1 Samuel 2:27-36 | Food for Thought
1 Samuel 2:27-36
Quick Notes:
Context | I know we didn’t get to gather in-person last week. If for some reason you didn’t read / talk about the previous focal passage, do so! This won’t make much sense without learning what we do about Eli’s sons (…and Eli’s weak confrontation of them).
Breaking a “promise?” | When God said he “promised” that Eli’s house would be his priests forever, that’s a pretty strong translation. It can easily mean “said” or “declared.” It might feel like splitting hairs, but it’s important to note that God doesn’t break unconditional promises to his people. There’s no recorded “promise” to Eli’s family in the Scriptures. The tribe of Levi in Genesis? Yes! Aaron and his family in Exodus? Yes! But Eli’s family was one of many that would fall under that umbrella of a bigger family tree (and the priesthood would later pass onto a new family when Solomon became king!) God doesn’t change; God’s never forced to change from some outside situation; but for the good of his people and the preservation of his purposes and promises, God surely can change his plans. He alone is sovereign!
Food for Thought:
Retracing God’s grace. This “man of God” - an anonymous prophet sent by the Lord to confront Eli - began the Lord’s rebuke against Eli by reminding him of all the ways God’s grace had brought him to where he is today.
What’s the point of bringing all this up? Why wouldn’t God just launch into all the ways Eli had failed miserably?
Would you ever begin a confrontation this way? Why or why not? What would it change if you did?
If you were to trace the grace of God through your family tree, what are two or three things that stand out to you? How have you arrived where you are today by God’s grace alone?
Grace on purpose, for a purpose. The final question that he asks (“Why then do you scorn my sacrifices… ?”) suggests that God expects his grace to produce something else other than what he’s seeing in the lives of Eli and his sons.
What might God have expected to see in Eli and his sons that isn’t happening now? What were they supposed to have done?
Is it right for God to expect something different from Eli and his sons if their position among God’s people really was an undeserved, no-strings-attached gift? Why or why not?
How can the Lord say that Eli was honoring his sons more than God? Eli did confront his sons and didn’t like what they were doing, right? What else should he have done?
What does this passage tell us about the nature of grace - and God’s grace in particular?
Can you think of any instances in which you’ve honored (wanted to please, make happy, be more concerned about the reputation of, etc.) someone else other than the Lord? Do you wish someone had confronted you about it?
God’s change of plans. God decides to “go a different direction” with his priesthood. He promises that Eli and his family will be cut off from the Lord, and anyone left will have to watch in sorrow as their family dies violently. This is happening, even though Eli’s house is the one God asked to be his priests!
Is the Lord allowed to change his plans? Why or why not?
What if the Lord hadn’t changed his plans, either because he didn’t want to or because his hands were tied by what he’d already said? How might things have turned out among God’s people if he’d never intervened?
What other promises / purposes of God would go unfinished or be reversed by the way Eli and his sons were serving as priests?
How have you seen confrontation, accountability, and consequences be used for the protection of God’s people from bad leaders?
Once again, what does this tell you about the nature of God’s grace?
A sure sign. God will make sure Eli knows he means business by giving him a sign: both of his sons will die on the same day. God also promises to send a future priest who will be faithful and whose house will last faithful. Grace was never meant to cover up our need for the Lord or our posture of dependence; it was meant to illuminate the Lord’s provision for his people as a good and gracious God.
Why would God want Eli to know that he means business? What’s the significance of a sign like that?
How will Eli and his house experience their dependence on the Lord in a new way? Apart from the Lord, what is their end?
Why is having a faithful priest so important to God’s people? What does that do for them / their relationship with the Lord? What would make this such an exciting promise?
How are you prone to forgetting about grace - or forgetting about the God behind the grace? How can you let the grace of God in your life lead you to be more dependent on him, not less?
How does the end of Eli’s house apart from the Lord and the promise of a future, forever, faithful priest point us to Jesus?