May 16, 2021

Scripture: 1 Samuel 2:11-36

I. God will bring low the proud in His house.

A. When people came to the tabernacle seeking forgiveness from God, they would bring an animal to sacrifice. According to Leviticus 7:28-36, the priests were supposed to receive the breast and the right leg of the animal so that they might have something to eat. But the priests Hophni and Phinehas demanded more from the worshipers at Shiloh. They even took more meat by force (vs. 16). God would bring them low for this sin (vs. 17) and for turning the tabernacle, the place where the people of Israel were to meet with God, into a brothel (vs. 22).

B. Eli finally talked to his sons Hophni and Phinehas about their sin when Eli was old. But he did not remove them from being priests. It seems that blood was thicker than faithfulness to God for Eli. This whole family of priests was corrupt and did not have a heart for God. what was God’s judgment on this corrupt family of Israel’s leaders? We read in vs. 25 that Hophni and Phinehas would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.

C. We see God’s reasoning for judging and bringing low Eli and Hophni and Phinehas in the three verbs of vs. 27-28. I revealed. I chose. I gave. How did Eli and Hophni and Phinehas respond to God’s gracious gifts? Verse 29 has God asking, “Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded?” God is literally asking here, “Why do you kick my sacrifices?” He is saying, “I have done all this for your family, and in return you have kicked me in the face.” So, God will bring the family low.

II. God will exalt the humble in his house.

A. Israel looked like a complete disaster when Samuel was born. Israel’s leaders Eli and Hophni and Phinehas were self-serving. But God was still at work in quiet ways in spite of Israel’s terrible leaders. Notice what God was doing through the boy Samuel. Hophni and Phinehas were serving themselves. But verse 11 says, “And the boy was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli the priest.” Samuel was serving God. See also vs. 18 and vs. 26. God was quietly at work providing for new, godly leadership for His people.

B. One of the ways that God quietly works is that he stubbornly fulfills His purposes. After the man of God pronounces God’s judgment on the family of Eli, God says in vs. 35, “And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.” Israel might have disobedient leaders who are resisting God. They have brought pain and trouble to the nation. But these evil leaders will not win. God will win. His purposes will be fulfilled.

C. The promise of vs. 35 that God can raise up a priest from outside of the family of Aaron is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. Hebrews 7:26-27: “Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”

Application:
Live humbly. Confess your sin to Jesus and trust that His sacrifice can make you clean.

Sources:
The book of 1 Samuel
Commentaries on 1 Samuel by Dale Davis, Robert Bergen and Tim Chester

Sermon Discussion Questions

1) Why was it God’s will to put Hophni and Phinehas to death (vs. 25)? How dangerous is it for us to live with a sinful pattern of rebellion toward God?

2) It’s easy for us to believe that even things we do at church should be all about me. But what is the purpose of our worship?

3) How have you seen God work in quiet ways in your life? Why is it good that Jesus is your forever high priest?