God Cleans His House
1 Samuel 2:27–36 (ESV)
27 And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? 28 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 an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. 29 Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ 30 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. 31 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. 32 Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from 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. 34 And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. 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. 36 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 priests’ places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.” ’ ”
God’s Word as supreme over life and death
4 Parts to God’s Communication
1) Recounting God’s Grace
2) Repudiation of God’s Grace
3) Range of God’s Judgment
4) Representation of God’s Future Grace
Recounting
Questions from God
Repudiation
Indictment of Repudiating God’s Grace
Honor = Weighty = Glory
Judgment
Communal Blessings and Curses
“I will cut off your (Eli) strength and the strength of your father’s (Ithamar) house.”
Aaron’s 4 sons:
Nadab (Killed by God)
Abihu (Killed by God)
Eleazar
Ithamar
Judgment:
Die before old age
Die by the sword
Only one will survive (to weep)
Ahimelech and 85 priests all die by the sword in one day
So do all of their wives and children
One survives: Abiathar
Abiathar backs Adonijah instead of Solomon
1 Kings 2:27 (ESV)
27 So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, thus fulfilling the word of the LORD that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
Sign of Judgment:
His sons will die on the same day
Representation
Future Grace
“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.”
B. GROUP DISCUSSION
1) Read I Samuel 2:27-36. What are your first thoughts about this text? What do you notice? What impacts you immediately.
2) God’s goodness and grace has been extended to us from generations past. Have you ever thought of that? Have you ever recounted the grace that has brought you to your present life? What would you say about that?
3) God’s judgment can be active or consequential. Have you ever thought that the judgment upon our sins can extend to generations in the future? Can you give possible examples of that?
4) Have you ever thought deeply about the right for God to judge communally, and with those to whom we have affiliation? What might this look like if He were to pronounce a judgment over you today? Where do you think it is fair to hold someone accountable for the actions of others? (Genesis 18, Joshua 6,7)
5) In what way did Jesus fulfill the prophecy of Hannah? How did He replace the priesthood as it was known? How did He replace the monarchy as it was known?
6) Prayer and praise