27 Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? 28 'Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29 'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?' 30 "Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the LORD says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 'Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 'And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 'But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. 34 'Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them. 35 'Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever. 36 'And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, "Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread." ' "
God’s Grace Should Motivate Faithfulness (vv. 27-28)
He Raised Us from the Dead
Nothing in this life is more important than honoring the Lord. Eli did not honor the Lord. He preferred his sons to the Lord. The Lord sent a “man of God” to rebuke and condemn him. There is no offer of repentance and reprieve. God’s gavel had already dropped upon Eli and his sons. They despised God’s grace and received it in vain (2 Cor. 6:1). The Lord chose the family of Levi, of which Eli was a part. To serve the Lord at his altar and to be provided for directly from the Lord’s sacrifices was a high privilege. This grace was over four centuries old, but Eli should have treasured it as gloriously fresh. The Lord holds us accountable for the grace he extends down through generations. The weight of God’s grace is incredible. All the grace he gave to our ancestors is grace to us also. We have such short memories when it comes to the Lord’s blessings, and this more than anything else explains our pride, presumption, and ingratitude. We will honor the Lord more, with all our heart and strength, if we keep his grace in constant memory.
He Honors Us with So Many Privileges
Our privileges are greater than Eli’s, and therefore our motivation for faithfulness is far stronger. Eli was part of a priestly family that served the earthly tabernacle. Believers in Jesus Christ serve the heavenly tabernacle as a kingdom of priests. They had his grace typified in priesthood and sacrifices; we have the grace of God that has appeared in Jesus Christ (Tit. 2:11). We are quickened together with Christ, raised from the dead with him, and are in union with him and seated with him in heavenly places (Eph. 2:5-6). Eli’s abuse of God’s grace brought terrible curses upon him and his sons. Our sins and carelessness with God’s grace have far greater consequences, as the apostle argues (Heb. 10:26-31; 12:25-29). Although these warnings are neglected in our cheap-grace culture, we need them. The flesh is always fighting back against the Spirit of truth. We are like tired old horses that simply want to sit down and graze as we please. We need the strongest encouragement to hold fast to God’s grace and lead godly lives (Tit. 2:11-15). The world mocks, and our children will squawk. Sheep are skittish and will object to being led where they do not wish to go. All of us must keep the cross before the eyes of faith. The sight of the dying Jesus kills our sins and strongly motivates and empowers us to war against sin and hold fast to our Savior. There is no motivation to faithfulness as strong as the Lord’s love and the amazing grace he has shown to us by dying in our place and bearing our curse so that we may be delivered from our sins, accepted in the Beloved, and co-heirs with Christ.
Nothing More Costly Than Abuse of Privileges (vv. 29-34,36)
Eli Abused His Office and Preferred His Sons to the Lord
The Lord in grace chose Eli; Eli in wickedness chose his sons before the Lord. He sinned against grace. He also abused his office. He tried to correct his sons with words, but he did not remove them from office. This was tantamount to kicking over the Lord’s sacrifice and scattering the ashes of his wickedness over the Lord’s dwelling place. It is one of the greatest evils when parents choose their children before the Lord. We do this when we refuse to correct their faults wisely, chasten them tenderly, take more serious action when they prove unrepentant and when older stubbornly walk in the path of sin. Parents have a serious charge to reprove their children’s faults, say “no” to their headstrong ways, and refuse to fund children who will not serve the Lord. If we do not stand in God’s place of authority to our children and command them in the Lord’s ways, we honor our children above the Lord. Specifically, Eli compounded this parental sin. He allowed his sons’ rebellion to corrupt the Lord’s worship. It is a great evil when those who minister to the Lord do not govern their own homes or allow God’s worship and word to suffer reproach because they will not correct and restrain their children.
Dishonoring God Shames and Ruins Us
Eli and his sons grew rich and fat by their theft of God’s offerings. Eli knew his sons were sinning, but he shared in their theft. Eli’s insufficient correction manifests either a fear of his sons or a conniving with them, or both. Perhaps he was lazy and unmotivated to be faithful to the charge the Lord had given to him. His responsibility as a judge and priest called for intentional, serious actions. He declined. He chose his sons, and the Lord withdrew his choice of Eli. This is the Lord’s prerogative. He offers us many incentives to draw near to him and walk with him, but if we receive his grace in vain and go back to the world, we lose even the blessings we had. The curses upon Eli are dreadful. The Lord will withdraw strength from Eli’s house (v. 31). Any advancement in our station and circumstances is from the Lord (Ps. 75:6-7). He can easily remove for ingratitude what once he gave by his grace. Eli will see an enemy in his house (v. 32), the Philistines, and there will be no more old men in Eli’s line. His line will be separated from the Lord’s altar and so impoverished that he will have to beg for a crust of bread (vv. 33,36). And what proof does the Lord give of his words? Hophni and Phinehas will be killed the same day. Nothing utterly ruins us like dishonoring the Lord. We must stand where he has called us, be faithful in all areas of responsibility, hear his word with humility, obey him with every ounce of our mind, will, and affections, and hold fast to Jesus Christ his Son as our righteousness, cleansing, and strength.
Christ’s House and Priesthood Secure (v. 35)
Man’s Dishonor Cannot Harm Jesus Christ
All the failures and treacheries of men cannot undo the plan and purposes of God. In fact, man’s failure is the canvass upon which the Lord often draws his finest work! This unnamed man of God points the faithful to Jesus Christ. Despite Eli’s treachery, the Lord will raise him up a faithful priest. This is provisionally the priests that would come after Eli, but the promise is ultimately pointing to our Lord Jesus Christ. To do according to the Lord’s heart anticipates God’s king, David, who was a man after the Lord’s heart. Israel’s kingdom and its priesthood pointed to the mediatorial work of Jesus Christ. Each required faithful men who do the Lord’s will selflessly. The faithful ones after Eli would walk before the Lord’s anointed. God’s people were discouraged by Eli and his sons, but faithful priests were coming that would “walk before the Lord’s anointed.” They would restore better worship and give hope to the Lord’s people. Even more, they would prepare the world for the coming of the Lord’s Christ.
His Church, Priesthood, Line Secure Forever
This was a tremendous promise in those days. When leadership in society is bad, “the vilest walk on every side” (Ps. 12:8). Those in authority are to punish evildoers, and when they do not, evil becomes more brazen and spreads like a cancer (1 Cor. 5:6). It is hard to live hopefully in such times. But when leadership in the church is harsh or self-serving, when God’s word is not preached faithfully and discipline is not practiced, practiced inconsistently, or constantly resisted by the congregation, the situation for God’s people becomes unbearable. What is our hope? We have a great and heavenly high priest, who sympathizes with our many weaknesses and continues to secure God’s promises and his kingdom. Men’s faithlessness cannot overturn God’s promises. This is the abysmal failure of most conservatism and libertarianism in our day – it is practically if not confessionally atheistic. There is no hope in the promises and purposes of God. There is certainly not specific hope in the priesthood and kingdom of Jesus Christ. Without this faith and hope, men remain children of disobedience (Eph. 2:2), children of wrath (Eph. 2:3), and children of the devil (1 John 3:10). Their philosophies may seem better than their Marxist and Satanic counterparts, but this is only on the surface.
To have real hope and future, we must be in line with God’s great purpose and work. He is gathering all things under the headship of Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:9-10). The future of this world is not annihilation by man’s nuclear weapons and slavery in a dystopian novel but the conversion of the world by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing the vilest and most demon-driven men do to oppose God’s Word and war against his Christ will turn out to be successful (Isa. 54:17). Man cannot prevail against the Lord. His purposes will stand (Ps. 33:11; Prov. 19:21). All the misery wicked men create is nothing but Jesus Christ dashing his enemies to pieces and breaking them like a potter’s vessel (Rev. 2:27). This is our great hope – not American exceptionalism but the plan of God to exalt his Son. Eli’s wickedness could not topple God’s true priesthood. Man’s wickedness today in home, society, and church cannot overturn God’s plan to exalt his Son and make his mountain the highest mountain (Dan. 2:44-45). All the nations are flowing into it, as Isaiah said (Isa. 2:2-4). The future of this world is Jesus Christ and his city, not the city of man. The future is godly children like Samuel who love the Lord and serve him even when surrounded by evil, not Hophni and Phinehas.
This Noblest Truth Will See Us through Everything
Honor the Lord No Matter What
Think how tumultuous those times were. Eli was the last judge – Eli – who would not even control his sons. There was still no king. Israel was suffering under waves of foreign oppression. They were under the Lord’s chastisement, and vile men were in charge of the tabernacle and God’s worship. Israel’s troubles were the result of this one truth – they did not make honoring the Lord their chief pursuit. As a consequence, the Lord “set them aside.” He esteemed Eli and his family lightly, held them in contempt, virtually erased their future. There is nothing more dreadful than for the Lord to dishonor us. We are his image-bearers, and for this particular curse to fall upon us is the true stroke of doom upon our whole person.
Whatever else is going on in the world, honor the Lord. If a slave, honor the Lord. If persecuted, honor the Lord. If in an abusive marriage, honor the Lord. This means that we make pleasing him according to his word our main pursuit (Col. 1:11). We honor the Lord when we put nothing in our lives ahead of obeying his word – not personal comfort or wealth, not ease or free time, not relationships or man’s praise, not self or me-time. We exist to honor the Lord, and if this thought ever grips us, it will mightily help us to know what to do in particularly hard moments. Daniel went and prayed. Joseph fled the house. Moses went into Pharaoh and spoke God’s truth. Hannah prayed and trusted the Lord’s promise. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s image. Our Lord quoted and trusted his Father’s word when tempted by the devil. As his betrayer approached, he prayed in Gethsemane. In every trial, decision, hardship, deprivation, season of grief, temptation, the one way forward is to honor the Lord. Otherwise, he will not honor us. He will set us aside as false children.
Never Prefer Children to Christ
There is a particular application of this to parents. On the surface, this is a difficult application. Parents grow weary in the daily duty of instruction and discipline. Many succumb to the temptations of behaviorism and other forms of control and pacification. Few want to drill down to the child’s heart, teach the child to know himself, and to help him face and overcome the idols of his heart. And this is the way we begin preferring our children to the Lord – when instead of raising them in his fear and admonition, we choose a path that seems easier for us, or something that promises to work better than the old, narrow path of sowing and reaping, word and discipline, prayer and faith. And then, when children will not obey the Lord or come under the influence of the world, then especially many prefer their children to the Lord. A child may pout or howl when he is not allowed to view a movie that everyone else is watching or have an electronic device for his personal use. A wise parent knows this is a battle line. To give in is to dishonor the Lord and open the door to the willful, worldly spirit of Hophni and Phinehas – if not immediately, almost always later. A will unchallenged will go unchecked and grow into a monster. We can pray all we want for the Lord to do miracles. He uses means – a parent’s “No, we are not doing that.”
But this is not purely negative. In the short term, in a thousand small battles each day, it will feel like preferring the Lord to your children is an unwinnable war. God-honoring parenting is a war. Let this sink in. We do not require, model, discipline, and pray for faith and obedience in our children because it is the easy way. Far, far from it. It is the hardest way. It is much easier to settle for a surface peace, never to confront the will, always to smooth things over. Godly parenting requires a patient and persistent warfare against sin, with cheerfulness and joy in Christ, according to God’s word, confronting and exposing the idols of the heart, all bathed in years of parental prayer, faith, self-denial, and utter dependence upon the strength of Jesus Christ (Col. 1:29).
Too much of modern everything says the easy way must be the right way. If something is hard, requires too much of me, or makes me uncomfortable, then there must be something wrong. No one should require anything hard of me – no boss, no parent, no God. The easy way pampers the flesh. Parents have flesh; children have flesh – the old man of sin, the principle of rebellion against the Lord, an unwillingness to bend to authority unless it is absolutely necessary under the direst of force and penalty. And this is the reason gentle parenting is so much in vogue. It is Satan’s little lie that appeasement is the only way forward. But sin, as we see in Hophni and Phinehas, never gives up. It never has enough, like the leech crying, “Give, give.” The principle of sin goes from bad to worse, always craves self, never wants to give an inch – unless to gain two inches in the process. A Christian parent will thus feel this war very acutely, for he is not trying to impose his will upon an innocent, cute little cherub. He is going to war against a soul corrupted by Adam’s rebellion, a will hell-bent on obtaining its objectives. And he must learn to fight this war with joy in his heart and hope in God’s promises. Our Lord said that “no man takes your joy from you” (John 16:22). This includes the hard work of parenting, a stubborn child, and a discouraged self.
A Remarkable Clear Light on Our Path
Have you noticed that most people seem very confused today? And fearful and angry? Doomers are everywhere. If the bombs start falling, your duty will be the same as if you were sitting on the beach – honor the Lord. It may be more difficult to honor him. The cost may be higher, much higher. Other rebellious nations have been bombed, and ours may well suffer the same fate. But the church here, that is a very different matter. Those who honor the Lord, he will honor. He does not care what the calendar reads, or who claims to be in charge, or what the globalists are planning, or what your social credit score is. Reject the fear. Honor the Lord. Reverence him, and your duty is clear. Honor him. Obey him. Begin each day praising him for his greatness, his grace, and his love. Ask him for strength to live for his honor. Ask him for wisdom to turn away from all that dishonors him. Stay on that path. When you stumble, honor him by confessing your sins and believing upon the name of his exalted Son. Keep honoring him. Honor him when you are young by rejecting the lusts that rage within you and keeping a crucified Jesus before your eyes. Lust suffocates before the cross. Honor him in your family and most active years by worshipping him daily and making it a priority to speak of his glory wherever you are. When you are old, the eyes dim, the back weak, the joints in pain, the heart beating a little faster – or slower – still, your path is fixed. Honor the Lord. Making pleasing him what pleases you.
It is too wonderful! The Lord will honor me? What does that mean? It means he will take care of you. If your honor him by living for Jesus Christ, our Lord will confess you before his Father and the elect angels. He will crown you with glory and honor. The world may spit upon you, but an ocean of this world’s spit is worth one smile from the Lord of glory. Keep the crown before you. Grow in wonder that the Lord would honor you. It is a strange thing about this honor. It does not make us self-focused. It humbles us and fills us with amazement so that we want to please him more. I will see the affirming face of the one who died on the cross for me? His hand will caress this leprous sinner? These ears will hear his well-done. As I look at his wounds, it will be too much. It will be heaven in my soul. Your honor awaits, weary, war-scarred child of God. Honor the Lord, and he will honor you.
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