1 Samuel

As Tashi said, we're in the middle of a series at the moment, preaching through the book of 1 Samuel.

So, so far, just to fill you in if you haven't been around, Israel has made it to the promised land that God was giving to them.

But basically, once it got into this land, things started going badly.

It struggled.

They'd have little flashes of goodness where they'd be powerful or prosperous, but it keeps going wrong.

And they are asking the question when we get to the book of 1 Samuel,

does God still care for us?

And is he still with us?

Are we still his people?

So chapter 1, we had a bit of encouragement when God affirms his presence and care by blessing Hannah,

a barren woman, with a child that she desperately wants.

And we do begin to get a sense from Hannah's prayer in the beginning of chapter 2

that God's working in a new way through Hannah and through Israel.

But tonight it feels like we hit a brick wall.

The problems that were obviously there before, for them to be asking if God was even still around,

are even deeper than we might have thought.

And so that's what we're going to walk into tonight.

And I want to pray for us that God will give us ears to hear,

because some of the stuff we're going to talk about tonight is not the funnest stuff to talk about.

But I'm going to ask that God lets us hear it anyway, because it's important.

Father God, we want to thank you for your word.

And we want to thank you for the chance to gather tonight.

And Lord, we ask that as we reflect on what it is you have to say here,

that you give us soft hearts, that we would be teachable,

that we would be willing to recognize things that are in our lives that are wrong,

and that we would be thankful for the opportunity to confess those

and have you deal with that part of our life.

Amen.

We have a natural cynicism towards leaders in our culture.

We are just a week past an election,

and I'm sure you can reflect on conversations that you've had in the past fortnight,

or maybe even a bit further,

on the hopelessness of the various candidates that they were to vote for.

Clive Palmer is probably an indictment on what we think a leader is.

We basically get frustrated because these people get thrown up as taking responsibility for our state,

our nation, whatever it is, our local government area.

And almost always we run into stories in the media of how they've fallen,

whether it's morally fallen, whether it's they've just failed to keep their promises.

There is this kind of constant cycle of dodginess in the leadership that we have in our society today.

And sadly, church is not immune to that.

There is also a cycle of dodgy church leaders that we hear about.

And so there is this cycle of leadership.

Good leadership would tend to hang around, but there is this constant change.

Even in our fantastic political structure,

you tend to go one party for a little bit with all this hope, and then they fail.

So we go back to the other side for a little while, then they fail, and then we go back.

And there is almost a constant pattern,

if you look back through Australian government history,

of one major party, then the next.

Because we're not happy, they're not delivering.

Now the problem with that for us is,

when we open a passage like this,

we think, yep, fair enough,

the leaders of Israel are dodgy.

No big deal.

But, we need to stop for a second

and understand who it is we're looking at

in this passage of Scripture.

You've got to remember that this is Israel.

God picked this one nation

out of all of the peoples on earth.

At this point,

they are in the promised land that He led them to.

Spectacularly,

when He rescued them out of Egypt.

This story is at Shiloh,

which is like the capital city when it comes to worshipping God

for the people of God in the country,

the land that God had given them.

And these people that we're talking about are the priests.

From within this chosen people,

God chose a specific tribe

and separated them out and said,

you will be the priests,

you will be my representatives,

you will be the leaders

to serve the people

and we find them completely and utterly corrupt.

And that's even more significant

if you look back just a couple of verses

to verse 10 of chapter 2,

which we looked at last week,

where Hannah tells us in her prayer

that those who oppose the Lord

will be broken.

This situation should shock us.

Last week,

we celebrated that God is sovereign

and that God will bring low those who are full of pride

and He will raise up the humble

and then we come here

and His leadership in His people

is corrupt

and seems to be flourishing as they're doing it.

This should shock us.

God doesn't tolerate it.

God will not tolerate it.

If we stopped even just at verse 12,

if we didn't read anywhere beyond that,

we would have a major problem.

Have a look at it.

Verse 12,

Eli's sons were scoundrels.

They had no regard for the Lord.

They don't know God.

They're priests.

That means they're God's representatives.

They kind of stand in between God and His people

to make sure that this relationship can work

because you've got a holy God

and unholy people

and so God appoints priests as the go-between

and the people in the middle don't even know God.

They have no regard for Him.

He's not important to them.

Now, it's not that they don't know about Him.

Obviously, they're priests.

They spend all day, every day,

doing things that God told the people to do.

They've heard the stories about the parting of the sea,

the wandering around the desert.

They've heard about it,

but they don't know Him.

They don't have the relationship with Him,

at least not in the way that Hannah did last week

or two weeks ago.

However, their knowing about Him

has no impact on their life.

It doesn't make any difference

to the way they make decisions,

to the things that are important to them,

to the things that are precious.

And so their ignorance,

or maybe more accurately,

their rejection of God,

starts to flow out in their actions.

Have a look with me at verse 13.

It says,

Now, let's be really clear.

It says it's the practice,

but it doesn't say it's a good practice.

This isn't the instruction that God gave them

when He set this up.

These guys were just feeling hungry.

And the hopelessness of this is

God had actually designed this sacrificial system

so that people sacrificing

would actually keep a portion

to go to the priests

as like payment for their job.

So God had already designed it

to make sure these guys would get looked after.

They would have food.

They would be well fed.

They would have strength.

But they just decide,

you know what,

I'm a little bit hungrier.

And so they would strut up to you

while you're making your sacrifice,

meats they're cooking,

you're getting ready,

following the specific instructions

that God has given.

And they bring in this novelty fork

that's going to collect everything

that's in your pot

and wander off and go,

look, I've got it.

And in fact,

these priests are so lazy

that they send their servants to do it.

Not only are they being greedy,

they're being lazy

and sitting on their butts

and sending someone else

to do the dirty work.

But it gets even worse.

It says,

verse 15,

And even before the fat was burned,

the priest's servant would come

and say to the person

who was sacrificing,

give the priest some meat to roast.

He won't accept boiled meat from you,

but only raw.

And if the person said to him,

let the fat be burned first,

which is what God instructed them to do,

this is how they would respond.

The servant would answer,

no, hand it over now.

If you don't,

I'll take it by force.

So not only would they steal the meat

from the boiling pot,

they would come and remove

and steal the portion

that was reserved for God himself.

They would presume to take the place

of the God who had rescued them out of Egypt.

And then there is a significant verse there

in verse 17,

The sin of the young men

was very great in the Lord's sight,

for they were treating the Lord's offering

with contempt.

Now, the funny thing is

that these priests

are technically going through the motions.

They're living at the tent

where God has told them to live.

There is sacrifices happening

like there was supposed to be.

And so they're kind of presenting like priests.

I'm sure that Israel

didn't particularly like them,

but there was probably some sense

of they're the priests,

what can we do?

That's where we have to do our sacrifices.

But even though they're kind of

going through the motions,

the motions actually don't hold any weight.

Because the whole system,

the sacrifices, the tent,

this place was all about relating to God.

That was the whole point.

And these guys don't know him.

So it doesn't matter

if they were even doing

the correct sacrifices at this point,

because verse 12 tells us

they had no regard for the Lord.

There's a little warning for you there

that you can actually look

a lot like somebody

who is following Jesus,

but just be spinning the wheels.

Following Jesus is about

having a relationship with him.

And it's possible to look

exactly like a Christian,

but not know the God

who Christians follow.

I remember when I was younger,

a fair bit younger,

I'm a child of the 80s.

And in the 80s,

it was okay for white guys to dance.

Thank you, Vanilla Rice,

and I guess MC Hammer's

kind of somewhere in the middle

of white and black.

And I remember that

when I say it was okay,

not everyone could do it,

but it was just,

there was a permission.

And I remember my older brother

and my cousin,

who was also older,

took street funk dancing classes,

and I was so jealous.

There's some really embarrassing photos of them

with no shirts on

and happy pants,

and it's fantastic.

But in my absence

at the actual classes,

I still had aspirations

to be a dancer.

And so I convinced my parents

to get me

the fluoro puffy happy pants,

and I think I got

some imitation Nike high tops

as well and everything.

And I had the muscle tee,

which was fairly unnecessary

for the eight-year-old version of me.

But the problem was,

I couldn't,

and I still cannot,

dance at all.

If music comes on,

I can do the awkward shuffle thing,

but that's about it.

It's not exactly street funk.

I was all show and no go.

And look,

entertaining story,

but there is the scary possibility

that we could be that as Christians.

I've got a Bible.

I don't get drunk.

I don't swear.

I make sure that I get to church

at least two out of four Sundays.

But if there's not actually

a relationship with God,

if there's not a joy in God,

if there's not a knowledge

of the God who made you

and loves you,

could it be that you're just

going through the motions?

The sin that is great for God here

is the issue that they don't know Him.

That's what makes them so stupid

when it comes to the sacrifices.

That's what makes them so willing

to put themselves in the place of God.

It's that their heart doesn't know God.

Even though they're in the right place,

they're wearing the right clothes,

they're at the right ceremony,

but the issue in verse 12

is they have no regard for the Lord.

He's just some guy

they've heard stories about.

He's not their God.

He's not their Lord.

He doesn't matter to them.

But it gets worse again.

Come down with me to verse 22.

Now Eli, who was very old,

heard about everything

his sons were doing to all Israel

and how they slept with the women

who served at the entrance

to the tent of meeting.

So he said to them,

why do you do such things?

I hear from all the people

about these wicked deeds of yours.

Know my sons.

The report I hear spreading

among the Lord's people

is not good.

If one person sins against another,

God may mediate for the offender.

But if anyone sins against the Lord,

who will intercede for them?

See, Eli gets a little glimpse

of just how serious

what they're doing is.

This isn't just them

stealing food from other people.

This isn't just them

sleeping with women.

As bad as both of those things are,

this is a sin against God.

But the scary part comes there

at the end of verse 25.

His sons, however,

did not listen to their father's rebuke,

for it was the Lord's will

to put them to death.

Their sin

goes beyond the point of no return.

They cross a line.

And so,

it is God's will

to put them to death.

That's a scary phrase.

We don't like phrases like that.

But let's just be careful

how we read it.

It's not saying

that these guys didn't deserve

to be put to death.

Remember what we've just read.

They were sleeping with women

at the tent of meeting.

They didn't know God.

They were abusing

their position as priests

and threatening the people

who were coming

to try and sacrifice to God.

They're still responsible

for their actions.

They're still responsible

for the way

that they're treating God.

They're making a mockery

of the means

by which God has given

his people

to relate to him.

God has given them sacrifices

so that they might know

the need for forgiveness

and they are using

those sacrifices

as an opportunity

to reject him again.

They are responsible

for their sin.

Death is what they deserve.

But what God does

is confirm them

in their rejection.

I mean,

we've got to understand

that these guys

had front row seats

for God revealing himself.

the sacrifices

were God's way

of showing

just how holy he was.

The tent being

in one place

at one time

and the need for priests

in the middle

was all part of communicating

who God was

and his desire

to know his people.

And these guys

are front row center.

They're in the middle

of every sacrifice.

They don't go once a year

like Hannah and Elkanah

and their family.

These guys were there

every day

seeing what God was doing

to reveal himself

and they just refuse

to acknowledge him

as God.

They refuse to recognize

him as holy

and so God

confirms that

in their heart.

It's their choice

but God confirms it.

It's not dissimilar

to Pharaoh

in Egypt.

If you remember

the story

of the ten plagues

in the book

of Exodus

we hear over and over

how Pharaoh

hardens his own heart.

He makes a decision.

He says,

I don't know your God.

Your God's nothing to me.

But then we also hear

that God hardens

Pharaoh's heart.

It's not one

or the other.

It's that Pharaoh

has rejected God

and so God

confirms him

in his hard

rejecting heart

and the possibility

of turning back

is gone.

Not because God

can't save him

but because

he is committed

to his choice.

He is unrepentant.

He sees the choice

and he chooses

again and again

not to honour God

as God.

The same is going on

for these two guys.

They are absolutely

committed to rejecting God

that even when Eli

turns up and says

this isn't good

you shouldn't be doing this

they will not hear it.

You've got to imagine

if I was

secretly

having an affair

if I was secretly

committing adultery

the longer

that I do that

the more regularly

I have to tell myself

that God doesn't matter.

If I know it's wrong

each time

that I go and meet

with this woman

I tell myself

God doesn't matter

and I become

more and more

calloused

more and more

hardened to hearing

what God has to say

about that situation.

The first time

there might be a bit of

you know

to and fro

in my heart

there might be a moral

should I or shouldn't I

but the tenth time

or the hundredth time

progressively

I will get harder

and harder

in my heart

to the point

where I could see

a flashing

vision of angels

telling me to repent

and go the other way

and I would nod,

smile

and continue on

in my sin.

These guys

are so established

in their pattern

of ignoring God

they are so committed

to their rebellion

that God

confirms them

in it

they have crossed

the line.

Now we don't know

where this line is

but the passage

warns us

God will

confirm

people

who harden

their hearts

like this.

Now this isn't

a license for us

to look around

at people in our lives

and go they're

too far gone.

That's not what

it's saying.

You don't know

where the line is.

I don't know

where the line is.

God does.

But at very least

this is a call to us

and a warning for us

that we need to take

sin in our lives

seriously.

It's really dangerous

for us to just

kind of settle

in to sin.

Accept sin.

We need to confess

quickly

and trust

that our God

can forgive us

and transform us

because there is

a warning there

that if we continue

we are hardening

our hearts

to the majesty

of Jesus.

We are switching

ourselves off

to the offer

of forgiveness

and we are flirting

with the righteous

judgment

that God will

and should bring

on his enemies.

But it's not just

Hophni and Phinehas

who God judges

in this passage.

Eli cops it as well.

Now for Hophni and Phinehas

their sin is obvious.

It's catalogued

for us there.

It's really easy.

No issues.

They were jerks.

They probably deserve

what they got.

But what about Eli?

I find Eli

a strange character

in these first few

chapters of 1 Samuel.

You kind of like him

at points

and then at other points

you're not sure

and you're kind of thinking

should I be on his team

or shouldn't I?

I mean the first episode

was him calling Hannah

a drunk

and telling her to go home

and you're thinking

dodgy.

But then

he kind of backpedals

a little bit

prays for her

gets the answer.

There's even this little glimpse

in here

in verse 18

through to 21

which we'll look at

in a little while

where he prays again

for Hannah

when she comes back

and he gets answers

to his prayer.

Hannah gets more kids

and so you're kind of thinking

is he good

or is he bad?

But God is

equally angry

with him.

Potentially even

angrier

with him

and he sends a messenger

to let him know

in verse 27.

It says

a man of God

came to Eli

and said to him

this is what the Lord says

did I not clearly

reveal myself

to your ancestors

family

when they were in Egypt

under Pharaoh?

I chose your ancestor

out of all the tribes

of Israel

to be my priest

to go up to my altar

to burn incense

and to wear an ephod

in my presence.

I also gave your ancestors

family

all the food offerings

presented by the Israelites.

Why do you scorn

my sacrifice

and offering

that I prescribed

for my dwelling?

Why do you honour

your sons

more than me

by fattening yourselves

on the choice parts

of every offering

made by my people

Israel?

Therefore

the Lord

the God of Israel

declares

I promised

that members

of your family

would minister

before me forever

but now

the Lord declares

far be it from me.

Those who honour me

I will honour

but those who despise me

will be disdained.

The time is coming

when I will cut short

your strength

and the strength

of your priestly house

so that no one in it

will reach old age

and you will see distress

in my dwelling.

Although good

will be done to Israel

no one in your family line

will ever reach old age.

Every one of you

that I do not cut off

from serving at my altar

I will spare

only to destroy your sight

and sap your strength

and all your descendants

will die

in the prime of life.

Those are some

fairly serious punishments

that God is about

to pour out on Eli.

Hophni and Phinehas

they are going to die.

Eli's entire family line

will be cut off.

Those who aren't

will be just kept around

so that they can be

made a mockery of

so that they can be

distressed

at the situation

that has come

upon them.

God chose

Eli's family

by grace

but Eli

has taken it

for granted.

Now you might

look at this story

and think

what more

is Eli

supposed to do?

I mean he rebukes

his sons

he sits them down

and he has a chat

with them

but it's half-hearted

at best

and you can tell.

Have a look

at verse 29

why do you

scorn my sacrifice

and offering?

I don't know

about your Bible

but some of your Bibles

might have on that

you

the third word

of verse 29

a little letter

or a little mark

and down the bottom

of your page

it will tell you

that you is plural.

Why do yous

scorn

my sacrifice

and offering?

Eli

has been

sharing

in the stealing

that Hophni

and Phinehas

has been doing.

Not that he's been

sending his servant

along

not that he's been

doing it himself

but halfway

through the verse

why do you

honour your sons

more than me

by fattening

yourselves

on the choice

parts of every

offering

made by my

people

Israel?

Yeah

he said to his

sons

you guys need

to stop this

it's giving us

a bad reputation

but at the same time

he had a mouthful

of the meat

that had been

stolen from a sacrifice.

It's almost as if

Chris Jones

had discovered

that Tim

was stealing

from the offertory

as the bags

were going around

and he said

Tim I really

want you to stop

it it's not okay

as he took

the 50 from Tim

that was his

take for the week.

It's that blatant.

He seems like

he's doing the right

thing when he says

sons you have to

stop this.

He seems somewhat

aware that they

will be accountable

to God

but at the same

time

he doesn't

really do

anything about

it.

He eats the

meat that he

shouldn't be

eating

and on one

level he just

endorses what

they're doing.

He keeps them

as priests

he continues

to supervise

them

and ultimately

he is responsible

for their sin

not because

he doesn't

stop them

but because

he shares in

it as well.

But maybe

the more scary

one there in

verse 29

why do you

honour your

sons more

than me?

Eli is the

priest of

God's nation

and it says

he cares for

his sons

more than

he cares for

his God.

He was chosen

his primary

role was to

be representative

of the people

towards God

and God

towards the

people and

he is

distracted

by his

relationship

with his

sons.

His dodgy

sons.

It's not like

even they were

amazing kids

and yet

he loves

them more

than he

loves his

God.

This is even

more dramatic

when you think

about Hannah

just a couple

of chapters

earlier.

Hannah is

given her

first and

only son

after years

of being

distressed

at her

barrenness

and what

does she

do?

She

hands him

back to

God

because she

loves her

God

more.

It's not

that she

doesn't love

her son

and we'll

see in a

second that

she's still

visiting him

and dropping

off clothes

for him.

She still

cares for

him but

she loves

her God

the most

and she

recognises

that her

son is a

gift for

God.

Whereas

Eli the

priest

cares more

about whether

or not he's

getting on

with his

sons.

He

doesn't

want to

have a

fight at

home every

day about

the things

they're doing

so he

kind of

shrugs his

shoulders and

goes along.

God is

worthy of

undivided

devotion.

God

cannot and

must not

share his

honour with

something or

someone else.

Hannah said

it blatantly

in chapter 2

look at it

again verse 2

there is no

one holy

like the

Lord.

There is no

one besides

you.

There is no

rock like

our God.

God is

far greater

and more

significant

and more

worthy than

anything or

person or

experience or

anything else

that we have

in our lives.

For Eli his

sin is more

subtle.

You might not

have looked at

him and thought

that he was

somebody who

scorned his

God.

But just

because his

sin is subtle

doesn't mean

it's not

serious.

sin is

idolatry.

He's

worshipping

the relationship

he has with

his sons

instead of

worshipping

his God.

This is

almost a

summary of

what Israel

is like at

this point

in history.

This priest

is supposed

to lead the

people in

their devotion

to God.

He's supposed

to be at

the front

of the pack

the example

to be

followed

but instead

he loves

his sons

more.

Or at

least he

likes the

idea of

keeping the

peace at

home more

than he

likes the

idea of

loving God

and obeying

him.

Now again

Eli couldn't

necessarily have

stopped them

from being

dodgy sons.

That might have

just been who

they were but

he did have

the power to

take them out

of the

priesthood.

He did have

the power to

remove them

from their

place of

privilege in

God's

temple but

instead he

tolerates it.

Instead he

honours them.

Now this is a

hard thing for

us to wrestle

with because

in our

culture being

tolerant is

the ultimate

compliment.

Intolerance

is the worst

thing you could

say about

anyone.

Tolerance is

the highest

virtue and

Christians are

renowned because

we're supposed to

be intolerant and

that makes us

ignorant and

foolish and

bigoted.

But is it

possible that

tolerance is not

always a

virtue?

Is it

good to

tolerate

starvation of

innocent people?

Is it

good to

tolerate abuse?

Tolerance is

not always a

good thing and

tolerance of sin

in other people

is often just

evidence of

idolatry in our

own lives.

It often just

points to the

fact that what

we care about

most is that

that person

likes me rather

than they honour

God and I

honour God.

God.

What we care

about most is

that everybody

gets along rather

than the God of

heaven and earth

is treated as

the God of

heaven and

earth.

The one who

is to be

obeyed above

all else.

Think about

the last time

that someone

you know was

in an obvious

sin.

It won't take

much thinking.

But think about

the conversation

you had with

yourself.

Do I

challenge them

on this?

Do I bring

it up?

The number of

times that I

know that I

have talked

myself out

of confronting

a brother or

sister who

is in sin

because I'm

more concerned

about what

they'll do

to me

afterwards.

How they'll

relate to me.

How they'll

respond to me.

What about

sin in your

own life?

Do you

confess it to

other people

because you

care most

that God is

honoured?

or do you

keep it a

secret and

hope that no

one finds

out because

you care

more that

people respect

you?

That people

think you're

a good

respectable

person?

We pretend

that these

conversations are

avoided out of

love.

I don't want to

hurt their

feelings.

I don't want

to be

judgmental.

I'm not the

right person to

talk to them.

But really,

often, it's out

of love for us

that we don't

have those

conversations.

It's because I

want to protect

myself.

When you love

something more

than God,

that's

idolatry.

When you love

something the

same amount as

God, that's

idolatry.

Our God stands

alone above

all else and is

to be worshipped

and honoured

above all else.

It is a gift

of grace that he

even invites us to

know him in the

first place.

And we need to

be careful not to

reject that gift

like Eli did.

We need to be

careful not to

take it for

granted.

The demand for

us as God's

people is

undivided

commitment to

and passion for

God's name

above all else.

There is a

heaviness in

this passage.

There is the

right judgment

on both

Hophni and

Phinehas and

Eli as well.

But there is a

glimmer of hope.

Look back with

me to verse 11.

Then Elkanah

went home to

Ramah, but the

boy, that's

Samuel, ministered

before the Lord

under Eli the

priest.

It's the first

time in this

book that the

word ministered

has been used

of anyone who

is at the

temple.

Jump down to

verse 18.

Samuel was

ministering before

the Lord, a

boy wearing a

linen ephod,

that's a

priest's clothes.

Each year his

mother made him

a little robe

and took it to

him when she

went up with

her husband to

offer the

annual sacrifice.

Eli would

bless Elkanah and

his wife saying,

May the Lord

give you children

by this woman to

take the place of

the one she

prayed for and

gave to the

Lord.

Then they would

go home and

the Lord was

gracious to

Hannah.

She gave birth

to three sons

and two daughters.

Meanwhile, the

boy Samuel grew

up in the

presence of the

Lord.

And then down to

verse 26.

There is this

incredible contrast.

You could almost

miss it just for

the weight of

judgment in this

passage.

But as we hear

about the

hopelessness of

the current

priesthood, there's

this young boy that

we met in chapter

one who is

beginning his

life of service

to God.

With this

constant tide of

faithlessness and

disobedience, there

is just the

verses that

remind us that

there was one

ministering before

the Lord.

One that we

know God

provided in

spectacular

circumstances.

God's faithfulness

to his people is

not dependent on

what his people do

or don't do.

God is not

dependent on a

faithless priesthood.

He can make a

barren woman give

birth to a

replacement priest.

God can provide a

better priest to

replace Eli, to

lead his people.

God can

do it.

There's an

incredible promise

down in the end

of this chapter.

If you go down to

verse 35.

I will raise up for

myself a faithful

priest who will do

according to what is

in my heart and

mind.

I will firmly

establish his

priestly house and

they will minister

before my anointed

one always.

One of the great

things about promises

in the Old

Testament is that

often you get more

than one

fulfillment.

You get little

glimmers of

fulfillment in the

short term but

often we're

looking forward.

This is partially

talking about

Samuel.

That's what all

those little

verses littered

through this

chapter are

trying to tell

us that Samuel

is going to be

better.

But if we sneak

a bit further

down through this

book we're going

to find out that

Samuel's sons are

scarily similar to

Eli's sons.

They fall short

and they fail in

spite of what a

great priest and

leader Samuel is.

But this promise

points forward.

Samuel 2.26 is

echoed in the

Gospel of Luke

describing someone

else.

It says,

Jesus grew in

wisdom and

stature and in

favor with God

and men.

It's not an

accident.

This promise was

looking forward to

the priest that

would actually

fulfill God's

desire.

desire.

There's this

amazing clue in

this passage that

for me just kept

distracting me as I

read through it each

time.

When Eli's rebuking

his sons, listen to

what he says.

If one person sins

against another, God

may mediate for the

offender.

But if anyone sins

against the Lord, who

will intercede for

them?

I mean if it's two

people fighting, God

can step in.

God has the power.

But what about when

you offend God?

Who has the right to

stand there and

represent you before

God?

Eli knows that he

doesn't.

He knows that his

sons don't.

He probably even

knows that Samuel

don't.

But I don't think he

understands just how

significant his

words were.

He desired somebody

who could go between

imperfect people and

God forever.

And in Hebrews 7,

we read this amazing

thing.

Hebrews 7 verse

Hebrews 7:23

23.

Now there have been

many of those

priests since death

prevented them from

continuing in office.

But because Jesus

lives forever, he has a

permanent priesthood.

Therefore he is able to

save completely those who

come to God through him

because he always lives to

intercede for them.

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.

Who will intercede for

sinful people like us?

For sinful people like Eli

and all Israel when we

sin against God?

Jesus will.

Who will represent us

before God when we

don't deserve it?

Jesus will.

Who has the right to

stand before a holy God?

Only God's Son, Jesus.

If we acknowledge our

sin and repent, Jesus

is our great high priest.

He has offered the

sufficient once for all

time sacrifice.

He has offered his own

body and his own blood

in our place and he

lives forever to

intercede for us.

He sits in the presence

of the heavenly father

right now speaking on my

behalf as I fail time and

time again.

Jesus is God's grace to

us.

Not to be used as a

license to do whatever

we want because we've

got this free pass but to

be trusted and rejoiced in

and depended on.

I want to finish tonight by

inviting you to confess

sin.

But I want to invite you to

do it joyfully.

Sin is serious and there is

a weight of sin that we

have seen in the judgment

that God pours out on his

people in this passage.

But because of Jesus we

get to confess joyfully and

confidently.

We've been warned not to

hold on to sin, not to live

in a pattern of sin.

And so tonight I want to

invite you to confess the

times that you have loved

things more than you have

loved God.

The times that you have

treated him like he doesn't

matter.

I don't know what your sin

looks like and I don't need

to know.

God does and he wants you to

confess it knowing that his

great high priest, his son

Jesus has paid for it and is

sufficient and mighty to save.

I want you to just take a

moment right now.

We're just going to sit in

quiet for a second.

I want you to reflect on

your own life and the

things you need to give to

God and I want you to give

them joyfully to a God who

loves you and can forgive you

through his son.

Amen.

Let me pray for us.

Father God, we do acknowledge that we are far too comfortable with sin in our own lives.

We want to apologize for the things that we elevate and exalt to be level with you or even above you in our affections.

And God, we want to ask that you would reveal yourself in such a way that you make those things fade.

That love for you would be an inevitable result of seeing you in your majesty and glory.

We want to thank you tonight for reminding us that in spite of our failure, in spite of all of humanity's inability to fulfill what it is to know you,

you have provided for us the perfect substitute in Jesus.

You have provided for us the forever high priest who forever intercedes for us, whoever represents us in your presence.

Father, please give us hearts that are joyful to confess our failures.

Please give us confidence that as we confess even now tonight that you forgive and that you restore

and that you work in us to change our hearts and our minds to be more and more like your son Jesus.

Father, please consume our consciousness in such a way that our whole lives are driven out of devotion for you, out of love for you.

Please daily remind us of the sacrifice of your son, that we might rejoice in the opportunity to know you

and might live lives that honor you.

Father, we thank you so much for Jesus.

Amen.