Scoundrels.
Isn’t it a great word?
You get the hard “sc” sound. The drawl of the “dr.” And, the satisfaction of the “ls” to finish everything up.
And, it means a bad guy.
Which, if you’re a mystery author, we adore!
But, God?
Not so much.
Eli’s sons were scoundrels. And, a lot of the first part of 1 Samuel is devoted to there scroundrel-y-ness. (Do you like what I did there?)
They blatantly stole meat sacrifices from the worshippers to cook and eat for themselves. Not to mention the whole sleeping “with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting,” found in 1 Samuel 2:22 (NIV). Leave it to the Bible to share as much sin and debauchery as we can handle!
These guys were bad. Did I mention they were priests?
And, God wouldn’t accept it.
So, what did He do?
He sent a man of God to have a little chat with their good ole dad Eli, the chief priest. This man of God, who isn’t named btw, shared a prophesy with Eli that “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….[1 Samuel 2:31 (NIV)]
“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. [1 Samuel 2:30 (NIV)]
God continued, “And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day. I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always. Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread and plead, ‘Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat.’”
[1 Samuel 2:34-36 (NIV)]
In others words, if you don’t do what I need you to do, I will raise someone up who will.
We are God’s priests.
In 1 Peter 2:9], God has made us a “royal priesthood and a priestly kingdom.”
In Revelation 5:10, “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
[Revelation 5:10 (NIV)]
Who are you?
Are you the person God is raising up?
Or, are you a scoundrel?
