Word for Today: Saturday, February 16, 2013

1 Samuel 2:22-36 A family under Judgement

Memory Verse 1 Samuel 2:30(KJV)

“Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed”.

Yesterday, we read about the wickedness of the sons of Eli- Hophni and Phinehas. The wicked can never go unpunished (Proverbs 11:21). They may flourish for a while but in the end they will meet a disastrous doom.

Today’s passage shows us what a weak father Eli had been, all along Eli never corrected his children, he turned a blind eye to their evil, it was only in his old age that he summoned up the courage to remonstrate with them.

 Eli was old and he couldn’t do much in old age. He heard about his sons evil deeds and spoke to them about their despicable behaviour but they ignored him. It was futile correcting these young men at this stage. He should have impacted the fear of God in them when they were younger. There is a lesson here for parents, ensure to bring up your children in the way of the lord, teach them about God in their formative years.

From the prophet’s warning, it is apparent that Eli had been honouring his sons more than God by allowing them to continue in their wicked way. The priests were supposed to lead the children of Israel to God but they drew them away from God, made a mockery of the worship at Shiloh, used the temple of God to enrich themselves and fornicated with the women who came to worship at the tabernacle. This shows lack of respect for God, these men lack the fear of God, and the fact that Eli waited until now to correct his sons goes a long way to show the type of father he was.

God was grieved and he pronounced a dreadful judgement on the house of Eli, not only will they be stripped of their priestly role, they will be subject to poverty and would all meet with untimely death.

It is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God, if you fall into the hands of men or your enemies, you can take your petitions to God, but if you fall into the hands of God, who will you take your petitions to? In our walk with God, we have to be very careful not to invoke the wrath of God upon us. Daily examine yourself if you are in right standing with God.

God is a just and merciful God, he sends several warnings before he carries out his judgement; it is when we are adamant that his judgement befalls us.

God has called us to his service; it grieves God when we choose to follow the devil. He wants to have a relationship with us and he has this wonderful plan for everyone but our actions can affect that glorious future he has planned for us. If you keep on dinning with the devil, there is no way God’s plan for you can be fulfilled.

Note that our sins can alter the plans of God for us, the sins of Eli and his sons stripped them of the priestly role that God had given to them, we must be very careful. Just as our sins can invoke God’s wrath on us, so also can our sincere repentance revoke his wrath. God can propose to destroy a family for their sins but if they sincerely repent, God will turn away from his wrath. For example, the people of Nineveh were doomed for destruction, but as soon as they heard the warnings from Prophet Jonah, they repented immediately and God had mercy on them.

Sin can also shorten ones span on earth, a curse was placed on Eli’s family. They will die an untimely death and Eli will witness the death of his sons. How dreadful it is for a parent to lose a child let alone two children. It is not the wish for any parent to see their children leave this earth before them.

Notice verse 26, this is my daily prayer to find favour with God and man. With all these evils going on, Samuel grew in the Lord; God favoured him and caused men to favour him as well. If our ways please God he will cause men to be at peace with us (Proverbs 16:7).

Let us take our key verse seriously; it is a promise and a warning. God will honour those who honour him and those who dishonour him, his wrath will befall them. God bless you.