170 specifically within the church? 872 00:37:40,170 --> 00:37:42,410 But ultimately God does make that right. 873 00:37:42,730 --> 00:37:45,530 And the Bible talks a lot about that in the New Testament about 874 00:37:45,530 --> 00:37:47,610 the characteristics of a false teacher. 875 00:37:48,570 --> 00:37:51,970 And one of the things that you'll see in tandem with what we 876 00:37:51,970 --> 00:37:55,850 see in this passage is that there's a mark of where's their love? 877 00:37:56,010 --> 00:37:58,090 Is there love about the almighty dollar? 878 00:37:58,250 --> 00:38:01,360 It says they're lovers of themselves, they're lovers of money. 879 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,400 And the other thing about it is that they live in immorality. 880 00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:07,200 They live in open rebellion to what God's word says. 881 00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:10,320 And so those are marks of a false teacher with their character. 882 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:12,560 But at the end of the day, you also look to what they're saying. 883 00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:17,079 If they're not preaching Jesus and Jesus properly, then that's. 884 00:38:17,079 --> 00:38:17,960 That's a huge issue. 885 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:20,760 There's going to be a lot of other fringe issues that can be highly 886 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:24,360 debated, but one thing that cannot be debated is the truth of 887 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:24,960 Jesus Christ. 888 00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:28,160 Now, obviously, Hopney and Phineas didn't understand that completely. 889 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:30,480 They were not living in obedience to the word of God. 890 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:32,760 That's evident by the way that they were living their lives. 891 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:34,280 And so we'll stop there. 892 00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:35,920 That's a study for another time. 893 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:37,800 But we come back next week if you can. 894 00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:39,240 We'd love to have you come back. 895 00:38:39,240 --> 00:38:42,440 We're going to look at the classic passage where some of you 896 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:45,080 know this story I remember this is one of my favorite stories 897 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:46,280 in Sunday school growing up. 898 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:51,280 You know, God speaks to Samuel and Samuel's like going into Eli, 899 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:52,320 Eli what? 900 00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:53,400 And Eli's like, what? 901 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:54,240 Stop waking me up. 902 00:38:54,240 --> 00:38:56,800 And that's, that's the whole story we're going to talk about next 903 00:38:56,800 --> 00:38:56,960 week. 904 00:38:56,960 --> 00:38:58,580 But it's a really, really great story. 905 00:39:00,330 --> 00:39:02,810 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 906 00:39:02,810 --> 00:39:03,450 podcast. 907 00:39:03,690 --> 00:39:06,010 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 908 00:39:06,730 --> 00:39:08,930 You would like to find out more information about our church 909 00:39:08,930 --> 00:39:12,410 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 910 00:39:12,730 --> 00:39:15,290 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 911 00:39:16,010 --> 00:39:20,450 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch 912 00:39:20,450 --> 00:39:24,930 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 913 00:39:24,930 --> 00:39:27,790 along for future future podcast and updates. 914 00:39:28,430 --> 00:39:29,310 Thank you so much. 915 00:39:29,470 --> 00:39:30,270 God bless. 916 00:39:30,510 --> 00:39:31,790 Have a wonderful day.