I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
This passage tells us that Eli was very old, but nevertheless, he was aware of his sons sins. He spoke with his sons and reprimanded them for their evil actions, but took no effort to discipline them for it. The passage tells us that Eli’s sons failed to respond to Eli’s reprimand because God was already planning to put them to death. From this passage we learn that if we continue to sin, God will no longer offer us the opportunity to repent and change our ways. I believe there is a simple way to tell if there is still time to repent. That is if you feel an impulse to turn away from your sin, there is still time to do so. Once God has decided to bring about your end because of your sin, you will no longer have any thought whatsoever of ceasing your sinning.
First, God tells Eli what He will do to his family, then He sends a message to Samuel about what it to come. When God calls out to Samuel, Samuel believes that it is Eli and goes to him. We learn from this passage that, although his sons were very sinful, Eli still respects and honors God (even though he fails to follow God’s commands and discipline his sons). Eli tells Samuel that it is God calling him and instructs Samuel in how to reply. In the morning when Samuel rises, he is afraid to tell Eli the message that God has given to him because it is such a judgement on Eli’s family. Eli insists that Samuel tell him what God had said. When Eli hears the message, Eli accepts it with an attitude of submission to God.
We then have the story of the end of Eli’s sons and of Eli’s death. The Israelites go into battle against the Philistines and are defeated. They ask why God allowed them to be defeated by the Philistines. Rather than answer that question, they attempt to force God’s hand by bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the battle. God refuses to be coerced and once again the Israelites are defeated, but this time the Ark is captured by the Philistines and Eli’s sons are killed. When word of the capture of the Ark is brought to Eli, he falls out of his chair and dies. The children of Israel lost the Ark of the Covenant here because they attempted to force God to act according to their will rather than they acting according to God’s will.
Here Jesus speaks of the judgement that is to come on both the living and the dead. That those who have chosen to accept God’s forgiveness and live according to God’s will will rise from death and be granted eternal life, but those who continued in evil will receive judgement. He goes on to speak of those sources of testimony about Him. He tells the Jewish leaders that John the Baptist testified of Him, that they initially were excited by John. He implies that they lost interest in John the Baptist when they found they could not turn his preaching to serve their ends. Jesus goes on to tell them that their scripture tells of Him, but that they, nevertheless refuse to accept His teachings. He tells them that even Moses, who is the basis for their hopes, testifies to His coming. Yet, they will not believe even that. We must not make the same mistake that they made, which was to twist the scripture to say what they wanted to hear rather than to learn God’s will from it.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord?
Who can ever praise him enough?
There is joy for those who deal justly with others
and always do what is right.
This snippet from today’s psalm contains so much truth. God’s love is faithful and it endures forever. There is no possible way that anyone could list all of God’s miracles and I do not have it within me to praise Him anywhere close to what He deserves. I have experienced the joy of doing what is right…and the loss of joy from not doing what is right. After saying this, the psalmist goes on to say:
We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!
How true this is. I know of God’s greatness and the wonders He has performed. Yet, I still sin. I, once more, cry out to God for forgiveness and ask Him to help me to grow, learn to do His will and sin no more. I live in shame and regret that I have sinned in the past, but my greatest shame is the knowledge that I shall sin again.
jealousy is like cancer in the bones.
We have a tendency to view this proverb as symbolic. This is a mistake, because while there is truth to the symbolism we give this, modern medical science is discovering that it is, also, literally true. Those who have a peaceful heart are healthier than those who are constantly worrying and fretting, while those who harbor jealousy suffer from many variations of ill-health.