1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000 Amen. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,000 Amen. 3 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,000 Amen. 4 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:29,980 Let's pray. 5 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:59,980 Let's pray. 6 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:24,240 Amen. Good morning. We are glad to be here and to be able to worship together this morning. I'm going to begin with a word of prayer, and then we'll spend a few moments reading God's word together. So join me, if you would, for prayer. 7 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:53,480 Father in heaven, I thank you for Jesus, and I thank you for grace, and I thank you for hope. I thank you that we can come together and to worship and to spend time with one another, to encourage one another. I thank you that we can open your word and be encouraged by it. I thank you that we can gather together around the table and to direct our hearts toward Jesus. May our hearts be encouraged and strengthened and nourished. 8 00:04:53,480 --> 00:05:01,480 So be with us this morning as we worship. We just thank you so much for your goodness. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 9 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:22,720 In just a moment, we'll read from the 96th Psalm, verses 4 through 6, but one of the things that has been so helpful to me, as I've spent more and more time in the Psalms over the years, is that oftentimes the Psalms will answer the question that I have in regard to what they're saying. 10 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:42,720 For example, the 96th Psalm starts with, "O sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth." And it continues to talk about this. It talks about singing and declaring, and there are days when I wake up that I'm not necessarily super excited to be singing, right? 11 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:51,960 My kids, they can wake up singing full of energy, but sometimes it takes me a cup of coffee or two before my heart is in the mindset of being able to sing. 12 00:05:51,960 --> 00:06:11,960 And one of the things that I love about how the Psalms interact with our hearts and with our minds is that we have this call to sing and to worship. And the Psalmist doesn't just say, "Do this," but then he tells us why we do it. He begins to extol the greatness of God. 13 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:26,960 So as we prepare to sing this morning, as we prepare to worship, I want us to read together the Psalmist's reasons for singing. So stand with me, if you will, and we're going to begin reading here in verse 4. 14 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:28,960 So if you'd read together with me. 15 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:41,960 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols. 16 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:51,960 But the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 17 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:58,960 This is the word of the Lord. We're going to start by singing, "This is our God." 18 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:30,960 Remember those wars that we called sin and shame? They were like prisons that we couldn't escape. But He came, and He died, and He rose. Those wars are rubble now. 19 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:54,960 Remember those giants we called death and grave? They were like mountains that stood in our way. But He came, and He died, and He rose. Those giants are dead now. 20 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:19,960 This is our God. This is who He is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what He does. He saves us. He bore the cross, beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. 21 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:47,960 Remember that fear that took our breath away? Faith so weak that we could barely pray. But He heard every word, every whisper. Now those altars in the wilderness tell the story of His faithfulness. 22 00:08:47,960 --> 00:09:07,960 Never once did He fail, and He never will. This is our God, this is who He is, He loves us. This is our God, this is what He does, He saves us. 23 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:20,960 Pour the cross, feed the grave, let heaven and earth proclaim, this is our God, King Jesus. 24 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:32,960 Who pulled me out of that pit? He did, He did. Who paid for all of our sin? Nobody but Jesus. 25 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:42,960 Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Jesus. 26 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:53,960 Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Jesus. 27 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:55,960 Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Jesus. 28 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:17,960 This is our God. This is who He is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what He does. He saves us. 29 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:28,960 He bore the cross, beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. 30 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:35,960 He bore the cross, beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. 31 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:40,960 This is our God, King Jesus. 32 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:59,960 The splendor of the King. 33 00:10:59,960 --> 00:11:04,960 The holy majesty. 34 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,960 Let all the earth rejoice. 35 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,960 All the earth rejoice. 36 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:15,960 He lapsed himself in light. 37 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:20,960 His darkness tries to hide. 38 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,960 He trembles at his voice. 39 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:27,960 He trembles at his voice. 40 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:32,960 How great is our God. 41 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:37,960 Sing with me how great is our God. 42 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:48,960 All you see how great, how great is our God. 43 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:54,960 And page to page he stands. 44 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:59,960 And time is in his hands. 45 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:02,960 Beginning and the end. 46 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:05,960 Beginning and the end. 47 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:10,960 Where God had given one. 48 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:15,960 The Father, Spirit, Son. 49 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,960 The Lion and the Lamb. 50 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:21,960 The Lion and the Lamb. 51 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:26,960 How great is Algo. 52 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:28,960 Sing with me. 53 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,960 How great is Algo. 54 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:34,960 The poor to see. 55 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:36,960 How great. 56 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:41,960 How great is Algo. 57 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:45,960 How great is Algo. 58 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,960 May the love of all names. 59 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:51,960 How great is Algo. 60 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:53,960 May the love of all names. 61 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:55,960 May the love of all names. 62 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:57,960 May the love of all names. 63 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,960 How great is Algo. 64 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:09,960 May the love of all names. 65 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:38,960 of all names, worthy of all grace. My heart will sing how great is our God. How great is our God. Sing with me how great is our God. 66 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:50,960 All will see how great, how great is our God. 67 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:11,960 Thank you. 68 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:41,960 Thank you. 69 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:11,960 Thank you. 70 00:15:39,960 --> 00:16:09,940 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 71 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:39,940 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 72 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,660 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 73 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:11,960 www.fema.org. 74 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:41,960 www.fema.org. 75 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:11,960 www.fema.org. 76 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:46,960 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 77 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:39,940 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 78 00:21:39,960 --> 00:22:09,940 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 79 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:59,360 As we prepare to come together around the table, nourished and refreshed in the good news of the Gospel, we're going to sing in just a moment, "I Set My Hope." 80 00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:06,660 And as we sing through this, this was a song very intentionally written to direct us to hope. 81 00:24:06,660 --> 00:24:28,660 You'll notice the verses each contain an obstacle to hope that we're asking God to help us overcome from the trials and difficulties and sorrows to our war with sin in verse 2 and the temptation and distractions of the world that surrounds us. 82 00:24:28,660 --> 00:24:46,660 We want to sing about our hope. We want to see in Scripture how God restores and brings hope, and then we will celebrate together in the Lord's Supper that this hope is not just some sort of ethereal idea for us, but it is real and it is solid. 83 00:24:46,660 --> 00:24:49,660 So let's sing "I Set My Hope." 84 00:24:58,660 --> 00:25:27,660 When this life of trials test my faith, I set my hope on Jesus. When the questions come and doubts remain, I set my hope on Jesus. For the deepest wounds the time won't heal. 85 00:25:28,660 --> 00:25:57,660 There's a joy that runs still deeper. There's a truth that's more than all I feel. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first? 86 00:25:58,660 --> 00:26:02,660 I set my hope on Jesus. 87 00:26:02,660 --> 00:26:19,660 Though I falter in this war with sin, I set my hope on Jesus. When I feel the fight and sink within, I set my hope on Jesus. 88 00:26:20,660 --> 00:26:41,660 Though the shame would drown me in its sea, and I drain the wave of justice, I will cast my life on Calvary. I set my hope on Jesus. 89 00:26:42,660 --> 00:27:07,660 I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. My God, my only trust. You set His heart upon me first. I set my hope on Jesus. 90 00:27:07,660 --> 00:27:26,660 I set my hope on Jesus. 91 00:27:26,660 --> 00:27:36,660 Though the world call me to leave my Lord, I set my hope on Jesus. 92 00:27:36,660 --> 00:27:46,660 Though it offer all its vain rewards, I set my hope on Jesus. 93 00:27:46,660 --> 00:27:56,660 Though this heart of mine is prone to strain, give me grace enough to finish. 94 00:27:56,660 --> 00:28:05,660 Till I worship on that final day, I set my hope on Jesus. 95 00:28:05,660 --> 00:28:10,660 I set my hope on Jesus. 96 00:28:10,660 --> 00:28:15,660 My life, my only trust. 97 00:28:15,660 --> 00:28:20,660 You set His heart upon me first. 98 00:28:20,660 --> 00:28:25,660 I set my hope on Jesus. 99 00:28:25,660 --> 00:28:30,660 I set my hope on Jesus. 100 00:28:30,660 --> 00:28:35,660 My life, my only trust. 101 00:28:35,660 --> 00:28:40,660 You set His heart upon me first. 102 00:28:40,660 --> 00:28:45,660 I set my hope on Jesus. 103 00:28:45,660 --> 00:28:50,660 I set my hope on Jesus. 104 00:29:00,660 --> 00:29:07,660 Frequently, when we use the word hope, we could probably just exchange it with the word wish. 105 00:29:07,660 --> 00:29:14,660 I hope it will be cooler tomorrow, and I wish it would be cooler tomorrow. 106 00:29:14,660 --> 00:29:19,660 For many of us, hope and wish are synonymous. 107 00:29:19,660 --> 00:29:30,660 Biblical hope, however, is different because it is not secured by chance or good fortune or things lining up as we hope they will. 108 00:29:30,660 --> 00:29:41,660 It is secured by the Almighty God who has created all things, who watches over all things, and upholds all things. 109 00:29:41,660 --> 00:29:56,660 And so when we think of hope in a biblical sense, we aren't simply thinking of maybe or might be, but we are thinking of promises that have been assured by God's greatness and made in His goodness. 110 00:29:56,660 --> 00:30:06,660 And so as we come to remember hope, to be nourished by hope, and strengthened by hope for the future, I want to read from 1 Peter 2. 111 00:30:06,660 --> 00:30:16,660 It says this of Jesus, that He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return. 112 00:30:16,660 --> 00:30:25,660 When He suffered, He did not threaten. But He continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly. 113 00:30:25,660 --> 00:30:43,660 And speaking about Jesus, it says this, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. 114 00:30:43,660 --> 00:30:54,660 For we were straying like sheep, but now have returned to the shepherd and the overseer of our souls." 115 00:30:54,660 --> 00:31:18,660 And as we partake of this bread and this cup in just a moment, we turn our eyes to Jesus, who bears our sins, who bore our sins in His body on the cross, that no longer will we be slaves to sin, but through His grace and through His sacrifice, we might live righteously. 116 00:31:18,660 --> 00:31:42,660 So as we partake, let's turn our eyes toward this hope. Father in heaven, we thank you that your promises are secure, that salvation for those who follow you is assured, that there is strength beyond what we can do. 117 00:31:42,660 --> 00:31:52,660 There is truth that goes to the deepest parts of our souls. It's bigger than all of those things that we feel and that we seek to chase. 118 00:31:52,660 --> 00:32:10,660 So draw us this morning to the truth of the sacrifice of Jesus, to the good news of the gospel that sin's price has been paid, that death has been defeated, and for God's people, there is victory and there is hope. 119 00:32:10,660 --> 00:32:25,660 So be with us as we partake of this bread and cup. May you nourish us and refresh us. May you strengthen our faith. May you give courage in our weakness. May you bring repentance from our sins. 120 00:32:25,660 --> 00:32:33,660 I just thank you for Jesus. I ask that you bless this bread and this cup. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 121 00:32:33,660 --> 00:32:48,660 If you would, take the bread with me as Jesus shared with His disciples, and let's eat together in remembrance of Him. 122 00:32:48,660 --> 00:33:02,660 And in the same way, let's take the cup together as Jesus shared with His disciples, that cup picturing redemption, and let's remember Jesus. 123 00:33:02,660 --> 00:33:19,660 And we want to, as we partake of this meal, and as in all things, whether we sing or reading Scripture, whether we're praying together, we want to declare God's goodness and direct glory to Him. 124 00:33:19,660 --> 00:33:31,660 We are going to be in 2 Samuel. We're spending the summer with Samuel. We are not going through the entire book. I don't think I have... 125 00:33:31,660 --> 00:33:40,660 ...know that we even have enough time to undertake that task. We're just going through the first seven chapters. It's going to take us through to the end of the summer. 126 00:33:40,660 --> 00:33:50,660 We have walked through the beginning, seen this humble family that has been filled with hurt and brokenness and how God moves into the middle of that. 127 00:33:50,660 --> 00:34:00,660 We looked last week at Hannah's song of joy, which so beautifully is once again reflected in Mary's song of joy. 128 00:34:00,660 --> 00:34:11,660 In just a moment, I'm going to read from 2 Samuel 2, beginning in verse 11 down through verse 16. 129 00:34:11,660 --> 00:34:17,660 If you'd like to follow along in your Bible, you can do. There's a handout with some notes as well. 130 00:34:17,660 --> 00:34:24,660 There are also Bibles in some of the seats there. You're welcome to grab one of those and follow along as we read. 131 00:34:24,660 --> 00:34:28,660 If you don't have one and would like a Bible, just take that with you when we go. 132 00:34:28,660 --> 00:34:35,660 Before we do that, though, I want to talk a little bit about this text because as we come into it, 133 00:34:35,660 --> 00:34:43,660 we've just come from this remarkable prayer of joy, the power of worship, seeing the greatness of God. 134 00:34:43,660 --> 00:34:49,660 And this text this morning takes a real hard right turn into some really dark places. 135 00:34:49,660 --> 00:34:55,660 And one of the things as we hear this read, the question at least that is raised in my mind is, 136 00:34:55,660 --> 00:35:02,660 how does this help me living, you know, 2,350 or 80 years later? 137 00:35:02,660 --> 00:35:06,660 You know, how does this help me several thousand years later in my walk with God? 138 00:35:06,660 --> 00:35:11,660 So just would share with you what Paul says about the Old Testament in Romans. 139 00:35:11,660 --> 00:35:16,660 He says, "For whatever was written in our former days was written for our instruction 140 00:35:16,660 --> 00:35:21,660 that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." 141 00:35:21,660 --> 00:35:27,660 And so as I read this lengthy section, a part of this is written to teach us. 142 00:35:27,660 --> 00:35:34,660 It's written to help keep us going. It's written to help bring us to hope. 143 00:35:34,660 --> 00:35:40,660 Additionally, in 1 Corinthians, Paul says, "Now these things," speaking of the Israelites in the wilderness, 144 00:35:40,660 --> 00:35:48,660 but also I think of the Old Testament and the testimony of God's people, "These things took place as an example for us 145 00:35:48,660 --> 00:35:54,660 that we might not desire evil as they did." And you'll see in a minute as we read through that that is 146 00:35:54,660 --> 00:36:00,660 exceptionally true of our text this morning about not desiring evil. 147 00:36:00,660 --> 00:36:07,660 Probably the most familiar verse about the Old Testament in the New Testament is in 2 Timothy 3. 148 00:36:07,660 --> 00:36:15,660 All Scripture is breathed out by God, and what that is saying is that what we believe about the Bible is that it's given to us by God 149 00:36:15,660 --> 00:36:21,660 that the things we read in here are intentional, and it brings about good in our life. 150 00:36:21,660 --> 00:36:27,660 It is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, 151 00:36:27,660 --> 00:36:32,660 that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work. 152 00:36:32,660 --> 00:36:37,660 So I'm going to read our text this morning, and then we will dive into it. 153 00:36:37,660 --> 00:36:42,660 I'm going to pick it up in verse 11, a little bit of where we left off last week. 154 00:36:42,660 --> 00:36:51,660 It says, "Then Elkanah," that's Samuel's dad, "went home to Ramah, and the boy was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest. 155 00:36:51,660 --> 00:36:56,660 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. 156 00:36:56,660 --> 00:37:02,660 The custom of the priest with the people was that when a man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, 157 00:37:02,660 --> 00:37:09,660 and while the meat was boiling with a three-pronged fork in his hand, he would thrust it into the pan or the kettle 158 00:37:09,660 --> 00:37:15,660 or the cauldron or the pot, and all that fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. 159 00:37:15,660 --> 00:37:20,660 This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 160 00:37:20,660 --> 00:37:26,660 Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man that was sacrificing, 161 00:37:26,660 --> 00:37:32,660 "Give meat for the priest to roast. He will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw. 162 00:37:32,660 --> 00:37:38,660 And if the man said to him, "Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish," 163 00:37:38,660 --> 00:37:45,660 he would say, "No, you must give it to me by now, and if not, I will take it by force." 164 00:37:45,660 --> 00:37:49,660 Thus the sin of the young man was great in the sight of the Lord, 165 00:37:49,660 --> 00:37:53,660 for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt. 166 00:37:53,660 --> 00:37:57,660 Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod, 167 00:37:57,660 --> 00:38:02,660 and his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year. 168 00:38:02,660 --> 00:38:05,660 And when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice, 169 00:38:05,660 --> 00:38:11,660 then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "May the Lord give you children by this woman." 170 00:38:11,660 --> 00:38:15,660 For the petition she asked of the Lord, and they would return home. 171 00:38:15,660 --> 00:38:20,660 Indeed, the Lord visited Hannah and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters, 172 00:38:20,660 --> 00:38:23,660 and the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord. 173 00:38:23,660 --> 00:38:30,660 Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel 174 00:38:30,660 --> 00:38:34,660 and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 175 00:38:34,660 --> 00:38:41,660 And he said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. 176 00:38:41,660 --> 00:38:48,660 Know, my sons, it is no good the report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. 177 00:38:48,660 --> 00:38:52,660 For if someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him. 178 00:38:52,660 --> 00:38:57,660 If someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?" 179 00:38:57,660 --> 00:39:03,660 But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death. 180 00:39:03,660 --> 00:39:11,660 Now Samuel continued to grow in both stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man. 181 00:39:11,660 --> 00:39:15,660 This is the word of the Lord. 182 00:39:15,660 --> 00:39:20,660 Father in heaven, help us this morning as we move through this text. 183 00:39:20,660 --> 00:39:26,660 Help us to see your righteousness. 184 00:39:26,660 --> 00:39:30,660 And as we are confronted by your justice, 185 00:39:30,660 --> 00:39:35,660 may we see that even in those dark, difficult places in life, 186 00:39:35,660 --> 00:39:37,660 that you are working, 187 00:39:37,660 --> 00:39:40,660 that you bring light into our darkness, 188 00:39:40,660 --> 00:39:45,660 you bring hope into our oppression, 189 00:39:45,660 --> 00:39:51,660 and that even in the midst of our sin and rebellion against you, 190 00:39:51,660 --> 00:39:55,660 you call us to yourself. 191 00:39:55,660 --> 00:39:57,660 So help us to see Jesus this morning. 192 00:39:57,660 --> 00:40:00,660 It's in His name we pray. Amen. 193 00:40:00,660 --> 00:40:03,660 So this was about 15 years ago. 194 00:40:03,660 --> 00:40:06,660 It was me and several of the guys at church, 195 00:40:06,660 --> 00:40:09,660 and we were helping some folks move. 196 00:40:09,660 --> 00:40:11,660 And it was about this time of year, 197 00:40:11,660 --> 00:40:14,660 which if you're considering moving, this is a terrible time. 198 00:40:14,660 --> 00:40:19,660 Everything is hot. Everything is warm. Everything is sweaty. 199 00:40:19,660 --> 00:40:26,660 And this was one of probably the worst moves that I've ever helped somebody move. 200 00:40:26,660 --> 00:40:30,660 If you've seen the TV show Hoarders, 201 00:40:30,660 --> 00:40:34,660 you probably get a glimpse of what we were going through. 202 00:40:34,660 --> 00:40:41,660 And it was either June or July, an incredibly hot summer day in the midst of all of this. 203 00:40:41,660 --> 00:40:47,660 It was one of the worst singular experiences, and I've helped a lot of people move, of my life moving. 204 00:40:47,660 --> 00:40:52,660 And one of the things, we finally made it to the kitchen. 205 00:40:52,660 --> 00:40:55,660 It was late in the day. Everybody was tired. 206 00:40:55,660 --> 00:40:58,660 I was ready to take my clothes home and burn them. 207 00:40:58,660 --> 00:41:02,660 And we get to the kitchen, and I open up the refrigerator and said, 208 00:41:02,660 --> 00:41:05,660 "All right, somebody bring me a trash bag so I can clean out the refrigerator." 209 00:41:05,660 --> 00:41:09,660 And we're not talking about, like, typical, you're getting ready to move, 210 00:41:09,660 --> 00:41:14,660 and so you've got, like, an empty ketchup bottle and some mustard in the fridge. 211 00:41:14,660 --> 00:41:17,660 This was like all of the groceries, right? 212 00:41:17,660 --> 00:41:23,660 There's, like, vegetables, there's eggs, there's milk, there's meat. 213 00:41:23,660 --> 00:41:28,660 And they look at me, and they say, "You know what? We'll just throw a ratchet strap around that 214 00:41:28,660 --> 00:41:33,660 and just put it in the truck, and we'll clean it out when we get to where we're going." 215 00:41:33,660 --> 00:41:39,660 And I was like, "In Tennessee? And you're planning to put all of this in storage?" 216 00:41:39,660 --> 00:41:43,660 And I was like, you know, at this point, it's like, "All right, whatever we're going to do." 217 00:41:43,660 --> 00:41:49,660 So that's what we did. We ratchet strapped that fridge closed with all the food, 218 00:41:49,660 --> 00:41:53,660 put it into the back of a moving truck to end up in a storage unit 219 00:41:53,660 --> 00:41:58,660 somewhere much further south than where we lived. 220 00:41:58,660 --> 00:42:04,660 And if you look at our text this morning, that just about sums it up. 221 00:42:04,660 --> 00:42:08,660 All right, we've been seeing how God works in this little family, 222 00:42:08,660 --> 00:42:11,660 and now the view is going to expand out to the religious life 223 00:42:11,660 --> 00:42:16,660 and eventually the national life of Israel. 224 00:42:16,660 --> 00:42:21,660 And it's almost like what I imagine happened when they get to that storage unit, 225 00:42:21,660 --> 00:42:24,660 they pop that ratchet strap off, and you open the fridge, 226 00:42:24,660 --> 00:42:30,660 and I can't even begin to imagine how awful that was. 227 00:42:30,660 --> 00:42:33,660 If it had been me, we'd just take it straight to the dump. 228 00:42:33,660 --> 00:42:39,660 And as you open this text this morning, it's even wrapped up like a fridge. 229 00:42:39,660 --> 00:42:43,660 Look at how this first section begins. 230 00:42:43,660 --> 00:42:52,660 It begins like this, "Now the sons of Eli were worthless men, and they did not know the Lord." 231 00:42:52,660 --> 00:43:03,660 And the second part where we close the door on the mess that is happening in Shiloh by the house of God in Israel is this, 232 00:43:03,660 --> 00:43:07,660 "Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, 233 00:43:07,660 --> 00:43:12,660 for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt." 234 00:43:12,660 --> 00:43:22,660 And if you want to picture sort of a container just full of absolute rottenness, it's this text in the book of Samuel. 235 00:43:22,660 --> 00:43:31,660 And we come to Shiloh, and there is something that is just rotten at the core surrounding the tabernacle of God. 236 00:43:31,660 --> 00:43:41,660 And as we read through this just a few minutes ago, you might look at the behavior of Eli's son with the offering and with the meat, and you might just think, 237 00:43:41,660 --> 00:43:51,660 why is this such a big deal? Right? So priests in that day took their living, part of their living, from the offerings that were brought before the Lord. 238 00:43:51,660 --> 00:44:02,660 And in Numbers and in Leviticus, God lays out a process for that. That you bring the offering before the Lord, that you burn the fat of the offering as a savory aroma before God, 239 00:44:02,660 --> 00:44:10,660 and then the priests were allowed and allotted certain portions that they used to feed themselves and to feed their families. 240 00:44:10,660 --> 00:44:27,660 And what you find in verses 13 and 14 is that the custom of the priests receiving the meat from the sacrifices has already departed from what God has laid out for his people in the book of Leviticus. 241 00:44:27,660 --> 00:44:37,660 And so whatever kind of container that it was, a pot or a pan or a cauldron, right? Scripture gives us four options. The priests would come along with a three-pronged fork. 242 00:44:37,660 --> 00:44:47,660 Interestingly enough, they've found forks of similar design in this area in archaeological finds, and it's sort of like a steak claw machine, right? 243 00:44:47,660 --> 00:44:55,660 You come along with your fork, and you try to hit the piece of steak that you want, and you pull it out, and the priest goes, "Whatever the fork brings up, that's mine." 244 00:44:55,660 --> 00:45:03,660 And so they've already departed from what God has called them to do, and you may still be saying, "Why does this matter? Why is this a big deal? 245 00:45:03,660 --> 00:45:14,660 Why, in 2024, does it matter that these priests are doing a steak claw machine in the worship of God?" 246 00:45:14,660 --> 00:45:20,660 What we find is that's just the beginning of the deviation from God's plan, right? 247 00:45:20,660 --> 00:45:26,660 From there, they stopped trying to stab the food with the fork. Now they don't want it cooked. 248 00:45:26,660 --> 00:45:32,660 They want to pick the best cuts, and they don't care what God has to say about it, right? 249 00:45:32,660 --> 00:45:36,660 It's almost a shakedown. In verse 15, it said, "The servants of the priests." 250 00:45:36,660 --> 00:45:41,660 So these priests are like the boss. They have servants that are like thugs, and you show up with your offering. 251 00:45:41,660 --> 00:45:46,660 Before you've even brought it to God, they're saying, "We want this bit, this bit, and that bit." 252 00:45:46,660 --> 00:45:53,660 And when the worshiper said, "That's not what God has said," they said, "Give it to us, or there will be violence." 253 00:45:53,660 --> 00:46:01,660 And so they have moved from trying to sort of cheat the system to now just stealing from the people. 254 00:46:01,660 --> 00:46:08,660 And the problem here is far deeper than simply how the priests are getting their groceries. 255 00:46:08,660 --> 00:46:16,660 God has given clear instructions about this meat and how it should be divided. 256 00:46:16,660 --> 00:46:22,660 And what you find is their actions here, it's more than a mistake or an accident, right? 257 00:46:22,660 --> 00:46:30,660 This is intentional disobedience. I remember one time our dog Rigby, she had stolen something she wasn't supposed to have, 258 00:46:30,660 --> 00:46:37,660 and she knew she wasn't supposed to have it, and she runs off with it, and I go, "Rigby, spit that out." 259 00:46:37,660 --> 00:46:41,660 And she just looks me dead in the eyes and just starts chewing, right? 260 00:46:41,660 --> 00:46:49,660 It wasn't even, there was no apology, there was no shame, it was just like, looks me straight in the eyes and goes, "Oh, this is delicious." 261 00:46:49,660 --> 00:46:59,660 These guys and their disobedience, they aren't just, it's not just about groceries. God has called them to serve His people, 262 00:46:59,660 --> 00:47:04,660 and here they are, and they're just staring God in the eyes going, "What are you going to do about it?" 263 00:47:04,660 --> 00:47:14,660 This is not just about the meat. There's a difference between doing something wrong and doing something wrong intentionally. 264 00:47:14,660 --> 00:47:19,660 Don't get so stuck on the meat that we don't see what runs deeper. 265 00:47:19,660 --> 00:47:23,660 They have abandoned their priestly purpose. In Hebrews, we read this about the priest. 266 00:47:23,660 --> 00:47:34,660 Every high priest is chosen among men and is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 267 00:47:34,660 --> 00:47:40,660 And he can deal gently with the ignorant and the wayward since he himself is beset with weaknesses. 268 00:47:40,660 --> 00:47:47,660 And now here's what's happening. They aren't standing between the people and God. They're not offering sacrifices for sins. 269 00:47:47,660 --> 00:47:53,660 They aren't dealing gently with the ignorant and the wayward. They are literally abusing God's people. 270 00:47:53,660 --> 00:48:01,660 And once again, not accidental. Not, "Oh, we got busy and we didn't know. I'm sorry. It was a communication mix-up." 271 00:48:01,660 --> 00:48:09,660 This is absolute rebellion against God, not just in how they offer sacrifices, but how they treat his people. 272 00:48:09,660 --> 00:48:16,660 And they are actively sinning against God's people. If someone objected to the custom, 273 00:48:16,660 --> 00:48:22,660 of the priests, they would threaten, "I will take it by force." 274 00:48:22,660 --> 00:48:30,660 And if you go a little further down, if you sort of step outside, some of the smell from this fridge has emanated down in verse 22. 275 00:48:30,660 --> 00:48:39,660 It says, "The sons of Eli," right, they're not just stealing, but they're laying with the women who served in the temple. 276 00:48:39,660 --> 00:48:45,660 These ministering women. And number six in Exodus 38 talk about how women would come, 277 00:48:45,660 --> 00:48:50,660 how women would come in numbers and fulfill their Nazarite vow. 278 00:48:50,660 --> 00:48:57,660 And in Exodus, it talks about how the mirrors were given by these women who served in the temple. 279 00:48:57,660 --> 00:49:05,660 And here are men in a high place of religious authority, and there are women who are serving at the gates. 280 00:49:05,660 --> 00:49:13,660 And I don't think this is necessarily a romantic kind of union. 281 00:49:13,660 --> 00:49:20,660 I think this is very much feeding an appetite by taking what they deserve. 282 00:49:20,660 --> 00:49:25,660 This is a dark section of Israel's history. 283 00:49:25,660 --> 00:49:33,660 And what's interesting is that in the midst of this darkness, we begin to get a glimpse of God's justice. 284 00:49:33,660 --> 00:49:42,660 And when we talk about justice, what we're talking about is that things are made right, or that things are as they should be. 285 00:49:42,660 --> 00:49:47,660 And we can identify oftentimes when injustice is committed against us. 286 00:49:47,660 --> 00:49:59,660 Years and years ago, Rachel had a friend and became my friend, and she had gotten a ticket in a town she didn't live in, a town she hadn't traveled to. 287 00:49:59,660 --> 00:50:03,660 In fact, she was at work, and it was one of those tickets from a camera, right? 288 00:50:03,660 --> 00:50:06,660 Really hard to fight that kind of ticket. 289 00:50:06,660 --> 00:50:13,660 And I don't know if I was just having a bad day or a lot of stuff going on at home or in the office, but I got real mad about this. 290 00:50:13,660 --> 00:50:15,660 I said, "Let me write the letter." 291 00:50:15,660 --> 00:50:30,660 And so I wrote this very angry letter outlining in very clear terms all the evidence that was laid out, and I sent it off, and I felt a great, great feeling of relief because I was going to bring about justice. 292 00:50:30,660 --> 00:50:42,660 And it turns out it actually worked because when they sent the image of the license plate, their reader, it wasn't even close to the license plate on the car that she had. 293 00:50:42,660 --> 00:50:55,660 And I'm feeling vindicated, and even now I can feel myself getting angry. You take a picture of the license plate, it's the wrong license plate, send a ticket to somebody with all of these threats and money, and I just get mad about it. 294 00:50:55,660 --> 00:51:00,660 Still fired up about it. It's kind of one of those moments where, "Sir, this is a Wendy's." 295 00:51:00,660 --> 00:51:15,660 And so what we have here is injustice. And it's very easy oftentimes for us to view injustice when it happens to us or somebody close to us. 296 00:51:15,660 --> 00:51:20,660 But when it comes to God's justice, this is a topic we can struggle with. 297 00:51:20,660 --> 00:51:27,660 God's very character is righteousness. And justice is the application of that righteousness. 298 00:51:27,660 --> 00:51:33,660 That God will make things right. That wrongs will be punished. 299 00:51:33,660 --> 00:51:44,660 And this means that when we say that God is just, it's not just that He enacts justice, but that He is justice. 300 00:51:44,660 --> 00:51:48,660 He is the standard by which all things are measured by. 301 00:51:48,660 --> 00:51:53,660 And it can be so easy for us to talk about this in an intellectual way. 302 00:51:53,660 --> 00:51:59,660 But when we see real justice applied, it gets uncomfortable very quickly. 303 00:51:59,660 --> 00:52:05,660 In fact, let's take a look at 1 Samuel 2:25. 304 00:52:05,660 --> 00:52:08,660 If someone, this is Eli speaking. 305 00:52:08,660 --> 00:52:12,660 If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him. 306 00:52:12,660 --> 00:52:16,660 But if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him? 307 00:52:16,660 --> 00:52:20,660 And here's where we get a glimpse of God's justice. 308 00:52:20,660 --> 00:52:24,660 But they, the sons of Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas, 309 00:52:24,660 --> 00:52:27,660 they would not listen to the voice of their father, 310 00:52:27,660 --> 00:52:33,660 for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death. 311 00:52:33,660 --> 00:52:36,660 And that gets dark very, very quickly. 312 00:52:36,660 --> 00:52:42,660 And we read verses like this, verses that display God's justice clearly. 313 00:52:42,660 --> 00:52:44,660 It makes us uncomfortable. 314 00:52:44,660 --> 00:52:48,660 And so I want to take just a moment and deal with two objections 315 00:52:48,660 --> 00:52:52,660 that oftentimes we feel or think in regard to the justice of God. 316 00:52:52,660 --> 00:52:54,660 In general, there's two big ones. 317 00:52:54,660 --> 00:52:57,660 First of all, is this really justice? 318 00:52:57,660 --> 00:53:00,660 To hear about what is happening there at Shiloh, 319 00:53:00,660 --> 00:53:03,660 and hear this, that it was the will of the Lord to put them to death 320 00:53:03,660 --> 00:53:07,660 as a result of what had happened. 321 00:53:07,660 --> 00:53:11,660 But also, right, the objection that some will make to texts like this, 322 00:53:11,660 --> 00:53:17,660 and to God in general, is how can a loving God do something like this? 323 00:53:17,660 --> 00:53:25,660 And the implication is that God's justice and His love are somehow incompatible. 324 00:53:25,660 --> 00:53:30,660 So I want to take just a minute and try to answer both of those objections. 325 00:53:30,660 --> 00:53:33,660 First of all, is this truly justice? 326 00:53:33,660 --> 00:53:40,660 And maybe a better way of saying it is, does the punishment truly fit the crime? 327 00:53:40,660 --> 00:53:44,660 And this objection, the idea of saying, is God just in saying this? 328 00:53:44,660 --> 00:53:50,660 It was the will of the Lord to put them to death. Does that fit the crime they have brought out? 329 00:53:50,660 --> 00:53:59,660 And this objection for us stems from our own desires to try to minimize the severity of their rebellion, right? 330 00:53:59,660 --> 00:54:04,660 It's easy to say, well, it's not so bad, right? All they did was take some meat. 331 00:54:04,660 --> 00:54:10,660 All they do is have some ladies over after church, and now God wants to kill them, right? 332 00:54:10,660 --> 00:54:19,660 It can be very easy for us to try to frame their behavior in such a way that we limit the severity of what they are really doing. 333 00:54:19,660 --> 00:54:26,660 So first of all, I would say it's not simply stealing. It's not simply a romantic entanglement. 334 00:54:26,660 --> 00:54:33,660 They are taking what they want by force to feed their appetites of hunger and sex. 335 00:54:33,660 --> 00:54:38,660 God has been very clear in His instructions. 336 00:54:38,660 --> 00:54:47,660 And these guys, when it comes especially to the offerings, they are not ignorant of God's commands, nor are they ignorant with how God has dealt with this in the past. 337 00:54:47,660 --> 00:54:53,660 They have been repeatedly warned by God's law, by His people. 338 00:54:53,660 --> 00:55:01,660 The people that are oppressing in verse 16 are like, "Yeah, take whatever you want, but let us follow the law of God first by their Father." 339 00:55:01,660 --> 00:55:09,660 So they know by instruction. They know through warning. They are well aware of what is happening. 340 00:55:09,660 --> 00:55:15,660 And in their rebellion, they've refused to listen. They've refused to understand. 341 00:55:15,660 --> 00:55:21,660 And I don't know if you've ever met anybody that's refused to listen or to understand, but it is infuriating. 342 00:55:21,660 --> 00:55:29,660 A few weeks ago, a guy showed up at our house, and it always happens at the worst time. Rachel wasn't here, so I had the kids inside. 343 00:55:29,660 --> 00:55:34,660 He shows up, and it was late enough that you know it's never going to be anything easy enough to deal with. 344 00:55:34,660 --> 00:55:39,660 And he was looking for some help, and when possible, like, we want to help people. 345 00:55:39,660 --> 00:55:48,660 But this was a guy who, from even his own words, didn't really need help. He just wanted something from the church. 346 00:55:48,660 --> 00:55:55,660 In fact, when I talked to him about a hotel, he said, "Holiday Inn Express or better. I will accept nothing else." 347 00:55:55,660 --> 00:55:58,660 And I was like, "Well, it's good that the seats in your car fold back." 348 00:55:58,660 --> 00:56:05,660 And so we went through this, back and forth, and finally I gave him directions to a place. 349 00:56:05,660 --> 00:56:10,660 And the directions, he goes, "All right, so I just go down this road straight." 350 00:56:10,660 --> 00:56:16,660 And I said, "Absolutely not." Right? I told you where to go. 351 00:56:16,660 --> 00:56:22,660 And he goes, "Yeah, so I just keep on straight on this road." I said, "No, go to the address that I gave you." 352 00:56:22,660 --> 00:56:27,660 And he goes, "I'm really good at maps, just so I stay straight on this road." 353 00:56:27,660 --> 00:56:35,660 And we went on like this for five minutes where I was trying to give him instructions, and he was intentionally ignoring where I told him to go. 354 00:56:35,660 --> 00:56:40,660 Finally I said, "Dude, I just told you where to go. I gave you the address. You said you're good at maps." 355 00:56:40,660 --> 00:56:46,660 He's like, "I know, but I just stay straight on this road." And at that point I was like, "You're on your own, man. I'm going to check on the kids." 356 00:56:46,660 --> 00:56:56,660 Right? It was like, you just couldn't listen or wouldn't listen to anything that anybody would say. 357 00:56:56,660 --> 00:57:07,660 That's what's happening here with Eli's sons. God has said. God has warned. God has watched over them.