in your Bibles to 1st Samuel chapter 2. First Samuel chapter 2. Then we'll read
the entire chapter beginning in verse 1. Please read along silently with me in
1st Samuel chapter 2. In 1st Samuel chapter 2 the Bible reads, "And Hannah
prayed and said, 'My heart rejoiceth in the Lord. Mine horn is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation. There
is none holy as the Lord. There is none beside thee, neither is there any rock
like our God. Talk no more exceeding proudly. Let not
arrogance come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him
actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that
stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves
for bread, and they that were hungry ceased, so that the barren hath born
seven, and he that hath many, she that hath many children is waxed feeble. The
Lord killeth and make alive. He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up. The
Lord maketh poor and maketh rich. He bringeth low and lifteth, he raiseth up
the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dung hill, to set
them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory. For the
pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them. He will
keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness. For
by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken
pieces. Out of heaven shall he thunder upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his
anointed. And Elkanah went to Rama, to his house. And the child did minister unto
the Lord before Eli the priest. Now the sons of Eli were the sons of Belial. They
knew not the Lord. And the priest's custom with the people was that when any
man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came. While the flesh was in
seething with a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand, and he struck it into
the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot. All that the flesh hook brought up the
priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came
thither. Also before they burnt the fat the priest-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." 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." Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men
abhorred the offering of the Lord. But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being
a child girded with a linen ephod. Moreover his mother made him a little
coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband
to offer the yearly sacrifice. And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said,
"The Lord give thee seed of this woman, for the loan which is lent to the Lord."
And they went unto their own home. And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she
conceived and bear three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew
before the Lord. Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all
Israel, and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, "Why do ye such things?
For I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons, for it is no
good report that I hear. Ye make the Lord's people to transgress. If one man
sin against another, the judge shall judge him; but if a man sin against the
Lord, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding, they harkened not unto the
voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them. And the child Samuel
grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men. And there came a
man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, "Thus sayeth 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 honorest 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 forever. But now the Lord saith, be it
far from me. For them that honor me, I will honor. 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, and all the wealth which God
shall give Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thine house forever. 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 thou
shall come upon thy two sons on Hophni and Phineas. 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 my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a shore house,
and he shall walk before mine anointed forever. And it shall come to pass that
everyone 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 priest's offices, that I may eat a piece of bread."
Brother Sean, would you pray for us? Second Samuel again this week, and last
week we went over Hannah's praise report that she had, the beginning of the
chapter there, and Samuel is given to Eli and to the service of the Lord, and he
ministers with Eli and begins to train in the tabernacle there at Shiloh, and
the term "sons of Belial" and "daughters of Belial" were defined biblically and
we turn to many scriptures as, you know, basically that term means "reprbate," so
and then we went back to her in chapter one where Hannah says, you know, to not
think of her as a daughter of Belial, so we just went to a lot of the passages, I
think, I think we went to every passage actually in the whole Bible where it
talks about that, so, and a lot of them were in 1st and 2nd Samuel, and sometimes
David was, they were among David and he didn't even know that they were, it just,
the narrator of the Bible will tell you that someone is the son or daughter of
Belial, so we went over that, and so a son or daughter of Belial is basically a
son or daughter of the devil, and they're not redeemable, they're not able to be
saved, and so they're, they're reverberates. So tonight, number one, we're
going to look at Eli's sons pervert the sacrifice, so look at verse 12, it says,
"Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial, they knew not the Lord." So, again, it's
funny it says the sons of Eli were sons of Belial, so physically they're sons of
Eli, but spiritually they're sons of the devil, so, and obviously we're sons of
God if we are saved, so, but yeah, and we're born, if you're born again, you
have two fathers, you have your earthly father, and you have your spiritual
father, which is of course God the Father, but if you're, you know, a child of the
devil, you're a son of Belial, right, or a reprobate, whatever you want to call
it, but anyway, it's interesting, but there's these people that believe in the
serpent seed doctrine where Cain was actually a physical child of the devil,
and it's just a bizarre teaching, that's not what it's talking about, it's Eve, or
you know, she didn't have an actual son, you know, Cain was an actual son of Satan
himself. There's people that actually believe that, there's, it's just bizarre,
okay, and that's what they think, there's a line of people that are actually
literal children of Satan, so, but yeah, that's really weird to think that, but
that's not what it's saying. It's a spiritual thing, just like we are
spiritually children of God, so anyway, so these guys are infiltrators, I mean if
you think about it, because even though they're sons of Eli, they're born in his
house, and he raised them, these guys are infiltrators, and they're wicked, and you
know, they're definitely turning people away from the Lord, they are committing
abominable acts, and they are perverting the sacrifice of what is a picture of
Christ, and they're breaking the rules, they're breaking God's law, and they're
taking something, parts of the sacrifices they're not supposed to take,
they're specifically taking parts that they're commanded to not take from the
sacrifice, and those picture things that are pictured in Christ. You know,
the shoulder is what they're supposed to take, the breast is what they're supposed
to take, and specifically those picture things in the sacrifices they're supposed
to take. So, now what's going on here is that they're coming with these
different sacrifices, and they're supposed to burn the fat first,
and burn those things presently while the person's there sacrificing those
animals, because it's like they're making an atonement, the priest is there to
intercede, you know, God the Father smells the sweet savor of the... because look, fat
smells good when it cooks, okay, and it smells good to us, and apparently it
smells good to God too, okay, but he likes to smell barbecue, we like to smell
barbecue. See, we are made like the Lord, okay, we're made in His image after
His likeness or whatever, so, but you know, I mean, that's why people like
barbecue, right, but, so this part though, so they're boiling the parts, and the
priest, if you remember Aaron, when his sons were killed by the, you know, because
they put the strange fire before the Lord, and he barbecued them, because they
did that, and Moses got on to Aaron because he refused, because he didn't eat
the sacrifice in the tabernacle, because he was supposed to die for not
doing that, but then Aaron gave his reason why he did it, and Moses was
sufficed over that, because obviously, you know, anyway, so they were supposed to
eat that presently while they were there, and so this is what's happening is
that they're going in, and then the servants of those priests are being sent
over to, these animals are being boiled, and then the people that sacrifice are
supposed to be taking some of that, the priests are supposed to be taking some
of it while the fat is being cooked, okay, while the the rest of the sacrifice
is being cooked, and they're just having them take a big hook with the
three-pronged thing and just hooking it in and grabbing whatever out, and I'm
sure they're telling them this is the part we want taken out, so, and so let's
let's move on here in verse 13, it says, "and the priest customed with the people
was," does that say what God's commandment was, or the priest customed with the people,
priest customed with the people, and like this foreshadows what happens in the New
Testament with Christ and the Pharisees, if you think about it, because what was
Christ always getting onto the Pharisees for? Making commandments of men, and so it
says, "the priest customed with the people was that when any man offered
sacrifice, the priest servant came while the flesh was in seething," seething means
boiling with a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand. And he struck it into the
pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot, all that the flesh hook brought up the
priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came
thither. And so this isn't saying this practice is what they were supposed to
do, it's saying what the priest custom was to do. And so this is where this
thing started to go wrong. And look, these guys are all reprobates. The
Bible says that they're reprobates, and so they're starting to take and
pervert the practices, the sacrifice that they're not supposed to be, messing
around with. Let's look, keep your finger here, and then let's go to
Leviticus chapter 7. And I am gonna have you hold your finger here because we're
gonna flip right back to it, and then we're gonna go right back again. So
Leviticus chapter 7 verse number 31, Leviticus chapter 7 verse number 31. Now
the priest had a specific portion, and a very specific portion, I kind of already
spoiled this, but look what the Bible says here. It says, "And the priest shall
burn the fat upon the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons." So
what part were they supposed to have? The breast, right? "And the right shoulder shall
you give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace
offerings. 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." So the high
priest gets the breast and then, so there's two different
offerings. There's the wave offering and then there's the sheave offering, but
there's multiple different types of offerings, okay? But depends on what kind
of offering is what kind of cut they're getting, okay? It says, "For the
wave breast and for the heave shoulder have I taken 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 forever from among the children
of Israel." This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron and of the anointing
of his sons out of the offerings of the Lord made by fire in the day when he
presented them to minister unto the Lord in the priest office which the Lord
commanded to be given them of the children of Israel in the day that he
anointed them by a statute forever throughout the generations. So this is
their portion, the shoulder, the breast, okay? It doesn't say anything about the
fat does it? Well let's go back, well actually one more verse here, it says
this is the law of the burnt offering, of the meat offering, of the sin offering,
of the trespass offering, of the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the
peace offering. So multiple different offerings, those are the pieces of meat
that they're supposed to get. Pretty clear right? Now let's go back to 1st
Samuel just for one verse and then we're gonna go right back to where we were. So
keep your fingers there, we're gonna go right back there. 1st Samuel chapter 2
verse 15 the Bible says, "Also before they burnt the fat, the priest 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.'" Is that what they're supposed to do? No
they're supposed to burn the fat, they're supposed to roast the flesh, they're not
supposed to take it raw. They're not supposed to get what the butcher puts in
the case at Albertsons or wherever you shop or Safeway or whatever. You know we
go and get raw meat at places but this is not what they were supposed to do.
This is a sacrifice of the Lord, this is something different and you know when
they were they were not supposed to just this is they're breaking the rules right
here. This is a gross violation of what God said to do. So now go back to verse
23 in Leviticus chapter 7. So they're saying you know before they burn the fat
the priest are saying go get the flesh to roast for the priest. He doesn't want
to have it he doesn't want it boiled he wants it raw. Okay verse 23 Leviticus
chapter 7 says speak unto the children of Israel saying you shall eat no
manner of fat are they supposed to eat the fat or of sheep or excuse me of ox
or of sheep or goat and the fat of the beast that dieth of itself and the fat
that which is torn of beast may be used in any other use but ye shall not and no
wise eat of it. So they could use the fat for other things they probably made soap
out of it and all manner of different things but they were not supposed to eat
it. Okay it says for whosoever eateth the fat of the beast of which men offer an
offering made by fire unto the Lord even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off
from his people. So it's being very specific here so it sounds like they can
eat fat at other meals they just can't eat it pertaining to the sacrifices when
it comes to the sacrifices to the Lord. The fat belongs to the Lord that's why
it's a very specific reasons for that so now skip down to verse 31 it says and
the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar but the breast shall be Aaron's
and his sons so not supposed to eat not they're not supposed to burn the fat
they're supposed to burn the fat for the Lord that's the sweet savor that's the
sweet smelling savor all that stuff and the priests are not supposed to touch
that fat okay now let's go back to 1st Samuel chapter 2 verse 16 and it says
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
will give it me now and if not I will take it by force so they're basically
strong-arming these guys and to giving them these things you know they're to
giving them the raw meat and it says wherefore the sin of the young men was
very great before the Lord for men abhorred the offering of the Lord so and
why why why do they abhor the offering of the Lord well because it's not being
done correctly they know what the Bible says they know what the sacrifice is
supposed to be and they know that the guys that are in charge are not doing it
right so and look this this can transplant this this message can be put
into any church nowadays because obviously we can learn things from this
passage and apply it to our our modern day where you go to a church and you
see that they're not following the Bible you see that the pastor's aren't
following the Bible they're not preaching the Bible they're not doing
what the Bible says you know why don't you have a soul winning program all
that soul winning doesn't work anymore really so people you know I mean
obviously people just kind of get lulled to sleep with that kind of stuff you
know but what about the altar calls I mean there's so many things that are so
unbiblical that are going on in churches today and it drives people away and that
they're they're using it for a building fund instead of using it for stuff that
it could be used for and they're making they're selling things in God's house
and making God's house a house of merchandise and you know the tithe just
isn't good enough you got to give more you got to give to all these different
things that the Bible doesn't say to do the house of God should be able to run off
the tithes and offerings and if you can't afford to do anything else then
you just can't afford to do anything else but you shouldn't have to have taco
feasts and cake bakes and all these other different things so you can go do
all this other stuff if you don't have enough to do it with the tithes and
offerings you shouldn't be able you shouldn't do it it's just that simple I'm
not saying there's no time to give a special offering of course there's times
you know the Bible had times where there were special offerings and actually they
had building funds for special offerings but that was when there was the house of
the Lord that needed to be repaired or something like that and obviously there's
time you know if you need to move buildings or you know something like that
I can see there being a need but we've never had that need we've never had to
do that here at our church but I'm not saying people are wrong for doing that
I'm just saying that you know look I've gone to churches where they're just
always constantly have some different fund for something else you know you got
it you got to pay your tithes plus you have faith promised missions where you
know you have to promise that you're gonna give a certain amount of money
every month after the missions conference is over you write down the
amount of money that you're gonna give and then you promise to do that well how
what if you lose your job next week and then you promise to give this much money
well then you're just lied to God because you can't keep that promise you
know and and so just a lot of unbiblical things that go on and that's
just and that's just things that go on but like you know I'm just saying you
can apply this in a lot of different ways and you know just even just
preaching unbiblical things like but what's happening here is that God's you
know sacrifices are being abhorred because the ministers here are not doing
that which is right and the people see it and it pisses them off and so what
do they do they they abhor God's sacrifice and so and it drives people
away and that's what you see today in modern Christianity I don't want to go
to church it's filled with hypocrites I don't want to go to church because the
pastor did this or he did that and those kind of things when people really
do cause problems and really do let people down like that it does cause
people to leave church I'm not saying it never happens of course it happens
scandals happen and when scandals happen it does drive people away so this is a
big scandal but what nobody knows here except for us in hindsight no nobody
knew that these guys were children of Belial except for God but I mean we know
now but that's the thing you just don't always know some people could just be
doing bad things and and you don't really know for a fact whether the
reprobates or not so but they definitely should have been reprimanded over it
and and Eli does reprimand him over it later on in the chapter here but it's
kind of too little too late so let's see it says that for men abhorred the
offering of the Lord and what's that make people do not want to give that's
what it makes people want to do they don't want to give and so because
they're mismanaging all this and not doing what they're supposed to be doing
people just want to stay away they have they so abhor means to hate something
intensely right so they hate giving the sacrifices so and this is what's making
God angry because what is the picture of it's the picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ you know because Jesus carried the burden of our sins upon him and so I
would think that the reason why that cut is the shoulder is because you know he
you know and even on the the garments that they wore those those ouches on
their shoulders and the jewels that they had on the omen and the fumen or
whatever that thing that was right on their heart that they wore that and so
you know I don't know I think that has something to do with it but it's
symbology represented there and the fact that that's their inheritance their
inheritance was the Lord they didn't have property so they were fed with the
sacrifices and with the ties that came to them and so when they're ruining that
picture and when they're making people not want to come to church they're
making people hate God's sacrifices this but that's what reprobates do that's
what reprobates do when they have unfettered access when they take over
churches when they come in and infiltrate they cause chaos and damage
and problems and so when they're discovered that's why you got to get
them out you can't just let them ride and let them stick around you got to
throw them out and that upsets people too so but so reprobates love to
infiltrate and cause problems and destroy the work of God and you know
they just don't you know the Bible talks about how the devil likes to sow tears
in amongst the wheat and then if we try to root them out all the time it what it
causes the good the good wheat to come up with the bad so we're not supposed to
go on these witch hunts in our churches where we're picking out who's the
reprobate and all this other stuff we have to wait until they kind of expose
themselves and so that can be hard sometimes but you know they eventually
do I always call them like the sleeper cell reprobates it's like they kind of
just go into action ever you know they just kind of wake out and become you
know they expose themselves you know you know and and I think God allows that to
happen look at verse number 18 says but Samuel
ministered before the Lord being a child girded with a linen ephod now like how
just you know it'll say how bad the bad people you know the these men are doing
but then it'll just kind of say but Samuel's doing well you know Samuel is
the one that was basically he's a miracle child you know she was Hannah was
barren and she went and prayed and God gave her this son and she promised that
if God gave her this son that she would lend him to the Lord all the days of
her life and so and in a sense Mary basically without making that choice at
all I mean I don't know that she was asking to have the Messiah born through
her she didn't ask for that but she accepted it and she said behold the
handmaid of the Lord and she had a pretty you know as I said the saying goes
a pretty big cross to bear herself because she knew she was prophesied to
her that you know something that she would be pierced through also so but she
also had to kind of lend her son out because Jesus died at early age and he
He had to give his mom over to John to take care of her for the rest of her life.
So sure, she didn't really want that, but it's just how it is.
And Hannah probably didn't want to give her child over, but she said what she said, and
she made a great sacrifice to give Samuel over.
But it says, "But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child girded with the linen
ephod."
So he's a go-getter.
He's a little child.
He's ministering.
It was probably pretty cute to see a little kid with a little ephod walking around doing
all the sacrifice stuff.
It was probably pretty cool, actually.
And he's working hard, and he's doing it right.
And it says, "Moreover, his mother made him a little coat and brought it to him from
year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice."
So every year he probably got another size coat.
Maybe he got a little message to see how much he's grown or something, and then made that
little coat for him every year.
And obviously she still loved him.
And when Samuel grows older and is out on his own, he builds his house where his parents
live.
So, you know, after he's all grown up and everything, he gets to go and probably hang
out with his parents afterwards.
So I'm sure he loved them.
So it says, "And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife and said, 'The Lord give thee seed
of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord,' and they went on to their own
home."
So of course, the Lord blesses Elkanah and his wife, and that's Hannah, and they have
more children.
Look, it says, "And the Lord visited Hannah so that she can seed and bear three sons
and two daughters, and the child Samuel grew before the Lord."
So like I said, it just keeps going into how Samuel continues to grow and continues to
work, and he's a hard-working child.
And so kids, this should be a lesson to you that you can work hard too.
God can bless you too.
Just because you're kids, it doesn't mean that God doesn't look upon you and look
at your works.
The child is known by his doings, the Bible says, and so God looks at you, and you know,
you don't have excuses for not being a good kid if you're not working hard, because
God looks at everybody's heart.
It's not like God just doesn't look at your heart until you're 18 and then all
of a sudden you start looking at your heart.
He looks at your heart all the time and he sees how you're doing.
Number two tonight, Eli's failure to properly restrain his sons.
It says, "Now Eli was very old and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel and
how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."
So to add insult to injury, now they're laying with the women that assembled at the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation.
They're married too, by the way, and they have children.
So they're committing adultery at church, basically.
They're saying this is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
This is at the house of God, as it is in Shiloh at this time.
But what a wicked thing to do.
And so Eli hears about this.
It's not like he just didn't know that this stuff was going on.
He hears about it.
And he said unto them, "Why do ye such things, for I hear of your evil doings by all this
people."
So Eli, look, they're moved out of his house by now.
They have their own families, their own kids, their own wives.
So why does he still have authority over them?
Because they're priests.
They work for him.
This is a family business.
The Levites, you know, it's a family thing.
It is nepotism.
It's commanded nepotism.
So but, you know, they obviously did not follow the Lord.
They did not get saved.
And you know, this doesn't always happen.
And I don't know that it's actually Eli's fault that they don't get saved.
I don't think the Bible ever says that.
But it does say that he failed to restrain them.
He fails to correct them.
He honors them above God.
That's what God's mad about.
That's not, it doesn't say, "Well, you turned your kids into reprobates."
He doesn't say that.
He doesn't say that your kids became reprobates because you weren't a good dad.
He doesn't say that either.
He says that you honor them above me.
That's what he has a problem with.
And so he should have taken them out of the priesthood.
He should have said, "You're fired.
You should have pulled the Donald Trump.
You're fired," and just got them out of there.
Because he did have another son, and that other son was the priest after.
It was a biathar.
He became the priest, and he was the priest unto David.
And so, but at the end of the chapter, he says that you're not going to have, you know,
the priesthood's going to die out.
And so Zadok becomes the priest, and his line becomes the priest after.
So we'll see that much later on.
That's when Solomon becomes king, and then that's when that happens.
But almost his whole line gets, I mean his whole line basically gets wiped out.
But we'll see that as we go further into the story.
So yeah, they're causing people to not want to give the sacrifice.
They're lying with the women.
I mean they're just, they're wicked as heck.
I mean they're just, these guys are just abominations.
And so he says, "Why do you such things, for I hear of the evil dealings by all the
people?
Nay, my sons, for there's no good report that I hear.
You make the Lord's people to transgress."
I mean he's right by rebuking them, for reproving them, for saying that they're wrong.
But that's all he does.
I mean he doesn't say you're fired, he doesn't say you're done, he just continues to allow
them to be the priest.
That's where he goes wrong, because at that point he should have made the decision you're
out, you're done, the priesthood's over for you, you're no longer fit to be the priest,
you're fired.
But it says, "If one man stand against another, the judge shall judge him; but if a man stand
against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?"
And Eli's the judge, so he's the one that's saying this.
"Notwithstanding, they hearken not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would
slay them."
So that's an interesting thing for it to say, but, and it's funny, people just act like
God doesn't kill people.
And to me it seems like God won't allow them to make that decision anymore.
It's like, reprobates, once they reach a certain point, you know, God deals with them.
And he, it's like he blinds their hearts, he hardens their hearts and blinds their eyes
so they cannot see, they cannot get saved, like it says in John chapter 12, and so they
cannot believe.
And he actually wants to kill these guys because of what they've done.
They're past the point of no return, they're past the point of repentance, and now he's
just letting them go on a collision course to destruction.
And we'll see it here in a few chapters, but it says, and now it's going to say again,
So contrasting Samuel the good boy, it says that the child Samuel grew on and was in favor
both with the Lord and also with men.
And again, this parallels the time of Christ in the same fashion.
So turn to Luke chapter 2, turn to Luke chapter 2.
So it's kind of a transition period, you know, Samuel's going to come in and he's going
to straighten everything out.
And he's a good judge, he's a good prophet, he's a good priest.
And Eli's going to die and his sons are going to die all on the same day.
Spoiler alert, if you haven't read this.
But that's what God says, you know, that all on the same day this is going to happen.
And it's like, you know, Eli should have made the right decision.
Do I think Eli was saved?
Yeah, I do think he was saved.
I think he was saved.
I think that he was a good man in lots of respects.
I think that, you know, he just made a horrific mistake in putting his sons above God, you
know, and a lot of people make that mistake.
But look at Luke chapter 2 verse, so let's look at that, I'm just going to read that
verse in Samuel again real quick while you're there in Luke 2.42.
It says, "And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord and also
with men."
Now look at Luke 2.42.
It says, "And when he was twelve years old, they went to Jerusalem after the custom of
the feast, and when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried
behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey, and they
sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
And it came to pass, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions, and all that heard him were
astonished at his doctrine, or excuse me, his understanding and answers.
And when they saw him, they were amazed, and his mother said unto him, 'Son, why hast
thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.' And he
sighed unto them, 'How is it that ye sought me? Wisst ye not that I must be about my
father's business?' And they understood not the same which he spake unto them. And
he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. But his mother
kept all these sayings in her heart, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor
with God.' And man, do you think that's an accident that it says that? No. I mean,
that's exactly, pretty much almost word for word, what it says about Samuel being a child
also. And so, you know, Samuel is obviously a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ in many
ways. Because Jesus is a prophet, a ruler, and also a priest, isn't he? And Samuel is
a prophet, a ruler, and a priest as well. So I mean, that's the, I mean, he's the only
one in the Bible. Samuel is the only one in the Old Testament that actually has all three
of those things. I mean, Moses also, I guess. But Moses wasn't the high priest. But Moses
was able to do offerings and things like that. He's the one that set everything up. And he's
the one that showed Aaron all the things he was supposed to do. But there was a separation
of powers between Moses and Aaron though. But when it came to Samuel, there wasn't a
separation of powers until they rejected Samuel from being king when Samuel got old.
Samuel wasn't a king but he was a judge. So he was in charge of everything, plus he did
all the sacrifices. So when he was a judge he went around that circuit, he was like a
circuit writing preacher or whatever, and he'd go and do sacrifices and straighten
people out. People were afraid of him because the Bible says, "Come and stop peaceably."
What do you get to tell me? People would come and stop peaceably? He was like, "Peaceably."
So Samuel does picture the Lord Jesus Christ to come, so it's pretty interesting. So number
three tonight, the Lord puts Eli's household out of the priesthood. So, and obviously God
will judge things and say, "This is going to happen," and then it might take time for
these things to take place. So look at verse, and it does. It takes years for it to finally
be ultimately fulfilled. Look at verse 27 back in our text. It says, "And there came
a man of God unto Eli." It doesn't say who it is. It's just a man of God. It says, "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 my 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
unto the children of Israel? Wherefore, kick ye at my sacrifice and at my offering, which
I have commanded in my habitation, and onerous thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat
with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel, my people." So, God is blaming him.
He's saying, "You're kicking at my sacrifice. Was he the one that was actually doing it,
though?" No. But he's blaming him because he's the one in charge. And see, everything
rises and falls on leadership, and so it's ultimately Eli's fault that they were doing
this because he didn't correct them. He didn't make them stop. And he says that, "You're
kicking at my sacrifice and at my offering." And he said, you know, he's about ready to
give them the boot here. But here's the problem. He said, "You've made yourself fat with the
chiefest of the offerings of Israelite people." Let's look at Matthew chapter 10. Turn to
Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10 says, "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before
men will I confess before my father which is in heaven, but whosoever shall deny me
before men, him will I also deny before my father which is in heaven. Think not that
I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace but a sword. For I am come to
set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and the
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foe shall be they of his own
household." See, it's been like that ever since Adam and Eve. It's been like that ever
since Cain and Abel. It's just the way it is. Some people get saved, some people don't.
Some houses are divided against each other. But Jesus said, He's like, "You think I came
here to bring peace?" You know, He doesn't bring peace in that way because some people
get saved and some people don't. Not everybody gets saved in the same household. He says,
"He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and
follow after me is not worthy of me." So, but I just wanted you to pay special attention
to the verse 37 where he says, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy
of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." What does
God expect? He expects us to love Him more and us to honor God more than we'd honor our
children. But the world doesn't understand that. And sometimes Christians don't understand
it either. Obviously Eli didn't understand that. And Eli should have kicked those guys
out and thrown them out on their butts and said, "Get lost. Go find a job digging ditches
or something. But this isn't for you." And whether he knew they were reprobates or not,
he still honored them above God. And he wasn't supposed to do that. So, and notice he's not
chastising their mother. You know, I'm sure that they had a mom. I'm sure she's still
alive at this point. And even if she's not, I think she probably still was. But you know,
he's blaming Eli. Eli is in charge of them. He's still their boss. He's their boss. And
he's their boss. And so this is where nepotism goes wrong. Where nepotism goes wrong is when
you're honoring your children above God and you're ignoring the fact that they're doing
wrong and then you're still allowing them to get away with stuff anyway. And this is
where it's wrong. And some people think that all nepotism is wrong, where you would do
good things for your children or whatever in all situations. But I mean, if that was
true, then why would God put the Levitical system in the first place? So, God expects
us to not be respected as a person when it comes to judgment. And that includes your
own children. And so you shouldn't give a harder time to your own kids than you give
to other people when it comes to certain things like that. And I've heard that said before,
and I've also heard it said that you shouldn't allow your children to minister with you,
but do you guys all take your kids out soul-wanting with you? I mean, we should take them all
out soul-wanting with us, and anything that I've ever done in ministry work, I've had
my kids come with me and do. But I also went with them when other people were ministering
to them too. I would be involved with stuff. I was involved with stuff with my kids. And
I didn't want my kids to hate church. I wanted my kids to love church. And they did. They
loved church. Growing up, they loved church. They loved going to church. And if we were
going to miss, they wanted to know why, dang it. You know? And so if we were kind of like,
"I don't feel like going," you know, it's kind of like, that's what kids do though.
I mean, if your kids love church, they're going to be like, "Hey, come on, let's go.
I want to go to church." And you might not want to admit it right now in front of a room
full of people, but your kids will do that to you. And that's good. That's good. If
your kids love church, then praise God, you're doing something right. And there's nothing
wrong with having your children minister with you. I mean, it's biblical, you know? And
obviously, there's nepotism with God, the Father, God, the Son. I mean, He inherits
everything, doesn't He? I mean, obviously, you know, there's some nepotism there. But
obviously, Jesus earned it too. So it's not like it was just given to Jesus and He didn't
earn it. Of course, He earned it. He did everything He was supposed to do. So, I don't know.
I don't think that you should just give everything to your children on a silver platter, and
you should never correct them. I mean, there's a spectrum. There's, hey, just give your kids
everything just because they're your kids, and no matter what they do, they're just my little baby.
You know, my kid didn't do nothing. You know, no matter what they do, they didn't cause the fight.
They didn't mess up the toys. They didn't break that stuff. They never did nothing. And then so
they never get the blame for anything. And then there's the whole other spectrum where, you know,
and we just, you got to have a balance. Just like everything in life, there has to be a balance.
There has to be, you know, the middle is usually the best, in all honesty. Extremity in one area
or the other is usually, is going to make your life out of balance. But let's look at Proverbs,
chapter 23. And maybe the problem was that these kids didn't get spanked. I don't know what the
problem was, but we can't, I mean, I just, the Bible doesn't say that Eli turned them into
reprobates. I don't believe that that's the case. I don't know if that's the case, but do I think
it's possible that you are responsible for making your kids not turn out right? I think it's
possible. I mean, if you're a serial killer, yeah. I mean, if you're some kind of a weirdo molester,
yeah, I think it's possible. Sure. I think that you can put your kids down a bad road,
but how many kids turn out right even though their parents were bad? I mean, how do you explain that?
How do you explain never going to church your whole life and then someone getting saved when
they're 25 years old? I mean, was it because your parents were so great? No, it's because God is so
great and His Word is so great. So, we just, again, everything has to have a balance to it. You can't
just be super extreme with one thought or the other. So, Proverbs 23 verse 13 says, "withhold not
correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat
him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." Look, we do have to beat our children,
okay? I'm not talking about abuse. I'm talking about age-appropriate spanking, as the modern
vernacular would say. I'm not saying, you know, when they come out of the womb that you're spanking
them with a belt or something. I mean, don't be weird, okay? But age-appropriate spanking. I mean,
I get up and I tell you what my opinions are about things. I'm a big guy. When I spank, one, two,
three, swat's as good as I needed to get, okay? But I'm not in charge of your home. I'm not going to
insert myself into your house and tell you when you should stop spanking your children.
But I mean, I think that the Bible's clear about that. As long as they're in your house, I think
that that's while there is hope, right? So it doesn't say, "Hey, stop spanking them when they're
teens." The Bible never says that. But again, you can make that choice all you want. But I think
that I didn't have to spank my kids as teens as much. But I still did from time to time. And they
didn't like it. But you know, because that's because they start turning into little adults.
And then they start trying to act like little adults to you. And then they have to get corrected
like little adults. You know? So it's just the way it is. You know? I don't know. I just believe
what the Bible says. And I think that you should. The Bible says, "Thou shalt beat." Does that look
like a commandment there, verse number 14? It doesn't say, "Thou shalt patty-cake them." No,
it says, "Thou shalt beat." Look at Proverbs 19, or excuse me, chapter 29, verse 15. Chapter 29,
verse 15. And the reason why I'm going through this is because we do need to correct our children.
But again, you know, there has to be a balance in that too. It can't just be all discipline and no
love. It has to be both. So we're not just supposed to only correct our children and never give them
love and reproof. It says, "The rod and reproof give wisdom. What a child left to himself bringeth
his mother to shame." And yeah, you can you can just set them in front of a TV and let, you know,
the Truman Show raise them in the ways that they will, you know, that you can let the Disney Channel
raise them. You can let Phineas and Ferb raise them or whatever other stupid cartoons. I can't,
I don't know what's all on on cartoons anymore. But I know there's something you should avoid.
I mean, I remember the Powerpuff Girls were on when my kids were little and I wouldn't let them
watch it. Because when I saw that there was 6666 Yodeling in the Valley Lane on on their mailbox,
I thought, that's a Kid Rock lyric. I was like, why are they putting that in the cartoon
for little kids? Like, they're not allowed to watch this. I hated that cartoon. And so I mean,
and there's just some weird cartoons out there. I mean, I hated that. What was that one with the
guy that had the big hair? Johnny Bravo. I hated that show. So stupid. I just think because he was
an idiot. Like, I just, I mean, whatever. But, you know, anyway, I don't want to get on all that
stuff. But look, we shouldn't leave our children to themselves. The Rod and reproof give wisdom.
So look at Proverbs 22 verse 15. Proverbs 22 verse 15. And I'm not even saying that Eli didn't
spank his children. Maybe he did. I don't know. But it seems like he was pretty soft on them in
their older age. Maybe he was soft on them in their younger age too. Proverbs 22 verse 15.
Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
So look, kids do a lot of dumb things, but when you correct them, they learn. They're supposed
to anyway. Is it a hundred percent proof? Like does this always work? Does spanking your kids
always stop them from being bad? No, it doesn't. But it does, you know, this isn't our promise.
This is what people get so confused about with the Proverbs, like it's a promise. It's generally
true. It's generally true. Look at Proverbs 26 verse 3. Proverbs 26 verse 3. And look,
if foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, that means they're capable of being fools. Look
what it says in Proverbs 26 verse 3. "A whip for a horse, a bridle for the ass, a rod for the fool's
back." Oh, you shouldn't spank kids in their back. I mean, maybe not kids, but maybe teenagers.
I don't know. "But a rod for the fool's back." I mean, where does the Bible say not to do that?
It doesn't say that. Look at Proverbs 19 verse 18. And I didn't do that, and I didn't spank with
the belt. I think I've told you guys before, I didn't use the belt because I just went a little
wild a couple times. And I just, I don't know, I guess there's ways of controlling the belt where
you don't have to go all wild with it, but I just, I didn't want to do that. So again, you can make
your own decisions in your own house, in your own home, to spank with the belt or not. The Bible
doesn't forbid the belt, though. I mean, it's a whip, isn't it? It says in chapter 19 verse 18,
"Chasten thy son while there is hope, and not thy soul spare for his crying." So this is the verse
I would say proves that you would spank them until they leave your home for a spanking offense,
which I think that breaking any of the Ten Commandments is a spankable offense,
and that's not the only ones. I reserve the right to spank for any other offense that I feel
indeed necessary. But I also would give grace, because you know what? God gives grace to us
for a lot of the dumb things that we do, and for a lot of the commandments that we've broken,
and He doesn't kill us for everything that we do, and He doesn't destroy us for everything that
we've done. So I would give grace to my kids for things, and say, "Hey, you know, that is a big
deal, but I'm going to give you a chance. If you do that again, you are going to get the beat down."
Proverbs 22 verse 6. Proverbs 22 verse 6. "Just train up a child the way he should go, and when
he is old, he will not depart from it." And this is a controversial verse in the last couple years,
but notice it says when he's old, he won't depart from it. It doesn't say when he's young.
But I think this is also generally true, but not always 100%. I don't think it's a promise,
and some people do. You're welcome to think that all you want, but it's not 100%. Because if you
think that, then you automatically think that you did something wrong. And maybe you did. I don't
know. But if you walk around over some kid that goes astray in your house and just think it's all
your fault, but all your other kids turn out fine, it's like, well, is it really your fault though?
Or do they have free will? Because the last time I checked, we're not Calvinists. So look at
Ephesians chapter 6 verse 1. I think that people just like to live in cognitive dissonance. They
believe in opposing different viewpoints at the same time. When it suits them, they believe one
thing at the same time as the other thing. And it's just, it's kind of dumb. You can't be a
Calvinist and a Baptist at the same time. Okay? Unless you're a Calvinist Baptist and then that's
just retarded. All right? All right. Ephesians chapter six, verse one, the Bible says, "Children,
obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." You hear that kids? It's right. God says to obey
your parents. "Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise." So why?
Because you're going to live a long life. "That it may be well with thee, that thou mayest live long
on the earth." You want to live a long life? This is generally true also, because you could die early
and you're like, "Well, hey, God lied about that." Well, did Jesus live a long life?
Who obeyed his father more than anybody else ever in existence? I mean, and he lived to be 33 or
whatever, 34. So it's generally true, isn't it? All right. So, look at verse four though. It says,
"And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord." And I don't know where this teaching came where provoking your children to wrath is
spanking them when they're teenagers, but I don't see that in the verse. Do you guys see that in the
verse? Because I don't see that. I don't see where it says that. But just because your kids get mad
that you spank them as a teenager doesn't mean that you provoke them under wrath. It's the world
that provoked them under wrath by thinking dumb things. That's what provoked them under wrath.
So it's because the brain, the brain rot and the brain washing and the family members that say,
"Hell, I can't believe that they did that to you," or whatever. Maybe you should keep them away from
that family member. Maybe you should keep them away from those people because they're not helping
you. They're not helping you when they're saying, "Hey, you can move out when you're 18."
I mean, it's not helping you. So let's see. Turn to Colossians 3, verse 21. Colossians 3, verse 21.
And yeah, I mean, how would you provoke your children to anger? Well, probably teasing them.
Yeah, maybe hitting them for no reason, I guess, would probably do that. But if you're
spanking them for a real reason, like, I don't see why that would provoke them to anger.
And if it does, that's their problem. It's like, it's not saying don't ever correct them for any
reason, because then would Eli be wrong? Because if Eli would have pulled the cane out on these guys,
do you think God would have been mad then? No, he'd have been like, "You've honored me above
your sons." If he would have camed these fools in the back, I mean, he would have been obeying
the Proverbs that weren't written yet. But, you know, he's still, I mean, a guy picked him up
javelin and thrust it through this Moabite whore and this Israelite guy, and God's happy about it.
So I'm not saying that he should have done that to his sons, but I mean, if he would have chased
after him a little bit and camed him, you know, maybe God wouldn't have cursed his whole line for
this, you know, or had him captured and then camed. Because they were, I mean, these guys
should have been put to death, really, for what they did for committing adultery at the house of
the Lord. So Colossians 3.21 says, "Fathers, provoke not your children to be to anger lest they be
discouraged." Obviously, we want, again, we want to have some balance in our parenting. We want to
have some balance in our home. It shouldn't just be dad comes home with the mean face. Dad's, you
know, the only disciplinarian. And moms, you should be doing this too. You gotta help. Can't just be,
wait till your dad gets home. You know, well, how about they're scared of you too, you know,
getting out of line. So, I've heard stories of people growing up and they're like, I was more
afraid of my mom than I was my dad. Because mama got a good right hook or something, you know.
Anyway, Deuteronomy 21. So, and how do I know it doesn't always work? Because Deuteronomy 21
explains that it doesn't always work. And then it gives the remedy for children that would be
disobedient. And this is like one of the most controversial passages in the whole Bible.
But Jesus backs this passage up. Deuteronomy 21, you probably already know what I'm going to read
here. But it says, "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of
his father or the voice of his mother, and that when they have chastened him, will not hearken
unto them." So, what have they done already? They've already chastened him. They've already
beaten him. He won't listen to them. They've already corrected him. "Then shall his father
and his mother lay hold on him and bring him out unto the elders of the city and into the
gate of his place. And they shall say unto the elders of the city, This our son is stubborn
and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard." So, do you
think he's under 13 years old at this point? This kid's a glutton and a drunkard at 12?
I mean, it's possible he was like Babe Ruth or something, but unencourageable or whatever.
But more than likely, it's not going to be somebody under 13 years old. I'm only saying
that because the people that say, "Yeah, you shouldn't spank your teens." What under-teenager
is a drunkard? I mean, that would be a very rare occasion. And it says, "After they've
chastened them." So, what would that indicate to you? That you're supposed to chasten them
even after they're 13, after the bar mitzvah is over, you know? Mauseltoff, upon your
head. And it says, in verse 21, "And all the men of his city shall stone them with stones,
that he die. So shalt thou put evil away from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear."
And so, the end of a rebellious child that's so bad that even the spankings don't help,
the correction doesn't help, the parents have done all they could, this child is encourageable.
It means he's unable to be fixed through any kind of, any kind of correction whatsoever.
And the Bible says you're supposed to kill him.
I mean, so did the spankings work on him?
No.
But does the Bible say to do it anyway?
Yes, because it says when you've chased them.
But it seems like Eli didn't do this.
That's kind of what I'm getting out of it that, or at least he stopped.
Maybe he stopped, maybe he didn't believe in spanking teenagers.
Maybe that was his problem, I don't know.
But let's look at Mark chapter 7, Mark chapter 7, Mark chapter 7.
So does Jesus back this up, or is this New Testament nice God?
Mark 7, 6 it says, "He answered and said unto them, Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites,
as it is written, This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
How be it in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines of the commandments of men.
For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men as the washing of
pots and cups, and many other such like things ye do; and he said unto them, Full well ye
reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother, and whoso curseth father or mother, let him
die the death.
But ye say, If a man shall say unto his father or mother, It is Corbin, that is to say, A
gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free.
But what he said though is, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
And he said Moses said that, but who's the one that told Moses to say that?
The guy that's speaking right here, he's the word of God.
So did Jesus say not to do that?
Oh, that was too harsh of me in the Old Testament.
Don't do that.
No, he said let him die the death, that's what he said.
So I think that God still agrees with himself in the New Testament.
So and look, and spanking your children prepares you for what God's going to do to you as a
Christian.
And if your children ever get spanked, they're not going to understand God and His wrath
and His mercy.
They're not going to understand how to get saved.
They're not going to, you know, they're not going to understand heaven and hell.
They're not going to understand that there's consequences for their actions.
And these guys didn't care about consequences, obviously, because they knew that they weren't
going to face any from Dad.
So and again, Dad is the one here that has all the responsibility to make sure that they
were being corrected and he didn't do it.
So in Hebrews it says that, you know, that He chastens every son when we receive it.
So let's go back to our text.
Let's finish up here.
It says in 1st Samuel chapter 20 or 2 verse 30 it says, "Wherefore the Lord God of Israel
saith, I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me
forever.
But now the Lord saith, Be it far from me, for them that honor me I will honor, 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 forever.
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 thou shalt come upon thy
two sons on Hapni and Phineas, and 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 my heart and in my mind; and I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before
mine anointed forever.
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 the priest's offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.'"
So this is a pretty harsh judgment, and basically he's saying, "I'm taking the priesthood
from you, because you honored your sons above me, and that's it.
You can't put your children above God."
That's really the…
If I wanted to just say, "This is the lesson for the whole night," you can't put anybody
in your life above God, and that includes your spouse, that includes your mom and dad,
that includes your children.
And so everything in your life, if you put them in front of… if you put anything in
front of God, that's an idol to Him, and God destroys idols.
And so you don't want God to destroy something in your life because you're basically worshiping
it or them over Him.
I mean, it's a warning.
And what did He do?
He killed them, didn't He, because of the stupid decisions that He made.
And they all died in one day, and they were reprobates.
So I mean, and bad parenting obviously had something to do with this case.
So and you only have one time to have your children in your home, so take heed to these
things and listen to the Spirit of God saying like, "Hey, you know, be a good parent,
correct your children, love your children, but at the same time, just make sure that
you're putting God before them always."
Let's pray.
Lord, thank You so much for this lesson in 1 Samuel chapter 2.
Pray that You'd help us, those that are parents or even grandparents, Lord, help us to remember
to keep things in the right perspective.
Not to make our children idols, not to make our spouses idols, not to make anything an
idol in our life above You, Lord, and I pray that You'd help us with these things and that
we would repent of those things that we are putting before You, Lord.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.