A Lesson in Humility

I learned a few hard lessons as a kid, but none quite so hard as when I became a parent myself and had to follow through on carrying out those hard lessons for my own kids. 

Actions, as we all know, have consequences, but it amazes me how often I allow myself to be talked out of consequences in an effort to spare the hearts of my kids -- even while knowing full well that my children need to be taught the lessons they will learn through those things. 

But see, here's something I learned today: there's a big difference between consequences for actions brought about by influences outside of ourselves... and those brought about as a result of our own choices. In the first instance, the only thing you are responsible for is how you react to the circumstances. In the second, you are responsible for the decisions you made that led to the creation of circumstances that hurt others.

And the second is far more insidious.

See, Eli the priest, in 1 Samuel 2:12-36, is a lax parent. He's apparently a large man who has grown large by eating too much food that is not good for him (I can totally identify; sugary, fatty, cheesy foods are my weakness and my downfall). Eli is the high priest, and should carry some semblance of respect with that line of work, but his sons are doing horrendous things that no one should do at all, especially not while they're fulfilling the role of priests who minister before the Lord. Eli has allowed his sons to become entitled brats, and they pay no attention to their father when he offers a weak effort to correct them.

Eli tells his sons in 1 Samuel 2:23-25: "'Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons, it is not a good report, that I heart spreading among the Lord's people. If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him, but if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?' His sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke, for it was the Lord's will to put them to death."

Ouch!

I hear myself telling my kids almost the exact. same. thing. Why are you acting that way? You're embarrassing yourself, and me, too, 'cause look, everybody's watching. 

But it's a limp rebuke, because -- and I recognize this -- I have placed too much emphasis on what people think and not enough on why the actions are wrong. There's no meat behind my words, because Eli, like me, looks at his sons and thinks, they should know better, and so, left to their own devices... they'll straighten up.

Mercy and grace, y'all, is a truly wonderful thing. It's a life-giving thing. It's awesome. It's the entire reason we have the hope of salvation. But throughout the Word, the Lord offers compassion, grace, mercy... in response to repentance. 

And Hophni and Phinehas, Eli's sons, aren't interested in repentance. 

Despite Eli's gentle rebuke, they keep right on doing what they're doing, which is quite a list of awful things. 

So in 1 Samuel 2:27-29, a prophet (not named) comes to see Eli. He says: "This is what the Lord says, 'Did I not clearly reveal myself to your father's house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh? I chose your father (Aaron; he doesn't mean the literal one-generation-removed father) out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My Presence. I also gave your father's house all the offerings made with fire by the Israelites. Why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for My dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?'"

Eli's got some holy obligations to fulfill, and while he ministers on a nominal basis, he is far from whole-heartedly engaging in this ministry. In other words, he's scratching the surface, but he is not carving trenches. 

And he's taking the best of the sacrifices and feeding them to himself. 

See, what would happen according to 1 Samuel 2:12-15 was that a priest and his servant was supposed to come to the sacrifice as it was being boiled, and the servant of the priest would take this three-pronged fork and stab it into the stew, and whatever came out on the end of the fork was the portion for the priest to eat. But what was happening instead was that the servant of the priest would come and demand the best portions of meat even before it was put into the stew for boiling. So there was never an opportunity for a poor portion of meat for the priest; they always demanded the richest and the fattest portions. 

1 Samuel 2:17 says: "This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord's sight, for they were treating the Lord's offering with contempt."

So we see Hophni and Phinehas doing this; they're evil, after all, according to Scriptures, and the rest of their actions underline this, but... Eli's doing it, too.

Anyway, back to the prophetic warning that Eli is receiving from the unnamed prophet. God takes away His favor from Eli's house and lineage. 

"'I promised that your house and your father's house would minister before me forever.' But now the Lord declares: "Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained'" (1 Samuel 2:30).

He goes on to tell Eli that -- essentially, Hophni and Phinehas will both die on the same day, and that Eli will live the rest of his life in sorrow and despair, because any descendants will be unblessed. "Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life" (1 Samuel 2:33).

Ouch!

And then, to cut just a little deeper, the prophet says: "I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest (Zadok initially fulfilled this position as he ministered during the time of David), who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before My anointed one always" (1 Samuel 2:35). So this faithful priest ministered before the kings of Israel, and ultimately ended this symbolic duty when the veil of the temple ripped in Jerusalem at the moment of Jesus' death on the cross. 

So... at the end of this passage, there's hope, but look, y'all, it's hope outside of the line of Eli.

Our hope does not come from ourselves.

I'm going to say that again.

Our hope does not come from ourselves.

Eli's hope, at least up until this point, was in his family line and the promise of his descendants who would serve before the Lord. 

And the Lord took it away; He took away Eli's supports, promises, securities... and He replaced them with the ultimate fulfillment of hope in the Messianic promise of Jesus as our High Priest. 

I have no idea what Eli's reaction to this message from the Lord was. The Bible doesn't say. But I can imagine that he would have been heartbroken. Perhaps he felt a little sorry for himself: Lord, I dedicated my life to serving you, and this is how you repay me?

A little bit of bitterness, maybe? A little hint of return snark? I don't know.

But I do know that actions have consequences, that when we act in our own best interests, we lose out on what the Lord wants to do in our lives. 

If you don't hear anything else from this passage, hear that. As Paul says in Philippians 2:3-4: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." In other words, it's fine to want to take care of yourself, but if you don't give equal or more time to others in need, then you've got a problem. In Romans 15:1, it says: "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves."

In this, Eli failed miserably. In this, I so often fail, too. 

May we always look outward, past our immediate circumstances, past our own natural urges to protect ourselves, provide for ourselves, put ourselves first. 

So that we don't miss out on the powerful work that God wants to do in our lives. So that we don't miss on out the ultimate fulfillment of the work of Christ on the cross in our lives.