The Theme of 1st and 2nd Samuel Part 2
One of the big themes of 1st Samuel centers around Israel’s desire for a king. And because they chose a king to rule over them instead of God, they suffered for it. There is a note of failure that runs thru 1st Samuel.
Another purpose of the book is to over and over again show us people who do well and are for our example. People that we should use as an example and we should strive to do like they did.
And the book over and over again show us people whose patterns of life are to be not followed. People who are still an example but an example of what not to do.
So one of the purposes of the book is to give us examples of what to do and examples of what not to do.
Like many of the other books we have looked at so far in our Bible survey we see the theme shown in the first few chapters. In Samuel there is more than one theme and we also see them in the first few chapters. I see at least 3 big themes in Samuel.
The first was Israel’s desire for a king and the consequences of that choice.
The second is examples of both what to emulate and what to not do. Good examples and Bad examples. We will get to the 3rd theme in a few weeks.
God is very good at making it very clear what He is writing about and the main point or points He is making in any book of the bible. And He is very up front about it and puts it in the first few chapters in any of the longer books.
Today we are going to look at a bad example.
1Sa 2:12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.
There are 3 people involved here. Eli and his two sons. Eli knew that his sons were sons of Belial and that they had no faith and knew not the Lord. Eli knew that a lost person has no place in God’s work, but he put them in the ministry anyway.
Eli knew that they were wicked and he still put them into the priesthood.
1st bad example. Eli put his family over what God wanted. Eli put his love for his sons over His love for God.
And since his sons hurt people, Eli put his sons over the good of the people.
Eli put his love for his sons over his love for people. So in this bad example Eli broke what Jesus laid out as the two great commandments. The first is to Love God and the second is like unto it, Love Man.
So this is really serious. Eli is a really bad example here.
1Sa 2:13 And the priests’ custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand;
Notice this is not what God said to do. Watch the words carefully. And the priests’ custom with the people was. It was their custom. Not God’s. Somewhere along the line they thought this up.
The priest’s would send their servant out with a hook of 3 teeth. Not one or two teeth but 3 so it will take more. And without asking he would just go around to the people who offered sacrifice and put his hook in and took as much as he could.
God’s way is laid out in Lev. The people where to give out of a free will.
God specified that the meat that the priests were to get was to come from the peace offering.
Lev_7:32 And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings.
The burnt offering was required. It pictured Jesus giving it all on the cross. It pictured salvation more than any other.
The trespass offering was required when you were guilty of a trespass.
The peace offering was voluntary. It was shared between you and the priest. It pictured fellowship and peace with God and with those ministering. It was to be a joyous thing for both for the one giving and the priests.
The giver gets to be involved in providing for the men doing the work. Those men were to teach them the word of God and do all of the work in the tabernacle and later the temple for them. In the peace offering the giver gets to recognize that there is a need and share some of the meat.
It really is a blessing to be a blessing. It can do wonderful things to your heart. On the priests side it would be an opportunity to be thankful and graciously accept the help.
And God specified exactly how much and what parts the priests were to get. God wanted this to be a sharing experience so God decided how much each of the two parties involved would get. The amount was fair and balanced.
Lev_7:33 He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right shoulder for his part.
Lev_7:34 For the wave breast and the heave shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from off the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his sons by a statute for ever from among the children of Israel.
In their ceremonies they would wave the breast and then heave the shoulder. I don’t put too much into it but if you wave the breast and then heave the shoulder it makes the symbol of a cross. The breast is the meat that is closest to the heart and the shoulder speaks of strength and power. Much of the power of the ox to pull the plow is in his shoulders.
Jesus went to the cross in Love and He has the power to forgive sins. The power to pay the price for us and the power to raise from the dead. Waving the breast and heaving the shoulder pictured that.
The men doing the work of God were to feast on the breast (heart) and on the shoulder (power) and both were not theirs. It was not their heart and not their power. It was given to them so they could do the work of God.
Anyone doing the work of God needs to rely upon the heart and the power that God gives.
The peace offering was to be a powerful picture of working together in peace with man and God.
And because of these peace offerings the priests and their families would have food to eat. I know they also got food from other sources but the peace offerings were a large part of what they received.
God said they were to get only the breast and the shoulder and from the voluntary peace offerings. And this statute was to not be changed.
The sons of Eli changed it. The ministers of the Word of God changed the word of God in effect. O’ they did not change the words. They still had Lev chapter 7 and it still said the same thing, but they changed the practice.
Now the servant of the priest comes and takes as much as they can hook.
1Sa 2:14 And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.
And that did not satisfy their greed so they would also come for more.
1Sa 2:15 Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.
After they burned the fat, they would put the meet in pots and boil it. That is the meat that the servants came for with the fleshhooks. But before that they would also come to get some raw. They are hitting the people not once but twice.
Some of the sacrifices they would burn the fat before they would cook the meat. There was a proper order things were to be done. When a believer knew what they were doing was wrong and spoke up it got ugly.
1Sa 2:16 And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.
This is a forced offering. It is not only rude, but in direct rebellion to the way God said it was to be done. This is greed run amuck in God’s services.
And it shows a total lack of care or respect for those trying to worship God. Treating them as a lessor class of believer.
They totally destroyed what the peace offering was all about. The priest and the worshiper were to share in this offering. A picture of being in this together. A picture of being in peace with each other and God. It was to be a beautiful and joyous thing.
These men are to be God’s men in the service of God. The men who are to be the leaders in loving God and loving man are doing neither. They instead are being lovers only of themselves. And this has a huge effect upon the hearts of the people.
1Sa 2:17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.
The sin of the young men, that is referring to the two sons of Eli.
They are the ones God holds responsible for this. God says the sin of Eli’s sons was very great before the Lord.
God sees it. God sees everything. No sin ever gets past His eye. Yes any sin that is not under the blood of Christ is enough to send someone to hell. But some sins are very great.
Eli’s son’s sin was very great. And the effect of their sin is given. For men abhorred the offering of the Lord.
Serving God and giving to God and worshipping God is supposed to be a great and joyous and wonderful thing. People should look forward to and be excited about it.
What Eli’s sons were doing was having the exact opposite effect. What they were doing made people abhorred the offering of the Lord.
The New Testament tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. That is what He wants. The Lord is not happy with fleecing the flock.
What we have in Chapter 2 with Eli’s sons is a very bad example of what not to do on many levels.
A really bad example of what not to do should help us to see what to do.
1 we should only put saved men into the ministry.
2 we should put how God wants things done above the traditions of men.
3 we should be focused on loving God and loving man instead of being focused on money
4 people should be treated with respect. The sons of Eli and their servants did not.
5 we should put our love for God first and if there is a conflict between even family and God we should put God first.
6 there is zero place for greed in God’s work.
7 those ministering the Word of God and those they are ministering to should be in unity working together in peace with each other and with God.
There is a lot we can learn from the bad examples in Samuel if we stop and think about what the people in the example did wrong and then think about how it should be done. Both the good and the bad examples were given for our learning.
See more lessons on Themes from Old Testament Books