(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
1 Samuel 2:27–36, “And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever. And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.”
The Lord sent a prophet to Eli to reprimand him because he had put his sons before the Lord. Eli, as a priest, should have known the Law and the Tabernacle regulations but he chose to ignore them rather than teach his sons how to follow the Law of the Lord. The Lord called Eli’s ancestor, Moses, when he was still in Egypt and placed him in Pharaoh’s house so that he could be trained as a leader. Moses’ brother, Aaron, was chosen to the the high priest and serve the Lord in the Tabernacle, to the glory of God. However, in spite of all this, Eli and his family had committed sacrilege in Israel. Eli by refusing to discipline his sons and Hophni and Phinehas by ignoring the Law and the Tabernacle regulations. The prophet promised Eli that both of his sons would die on the same day and his descendants would never serve as high priest in Israel. That privilege would belong to another family in the priestly clan. The Lord would give Israel a faithful priest who would honour the Lord and keep the regulations properly so that the Tabernacle would be a holy place and not an extension of the pagan practices that had been in the Promised Land before Israel possessed it to glorify the Lord’s Name.
No comments:
Post a Comment