1 Samuel 2:12-36, What Do You Allow?, Dr. John B. Carpenter

The Profaning of Worship by Eli’s Sons

1 Samuel chapter 2 from verses 12 to 36. Hear the word of the Lord. Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. The custom of the priest with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice The priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling.

With a three-pronged fork in his hand and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

Moreover before the fat was burned the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing Give meat for the priest to roast for he will not accept boiled meat from you. But only raw and if the man said to him Let them burn the fat first and then take as much as you wish.

He would say No, you must give it now. And if not, I will take it by force. Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

Samuel was ministering before the Lord a boy clothed with a linen ephod and his mother used to make for him a little robe and Take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say may the Lord give you children by this woman for the petition. She asked of the Lord. So then they would return to their home. 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.

Now Eli was very old and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel and how they lay with the women Who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting and he said to them? Why do you do such things for I hear of your evil dealings with all the people know my sons.

It is no good report that I hear from the people of the Lord spreading abroad. If someone sins against a man God will mediate for him. But if someone Sins against the Lord who can intercede for him? But they would not listen to the voice of their father for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.

Now the young man Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man and There came a man of God to Eli and said to him thus the Lord has said Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh?

Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest to go up to my altar? To burn incense to wear a ephod before me. I gave to the house of your father all my offerings of fire from the people of Israel.

Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded and Honored your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel. Therefore the Lord the God of Israel declares I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever.

But now the Lord declares far be it from me for those who honor me I will honor and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house.

So that there will not be an old man in your house. Then in distress you will look with an envious eye on all the prosperity. They shall be bestowed on Israel and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.

The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from the 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 and this that shall come upon your two sons Hoffney and Phineas shall be the sign to you.

Both of them shall die on the same day 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 and everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say please Put me in one of the priest places that I may eat a morsel of bread.

May the Lord had his blessings the reading of his Holy Word. What do you allow? I? Mean you had the power to stop something. But you don't. What is it? Maybe something you wouldn't do yourself. But you know you figure it's it's okay for others to do it.

You know, I wouldn't eat Strawberry ice cream, but I'll allow you to do it. If you come to my house with a gallon of strawberry ice cream I'll allow it. I'll even enable it with my bowls and spoons. But I wouldn't allow you to come to my house and drink a quart of Jack Daniels and get drunk.

I Don't like professional wrestling. I think it's fake. But if you came to my house and wanted to watch it while I'm doing something else, I'll allow it. I will even enable it by providing the TV for you to watch it with.

We probably all understand that we can allow. Something that we personally don't like. I'm a big Alabama football fan. But I'll allow you to cheer for Virginia or Liberty or whatever if you came to my house to watch a game.

Auburn no, no. No, I wouldn't know how that this be serious. Now the question is can you be guilty of what you allow. You're not doing it yourself. You're just permitting it to go on. Can you be guilty of that.

And a previous church? I was a pastor at a church member was allowing her grown daughter to live with her boyfriend under her roof. I thought that was wrong. It's the enabling of immorality. Enabling is providing the opportunity for others to do wrong and Sheltering them from the consequences of it like an indulgent parent who always protects her kids.

From experiencing the consequences of their own misbehavior. We talked about about moral decline in this country over the last few weeks. One of the biggest reasons for that decline isn't always because everyone is just doing more moral stuff.

But that many people began to allow More immorality and to enable it. The question is can you be guilty of what you allow? You didn't personally do the evil, but you didn't stop it either when you've had the power to do it.

Are you guilty in? The law there are sometimes when you can be held criminally responsible for simply what you allow. In Arkansas recently a 24 year old woman left her three-year-old son in the care of her boyfriend and When the boyfriend tried to change the boy's diaper.

He was kid little boy was kicking and so the man picked the boy up by his hair and threw him on to the ground Fracturing his skull and then when the boy wouldn't stop crying because he had a broken skull.

The man picked him up by his ears and slapped him. Thankfully the boy is recovering. Obviously the man deserves punishment. The question is Does the mother? She didn't do it. But she didn't report it either.

Apparently a neighbor did the prosecutor charged her with permitting The abuse of the child. She was sentenced to 115 days of jail 10 years of probation and her parental rights were revoked. We often think we're only guilty of what we personally do, but sometimes we're held accountable for what we permit.

For example, many states have laws against Permitting prostitution if you own some property and you know, there is prostitution going on there. You could be prosecuted simply for allowing it in North Carolina General statute 14 -204 prohibits quote permitting any place you own or control to be used for prostitution with your knowledge.

What do you allow? We see here that we are accountable. For not only what we do personally. But what we allow. We see that here in four parts. First the profaning second ministering third willing and finally honoring.

Eli’s Sons Profane Worship for Gain

What do you allow? Eli allowed his sons to profane worship in verse 12 the sons of Eli Were worthless men. This is the same word worthless use of the mob of the member and judge 19 the worthless fellows who surrounded the house.

It's the same word in chapter 1 that Hannah denied. That she was when Eli falsely accused her being drunk, you know, I'm not a worthless woman. She said Eli was trying to keep the tabernacle as a proper place of worship and scolded Hannah for being drunk now.

He was not wrong for wanting that. Except that when he's policing everyone else. He's not stopping his own sons. Hannah wasn't worthless. They were. They were worthless because they says here they didn't know the Lord.

All they knew was their own desires and. So they treated worship as if it were profane as it's common. It's not holy. It's like anything else in this world for me to consume. They do that in two ways.

First they use their office to enrich themselves and they were sexually immoral. Priests were mostly paid in kind in those days. Meaning they were they were given parts of the sacrifices that people bring that were given parts of it for their food.

But first they had to understand that the sacrifices were the Lord's and not theirs. Their calling was to ensure that the sacrifices were given properly that worship was done God's way. The Lord had given specific instructions on how to to give the sacrifices.

You know, the blood had to be drained the fat had to be burned to the Lord and then and then only. Could a portion of that be taken by the priest and eaten first. They have to see that the sacrifice is given properly before they start to think of their stomach.

But that is the opposite of what's described here in verses 13 to 16. And they just take the piece of meat. They like the fast have been burned away to the Lord. They had a three pronged fork. They've been doing this so regularly by now.

They had a special utensil just for it in which they used to pick out as much meat as they wanted. Just jab it in there and take up all the meat that they can. Before it was cooked and for the fat had been burned.

It specifically mentions that because that's a particular Instruction particularly Leviticus and to burn the fat and so what they were doing is in complete disregard for the Word of God. They didn't care.

In fact the people coming to sacrifices knew better how to offer the sacrifices than they did. Actually shouldn't say they probably knew how to do it. They just didn't care to do it the right way. All they were thinking about was their belly.

Getting the juiciest cuts of meat for themselves. And if anyone protested they'd threaten them with violence. We'll take it by force. Now imagine you're a sincere worshiper of the Lord in Israel. You take their family to the sacrifice at the tabernacle like Elkanah in the previous chapter.

And when you get there, you're faced with a couple of thugs. Dressed like priests looking here your animal for the best cuts of meat. They can get out of it and they are threatening you. You might think I'm the priest of Baal.

Don't treat us this rudely. When you don't think of worship as something that must be done God's way. Soon someone else's way takes over often the way of the professional religious person even if they like here they don't know God a.

Few weeks ago with Micah and the Levite and judges. We talked about remember man-made worship. Religion made to suit the felt needs of the customer. So it's it's a business then. It's like any other business is to miss to give the customer what he wants.

And so it's it's common then it's Profane, it's what it means to be profane. It's common. It's opposite of holy today churchgoers often think of worship as something. This is done for them. To make them feel worshipful.

They want that feeling so the church supposed to give it to them or maybe take a sentimental journey. You know with those old hymns they remember from their youth. They grew up with which were actually many of them are actually probably contemporary songs in their youth, but they didn't know it.

And then maybe they are maybe the church is supposed to appeal to outsiders to entertain the goats. Spurgeon said just this past week in Christian magazine released an article about the worship industry.

Do you know there's a worship industry like any other business? It's churning out worship. Who's the customer and that's the boss in that industry. Well here the worthless sons of Levi saw worship is that's their industry and it exists for them.

They see it as an opportunity to fill their bellies. Oh, it's to enrich themselves. Religious professional religious people do the same today. The church is a business that they use to have a decent income.

There's no heavy lifting required nice job good job. And so their interest is in keeping their job. That's their main interest get the most out of it. They can and keep it safe and secure and they allow then whatever there will help them stay employed.

Get the juiciest cuts of meat and we'll see a little bit later the women. That's all they care about. Keep that. And so today if they're that kind of people that mentality they won't practice church discipline people get upset with that.

They won't denounce popular sins, you know. Why do you think for over a century white southern churches didn't denounce racism? Everyone knew that if you if you did if you're a pastor in the South you did that you called People to love your neighbor as yourself.

And of course, you don't want to be segregated. You don't want to be discriminated against and so obviously it's wrong for you to do that to others. If you were a white pastor in the South you were saying that you would soon Be an ex pastor in the South you'd be unemployed.

And if you look on the church. It's already it's your gig. Keep the money flowing. Keep your belly full. To be what the Chinese call their their iron rice bowl. It feeds them if that's your view of the church or the ministry of worship.

Well, then you don't care. You know, you'll permit it whatever sin racism slavery, whatever. You'll allow racism to go on without a word. And so the hypocrisy grows and people think well, that's all that's past time.

That's long ago. Things are different now. Really? Are you sure the same? Dynamics he when I start talking about race and racism think I'm just think I'm just talking about that. But you understand that impulse that hypocrisy that of holding back the Word of God just to suit the customer.

It's still around now just in different forms now just enabling different sins and. And there the hypocrisy grows that way then so the church really isn't about worship. It's about making disciples. It's about giving you the customer what you want.

So you'll be happy. So you'll go home happy. You'll come back next week and maybe you'll bring some others and I'll be successful and I'll get more money. You see how it works. That's how keep you happy.

You keep me happy and and the professional that I get to eat. That's great. It's like any other institution then. It's for the customer like like Burger King, right have it your way and so common. Profane and so not holy.

I used to write for the castle messenger every week. Until I made too many people upset about what I called sins. The editor once called me in a meeting and she told me not to mention racism as a sin.

Got that one. Don't mention that one once I denounce Homosexuality as debauchery and the editor wouldn't publish that one our society even now here in conservative Castle County, it won't allow that. You know if I'm and if me the pastor if I'm just about job security, I want to expose you I want to be popular.

I want to be successful that I'm gonna keep my iron rice bowl. I want to keep that going. I'll allow what the culture allows put my finger to the wind. Oh, they want they don't want their racism exposed.

Okay, never mind I won't say anything about that years gone by. Slavery won't denounce that today. Homosexuality perversion immorality. Transsexuality, whatever the culture is for I'm not gonna stand against it because I'll lose.

I'll lose food income. But when we do that We profane worship. Here the worthless sons of Eli desecrated worship by using it to enrich themselves. That's a verse 17 the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

Literally, they they spurned it. Not because they had a strong emotional feelings against it you shouldn't say spurn they really hate something but because they looked on it as. They people bring in their animals to sacrifice their offerings their worship.

They saw that as revenue streams right sources of income something for their belly something for me. If we look on worship of the Lord is something for us to make us feel better. Maybe take a sentimental journey or to grow the business.

Or for me for me Personally keep the cash rolling in they employed so I don't have to get a job as a substitute teacher. You know how horrible that is? Be like these men half Neon Phineas. If we do that Then our sin he says here Will be very great in the sight of the Lord.

Very great. It says. They also desecrated it by their sexual immorality down in verse 22. Some women are probably Levites to the server to the tabernacle says that he served at the entrance. Whatever, maybe they helped with something the animals whatever.

And when Eli's sons when they weren't looking for literal meat to grab they were looking at these women as Meat to grab. Half Neon Phineas lay with the women. In other words sexual immorality by the religious professionals.

Sexual immorality in the ministry is often the result of seeing the church as a place to gratify yourself. The hireling is in it for the money's in it for itself what he can get out of it and If he can he'll get as much sexual immorality as he can get away with putting on the situation.

It's ironic that one of Eli's corrupt sons is named Phineas. It shows what Eli wanted him to be when he named him that Named him after the previous Phineas the son of Eliezer son of Aaron. So Aaron's grandson way back in those days the zealous priest Who has an incident that's famously described in number chapter 25.

When Moses was leading them out of the promised lands Moses still alive By and they go by Moab. The Moabites were seducing the Israelites to their pagan worship with sexual immorality. The Phineas then in those days Was God said God himself described him as as zealous for my honor as I am.

That's pretty high praise right there. God said you're zealous for my honor as I am. And what did how did Phineas show that? Well Phineas the original Phineas don't get it mixed up. The original Phineas took a spear and Followed a couple into their tent and drove it through both them the compromising Israelite and the Moabite woman.

Killing them both with one stab. That Phineas Would not allow that kind of sexual immorality in Israel and God praised him for it for being zealous for the honor of his God and he promised that Phineas a Covenant of a lasting priesthood.

I was going to come to you lasting didn't say everlasting. But this is gonna last for a while and that priesthood would go through him for a while and that while would be until Eli's corrupt Phineas a little bit beyond him who refused to live up to his namesake.

Eli's Phineas Didn't just allow sexual immorality but committed it Right in the Lord's tabernacle. Once a distraught woman from this county told me our husband had left her and her church. There's a Baptist Church some miles east of us and now goes with his new living girlfriend.

To a Baptist Church some miles west of us. And I wasn't surprised That neither church was dealing with the problem. They probably ought both tell themselves. Well, they want to keep on good terms with him, you know be a good witness to him.

So not directly confront his sin. The reality is that they they don't follow God's Word on church discipline because it upsets people who think being loving means allowing even enabling Immorality. Both were enabling him as for us.

We can never allow sexual immorality in our midst. Never. Oh, what do you allow? Second ministering. Do you allow the ministry to be what it it should be or do you demand it be? For your taste if so the latter.

Don't be surprised when you get half me and Phineas instead of Samuel. You know for now Israel here. They they they had both simultaneously in the tabernacle corrupt sons of Eli and sincere Samuel growing up side by side people.

Often complain about ministers, you know, they're in it for the money. They're just people pleasers they're showmen whatever. But guess who chooses them? I guess who puts them in place? You know, they can't just choose themselves.

People enable a corrupt church by what they allow by allowing the ministry to be about telling people what they want to hear packing in the crowds. Maybe it's about keeping the old-timers happy. And not about dealing with the immoral.

If you're not part of the solution. By supporting biblical ministry, then you are part of the problem by enabling corruption. Well Samuel was ministering and this is in contrast to Eli's sons who didn't know the Lord.

Samuel was ministering sincerely not for the iron rice bowl not for his own lust. Some people when they see the hop knees and the Phineas's as Religious professionals doing their thing in it for the money or for their lust.

They accuse everyone in the ministry of being like that of being corrupt and immoral. Here in 1st Samuel chapter 2 were immediately reminded of Samuel repeatedly here notice how many times goes back and forth between Hoffman finish and Samuel were reminded of Samuel so that when we see the Hoffman and Phineas's when we see the fakes will remember That there are the real ones.

Samuel wore the linen ephod in verse 18. Priest the thing that priests are supposed to wear. Hannah made a robe for him every year as he grew out of the old one. She would go up to Shiloh as usual annually with Elkanah.

And I guess pen and I remember her who cares about her. You don't hear anything more about her every year. Eli would bless them and say to Elkanah May the Lord give you children by this woman for the petition.

She asked of the Lord in other words bless her for asking For Samuel and for giving him to the Lord to serve with Eli and the blessing work Eli's blessing worked. Hannah had five more children in verse 23 and her smile got bigger.

Samuel Grows in the Presence of the Lord

Meanwhile Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord in Contrast to Eli's sons who were desecrating the house of the Lord. What do you allow? Third. The willing. Are we responsible? For what we allow and whose will Ultimately causes our destiny.

Does God respond to our will and so we're saved or not. It was I choose to believe the right thing and therefore because of my choice God has to set me or I choose to do the right thing to repent of My sin like Hopkins don't and therefore God has to accept me.

It's a pin on my will and what we will to do or believe or Does God's will determine what we do or believe. Our first verse 22 Eli warns his sons notice in verse 22. He kept hearing. Otherwise this went on for a long time.

He heard about a lot about their desecrating the worship and their sexual immorality. He's old. He's allowed this to go on and on. Eli heard about it repeatedly over the years. He's the chief priest. He's in command.

He could remove them for the priesthood or he could have them punished in some way. He could Assert his power and put this to an end, but he doesn't he warns them. Why do you do such things for I hear of your evil dealings from all these people?

Everyone in Israel is complaining about his sons and Eli is embarrassed by it. He wants it to stop in verse 24. No, my sons, it's no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. In other words a common knowledge by now of what they're doing.

He even warns them of God's judgment in verse 25. You know if someone sins against a man God will mediate for him. But if someone sins against the Lord Who can intercede for him? Mediating with God. Interceding is what priests are supposed to do to reconcile you to God if you've offended God, but if you the priest offend God himself Who will reconcile you?

To an offended God. Well, Eli is serious he doesn't want this in to continue he knows the judgment might come but still He won't do what he can to stop it. He allows them to continue as priests in the tabernacle thus enabling their sin.

When his sons won't listen Eli allows them to continue their profanity. He wishes they wouldn't. But he won't stop them for him. Blood is thicker than faith. And so the judgment he warns his son about Will come on him.

And then notice that the last sentence in verse 25 the cause the end of verse 25. Think this just solves some theological questions here. Here it is whose will causes the coming judgment. Is it because well, they didn't listen to their father because.

Why why didn't they listen to their father? Because they freely chose to be profane and immoral. They exercised their free will and so the Lord brought on them the consequences of their choice of their will.

Did they cause God? To lose patience. Did they force God to judge them by their refusal to listen to repent to change? That did their Willful refusal to repent did that make God. God had no choice. Here's the rules God bound by them they willfully refused to repent and so that Forced God To kill them to put them to death.

Is that what happened? That's that's the way many people think right? There's the rules if we keep them either do these works or believe these doctrines and if we choose to do the right thing Or believe the right thing then God has to Play the game.

He has to do What the rules say he has to do he has to accept us or not according to the rules He's got a bound by them. Is that what's going on here? No. Look carefully verse 25. It says They didn't heed their father for Because This is giving the reason that they didn't listen to the rebuke.

They've been rebuked. Why didn't they listen? Well, this tells us the ultimate cause. It was the will of the Lord to put them to death. Literally in Hebrew it reads because the Lord desired to kill them.

Their Lack of of heeding their refusal to repent to change despite Eli's warning That was caused by the Lord. Because God desired because God willed to kill them. Therefore they did not listen and repent.

They didn't listen to Eli Because God willed to kill them and So God withheld from them the grace to repent and to truly believe and so reform and so with no mercy they continue in their sin and So they get killed.

The ultimate will behind their destruction is the Lord's The one doing the willing which resulted everything happening here is God in Contrast in verse 26 Samuel grew in pleasing God grew in the favor of the Lord and people and in favor of people because the Lord gave him Grace, God gave him favor.

So the ultimate cause of Samuel being in God's favor and Eli's sons being condemned. Is not their actions or their will? Their actions. Their will is caused by God's will. Now some people Thinking that they are defending God.

You're trying to defend God. God needs my defense. They think well this say when some evil comes. Like Eli's sons debauchery or their violent deaths and the next couple chapters they'll say well. They'll say well God didn't will that.

He only allowed it. As though if he only allowed it he's not responsible. They think that gets God off the hook. But we've already seen that just allowing enabling something Doesn't mean you're not responsible.

So they really don't even accomplish what they think they're accomplishing. If you allowed a small child to run loose in here. Just making a mess. Running around tearing up everything getting a knife and shredding our curtain or whatever.

You just kind of sat back and said, please don't do that. You didn't will them to do it, but you just sat back and didn't stop them. If you did that you'd still be responsible. And they think though that God has determined to allow people to have free will and that human will is ultimately Responsible for what we do or what we believe but here in verse 25 it says Eli's sons did not listen and So we're destroyed because of ultimately Not their will.

But because of God's will. Now sure they had a will and they use their will not to heed Eli but why did they use their will not to heed Eli because God willed God chose to put them to death. The ultimate cause is God's mercy or here Lack of it.

Honoring the Lord Above All Else

What do you allow forth finally honoring. What do you honor by allowing it you honor? What you give the most weight to? You weigh two things, but see they're in conflict. Can't have both got to choose which is the weightier.

Which gets more honor half me and Phineas his job or the holiness of God? Your family or the Lord making money or Worship from verse 27 an unnamed man of God a prophet comes to Eli and prophesies. He says that those who dishonor God by allowing him to be dishonored.

Will be judged like that young mother in Arkansas who allowed her child to be abused and was held responsible for it. If we allow God to be dishonored We will be held responsible for it like Eli the man of God says speaking to Eli.

Thus says the Lord. It's like a prophet. He's speaking for the Lord. I reveal myself to God speaking to your house. That's the house of Aaron and then Aaron's son Eli's Ancestor to be your to be a priest.

I reveal myself to them to be priest. God says in verse 28. I gave to them. I gave to your father all the offerings by fire. Which the people of Israel, you know have these offerings that they make their living off of.

I gave it to you to your family. And that ministry was a gift from me and now you treat it like you have a right to it like it exists for you. And so then in verse 29, why do you Eli? Scorn and literally the Hebrew word there means kick at my worship.

You Eli. By permitting the worship to be profane. Make make common. Treated like anything else that exists for the customer. It's not holy. You're kicking at worship. You're treating it with contempt like you might treat some mangy dog.

Just kick it away. That's how he's treating God and talk about Eli here not talking to Huffington finish anymore to Eli. He's treating God by not honoring God more than he honors his sons. But they're a three-pronged fork and they're womanizing.

So he rebuked them for it, but in the end he allowed it. By permitting it God says you Eli honored your sons above me. You weighed them. Is the Lord's the Lord's glory and here's my sons. Wish you could have them both.

He weighed them and he you honored your sons above me you weighed them as heavier more honorable than the Lord what you permit. You participate in. Therefore because of all that God says in verse 30 the promise I made to your house.

You're lying kind of within the line of Aaron that you all will be your clan will be the priest that promise is revoked. You're losing your priestly privileges. The Lord declares no far be it from me.

I was with certainty, you know me the Lord that I'm holy you know that I'm not gonna put up with this far be it from me to allow you to be in my presence when you Allow your sons to profane worship. God will certainly not Far be it from me.

He declares Allow profaning his worship to continue. Because he says those who honor me I will honor. And The 1924 Olympics. Eric little refused to run a heat for his main event the hundred meter dash.

Because it was on a Sunday, which he believed was only for worship and rest. He did not choose for the race to be on a Sunday. But he wouldn't allow himself to honor sports more than God. He wouldn't go along with it.

He wouldn't enable it. And so he ran in the 400 meters four times longer instead on another day and Just before the race. They're just about to the guns about to fire and about to go off just before the race an American athlete come up to him and Gave him a note with this verse on it those who honor me.

I will honor. And he won the race Got a gold medal and set a world record. But those who despise me God says who kick at my worship by making it something for their belly. For the business for a place to find hookups.

Those shall be lightly esteemed. So behold look at this pay attention in verse 31 the days are coming when God says he will cut off Eli's strength. I was greatly diminish his descendants and that happened if first Samuel chapter 22 Were 85 priests from Eli's family.

So 85 of Eli's descendants were murdered. God says that Eli's family which survives Will no longer be priests but they will be weeping their eyes out to grieve in verse 33 for all those who have been killed and Then then they'll be begging to be able to do whoever survives some priestly work just so they can have a little money.

Or a loaf of bread in verse 36. They profane worship for their enrichment. Getting fat off of it, but soon there'll be poor beggars. And that was fulfilled. When Solomon replaced Eli's line with that from Zadok in first Kings chapter 2 verse 27 says.

So Solomon expelled Abiathar Eli's great-grandson From being priest to the Lord thus fulfilling the word of the Lord that he has spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh and the sign That this will happen back in Eli's time the sign that that's gonna happen God says through that unnamed prophet is that both Eli's sons Hophni and Phinehas will die on the same day and all this because of what Eli Allowed.

The Faithful Priest and the Lord’s Anointed

Finally the Lord promises in verse 35. I will raise up and it's not gonna be your descendants cutting them off Eli. But I will raise up for myself. Eli's been treating the worship of the Lord for himself while his sons have anyway I will raise up for myself.

God says a fateful priest a priest is someone who does what Eli said earlier to his son to reconcile sinners Who have offended God. Eli said to his sons were supposed to be priest. What will you do if you've said against God who's gonna intercede for you.

God will reconcile two people together. But can you reconcile someone if if God is not reconciled to you? Of course what Eli didn't fully understand seemed a little confused there himself was that every sin we commit whether directly against God like using worship for ourselves like Hophni and Phinehas or just Permitting it like Eli or sitting against someone else Defrauding them or oppressing them every sin we commit is ultimately against God.