The Two Sides of Leadership

1 Samuel 2:1-36

We start out with Hannah rejoicing as she leaves her miracle baby Samuel to serve God at the Tabernacle.

1 ? 10

This is called Hannah?s Song. Doesn?t it remind you of Mary?s song in Luke 1?

Luke 1:46-55

\"My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring forever.\" ESV

It comes from two mothers who have children miraculously, whose children will change the course of history and are dedicated to a special purpose for the Lord. Look at that last verse: ?he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed.? This child will anoint a king: David, who is the forebear of THE KING, the ?anointed?: Jesus Christ.

As a mom I?m not sure I would be singing God?s praises here. Sure, He gave Hannah a child, but now she?s got to make good on her promise and release the boy to the Lord. I think by singing this song she is seeing the bigger perspective here, and understanding how by letting this child go he can fit into God?s bigger plan.

I think that?s an important principal for us all?both as parents but also as servants of God. As parents we should train up our children, but then let them go to find what God has for them?releasing our responsibility over them both for good and for evil if that?s what they choose. We?re going to see a parent whose children chose evil here in just a moment. But I think for us as Christians it is important that those things we birth through agony, those things that are so important to us, we need to at times let them go to the greater plans the Lord has. Occasionally we become hindrances, not helps to God when we hold on to things too tightly.

As it turns out, Hannah?s song is as much praise for God reaching down and helping her in her humble state as it is an indictment against a corrupt priesthood into which she is sending her son.

11 - 12

So Samuel?s parents go home. And I want us to compare this verse with the next. Samuel ?ministers? ? it means that he is a menial servant?a humble servant. He does it ?to the Lord? as Eli oversees Him. I think there is a strong suggestion that Samuel was deeply devoted to the Lord.

I say this to contrast with Eli?s two sons, who are in the same job in the same place under the same man?yet with two very different relationships with God.

The ESV says they were ?worthless men.? The actual Hebrew says they were ?sons of Belial? which was a euphemism for being worthless. It comes from two words that mean ?without worth.? By the time of the New Testament this became a name for Satan (1 Corinthians 6:15).

More importantly was that they did not know the Lord. How could this be? How could priests of God not even know Him? Actually this was very much the case. Israel had had over 410 years to walk away from Yahweh. As we?ll see, these boys treat service to the Lord as their own personal power trip.

13 ? 17

There is not much worse to the Lord than a pretender. All through Scripture the Lord condemns the men who are supposed to the serve the people but actually serve only themselves, while wearing the garb of authority.

Here are some examples:

Isaiah 56:11-12 The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.

12 \"Come,\" they say, \"let me get wine; let us fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be like this day, great beyond measure.\"

Jeremiah 2:8 The priests did not say, \'Where is the Lord?\' Those who handle the law did not know me; ESV

Ezekiel 34:1-3 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 \"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.

It?s almost like turning over the bridge of a battleship to a bunch of young kids. They put on the funny hats, push random buttons and figure out that they can steer the ship (though it might crash) and can launch missiles (but not at the enemy). Or it would be like turning over a hospital to a bunch of drug dealers. They can dress up as doctors but they are interested in only one thing: using what is at their disposal to make as much money while ignoring the suffering that is around them.

So what?s the big deal here? Several things: Leviticus 7:31 allows for Aaron and his sons to have a portion of the sacrifice, but after the fat is burned. Eli?s sons wanted the best parts for themselves, they wanted it cooked the way they wanted (roasted instead of boiled), they wanted the fat portions God specifically said were to be burned, and they caused the people to not fulfill the sacrifice and ruled over them with force instead of love.

Essentially they had contempt for the Lord, treating his sacrifices as their own personal supermarket. It was wrong on so many levels: disobedience to the Word of God, disregard for the symbols those sacrifices stood for, standing in the way of people trying to worship, not reflecting the character of the Lord and actually sinning (thou shall not steal). In fact, these boys violated multiple commandments (no god?s before Me, love neighbor as self, stealing, neighbor?s wife, coveting, misusing the name of the Lord, honoring father and mother, adultery)

May I say that leaders have a great responsibility to shepherd the people.

James 3:1-2 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

As we?ll see in a couple of chapters, Eli?s sons treated the Lord as if He were no more than the same superstitious gods that had infected the people. Not so at all with Samuel:

18 ? 21

Even while Hophni and Phinehas seemed to be getting away with their evil, God was preparing someone to replace them. Even as Jeremiah would later prophecy:

Jeremiah 3:15 \'And I will give you shepherds after my own heart,

It?s interesting because it would become Samuel?s job later on to replace a man who became king but was after self fulfillment, Saul, with a man who was literally after God?s own heart: David.

Hophni and Phinehas are serving themselves, Samuel is serving the Lord. The picture here is of a sweet little boy wearing his mom?s homemade coat that had to be a little bigger each year. Don?t underestimate the power of God in a humble garb. Hophni and Phinehas may have had the appearance of position and power, but it is with humble service that the Lord moves.

It seems as if Eli knows what?s going on, as if he is longing to identify with Hannah and her family, knowing his own is horribly corrupt.

22 ? 26

These boys are really really bad. Here they are engaging in ritual prostitution ? something practiced by the other gods in the land but prohibited by Yahweh. Exodus 38:8 talks about women who would come and minister at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. This order of ministering women lasted until the Temple was destroyed in 70AD. Anna in Luke 2 may have been a part of it. Perhaps they helped with the cleaning of the utensils and other duties around the many sacrifices.

But here they are innocently coming to serve God and being forced by authority figures into sexual promiscuity. For this, God will put them to death. I think the warning is a good one for all who are in a spiritual place of authority. To take advantage of the weak and innocent is something God takes very very seriously.

And notice Eli?s anemic response. He had lost authority in his son?s lives long ago.

Verse 26 reminds me of Luke 2:40 where Jesus grew physically, but also spiritually strong.

27 ? 36

What a rebuke! Verse 29 could read ?why then do you kick at my sacrifices.? It?s like the Lord is some stone to be kicked off the path. Look how he says ?you honor your sons above me.? It was more important that Eli have a relationship with his sons than to obey and honor God. We must never put our children above the Lord. We need to rebuke them when necessary, but always with the love of the Lord.

God says ?if you treat my relationship with you so lightly, then I?ll just do the same.? Not having an old man meant here that both Hophni and Phinehas would die, and only Eli would be left to cry his eyes out when he learns that they die on the same day, when in chapters 4 and 5 they send the Ark of the Covenant into battle, it is captured, the sons are killed, and when Eli finds out he falls over the dies.

So God will raise up a new priestly line. The only descendant of Eli left would be Abiathar, who was removed from the priesthood in 1 Kings 2:26. He was replaced by Zadok and his descendants, who ministered before David, Solomon, and their sons. In the end, not even the smallest benefit of the priesthood would be offered Eli?s descendants.

Conclusions

The heart of the Law was to love God 1^st and others on the same level as yourself. Hophni and Phinehas did neither.

You can know a lot about a person?s relationship with God by the way they treat others.

What matters is not how you look but how you act, and its starts with a relationship with God.

Great leaders come in humble trappings

While Hophni and Phinehas were busy at the meat counter Samuel was worshipping before the Lord.