“The cohen’s servant would actually come before the fat had burned to smoke and say to the man who was sacrificing, ‘Give the cohen meat he can roast; because he doesn’t want your meat stewed, but raw.’ If the man answered, ‘First let the fat burn to smoke, then take as much as you want,’ he would say, ‘No, give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.’ The sin of these young men was very serious in Adonai’s view, because they treated offerings made to Adonai with contempt.“-1 Samuel 2:15-17
In verse 15, we’re given another example of how Eli’s sons abused their positions as God’s representatives on earth.
And yes, contrary to popular misunderstanding, this is a DIFFERENT example than the one that came before it.
What these rascals did was they took the fat portion of the worshippers’ food while it was still in its raw state and roasted it up to create a tasty meal for themselves.
This was a big NO-NO.
Because the Torah says the fat must be completely burned up on the altar first before the priests or the worshippers could partake of it.
And not only that, the fat of the meat is the best portion of the sacrifice.
Eli’s 2 sons were too impatient and greedy to follow proper protocol…
And even when a worshipper protested, he was told ‘No, give us the fat of the meat now, or we’ll take it by force’.
When the scripture calls Eli’s 2 sons scoundrels, boy it ain’t kidding.
These were gangsters in priests’ robes.
It was bad enough that they mistreated those who they were supposed to serve…
But they were trampling on God’s Holy property…
They were robbing God of what belonged to Him not to mention abusing the holy rituals.
This is what the Scripture means when it says “The sin of these young men was very serious in Adonai’s view”.
It’s referring to what the Torah labels as high-handed intentional sins…
Sins for which there was no atonement available.
What made their sin particularly shocking was their complete disrespect for the offerings the worshippers brought.
In some cases, the people had traveled great distances to bring their sacrifices to God.
And what did they get for their sincere efforts?
They were abused by the very men who were supposed to be God’s anointed representatives on planet earth…
And why, simply because Eli’s selfish sons could enjoy their own little food festival.
This had apparently been going on for a long time…
Where in the world was God’s justice in this situation?
Well, that’s what we’re gonna be getting into over the next couple of days…
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