I love passages of scripture that sound like they were put
into the Bible by God specifically to help get teachers excited about teaching. A single verse, or small section that packs a big theological (stuff about God) punch can be really exciting to teach from. You feel like there's so much packed into a small area that you almost don't know where to start.
There are some chunks of the Bible that are kind of "go
to" sections known for being excellent for teaching, and training, etc. In
fact, 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that "All scripture is God-breathed and
useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."
I believe him, but I have to admit that I still struggle to see the usefulness
in teaching the 20 generation chronology of "who begat who" of the
people of Seir in Edom. See! Your eyes glazed over after reading one sentence.
I'm sure the value's there, but it's not what I would call a theological go to "chunk" of Scripture.
I discovered a new favorite "chunk" the other
day. 1 Samuel 2:25 is the heart of the passage. I tend to fall into
the mindset of using OT books like 1st Samuel more for their cultural and
historical value, not for their teaching on God. But this is my shortcoming
because there are great insights about God to be gained from these history
books. I feel like this passage really allows people to understand our
relationship with God, through Christ, more clearly. However, there's nothing
worse than trying to understand Scripture out of context, so I'll try to set
the scene a bit for you:
The Israelites have been basically ignoring God for a good
period of time at this point. Many people have forgotten who God is
entirely, and those who are still serving God are often corrupt. Eli is a
priest serving God at Shiloh. His two kids, Hophni and Phinehas, are also
priests serving there with him. Eli seems to be a pretty good priest, except
he's done an awful job rearing and training his kids to be priests. They are
sleazebags who are sleeping with the women who come to the temple, taking for
themselves the sacrifices meant for God, and generally demonstrating a huge
disrespect towards God and his place of worship.
So Eli confronts his sons based on the terrible reports he's
hearing about them. Enter 1 Samuel 2:25. "If one person sins against
another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord,
who will intercede for them?" Unbeknownst to Eli, he has just offered
us in one sentence one of the most concise explanations for why Christ came to
Earth.
Eli needed his sons to understand that they had not simply
sinned against another person, they had sinned against God. In their
broadest since, all sins are against God. However, this was a different
time, and a different covenant. The Priests were held to a different
standard than everyone else. They were allowed to come into the presence
of God and work much more closely with God than the rest of the Israelites.
They were also provided for directly by God. However, the flip-side
was an expectation of utmost purity and devotion.
Eli's children had broken this covenant. They had not
just hurt the women they slept with and the people they had cheated; but
because of their status, they were committing a direct assault on God and his
Kingdom on Earth.
Now, here's the thing: we are not under the same covenant as
the Hophni and Phinehas. We often rejoice at this "next step"
in God's revelation to us: the "new covenant". However, as I'll
show in part 2, the new covenant comes with a new set of expectations for us. We'll see that 1 Samuel 2:25 presents a question that all Christians must
answer...not just Hophni and Phinehas.
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