The Dedication of Samuel

If you got your bible turn me to first samuel chapter one and first samuel chapter two as we look at the dedication of samuel This is a great passage of scripture as we begin to understand the importance of what it means To dedicate your children to the lord For those of you who know me and i've been a part of our church for a number of years Baby dedications are a big thing for me Uh, I I think that they're important.

I think there's biblical precedents for them based on the first samuel based on what happened with christ in Luke's gospel and I think that as we begin to understand what the bible says concerning Dedicating your children to the lord.

We begin to understand the implications of that, especially as we see it in comparison to samuel Who was dedicated to the lord? and hoffman and phineas Who are servants in the house of the lord yet live lives of immorality And so I think that as we study the scriptures tonight, we'll begin to understand some great things about Dedicating our children to the lord when we dedicate them to the lord. It does nothing necessarily for them Salvificly that is that are not saved because we dedicate them to the lord We do that simply because we are giving them back to the master For his ministry and his mission.

That's the purpose of a baby or child dedication We are we realize that Children are a gift from the lord And you know when we do our baby dedications, we we're going to have one on on this sunday and we're going to dedicate five kids this sunday, okay from one family And uh, we give them, you know, the little wooden arrows and we give them the flowers we give them the book We give them the letters, you know We kind of go all out if we if I could use those words to let them know the importance of this day and and what it means because When parents come and bring their children before the church They are they are asking The church to hold them accountable For the way they raise their children because they want to do it, right?

They want to serve the lord And and they make a public statement because they're saying to the lord lord. We want you to take our children We recognize that there are arrows In a man's quiver and our responsibility is to teach them diligently to sharpen them And I just pray father that you give us wisdom to do so And that's what baby dedications are all about And I I would trust that if you haven't dedicated your children to the lord that maybe you take the opportunity to do so Because I think it's of utmost importance that you make a public statement a public stand and that you are Telling the lord lord these children are yours We want you to take them And mold them and shape them And when you look at hannah's life This was a remarkable woman Because she only had samuel for just three maybe four years at most And that was it then she would visit him once a year And yet the impact that she had on her son's life in a brief moment Is a powerful testimony to prayer And To teaching your children at a very young age You know when she dedicated samuel to the lord It was when the land of israel was Entrenched in idolatry a lot like our country is we're entrenched in idolatry.

We we are living uh worshipers of ourself And it consumes not just those outside the church, but those inside the church We live lives of idol worship and the person we worship the most is our as ourself And so during a time of idol worship during a time when immorality was rampant In the country during a time when the priesthood in israel was corrupt There was one woman who was godly There were other ones probably but we know of one hannah And she was committed to the lord She was determined To change the course Of a nation of a generation She loved the lord She honored the lord Let me say this If you were to ask yourself Who Was hannah's counselor There was no one You'd think that she'd be married to a really strong godly man But elkanah was In the priesthood, but he just really wasn't a strong godly man He had married another woman just because hannah couldn't have any children So who would hannah go to for support stability strength security Could she rely upon her husband who would marry another woman?

Just to have children to carry on the family name Did she did she have another woman she could talk to that she could go to and say Hey pray with me pray for me in this situation Text gives us no one How about this? Could she go to her priest her pastor? No, because eli was corrupt His boys were corrupt Pray tell me who does hannah go to How does hannah know how to raise her son in the ways of god How does hannah know how to do it? without any books to read Any counselors to go to any pastor to go to and any friend to consult?

How does she do that It makes you wonder why it is we have such a hard time Unless we can go to our pastor or read a book or watch a dvd or or look up something on google to help us With raising our kids How did they do it? How did hannah do it? You know how she did it The same way the same two foundational principles anybody does it today And that's this the precepts of god's word and praying to god There is no other thing to do. That's it Those are the foundational elements to raising your children in the ways of god What does god say in his word those precepts and you follow them and you're going to see this in her prayer?

Because her prayer is based on the character and nature of god. How did she get to know god the way she did? And that would cause her to instill that character into the life of her son And She lived a life on her knees that's why in chapter one, there's a record of her prayer before The birth of samuel and then in chapter two, there's a record of her prayer after the birth of samuel Because the spirit of god wants you to know that this woman was a woman of prayer She was on her knees She was before the throne of god Her husband wasn't praying with her Although all you women out there who say well, I wish my husband prayed with me Elkin, I didn't pray with pray with her Well, I wish my pastor would pray with me priest didn't pray with her Oh, I wish there was a friend that could come along and pray with me She didn't have a friend that could pray with her.

She was on the knee on her knees praying beseeching the throne of god Based on what she knew the word of god said about who her god was So We threw out so many excuses as to why we can't do something We threw out all these excuses as to why my marriage is bad or why my marriage doesn't work or why my kids are This way or why my job this way or why my life just we threw out all these excuses asking Where was somebody to come along and help me hannah had nobody to help her except god And by the way, that's exactly where god wants you to be Because he doesn't want you dependent upon anybody else He wants you to depend upon him And praise be to the lord if you have a husband who prays with you A husband who loves you and serves alongside of you.

That's just a great thing But if you don't It's not the end of the world Look at hannah And look at the son that she was able to raise And look what god did through that young boy Hannah was a godly woman this is the story about samuel But you don't know samuel unless you know his mom If you know his mom, you know the boy Isn't that true today?

If you know the parents, you know the kids Why because the parents are just like the kids they are Like priests like people hosea tells us as goes the leader so go the people right You know whether I like it or not. My kids are just like me And they'd like to pick up my bad habits And I can see them in living color every day. My kids are like me My kids are like their mother. That's just the way it is samuel Was like his mother He would be a man of great prayer How did he learn all that stuff? From his mom Even though she had him three maybe four years at best those formidable years Then she gave him to the priesthood gave him to eli that was a risk huge risk Because he was corrupt and his boys His boys who lived lives of immorality Were boys who were that way because their father would not Restrain them.

I will look at that as we see the scripture this evening And so this passage of scripture speaks volumes to us And I would pray that you you would learn from this tonight understand it and realize No matter what has happened in your life in the past What happens tonight is all that matters And what happens tomorrow is all that matters Can't change the past but you can change the future About what you do with what you learn tonight Three things I want you to see Number one is the presentation of samuel to eli And the second thing I want you to see is a prayer of hannah to her god And then the third thing is simply How it is Samuel the practice of samuel Versus the pitfalls of hoffman and phineas Okay, three simple prayers.

We'll read each section as we go section number one It's in chapter 1 verse number 24 down through verse 28 says now when she that is hannah had weaned him She took him up with her With a three-year-old bull and one ephah flower and a jug of wine and brought him to the house of the of the lord in shiloh Although the child was young Then they slaughtered the bull And brought the board eli She said oh my lord as your soul lives my lord.

I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the lord For this boy, I prayed And the lord has given me my petition, which I asked him So I have also dedicated him to the lord as long as he lives He is dedicated to the lord and he that is Samuel worshipped the lord There This is the presentation of samuel To the lord as she would bring him to eli She had made a vow to the lord earlier in chapter one That if she would give him a boy She would give that boy to the lord She was a woman of her word She didn't renege on her word She realized that she had made a commitment She was going to follow through on that commitment and as much Of a blessing it was to have The boy that she'd asked for She knew That she had made a vow to the lord And she was going to give that boy back to him You know, there's an old african proverb which we would all say amen to which says the ruin of a nation begins in the home of its people the ruin of a nation begins In the homes Of its people and we would all say amen to that And then confucius comes along and says these words he says the strength of a nation is derived from the integrity of its homes And we again would say amen to that But the ironic thing about that is that eli also would have said amen to that Eli would have said you're right The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of his people eli would say that he was a religious man And there are a lot of people in the church today that would say amen to that But when it comes to living the principles out and making sure their home is a godly home They don't do it Hannah was one Who wanted to make sure?

that her home honored The lord even though the other wife of elkanah panina did not do that She wanted to make sure that her life was right with the lord and honor the lord And so she kept her word and brought her son And they would slay the the bullock and you know We told you last time that when they did that they would take the blood of the bull and they would put it on the right Thumb of the child and the right ear of the child and the right big toe of the child Why because as you committed him to the priesthood for the service of the lord, whatever he heard Whatever he would handle wherever he went Had to honor and glorify the lord And I wonder when eli was involved in the process What he was thinking About his right thumb his right ear and his right big toe And where he went and what he heard and how he lived his life when he was dedicating this young boy to the service of his master But they came and they did that because that's what Was before them that was their great charge.

She reminded eli that Remember three years ago. It was me who was here praying you thought I was drunk and eli probably didn't remember because Eli didn't remember much anyway And so he probably forgot all that she had said and all that she had done three years ago But she wanted to remind him of who she was in the commitment that she made And she said my son Is dedicated to the lord for as long as he lives Not not not for a week not for a month Not not for 10 years or 20 years for as long as he lives.

He is the lord's He's no longer mine. Can you imagine? as a mother asking the lord for a son Praying for years finally getting one Knowing that once he's weaned They're giving him back to the lord For as long as he lives Who knows when you'll see him again?

That's a big commitment Big dedication But she would have to trust the lord to do a great work in the life of her son And god did god fulfilled his word In her son's life And so She would take him and she would bring him to eli the bible says a child was young He was young Probably three maybe four but probably around the age of of three to show you that you know You never you never wait to train your children Never wait to teach your children There's a reason we give those little wooden arrows out when we dedicate a child and I know they're not perfect arrows I understand that you probably go to a store and buy something perfect.

But but what they are is is is symbolic of What it is we are to do Remember over in deuteronomy 6 verse number 7. It says that you are to teach your children diligently It's the hebrew word shanan, which means to sharpen them we know the psalm 137 4 says that that uh, Children are like arrows and blessed is the man whose creeper is full of them Well, the way you sharpen your children is to teach them diligently You teach in the the principles of scripture you teach in the precepts of scripture And you don't wait to teach them till they get older You begin As soon as they're born you begin when they're in the womb And and you as they come out of the womb you just keep teaching them.

You keep teaching them about christ You keep teaching them the words of god You'd be surprised at the things they learn We teach little babies to swim nowadays before they can walk or talk We can certainly teach them the principles and precepts of god's holy word and so She was committed to doing that She wanted to sharpen the arrow that god had given to her And she knew the cost would be great But the compensation she had no idea the bible says in first samuel chapter 2 these words Verse 21 the lord visited hannah.

She conceded and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Wow God gave her three more sons and two daughters And so you see this woman who who who was truly? Uh compensated because of her deep commitment to the lord and what god wanted to do in and through her so Certainly she would come She would sacrifice to the lord she would surrender her son to the lord and then she would sing praises to the lord and so you move from the presentation of samuel to the master to the The prayer of hannah to her god And this is a magnificent prayer Because it deals with exalting the worthiness of god And then exclaiming the works of god you can read about david's psalm in second samuel 22 Mary's magnificent in luke chapter 1 And they all three along with hannah's song in first samuel chapter 2 all Center around three main aspects number one deals with the ministry Of god, which is his mercy And then it deals with the victory of god over your enemies And the sovereignty of god over all life's events Three main themes that come from all three songs that magnify the name of god They're remarkable So let me read this through with you and look how she exalts the worthiness of god Then hannah prayed and said my heart exalts in the lord My horn is exalted in the lord My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation There is no one holy like the lord indeed There is no one besides you nor is there any rock like our god boasts no more So very proudly do not let arrogance come out of your mouth for the lord is a god of knowledge and with him Actions are weighed The bows of the mighty are shattered but the feeble gird on strength Those who were full hire themselves out for bread But those who are hungry cease to hunger even the baron gives birth to seven But she who has many children languishes the lord kills and makes alive He brings down the sheol and raises up the lord makes poor and rich.

He brings low. He also exalts He raises the poor from the dust He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobles that inherit a seat of honor For the pillars of the earth are the lord's and he sets the world on them He keeps the feet of his godly ones But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness for not by might shall a man prevail Those who contend with the lord will be shattered against them He will thunder in the heavens The lord will judge the ends of the earth and he will give strength to his king And he will exalt the horn of his anointed boy, there is so Much in this prayer of praise you would do well to sit back and study it for the next 30 days and tear it apart because there's so much here You will note There's nothing in the prayer and praise about her husband.

It's all about the lord It's all about god not about anything else And she lifts up the worthiness of god She talks about his his power his salvation. I rejoice in thy salvation, which is really unique because she's not just talking about the saving of her own Womb and having a child she's talking about the salvation of god as it pertains to the salvation of a nation and the people of god And so her prayers are not even so much about Her own barrenness, although she does mention that it's it's about the salvation of the lord Because at the end she talks about the coming of the messiah the anointed one the king of it.

How does she know all that? Where did she learn that stuff? You see there's so much about her you see she was able to pray effectively because she knew what the word of the lord said The effectiveness of your prayers depends on your knowledge of the word of god Because once you know God's word, you know god once you know god, you know how to pray to god If you don't know god, you're going to pray to god in all kinds of ways And usually they're wrong but if you know god Then you can pray to him in a way that honors and glorifies and magnifies his name And the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much or a woman availeth much And great things happen.

So she prayed and she exalted his power his salvation his holiness There's no one holy like the lord his uniqueness. There's no one besides thee his strength and stability He says nor is there any rock like our god? Notice I thank you lord that my husband is my rock Because he wasn't Ladies, let me tell you something.

Your husband's not your rock As much as you're wanting to be he's not God is your rock And once you begin to depend upon your husband over god you're in big trouble big big trouble You need to depend on god and god alone. He's your rock She sets the tone. He is my rock. He's my stability. He's my security He's the one I can run to he's the one I can hold on to because she couldn't hold on to elk enough He was weak at best He just wasn't the man that she needed to have although she was married to him and she was faithful to him God was her rock That's who she held on to And she would exemplify that In terms of his knowledge for the lord is a god of knowledge My god knows everything And you know what happens Look at the effects of this She received strength confidence joy humility and accountability She says my horn my strength is exalted in the lord A horn is representative of strength Because the horn is representative of the animal that uses his horns in battle She derived her strength from the lord.

She did not derive her strength from her husband But from the lord Now it doesn't mean your husband can't be a pebble Not a rock. I mean the pebble. Okay It doesn't mean your your husband can't be a support to you Doesn't mean your husband can't come alongside of you and and help you and nurture you because that's what the man is called to do But when he doesn't It's not the end of the world Because the lord god of israel is your strength He is your rock He is the one who gives you the strength And she would exclaim that and this she says my mouth speaks boldly against my enemies now.

She has confidence She's got confidence How does she derive that confidence from the lord And then it says I rejoice Here was a woman Who was given a child? Then she gives a child back to the lord and she's filled with joy knowing she's going to see him once a year That's it And she's going to make him some clothes and ephod and bring it up to him once a year But she rejoiced in the lord She didn't know god would give her more children. She had no idea She had no idea But her joy was in the lord Her joy was not in her child But in the lord her joy was not in her marriage it was in the lord Her joy was focused right, how about you you have joy tonight Give strength tonight give confidence tonight Do you have those things that hannah had Because she truly was devoted to her god She loved the lord And also speaks of her humility She says these words She goes uh Boast no more so very proudly do not let arrogance come out of your mouth for the lord is a god of Knowledge and with him actions are weighed.

She knows that she's accountable to god He weighs all actions. He knows everything and he knew about panina and how she would mock hannah because panina had oodles of children and hannah had none And yet god knew that And when you humble yourself in the sight of the lord he will exalt you in due time And she did And he did she humbled herself before the lord and he exalted her In the right time Just just a beautiful prayer And so you see how she exalts the worthiness of god and then she begins to exclaim the works of god She talks about in verse five those who are full Uh were full hire themselves out for bread But those who are hungry cease to hunger even the barren give birth to seven and she who has many children languishes The works of god when it comes to each person individually god cares And then then she talks about the lord kills and makes alive.

This is about the providence of god The lord kills and makes alive. He brings down the shield and raises up God's the one who kills god's the one who makes alive god's in charge. He makes poor and rich He brings low. He also exalts. He raises the poor from the dust. He lifts needy from the ashy He makes them sit with nobles inherited seat of honor for the pillars of the earth are the lord's and he set the world on them my god is providentially in charge of everything She came to understand all that And now you begin to realize What did samuel know?

He knew what mom knew Because she would invest it into her son She would make sure her son knew these things She wanted to know about the god she worshipped And now as she begins to to pray to god and to praise his name You begin to see her knowledge of god and how she uh would be able to invest that into the life of samuel What a beautiful beautiful Song of praise and then she goes on and talks about god's protection and care for their lives He keeps the feet of the godly ones, but the wicked ones are silenced in darkness for not By might shall a man prevail She recognized that god is the power and protection of her life Man doesn't prevail because he has might and strength and power It's god who causes a man to prevail and then she goes on to talk about those who contend with the lord will be shattered Against them.

He will thunder in the heavens. The lord will judge the ends of the earth and he will give strength to his king What king king messiah How did she know about the messiah and the messiah would be a king? And then she says and would exalt the horn of his anointed speaking of the messiah she had a well-versed knowledge of the messiah of israel the king of israel And so when she began to pray she would put her focus Eschatologically toward the end of the coming of the king Not knowing how her son would play a part in what?

anointing saul then anointing david and whose son Would sit on his throne forever and ever she had no idea but god Had worked in her heart And she was a woman who exalted the lord Ladies, this is a woman. You need to model your prayer life after This is a woman you need to model your Marriage after Because when your husband disappoints you which Unfortunately, we do that You don't have to be disappointed Because of what god has done and will do in and through you As you serve him and honor him What a great testimony So we move from the presentation of of of samuel to his man to the master From the prayer of hannah to her god to the practice and the performance Of samuel as he grows Versus the pitfall of hoffney and phineas This is a remarkable remarkable scene samuel is mentioned intermittently throughout chapter 2 Five times he's mentioned as a child And the hebrew word could refer to anyone up to the age of 15 But we know that when he begins he's very very young Okay But he begins to grow And so the five times that he's mentioned throughout chapter 2 and into chapter 3 verse number 1, okay You see him contrasted With hoffney and phineas and eli And the contrast is absolutely astounding Look what it says says in verse 11 Then elkanah went to his home at ramah, but the boy the child Ministered to the lord before eli the priest.

Isn't that great? Isn't that great, you know this verse tells me that we should have our children ministering in our services more Than we do we should have our children taking the offering we should have our children serving communion We should have our children handing out bulletins and greeting people at the door Samuel was only a child young boy But he's able to minister to eli the priest That's what he was there for To grow and to serve and that's what he did and whether he would fetch something for eli or whether he would uh, Cook, uh, not probably not cook meals but fetch food for him or water for him or whatever it is He was doing he was serving you like but knows what it says it says But the boy ministered to the lord before eli the priest Very important Because his service was to the lord you you can imagine how his mother taught him this Son now listen when you serve in the house of the lord You are serving the lord You're not necessarily serving eli you're serving the lord Like me your mother I am serving the lord I'm not necessarily serving your father or my husband but i'm serving the lord You see if you serve A person More so than you serve the king You want to stop serving But if your priority is to serve the king and in serving the king you're serving a person you can continue to serve for example, the bible says wives Submit yourselves to your husbands as unto the lord So your submission is not necessarily to your husband as much as it is to the lord You're serving the lord.

You're submitting to the lord. You're submitting to the commands of god and in so doing You are following your husband's leadership But you're serving and submitting to the lord. Why do women have a hard time submitting to their husbands? Because they don't want to submit to the lord That's why It's not the man. It's the master It's the god who made the command So Back and say if you knew my husband who wants to submit to that kind of leadership? You're not submitting to your husband. You're submitting as unto the lord and so here was here was hannah teaching samuel You're going to the house of the lord and you're going to serve the lord You're going to serve unto the lord and you're going to minister to eli in doing so Wow That's what he did What a great testimony And then if you read on a little further, uh, it says down in verse number, uh, 21, I believe it is it says Then the lord visited hannah and she conceded and gave birth to three sons and two daughters and the boy samuel grew before The lord that is this young boy is maturing spiritually not just physically But he is maturing spiritually before the lord He's beginning to grow He's becoming more dependent upon the lord Now think about this As he grows physically he is growing spiritually, but his mother's not there every day to hold him accountable She only comes up once a year The text tells us these words His mother verse 19 or verse 18 now samuel was ministering before the lord as a boy wearing a linen ephod which by the way priests would wear but because Samuel was training for the priesthood his priest eli Would allow him to wear an ephod and so his mother would make him one And his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice Wow, then eli would bless alkanon his wife and say may the lord give you children from this woman in place of the one She dedicated to the lord and they went to their own home and that's what exactly what the lord did But this young man was beginning to grow and then it says uh over in verse number 26 Now the boy samuel was growing in stature in favor both with the lord and with men.

Wow So now he's growing in stature, but not only is he going in favor with the lord he's also going in favor with men God is growing this young boy so that not only is the lord pleased with him, but everybody around him is pleased with him Wow Can you imagine that don't you wish that at four? Your children would be able to go out into the church to the house of god and serve and everybody would be enamored with His growth and they would just love him instead of Your kid running around causing havoc in the pews and havoc in the classroom and havoc in the church That's what that's the way samuel was He grew in favor with the lord It says in chapter three verse number one.

Now the boy samuel was ministering to the lord before Eli wow See that Three three years of a mother's investment Translates into what? a young boy who begins to grow In favor with god in favor with man A young boy who begins to grow in stature not just physically but spiritually A young boy who understands what it means to minister and serve the lord In the house of god what a remarkable remarkable influence Hannah devoted her life to this boy She would pray for him. I guarantee she prayed for him every day Like she did in chapter two in chapter one.

She would afford a throne of god every day anticipated that yearly Tread to the house of god to offer the yearly sacrifice Knowing she'd have a chance to embrace her son and see her son and watch her son but she prayed Don't ever underestimate the power of prayer in the life of your children but You contrast this with hoffman phineas because remember samuel's just mentioned periodically throughout chapter two The rest of the story is about eli and his boys So if you go back to first samuel chapter 2 it says in verse number 12 Now the sons of eli were worthless men and they did not know the lord.

Can you imagine that look at verse 11? The boy ministered to the lord before eli the priest. That's samuel verse 12. Now the sons of eli were worthless men They did not know the lord Why is anybody worthless their sons? Maybe your text says the sons of belial Okay It speaks of the fact that only Only those who know the lord are worthy Those who do not know the lord are worthless And they were worthless They know the lord You see men is created for what? the glory of the lord god's glory You don't give him glory You're worthless if you give him glory you're worthy And samuel would give god glory but these boys didn't know the lord therefore They were worthless because they were the sons of belial And that would be a phrase used later on in scripture talk about the sons of satan.

It is not true that if you don't know the lord You're in the satan's domain, right? You're a son of disobedience not a son of obedience And these were boys Serving in the house of god, and they did not know the lord. Can you imagine that? What was eli thinking? What was their father smoking what rock did eli just climb out from under His boys did not know the lord and yet he had them serving in the house of the lord Wow So you read on and the custom with the priest with the people When the man was offering a sacrifice a priest servant would come while the meat was boiling with the three-pronged fork in his hand And then he would thrust into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot All the fork brought up the priest would take for himself Thus they did in shiloh to all the israelites who came there also before they burned the fat The priest servants would come and say to the man who was sacrificing give the priest meat for roasting As he will not take boiled meat from you only raw The man said to him that they must surely burn the fat first and then take as much as You desire then he would say no But you shall give it to me now Yet if not I will take it by force Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the lord for the men despised or scorned the offering of the lord He didn't care They they were greedy for whatever it is.

They get their hands on They they would live a life of intimidation for those who would come and and worship before the lord Give it to me You don't give it to me. I'll deal with you. Give it to me now.

I'm the son of elah And and he would threaten them But yet They would cause all israel to sin read on it says in verse 22 Now eli was was very old And he heard all that his sons were doing to all israel And how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Wow What were the women doing they were serving in some capacity? And maybe they were watching the children of those who who came to worship her or maybe they were uh doing something to provide. Uh, Uh clean water for for purification who knows what they were doing, but but these boys were sleeping with these women it says He said to them.

Why do you do such things the evil things that I hear from all these people? Let me ask you a question How did eli not know What his boys were doing Why is he he had to hear from others?

What his boys were doing Talk about an absentee father How come he didn't know where was he wasn't he keeping account of his boys Didn't he know what they were doing where they were Didn't he enact a curfew curfew for them to be in a certain time And then an accounting as to what they did each and every day. Where were you? Who do you talk to who you spent time with today? What happened in the house of the lord today? Did you spend time with any women today? If you did who where when why how? What was he doing how come he wasn't asking those questions Why is it as parents we don't ask the crucial questions and just let things go by Eli says The things i'm hearing are not good It's not that he saw them or knew them First by first experience.

He heard them from other people. Listen, if you're hearing things from other people about your kid You're not touching your kid If you're hearing from others about your kid, you're not in touch with your kid, you're not watching Don't let somebody else tell you what's going on with the kid. You better know what's going on with your kid Because he let it know And it says No, my sons For the report is not good, which I hear the lord's people circulating. In other words, this is being circulated Around the nation around the people This is not a good thing If one man says against another god will mediate for him.

But if a man says against the lord who can intercede for him? But they would not listen to the voice of their father Wow No respect No respect They would not listen to the voice of their father. Listen, if your children do not listen to your voice you have lost all Influence and respect in the eyes of your child They didn't respect their dad They had no respect for their father they wouldn't listen to him They didn't care All right, just an old geezer. What's he know? What's he know? But you see there's a reason they didn't listen There's a reason i'm gonna tell to you in a minute.

So stay with me. All right There's a reason there's a reason your kids don't listen to you I'm gonna tell you in a minute because the bible tells us what But they didn't listen and so The lord desired to put them to death then verse 26 Now the boy samuel was growing in stature in favor of the lord and with men see he's contrasting here samuel again He's contrasting with eli with with hoppy and phineas. He's growing in wisdom and stature and hoppy and phineas are not Just not And the boy is growing in favor with the lord in that environment.

Wow What a testimony to a mother who praised for her son To do a great mighty work This is powerful stuff. And then so you read on it says then a man of god came to eli and said to him Thus says the lord Did I not indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in egypt and bondage and to pharaoh's house? Did I not choose them for all the tribes of israel to be my priest 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 Why do you kick at my sacrifice?

The word you is plural Why do you and your boys kick at my sacrifice that eli wasn't physically doing that? But the boys were but eli's included in the sin of his boys Because eli did nothing about the sin of his boys when you do nothing about the sin of your children You are included in their sin Why do you Why do you? Kick up my sacrifice and at my offering which I am commanded in my dwelling and honor your sons above me Why are you more concerned about your relationship with your boys than you are your relationship with me?

That's your problem That's your problem By making yourself fat with the choice of every offering of my people. It's real Therefore the lord god of israel declares I did indeed say that your house in the house of your father should walk before me forever But now the lord declares far be it from me for those who honor me I will honor and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed. You didn't honor me If you wanted me, I will honor you eli, but you didn't do that. You wanted your boys above me You were more concerned about being their friend Than being their father you were more concerned about being buddy buddy with your boys instead of disciplining your boys You are more concerned about the relationship you have with them than you are with me and when that happens Shame on you Shame on you That's just horrific but how many parents even in the church Are more concerned about being buddy buddy with their children and being the friends of their children Than being the parents of their children More concerned about the relationship they have with their kids Than the relationship they have with the living god How sad is that How sad is that?

I've told my children over the years I don't care if you ever see me as your friend. I'm not here to be your friend I'm your father That's it If I become your friend later down the road good if not i'm still gonna be your father Because that's what god designed me to be your father So i'm going to discipline you I'm going to develop you i'm gonna do what god's called me to do We end up being friends down the road great If not, I will always still be your father That's what god called me to be And so you read on and it says The old days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house that there will Not be an old man in your house You will see the distress of my dwelling in spite of all the good that I do in 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 your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grief and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of their life Everybody in your house is going to die in the prime of their lives This will be a sign to you which will come concerning your two sons hoffman and phineas on the same day both of them Are going to die And they did They did How tragic is that?

Here comes this man of god don't know who he is Doesn't give us his name Here comes the man of god And he prophesies He says man eli You blew it You blew it you had the opportunity you didn't do it Your boys are gonna die If you read on chapter 3 verse number 13 for i've told him that i'm about to judge his house forever for the iniquity Which he knew Because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not Rebuke them. There you go There's your answer He knew it He did not rebuke them What would have happened if eli the priest would have disciplined his boys Would have stoned his boys because they're immorality What kind of testimony would that have been?

Well, what kind of father stones his boys? Those who keep the law of god and honor the law of god That's what kind of father stoned their boys when they came in immorality because that was what would happen for those who did But he didn't honor the lord He didn't rebuke his boys The sins he knew he did not deal with How tragic is that? And all the while samuel keeps growing growing and growing serving serving and serving Because he had a mother a godly woman Who raised him who prayed for him? all the time And great things happened My friends listen We don't want to be like eli At least I hope you don't We don't want to raise hoffman's and phineas's I'm gonna raise samuels Right We're a samuels How do you do that?

By making sure they understand the principles and precepts of scripture from the very beginning And praying for them consistently and constantly Because those are the two mechanisms by which god gives us to raise our children in the power of the lord And may god give us the grace to do so and if you haven't done it yet start today It's never too late to start It's never too late to start right? Start today Go home sit your kids down and say okay Here's a story of hoffman and phineas and eli that ain't gonna happen here We're gonna turn all that around right now.

You're gonna be like samuel not hoffman and phineas Turn all around right now Tell your kids there's a new sheriff in town His name is jesus christ our lord and he's going to rule this house and we're going to do everything he says Let's pray father. Thank you lord for today and the opportunity we had to be in your word grow us in the likeness of your son I pray for every parent in this room every mom every dad would give him strength If they haven't begun to do so may they do it today it's never too late to start It's never too late to do the right thing It's always wrong to continue doing the wrong thing But lord may start today if they haven't already started And may they commit their lives to you their children to you May they bring them before the throne of god.

May they be like hannah and pray for them consistently with what the word of the lord says May they dedicate their children to the lord. May they begin by dedicating their lives to the lord And making sure their sons and their daughters know the truth of scripture Investing into them. May they be men and women of prayer When sin happens May they rebuke it. May they restrain it as eli did not do So that their children would know That their parents care enough to deal with the sin in their lives Eli didn't And that's why his boys did not listen to his voice They had no respect for a father who would not discipline them who would not rebuke them Who would not restrain them from the error of their way?

May we not be like that lord We pray in jesus name. Amen