ARK

 ”Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.“ ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭6‬:‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

”And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.“ Genesis‬ ‭6‬:‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

”Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.“ Genesis‬ ‭7‬:‭17‬-‭23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We recently drove to Kentucky to the Ark Encounter and when you see it built to the scale of the dimensions as stated in the Bible, it’s huge! But it’s actually a museum made to look like the ark. When you take it all in and the wonder of it all, the biblically minded understand that another day is coming when Jesus returns a second time to destroy all of the flesh on the earth that rejected Gods path to salvation.

”And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.“ ‭‭Luke‬ ‭17‬:‭26‬-‭30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

If the Son of Man returned today, will you be protected as a child of God (like Noah and his family were in the ark) or like the remainder of the flesh on the earth?

Blessings 

1 Samuel 2:34-36 Now this shall be a sign to you!

 ”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. 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. 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.” I Samuel‬ ‭2‬:‭34‬-‭36‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Samuel?

a. Now this shall be a sign to you: Since the fulfillment of the judgment would be many years away (in the days of Solomon), God gave Eli an immediate sign to demonstrate His truthfulness. Eli’s sons will die in one day; Eli will see this and know the judgment of God has come against his house.

b. Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest: Who is the faithful priest predicted here? He was a great priest, because he did according to what is in [God’s] heart and in [God’s] mind. He was a blessed priest because God said of him, I will build him a sure house, and he will walk before My anointed forever.

· This promise was partially fulfilled in Samuel because he functioned as a godly priest, effectively replacing the ungodly sons of Eli.

· The promise was partially fulfilled in Zadok, in the days of Solomon, because he replaced Eli’s family line in the priesthood.

· The promise was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ because He is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:12-17).

c. Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver: This is a fitting judgment since much of the sin of Eli’s sons was greed and stealing from God’s people. Instead of receiving the priestly portions that were rightfully theirs, Eli’s family would one day be reduced to begging. (Guzik)

“Now this shall be a sign to you”

Notice how the Lord gives a prediction! We might ask, why? I believe it’s to give us a chance to repent! Our sign may be our conscience or admonishment from a brother or sister in Christ.

When king David was confronted with his sins he repented on the spot and said, I have sinned against the Lord.

Let this be a lesson for us, when we catch ourselves sinning, repent immediately!

Don’t wait, because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

Blessings 

1 Samuel 2:27-33 A Man of God!

 ”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? 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? 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?’ 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. 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. 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. 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.“ ‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭2‬:‭27‬-‭33‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Then a man of God: We don’t know who this was; this man of God is one of the wonderful anonymous characters of the Bible. But it doesn’t matter who he was. He was a man of God, and God raised him up to speak to Eli and Eli’s whole family at this important time.

b. Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father: The father referred to is Aaron, who was the first high priest. Since the high priesthood was a hereditary office, Eli was a descendant of Aaron, whom God had revealed Himself to.

c. 1 Samuel 2:28 is a wonderful summary of some of the duties of the priesthood in Israel.

· To be My priest: First and foremost, the job of the high priest was to minister to the LORD. Before he served the people, he was a servant of God. He was not first the people’s priest, he was first the priest of God.

· To offer upon My altar: The priest brought sacrifices for atonement and worship.

· To burn incense: Burning incense was a picture of prayer because the smoke and the scent of the incense ascends up to the heavens. The priest was to lead the nation in prayer, and to pray for the nation.

· To wear an ephod before Me: The priest was clothed in specific garments, for glory and for beauty(Exodus 28:2). He was to represent the majesty, dignity, glory, and beauty of God to the people.

· All the offerings: The priest was also charged with the responsibility to receive the offerings of God’s people and to make good use of them.

d. Why do you kick at My sacrifice: It would have been easy for Eli to say, “I’m not doing it! My sons are!” But Eli had a double accountability for his sons, both as a father (though this was diminished because the sons were adults), and as the high priest. His sons “worked” for him as priests, and Eli was a bad “boss.”

e. And honor your sons more than Me: Since Eli did not correct his sons the way he should, he essentially preferred them to the LORD. If Eli were more afraid of offending God and less afraid of offending his sons he would have corrected them as he should have.

i. Eric Liddell was one of Britain’s great athletes, and later he gave his life for Jesus on the mission field. In 1924 he was to run for Britain in the Olympics when it was discovered that the preliminary heats of his best event – the 100 meters – would be run on a Sunday. Quietly but firmly, Liddell refused to run. The day of the 400 meters race came, and as Liddell went to the starting blocks, an unknown man slipped a piece of paper in his hand with a quotation from 1 Samuel 2:30: Those who honor Me I will honor. That day Eric Liddell set a world’s record in the 400 meters.

f. I will cut off your arm: Not literally, but since the arm was a picture of strength and might in Hebrew thinking (Psalms 10:15, 77:15, and 89:10), this said the house of Eli would be left powerless and without strength.

g. “I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.” But now the LORD says: God promised that the priestly line would not stay with Eli and his descendants but would pass to another line of descendants from Aaron. This was fulfilled many years later, in Solomon’s day. Abiathar (from Eli’s family) was deposed as high priest and replaced with Zadok (who was from another family).

i. 1 Kings 2:27 reads, So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, that he might fulfill the word of the LORD which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.

ii. “I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.” But now the LORD says: This was a promise to Aaron in passages like Exodus 29:9. God did not remove the priesthood from the line of Aaron, but He did remove it from the line of Eli.

h. There shall not be an old man in your house forever…. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age: This idea is repeated twice in these few verses. God wanted to emphasize that He would not bless the descendants of Eli with a long life.

i. Shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart: The descendants of Eli who did live a little longer would not live blessed lives. Their end would be painful to see. (Guzik)

A Man of God!

We don’t know who he was but we know he was sent from God.

There was a time in my marriage that we were in a very rough spot and I had given it before the Lord at the foot of the cross. I said, I can’t fix this and only You can. Afterwards I had gone to church by myself and after service a man that I didn’t know and haven’t seen before came up to me and said, that he had a message for me from the Lord. He said the Lord sees my sorrow and that He would restore my marriage. 😳

Pastor Robert has always said if someone claims they have a message for you from the Lord, you will know that it was true if it comes to fruition and if doesn’t, it wasn’t from the Lord.

Was he a man of God?

I believe he was!

Blessings 

1 Samuel 2:23-26 Such Things

 ”So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress. If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them. And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the Lord and men.“

‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭2‬:‭23‬-‭26‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Why do you do such things? It is an understandable question, but a needless one. It doesn’t matter why because there could be no good reason. They can’t excuse their sin; they had to be responsible for it instead.

i. Eli did about the worst thing a parent can do in trying to correct their children: just talk. All he did was whine about what they did wrong, but he never took the necessary actions to correct the problem. Parents would be better off to yell less, lecture less, and to take sensible action more often, letting the children see the consequences for their disobedience.

ii. Writing from the 17th century, John Trapp advises Eli on what he should have said: “Draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore…ye degenerate brood and sons of Belial, and not of Eli; ye brats of fathomless perdition…. It is stark stinking naught that I hear, and woe is me that I yet live to hear it; it had been better that I had died long since, or that you had been buried alive, than thus to live and stink above the ground.” 😳

b. You make the LORD’s people to transgress: Again, this was the great sin of Eli’s sons. It was bad enough that they stole and indulged their own lusts, but they also, by their corrupt behavior, made people hate worshiping God with their offerings at the tabernacle (1 Samuel 2:17), and they led women worshippers into sexual immorality.

c. If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him? Fortunately, 1 John 2:1 answers Eli’s question: And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. We thank God that there is someone to intercede for us when we sin against the LORD.

d. Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the LORD desired to kill them: This striking statement may seem unfair to some. They picture Eli’s sons wanting to repent and listen to their father, but God prevented them. This is not the case at all. God judged Eli’s sons this way: He gave them exactly what they wanted. They did not want to repent, and God did not work repentance in their hearts.

i. God saw they were corrupt men and wanted to judge them. When the LORD desired to kill them, it simply meant that God desired that Eli’s sons be brought to justice.

e. And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the LORD and men: What a contrast to the wickedness of Eli’s sons! This shows that although Eli was far from a perfect father, he was not a chronically bad father, because he essentially fathered Samuel and he grew up to be a godly man. (Guzik)

John Trapp didn’t pull any punches in his commentary and Jesus won’t either because the bible is clear. 

In the second coming of Jesus, He returns as a conquering King and it won’t be any different than the judgement of Eli’s sons.

”Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.“ ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭19‬:‭11‬-‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

https://www.gotquestions.org/second-coming-Jesus-Christ.html

Eli’s sons should have repented and if you are reading this you still have time to repent for any sins that you may have committed.

Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive me for all of my sins and thank You for my Advocate, Jesus! In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, amen.

Blessings 

1 Samuel 2:22 Very Old

 ”Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.“ I Samuel‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Now Eli was very old: This passage is not focused on Eli’s sons as much as it is on Eli himself. He was old and in no condition to lead Israel as high priest. He heard everything his sons did but Eli only rebuked them about it.

b. They lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting: This means the sons of Eli were committing sexual immorality with the women who came to worship at the tabernacle. This was an ancient version of the modern sex scandals among pastors or preachers.

i. It is possible that the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle were in some way workers at the house of the LORD. Exodus 38:8 refers to the serving women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. (Guzik)

Very Old

Statically, one out of one person dies! There are times I feel very old and one of them is doing my springtime gathering of firewood. Cutting down dying trees, they usually get hung up in other trees, cutting into 18” long rounds, hauling out of the woods with the tractor and dumping in a pile by the woodshed. Then comes splitting with the gasoline splitter and then stacking in the woodshed. 😥 

I definitely feel very old after a day of firewood exercise! 

But it gives me time to reflect on my years and my relationship with Jesus! 

If we are lucky enough to reach a ripe old age we will watch the world go by at fast pace and wonder where did time go? But Jesus gives us a hope that others don’t have. It’s our job with the help of the Holy Spirit to help them find the Way!

Have you found the Way?

Blessings 

1 Samuel 2:18-21 God Raises Up Someone!

”But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod. Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the Lord.” Then they would go to their own home. And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the Lord.“

‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭2‬:‭18‬-‭21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. But Samuel: As bad as Eli’s sons were, Samuel was different. We can say that this is why God raised up Samuel, because of the corruption of Eli’s sons. God knew how bad Eli’s sons were, so He guided the whole series of events that resulted in Samuel’s service at the tabernacle. If Eli’s sons were not worthy successors, then God would raise up someone else.

i. Ultimately, corrupt ministers do not stop – or even hinder – the work of God. It may look like it, but every time there are men like Eli’s sons, God raises up someone like Samuel. God’s work does not stop when God’s ministers become corrupt.

b. Wearing a linen ephod: Even as a child Samuel distinguished himself in his service to the LORD. His service was exceptional enough that he received a linen ephod, a priestly garment (Exodus 39:27-29).

i. What did Samuel do? “He did small charges, as setting up lights, laying up vestments, learning music, or the like.” (Trapp)

c. Even as a child: Though a child, Samuel served the LORD better and in a greater way than the sons of Eli did. What man looks at in the service of God is often not what the LORD looks at.

d. His mother used to make him a little robe: Only someone who was really there would describe such a small detail. Though Hannah gave her little boy to the LORD, she never stopped loving him.

e. The LORD visited Hannah: He certainly did – three more sons, and two daughters. God will never be a debtor to anyone. Hannah could never say to the LORD, “I gave you my son, but what did you give me?” because God gave her much more in return.

(Guzik)

God raises up someone!

About a year ago our church counselor announced he was retiring. He performed counseling services for anyone that needed them and he led a weekly 12 step program. The problem was that there wasn’t a plan for a replacement 12 step program. We searched our area for one and there wasn’t any available.

We thought about volunteering using the Life Recovery Bible but were reluctant and felt unworthy. 

But God had plans and raised us up to lead it. Our church approved the program and while asking one of the tech guys about using my laptop for worship and the 12 step videos he suggested using the iMac, projector and sound system in the chapel. 

The program has been a success and the Holy Spirit has been moving people from where they are to where God wants them to be.

Gods work does not stop and God raises up someone for His purposes.

Is there a need in your church? Pray about it, take it to your church leadership and maybe Gods will raise up someone!

But be forewarned, a godly pastor might say, that sounds like a great idea! When can you start?

Blessings