music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this.

Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Everyone like this. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Testing. One, two, and three. Hello. Hello. Testing, testing. Is it kind of coming out to the speakers?

It's not at all, huh? Hello, hello? It's green. Testing one, two, three. Testing one, two, three. Testing one and two and three. Testing one, two, three. Oh. Jeff. Jeff. I see it. I see the problem. Power. Testing, testing, testing. Is it starting to come through a little bit? Really?

Oh, interesting. Oh. That's kind of crazy. You're seeing my input on your deck. So I guess maybe this one doesn't control this. Oh, this is for the handheld. Oh. So turn this off. I'll just turn this off then. You guys need some light back here. Testing one, two, and three.

I promise. There is a ghost within our system. Or we'll all go to the top. Testing, testing. One, two, three. Testing, testing. Keep going, right? Hello, hello? Hello, hello? There are many ducks in a row. Some ducks are small. Big fish, little fish. I've got a little blue bunch of coconuts.

Testing, testing. Testing, testing. It's pretty wild because sometimes I know you guys have the same setting as a previous week. But then it just goes kind of desert. Should I just go ahead and use the handheld today then? Oh, it is coming through. But like super light. Right? Hello, hello?

Testing, testing. One, two, three. Testing, testing. One, two, three. Kind of. I can hear it kind of, but it's pretty dim or like soft. So keep this one. Okay. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. I can hear it kind of but it's pretty dim or like soft. So keep this one.

Okay. All right, you guys. Good evening. Maybe. You think it's going to keep getting feedback because of this one? Well, I appreciate those. Let's give those AV guys in the back a round of applause. I do think we have like a troll ghost in our system. Sometimes the settings will be exactly the same week to week and then it just goes out or something like that.

So we're going to try to figure that out. Maybe I may get the other handheld. But for now, let's go ahead and begin with time of worship. Please join with me in a word of prayer. Lord God, we thank you so much for your abundant grace. Thank you, Lord, for sustaining us week to week.

And God, thank you for sustaining us by your word. We pray, Lord God, that we, even when we are fatigued or perhaps even afflicted, that God, we would continue to turn to your truth and your spirit. I pray, Father God, that we would not lean on our own understanding or our own strength, but Lord, that we would find such security in you, the steady rock and our fortress.

I pray, Father God, that in each week we come together after having studied to discuss our insights, to share. Help this time to be one that is truly spiritually edifying and also, Lord God, for us, good fellowship. That as we learn both from the word but also from the insights of our brothers and sisters, would you allow this to be such a fruitful time.

We now lift up our voices to you to exalt you and to honor you. It's in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. This life, this life is an altar where I want to offer my soul and my mind and strength. And cleanse by your mercy to live a life worthy of the one who called my name.

Jesus be glorified. Jesus be glorified. Jesus be glorified. Jesus be magnified. Let me be a pleasing sacrifice. Jesus be glorified. Jesus be magnified. Here at the altar. Here at the altar. My life is an offering. How could I not love you? You authored my rescue. Raise me up from death to life.

Your spirit is in me. Your spirit is in me. Revealing your glory. Revealing your glory. Oh, what joy as I give my life. Jesus be glorified. Jesus be glorified. Jesus be glorified. Jesus be magnified. Let me be a pleasing sacrifice. Jesus be glorified. Jesus be magnified. Here at the altar.

Here at the altar. My life is an offering. I choose to lose my life. Lord. I choose to lose my life. Lord. I find it in you. I choose to lose my life. Lord. I find it in you. I choose to lose my life. Lord. I find it in you.

I choose to lose my life. Lord. I find it in you. I choose to lose my life. Lord. I find it in you. I choose to lose my life. Lord. I find it in you. I choose to lose my life. Lord. I find it in you. I choose to lose my life.

I choose to lose my life. Lord. I find it in you. Jesus. Jesus be glorified. Jesus be magnified. Let me be a pleasing sacrifice. Jesus be glorified. Jesus be magnified. Here at the altar, my life is an offering. Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea.

A great high priest whose name is love. Whoever lives and pleads for me, my name is graven on His hands. My name is written on His heart. I know that while in heaven He stands, no tongue can bid me thence depart. No tongue can bid me thence depart. When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within.

Upward I look and see Him there, who made an end of all my sin. Because a sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free. For God the justice satisfied to look on Him and pardon me. To look on Him and pardon me. Behold Him there, the risen Lamb.

My perfect spotless righteousness, the great unchangeable I am. I am the King of glory and the King of glory and of grace. One in Himself I cannot die. My soul is purchased by His blood, my life is hid with Christ on high. With Christ my Savior and my God.

Let's pray. Father, we just thank You for this time. We could just gather corporately to study Your Word and to lift up worship to You. God, our heart and our goal in all of this, Lord, is that You be magnified, Jesus, that You be glorified in everything that we do.

And not just on Wednesdays or Sundays, but just every day of the week, Lord, to present ourselves, God, as a living sacrifice, Lord, as an offering to You, God. I just pray that during this time that You would truly help us to receive Your Word, that it would just go forth and that we would be able to just apply it in our lives, to grow in our faith, and also just to glorify You, Lord.

It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. So, as those of you guys coming in, please take your seats. I'd like to highlight again some of the important announcements. We have a few here. So, on next Wednesday, starting from 10:30 a.m., please know that this cafe will be open. We're really grateful that they're going to be also serving coffee.

And if you'd like to do your work, study, et cetera, you can come here early during the day, or even just prior to the Bible study, you can come and to spend time preparing, et cetera, here, okay? Also, the outreach team is going to be hosting a volleyball outreach at the park on Saturday, March 22nd.

Okay, so Saturday, March 22nd, 10:00 a.m. at Oak Creek Community Park. And in the previous times, it has been a really good casual opportunity for us to talk and converse with friends and family, co-workers. So, please look out for the registration there, and then we'll definitely be praying for the people that you're praying for and join us there at the park.

Also, as you guys know, the VBS planning has begun, and this Saturday is our kickoff volunteer meeting. So, if you would like to participate, please note that the VBS is happening June 23rd through June 27th. There are multiple avenues in which you can serve, so please check out the registration link for that and attend this first meeting on Saturday, okay?

Another important announcement is that Passion Week is actually just around the corner, next month, April 14th through the 20th. So, please mark that on your calendar, as you know, that's such a special time for us to think about our Lord, remember the events of Passion Week. The schedule has been released, but with all the various events happening, you know, including the devotions, the Passover, Good Friday, and we're going to be having a special fellowship lunch on Easter Sunday, we do need volunteers to help out.

So, please sign up for volunteers, volunteering for that week, whether it's food prep, parking, et cetera, please lend a hand, as that week is going to be a full and busy week. All right, let's see, I think that may be all the announcements. Okay, please go ahead and go straight into your discussion time.

We'll be back at 8:00, okay? Especially since we kind of hit more verses this time, please take time to discuss and I'll come back and gather us at 8:00. Thanks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. portion where it's the fathers and God is working through specific individuals.

This is the time of the law where God is giving the law and reiterating the law through Deuteronomy. And these categories and themes will help you track along with the Old Testament narrative. But please know also that there is a massive meta-narrative. And so if you've heard that term being thrown around, it's just talking about the fact that the scripture is one entire unit.

And as a matter of fact, then you could say, yes, there are prophecies and yes, there are discourses and yes, there's poetry, but all of that fits into the meta-narrative. The grand theme of God's glory, the grand theme of God creating the universe for his good pleasure and for his praise.

But what's more also God's dealing with man, that he is going to send a seed and Messiah to mankind so that though we be sinful, we be redeemed. These are meta-narratives in the Bible, and it helps us think about these things because when we're reading specific events, then we have a place to put that.

Okay? All right. Now my purpose in saying this is that all of these things then were theological in its nature. There are some people who will say that because it's theological, it's more of like a teaching point. Almost like everything in the Old Testament is an allegorical story used to teach you something.

No. The way we're going to say it as a hermetic rule is that all Bible narrative should be seen as essential. There's no story just because we feel like, dude, I feel uncomfortable reading Song of Songs, or I feel uncomfortable reading this portion where it's not essential. There are stories that will cause you to gasp.

Like in the 2nd Kings, when there's a story of women bartering with each other like, "Which baby are we going to eat first?" These stories in Judges when the grotesque things are happening, these are all essential stories that teach us the theology of how perverse man can be without the restraining power of God.

Right? And so we take all the history all the history that is written as actual historical accounts that are, yes, theological because it shows us the glory of God in His redemptive plan for man. Don't let anybody else tell you otherwise, no matter how smart or how beloved they are, that everything written as a narrative is a historical event.

It's true. Why am I saying this? Because yes, there are notable individuals, both from high academia, theologians like Karl Barth or N.T. Wright. They don't reject all of Old Testament as history, but when it comes to certain portions that seem too astronomically impossible or earliest portions of Scripture, like the account in Genesis, as though they were stories, theological stories, not theological history.

But even a beloved author like C.S. Lewis, we read his books and that's okay. We just need to do so with some caution. Why? Because he was coined of saying some of the Genesis accounts are true myths. There are valid truths for us that we have to see as profound, but it didn't matter to him whether the actual account itself was historically true.

For us, we say no, all of it is true, even a beloved author like Tim Keller, the way he views creation account, he doesn't see it like those are actually historical sequences or accounts. He sees them as theological teachings. Or the worst I've just put on the bottom. I know sometimes I don't often name names and say, hey, this is really bad.

But Rob Bell and Andy Stanley are very popular pastors who had movements underneath them. When I say movements, I mean not just one church, but churches validating their teaching. They want to do a disconnect of the Old Testament and sees it as functionally irrelevant to the New Testament Christian.

That is blasphemous. Why? The stories that we see in the Old Testament history proclaim the glory of God. In Isaiah chapter 46, God says, remember the former things long past for I am God. And there is no other. I am God. And there is no one like me declaring the end from the beginning and from the ancient times things which have not been done, saying, my plan will be established and I will accomplish all my good pleasure.

There are so many pastors in the Bible where he says, show me a person who can tell you everything future and everything past. Why? Because it's true, and I by my power accomplish them. I am God. But if you dare say those are nice stories to give us examples, to give us good spiritual teaching and show us a nice way, we blaspheme against God.

We cannot say that. All of God's word, including every story within the Old Testament, are factually true. Amen? Next. So, as God desires to communicate the message of his glory, the message of his acts, the message of how he deals with mankind, he chose stories, he chose narratives. And narratives as a literary genre have different elements that speak, that communicates to us.

Will every narrative have these pieces? You guys obviously intuitively know that it will not, but I highlighted some things that are always in existence in these literary genres that we should ask. What is it? Right? What are the characters? What are the settings? Those are just obvious. But what is the storyline and movement here?

Is this an irony? You know, is this a compare and contrast between one fool and the righteous man? Is this an absolute tragedy where you have some of these stories where these kings, they rise to power and then boom, they're hit with like crazy leprosy, white as snow, they're prideful as can be, and they're done.

You know, tragic. We have these storylines that we notice from different, like, you know, even just novels, et cetera, that capture our attention but also speak the truths of God. And it's our job to follow that storyline. So whereas certain New Testament books, like letters, we're supposed to follow the argument of the author, in the Old Testament narratives, we're supposed to be following the plot.

We're supposed to be following the movement of the story. A lot of times within the movement of the story, we have conflict resolution that typically points for us the emphasis. And in our passage today, we for sure have that. And then sometimes we have either description or very specific words of God that comment on what's wrong, what's right, what is his will, et cetera.

And those are the things we're supposed to capture and make sure that we hang our hat on, okay? So in thinking about this then, as a hermeneutical rule, if narratives speak in this way, where it's not, oh, like, in these boxes isn't commands and rationales, proofs and points, we have to understand that narratives then are descriptive rather than prescriptive, okay?

You have to know this kind of rule because so many times people just remember a story and their internal, it's almost hard to turn off, but their internal heart says, I saw it in the Old Testament, therefore I can do it. It's called permission by precedent. It happened, therefore I can.

That's a fallacy. But so many people think like that, right? Since it happened, it's an example for me to follow. And it's wild. Like, you know, whether it's a king and the stuff that he did, whether it's a prophet, and they're not realizing that those are unique individuals, one of millions, okay?

So, as a primary example for you guys, I wanted to give the example of Gideon's fleece. This is just a quick, quick introductory note on this topic of narratives before we get into our passage. But my guess is, everybody here knows somebody who has fleeced. And said something to the extent of like, which school should I go to, you know?

If I step to the left and then there happens to be a pebble in my way. Or if I call her and on the third ring she picks up, for sure, this is God's chosen one for me. Or, you know, et cetera, et cetera. In Judges chapter six, what we have is essentially the Israelites are hiding.

They're in, basically, they're in shame. They've already been defeated. And they're in hiding from the Midianites. An angel of God appears to Gideon and says, "Valiant soldier, the Lord is with you." You know what's crazy is Gideon says, "Pffft. Well, if the Lord was with us, what is up with this?

Why are we put to shame? How come we're not winning? How come all this stuff has happened to us?" And the angel has to basically encourage him, console him, and talk him out of it, okay? But the faulty application of that story, it's often taught that laying out a fleece can help gain assurance or determine God's will.

So, again, for those of you guys who aren't familiar and remember just as a review, God said, "I want you to go and fight." Gideon says, "How am I going to know you're with me?" So, then he says, "I'm going to lay out this fleece, and if it's super wet in the morning, then I'll know." The next morning, the thing was as damp as can be.

You know what Gideon does? He goes, "One more time," right? He does it a second time. So, the faulty application would be to say, like, just like Gideon did, how are we supposed to discern God's will unless he shows us or confirms? So, often times, this passage has been taught as a way of confirmation.

However, the full context reveals that Gideon is doubting God. God is actually very annoyed, yes? Gideon starts talking about all these excuses of like, "I'm the littlest guy, and I'm the youngest, and da-da-da-da-da." And it's just like that time with Moses, when Moses was like, "I don't speak good." And God's like, "I made your mouth!" And God was very annoyed with the fact that there was a lot of excuses and doubt.

It would have been much better for him to trust God's word, yes? What's more, it is not in concordance or not in sync with the rest of Scripture. Jesus literally tells us, "Stop testing God." Don't put God to the test. And what's more, stop seeking signs. Perverse and wicked generation keep seeking signs.

You know why? Because our faith is too weak. We should be taking God at His word. Not like this. Okay? So in this way, if we take events in narrative as a precedent for my permission to do the same, we are misapplying the passage. We're misinterpreting. So, with that said, let's jump in to 1 Samuel 3.

Okay? And in 1 Samuel 3, we have this section. Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And the word from the Lord was rare in those days. Visions were infrequent. It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place. Now his eyesight had began to grow dim, and he could not see well.

And the lamp of God had not yet gone out. And Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was. But the Lord called Samuel. And he said, "Here I am." Then he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. For you called me." But he said, "I did not call.

Lie down again." Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him. Question, what is the moral of the story? Okay? We begin with just a quick question of, in that brief little pericope, the little paragraph, if you take it in its own chunk, we could say, you know, you should be sensitive to God's calling.

Some of us are so dense. You know, I don't ever want you to go there, but there is this website called Sermon Central. Okay? It's a really popular site. And just for fun, sometimes I just pop in a passage and see what they have to say. The top of this list was like, "God is calling.

Are you listening?" You know? And then underneath that, there was other ideas of like, God calls everyone with a special purpose. God has a specific purpose for you. Do you know it? These were the headings of the sermons. Now, this is kind of a trick question because I'm asking you, "Hey, what's the moral of the story?" But when we try to look for morals of the story for us, I mean, even if it sounds good, right?

Maybe some of you guys want to be a pastor, and you are like, "I need the calling of God to serve the Lord like Samuel." It sounds good, right? But I want to give you a warning, interpretive warning. If you ask this question, "What is the moral of the story for narratives of the Bible?" Typically, your results will be man-centered.

What is the moral of the story of the Exodus, right? "How to run fast." Okay? Just kidding. "How to be courageous like David to fight the giants." You guys know that one, right? Like, what is the moral of the story for Jonah? What is the moral? If you start asking those questions, typically, your answers will be encouragements for your day, for you to escape your situations, answer your questions, receive your blessings, and it becomes very man-centered to you.

Instead, with narrative, you should be asking, "What is the storyline and development of the narrative about God?" Right? And more specifically, we need to ask this question. God, yes, is calling Samuel. Why? Why? And you guys know exactly why. The narrative changes so fast in our passage, it goes from, "Oh, a little young Samuel." I'm going to be honest, I don't know how young he is.

He may be a cute kid. Okay? I imagine my son Emmett. What a cute kid, you know? And then so, it was hilarious, right? He's like, "What is it?" And he's like, "I want you to tell this word of judgment." He's like, "Oh, my God." You know? And then I imagine, oh, he's probably older, like 15, 16.

You know? I don't know. I've got to be honest, I don't know. But the transition of tone turns so fast, I almost had this feeling of like, "Oh, my gosh." To preach this passage, like, you know, "How do I be like Samuel?" Samuel is just an introduction. Samuel is, in the narrative, the drama prep to get you to be like, "Listen!

Everybody who's falling asleep right now!" Now, if you go home and say, "You know, today's sermon was about Pastor Mark telling me to listen," you missed the point, right? The calling of Samuel was just introduction to the weighty declaration of God's judgment. That's the unfolding of the storyline, yes?

So, what does he say? Samuel 3:11-15. "The Lord said to Samuel, 'Behold, I'm about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.'" I don't know why they use the word "tingle." But it means to shake and quiver in fear, okay?

"In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end, for I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever. For the iniquity which he knew," what? "Because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them.

Therefore, I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever. So, Samuel lay down until morning and then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, but Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli." So, actually, this is no story of Samuel's heroism.

Just as you'd expect every man, every one of us to be, he was scared to death to say it. Because what God said was so frightening, right? And it's okay in narrative for you to jump down into his shoes and be like, "What would it be like to be Samuel, but also the character development of Eli?" Eli, in many ways, he's a great man.

Forty years, he judged the nation. He was a prophet of God. He was a priest, right? He was overseeing the temple worship. He had incredible responsibility. But then we're seeing this character development like, "What?" If this is the emphatic development of the plot, the revelation, the disclosure and the declaration of God's judgment, what do we observe?

The first thing that jumped out to me was, "He knew." Right? "He knew." What else do you guys observe? This is the time to observe. Put your stake down and then start asking the question, "What's happening here?" Right? And we observe that these are things that he has spoken about before.

And then, he says from the beginning to end, he's going to carry it out, which means that he's going to be exhaustive. God does not say, "I'm going to judge you." And then he only does two of the five things he said. He does it all. He is an exacting God.

And then he says, "For I have told him." So, he says it three times over that this is something that God had already said, that he's going to judge his entire house. But notice he says, "Forever." "Forever." "Forever." "What?" "Eli?" "What did Eli do?" "What did Eli do?" Well, we know his sons were sinning, and he tells us here that Eli did not rebuke them.

And then he says, "So I've sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever." So, what do we observe about God's judgment? It is exacting, all five. But also, here, it's so severe. There's no turning it around.

It's so severe, the whole nation's going to quiver. And everybody who hears is going to shake. That's scary stuff. So, if I was giving kind of like my narrative analysis and said, "What is the development of this plot?" The focus would be on the revelation of the exacting and severe judgment of God.

And I would take time meditating on this idea that this was pre-warned. This was beginning to the end of his judgment. They're going to get it all. It's irreversible, it's forever, and it's so severe. Right? So then, the narrative continues. We put a stake down there on the plot development, and then the narrative continues.

And then Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son!" And he said, "Here I am." And he said, "What is the word that he spoke to you?" And he goes, "Nothing really." Just kidding. Oh, wait. That was a joke I put in here, but I forgot to delete it.

That's not part of the scripture text. Okay? He says, "Please do not hide it from me." He says, "May God do to you more also if you hide anything from me all the words that he spoke to you." So Samuel told him everything, and he hid nothing from him.

And he said, "It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him." Okay? So in thinking about this, take a moment to envision. All right? All right? Don't envision me. Okay? In my office, ha, ha, ha, laughing at my own jokes. Envision Eli. Question. I don't have time to talk about it.

What is this response? Do you got a picture? Like, he clearly is getting rebuked so hard. God spoke to Samuel. And if you're Eli, you're sitting there like, "Hello, I'm a priest. God's not confined by rooms. He could just speak in front of both of us. He knows. He knows.

He's going to get rebuked. He heard this before. He's been sitting on it, maybe wishing and praying it wouldn't happen." Right? And then now he sees this young child come to him and tell him this horrendous news that his whole family line is going to perish. This is as sad and tragic as it can go.

So then, we observe again that the story line, the tone of it, is actually incredibly tragic. It is severe because of the severity of God's judgment. And now, with the time that we have, we have to do broader context, broader story line, because it begs the question, what did Eli not say?

What did Eli do? Did he do anything? And if he knew, what did he know? Right? So we go to chapter two. In chapter two, verse 12 through 17, the story continues. "Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord and the customs of the priests with the people." Look at this.

Serving at the temple, they have no idea who God is. And they're described as worthless men. So, essentially what that would happen for the sake of time is, essentially they have the most amazing gig because the whole nation has to come and offer sacrifices for their sin, and they sin a lot.

And every time they would come, especially burnt offerings, they would take their fork and be like, "Yes." And they would take all this fat and meat for themselves, and they would just gorge on it. What's more, there are times when people weren't done with their sacrifice. As a matter of fact, they're about to bully and they'll say, "Give that to me now." They would bully the worshippers.

They would absolutely bully them. Okay? And that's what that last part is. So, these young men sinned against God. They despised the offering. They had no, no respect for God at the offering place. And they were completely scamming their own countrymen. They're traitors. So, then what happens? In chapter 2, verse 22.

Now, Eli was very old, and here all that his sons were doing to all Israel. Notice just kind of like, notice these details, right? Think about how long has this been going on? How old are these guys? Later, we'll learn that these guys were married. Okay? They had wives.

So, they're old enough. And they were doing this to all Israel. And it describes even more that these were such worthless and wicked men, that they would lay with the women who served at the doorway of the temple, the tent of meeting. So, he said to them, "Why do you do such things?

The evil things that I hear from all these people? No, my sons, for the report is not good, which I hear the Lord's people circulating. If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?" But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the Lord desired to put them to death." Okay?

They were hardened of heart. I want to take a moment to say this. Earlier, I said there are elements of the narrative that really helped you focus in on what's the point of this narrative. And it's conflict. Okay? And the conflict here is not Samuel who doesn't know his future plans.

The conflict here isn't Samuel trying to figure out what career path he's going to take, or what's his calling in life. The conflict here is God and his priests, which is incredibly sad. Yes? Hophni and Phinehas, the two worthless sons, their sins are really apparent. My question to you is, what is Eli's sin?

When you stare at this passage and you make observation, what do you see? Just for the sake of time, I'm going to say, this is not something that pops out at you, but it's inferred. Did you notice, he goes, the evil things I hear from all these people? Fathers, it's your job to know what your kids are up to.

If you're hearing from everybody else what your kids are up to, you're too late. That means they've already done them. Yes? There is a negligence here that is implied. The report? How long has it been going on that it's happened to everybody? And then you hear the report. You don't see them forking the meat.

You don't see them, you know, flirting with the girls at the front of the tent. Like, what do you not see? Well, we recognize that he's getting older. We recognize that he's probably, right? Like, in his latter years, et cetera. But even if you look at this rebuke, does it seem strong?

Does it seem like he's looking at them saying, you dare not blaspheme. Don't you dare ever enter the tent again. You guys are done. No. It almost sounds like he says, oh boy, this ain't good. This is no good, you know? And then he says, you know, like, the sins that we commit against each other, it can be forgiven, but you're sinning against God.

What do we do? It sounds like somebody who's kind of already given up on his kids. Now, that's all I'm going to say because Eli, again, probably a greater man than I am. Eli, he's been a judge for 40 years. He's a priest of God. He has served the Lord many, many years.

And nearing the end of his life, his sons are rebelling like crazy. But why? Why does God point the finger at Eli and make the word go to him? Well, take a look at the development of the story more. So then, a man of God came to Eli and said to him, question mark, who is said man of God?

Could be an angel, right? Could be an angel, right? But somebody who is a messenger from the Lord. And thus says the Lord, did I not indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house? Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be my priests, to go up to my altar to burn incense, to carry an ephod before me?

And did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel? I've given you everything. So much responsibility. So much privilege. These sacrifices, even though they're temporary, this was the way to fellowship with God at that time. In verse 29, so why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering which I have commanded in my dwelling and honor your sons above me?

There you go. You honor your sons by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of my people Israel. Every single one of us, what a convicting word. Every single one of us struggle with the approval of men to varying degrees. And so many times in the New Testament, Jesus said, how can you serve God?

You love the approval of men. But here and now, how difficult is it to fight off the approval of men? But also how difficult is it to let go of the approval of your own children? Right? Yes, this must have been so hard for Eli. For priests, if Eli kicked them out, this is their livelihood.

This is their career. This is everything to them. Could it have been that the costs were too high? The shame it would bring upon the family? Maybe. But nevertheless, that's not the way God saw it. God saw it as you honor yourself and your children far more than me.

That was Eli's sin. And that's why God's wrath and God's judgment was so severe. So, in this chart, it wasn't explicit before, but Eli's disrespect for God's offering came by way of simply allowing all that stuff to happen. And by not rebuking his sons, by simply saying a word and not removing them from their position, Eli honored them above God.

The last thing I'll say is this, that there was, we've been following a couple things, which is the plot, right, that shows the revelation of God's judgment. The conflict that shows the conviction of sin of what the priests were doing. But thirdly, the revelation of God's character by, again, descriptive commentary.

Whenever you hear God's word come out, you're supposed to just stop in the narrative and be like, what's he saying? Right? Because God's very word is gold. God says about himself, far be it from me. For those who honor me, I will honor. And those who despise me will be lightly esteemed.

This is a statement about God's character. This is a statement about the way God operates. Is it true in the New Testament? And it absolutely is. Jesus says, if you will not confess me before men, just right in line with the entire theme, if you will not confess me before men, and you love the affirmation, you love the confirmation of your men before me, I won't confess you before my Father.

It doesn't work like that. Right? You can't have all of your rewards here and then think all the rewards of God still remain for you. This is all you have. So, coming down to the end of 1 Samuel 2, the larger story, he says, "Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your Father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house." You understand that statement, right?

None of the men in his family are going to reach mature age. They are going to all die out. "You will see the distress of my dwelling, in spite of all the good that I do for Israel. And an old man will not be in your house forever. Yet, I will not cut off every man of yours from my altar, so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of his life.

This will be the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. On the same day, both of them will die. But I will raise up from myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and in my soul. And I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before my anointed always." Wild, right?

We see a terrifying declaration of God's judgment, so precise. So there is like a kind of exacting nature of God's judgment, but there is also a precise nature of God's judgment. He says there is going to be specifically no older people because they will die out. There is going to be tears, and there is going to be a sign that both your sons will die on the same day.

And it happens exactly, precisely as he said. But in the midst of this, you recognize this is like one glimmer of hope. The conflict is God's priests are full of sin, and God says, "I will raise my own, and he will walk before my anointed." There is so much to glean from there, but we will go on for today's purposes.

What I want to highlight is this. We began with the Samuel story is probably a story you guys, a lot of you guys have heard when you were children. Right? Because Samuel is young. And so be like Samuel, right? And then you realize Samuel has very little to do with the story.

This is a tragedy. When I read this, I couldn't help but just cry over Eli, because my guess is there is a part of him that loved God, nation, and his sons. Fast forwarding, just like God said, the Philistines came, and even though the Philistines were scared, they fought hard and they killed 30,000 foot soldiers of the Israelites.

Then they overtook the Ark of the Covenant and captured it. Then, so many people were dying. Somebody was like running back and reported to Eli, this is what he said. When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, "What does the noise of this commotion mean?" Then the man came hurriedly and told Eli.

Now Eli was 98 years old. His eyes were set so he could not see. And the man said to Eli, "I am the one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped from the battle line today." And he said, "How did things go, my son?" Then the one who brought the news replied, "Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great slaughter among the people.

Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead. The Ark of God has been taken." When he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel forty years.

Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was pregnant and about to give birth, and when she heard the news that the Ark of God has taken, that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. About the time of her death, the woman who stood by her said to her, "Do not be afraid, for you have been given birth to a son." But she did not answer or pay attention.

And she called the boy Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel, because the Ark of God was taken, because of her father-in-law and her husband." And she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God was taken." This is like, just an incredibly sad moment, you know?

Because as Eli hears, he knows what it means. He knows God is sovereign. There's a part of him that can do no other but just to accept God's judgment. And he knows that when the Ark is taken, then God's presence, I believe, like Eli himself knew, that means the Lord has left us.

So, we review this storyline, and we can take some time to meditate. The severity of God's judgment is at the pinnacle of this story. Question, does it bother you? Does it make you feel like it's just not fair? I mean, everybody's in neglect. I mean, we don't always hold to the exact standards that God wants us to.

And then we're reminded, but we're not judged. God is. What's more, we review the conflict of the story. We meditate on the sins that Hophni and Phinehas committed, the sins that Eli committed. And then finally, we meditate on that principle that God will not esteem those who will not esteem him.

So, if I'm taking away three things that devotion or the study that I'm going to take home and start meditating on, thinking through, I'm not thinking about, "And Samuel was a great boy." Like, that was just set up. I'm thinking about God's declaration of His, and the execution of His exacting and precise judgment.

I'm meditating on how I see sin. And I'm also meditating on how God, His glory is so profound. Like, if we take God's glory out of this, yeah, what the, like, the punishment does not fit the crime. This is called cruel and excessive, right? Like, there's terms for that.

But if we think about God's esteem, then we see sin in a different light. So, I want to give you the exhortation that after a narrative, you want to summarize the points that you drew a line from the plot, from the conflict, from the principle, etc., so that you know that your meditations and your applications are from the text.

Amen? Now, you're not taking a story and jumping to, "Oh, and that's why I can do it, too." Like, we don't want to make those kind of jumps, but we want to slow down and study. Let's take a moment to pray. As we pray, I'm going to read to you this verse because it was so profound for me as I was studying.

In Romans 11, it says that the people were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear. If God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either. Behold, then, the kindness and the severity of God. To those who fell severity, but to you, God's kindness.

If you continue in His kindness, otherwise, you also will be cut off. Let's pray. Lord, we hit such a serious and sobering part of Scripture. You are the great, glorious God, and you have every right to judge when the people where you have given so much, the people that you have granted a way of sacrifice, a way of living, a way to dwell with you, and yet they turn with such perversion, disregard, and disrespect.

We just want to confess, you have every right to judge. But thank you, God, that you are kind, you are faithful, and ultimately, you have made a way in Christ. We thank you for your patience with us. We thank you for your instruction to us. And I pray, God, that every time we study, we would glean much, and God, that our hearts would be restored.

It's in Christ's name. Amen. Okay. Well, please note that next week, we're going to be studying Book of Leviticus, chapter 16, verses 1 through 28. It's the law, okay? Please also read the short article of the role of the Holy Spirit in illumination. It's in the series of foundational bibliology, doctrines about the Bible that we have to hold on to, to hold a biblical view of its authority in our lives.

And then finally, here are your discussion questions, okay? So, please go ahead and just meditate on those three, or first is discuss any principles or questions you learned. But those three things that I mentioned about the plot and the revelation of God's judgment, the sins, right, the sins of Eli, the sins of the children, et cetera.

And then number four, thinking about God's esteem, how that affects the way that we view our decisions, and how we can really make application of it, okay? All right. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion.

Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion.

Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion.

Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion.

Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion. Hope you guys have a great discussion.