Following on the heels of yesterday’s post, we see that the Lord saved a remnant of one from King Saul’s slaughter.
That person was Achimelech’s son Avyatar.
When Avyatar fled I doubt he had any idea that Scripture was being fulfilled right before his eyes.
What do I mean?
Well, let’s rewind the tape to the beginning of 1st Samuel.
Recall that God was greatly displeased with Eli, the High Priest at the time.
Let’s take a look at God’s own words when he chewed Eli out.
“This is what the Lord says:
‘Did I not clearly reveal myself
to your ancestor’s family when
they were in Egypt under Pharaoh?
I chose your ancestor out of all
the tribes of Israel to be my priest,
to go up to my altar, to burn incense,
and to wear an ephod in my presence.
I also gave your ancestor’s
family all the food offerings
presented by the Israelites.
Why do you scorn my sacrifice
and offering that I prescribed
for my dwelling? Why do you
honor your sons more than me
by fattening yourselves on the
choice parts of every offering
made by my people Israel?’”
-1 Samuel 2:27-29
Yikes!
The Lord was seriously ticked off!
But that’s not the worst of it.
Let’s take a look at the verses that follow, and pay close attention to the parts I bolded.
“Therefore the Lord,
the God of Israel, declares:
‘I promised that members of your family
would minister before me forever.’
But now the Lord declares:
‘Far be it from me!
Those who honor me I will honor,
but those who despise me will be disdained.
The time is coming when I will cut
short your strength and the strength
of your priestly house,
so that no one in it will reach old age,
and you will see distress in my dwelling.
Although good will be done to Israel,
no one in your family line
will ever reach old age.
Every one of you that I do not cut off
from serving at my altar I will spare
only to destroy your sight and
sap your strength, and all your
descendants will die in the prime
of life.”
-1 Samuel 2:30-33
Did you catch that?
God is telling Eli that his whole household of priests would be exterminated.
This prophecy was fulfilled when Do’eg the Edomite killed off the entire priesthood at Saul’s command.
I find it amazing how God uses the free will of other human beings to accomplish His Will.
But things don’t end there.
There’s another critical lesson we’d be remiss to overlook.
It’s contained in verse 30.
“Therefore the Lord,
the God of Israel, declares:
‘I promised that members of your family
would minister before me forever.’
But now the Lord declares:
‘Far be it from me!
Those who honor me I will honor,
but those who despise
me will be disdained.”
Did you catch that homie?
God says those who honor Him He will honor…
But those who hate Him will be put to shame.
Folks, this is bar none the NUMBER ONE REQUIREMENT to get God’s promised blessings in your life.
You must HONOR, TRUST, and OBEY the Lord…
Or you will be cut off.
When your trust in God falters, so do the blessings that come with that trust.
Here’s the thing.
Eli’s family never stopped BELIEVING in Adonai, the God of Israel.
They believed in God…
But the issue was they mixed the ways of the world with their belief in God.
Their problem was religious syncretism homies.
It was their combining of manmade traditions and pagan practices together with their worship of God that was counted as NOT trusting the Lord.
How much will God tolerate mixing the ways of the world with the commands of Scripture?
No one knows for sure where those boundaries of toleration have been drawn.
But one thing for sure is, when those boundaries are crossed, God will act.
Eli, as the High Priest of Israel, should have known better.
God even said to Eli…
“I chose your ancestor out of all
the tribes of Israel to be my priest,
to go up to my altar, to burn incense,
and to wear an ephod in my presence.
I also gave your ancestor’s
family all the food offerings
presented by the Israelites.”
Eli abused the privileges given to him.
And now his descendants paid the price by being slaughtered by King Saul.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“So you will say,
‘Branches were broken off
so that I might be grafted in.’
True, but so what?
They were broken off
because of their lack of trust.
However, you keep your place
only because of your trust.
So don’t be arrogant;
on the contrary,
be terrified!”
-Romans 11:19-20
“For I tell you truly,
until heaven and earth pass away,
not a single jot,
not a stroke of a pen,
will disappear from the Law
until everything is accomplished.”
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