Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 11-3-17

Serve Faithfully, Or Be Replaced
Numbers 25:10-13; 1 Samuel 2:30-36
It’s November. And the year will soon be over. This month’s lessons will be about how God’s people did or did not keep the covenant, how God planned to initiate a new covenant, how Jesus is the mediator of that new covenant, and how com- munion reminds us of that new covenant.
One thing we can count on: God keeps his word and acts in solidarity with his character.
Honoring God Leads To Vindication Numbers 25:10-13
The larger backdrop to this paragraph of vindication is Numbers 22-24. The leader of Moab was Balak. He was afraid of Israel’s advance on the land of Canaan. He secured the prophetic services of Balaam to curse Israel. His plan backfired as Balaam blessed Israel in- stead. But at some level Balaam caved in, and what he did was labeled an “error” in the New
Testament (Jude 11). God’s people acted unfaithfully to- ward their faithful God.
Spirituality and sexuality have always been related (Gen- esis 2:18-25), and it is no dif- ferent in our text. Israel was encamped at Shittim before crossing over the Jordan River. The Moabites seduced Israel to worship their god Baal. One Is- raelite man, in brazen defiance of the Ten Commandments, took a Moabite woman and was intimate with her “in the pres- ence of” his family, Moses, and the whole congregation of Israel (Numbers 25:1-6).
Phinehas, who was the grandson of Aaron, could stand no more. In holy anger he came right into their bed of defile- ment and stabbed the unholy couple through with his spear. As ugly as that act seemed, God regarded the bloodshed as atonement, stopped the plague at only 24,000, and vindicated Phinehas. This violent act turned away (averted or turned
back) God’s wrath. In this salvific act Phinehas made atonement (covered) for Israel (Numbers 25:7-9).
Bringing about forgiveness can be bloody business (He- brews 9:22). Phinehas’s zeal was for the honor of his God.
From this chapter and verses, it is clear from Phine- has’s story that some anger is proper and justified. But how can we know when our anger is appropriate and when it should be restrained? Ask yourself why are you angry; whose rights are being violated (mine or the other person’s); is the truth (a principle of God) being vio- lated? If only your rights are at stake, it may be wiser to keep your anger under control. But if the truth is at stake, anger is often justified. Violence and re- taliation are wrong, but in Phinehas’s unique case, he was angered by the sins against God.
God is jealous. There is a godly kind of jealousy, and Phinehas had it. The result of it was the plague being stopped, the people being forgiven, and Phinehas’ descendants enjoying peace and a perpetual priest- hood.
Dishonoring God Leads To Disdain 1 Samuel 2:30-36
Fast-forward a few hundred
years. Once again God’s honor was at stake, and God’s covenant was compromised. Is- rael now occupied most of the land of Canaan and had en- dured the era of the Judges. A new day was dawning as Samuel was being groomed to be God’s prophet. But there were problems in the parson- age. Eli had served as God’s high priest. His sons, Hophni and Phinehas (not as noble as his namesake mentioned ear- lier), were corrupt. Their sins of greed and immorality were identified in 1 Samuel 2:12- 17, 22-25.
An unnamed prophet came to Eli and reminded the old priest that his family was cho- sen, but sinful (1 Samuel 2:27-29).
God had promised that Eli and his family would serve God forever. God’s character is not on the line if he chooses to with- draw a seeming forever prom- ise. God withdrew his promise from Eli and his family because his household did not honor (a form of the word for “glorify”) God. In fact, Eli’s household “despised” God to the point that God disdained (cursed or did not esteem) it.
God is just, and he accounts for all sin. Eli’s sons had sinned by despising God, and Eli had
sinned by not correcting them and thus their sins. As religious leaders, they may have thought they would get away with it, or that God would ignore it, but God brought judgment.
If you are in a position of au- thority, don’t rationalize away God’s standards for right living. God expects leaders to lead fairly and to eliminate evil prac- tices. God will not overlook those who justify their own sin.
Six signs of God’s disdain for Eli’s house are mentioned: (1) Life will be shortened (men- tioned in some way at least four times in the text). (2) Distress will be witnessed. (3) Service will be cut off. (4) Sons will die on the same day. (5) A faithful priest will be raised up in con- trast to Eli. (6) Eli’s family will beg bread from the new priest’s (Zadok’s) family.
God is looking for faithful- ness. He doesn’t need us in order to get his work done, but he wants us faithfully to help him do it. Eli and his sons were not faithful, so God said he would choose someone else who was.
When God has given you a job —- in your family, church, community, or career —- do it faithfully, or God may find someone else to do it in your place.
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