WHEN SIN GOES UNCHECKED

I SAMUEL 2:12-17, 22-26

          When the Lord picked this passage of scripture for this morning’s message I could see several angles from which the message could flow.  One obvious direction to take is a comparison of Samuel and the sons of Eli; which would then be a comparison of the righteous and the wicked.  Another angle to take would be to talk about corruption in the ministry and though I will have to discuss the sons of Eli and their corruption, this is not the angle God chose.  I have been instructed to use as a title and theme for this morning’s message “When Sin Goes Unchecked”.  This means that we have to look at the sin, the response to sin, and the consequences of the sin.

I SAM 2:12

The Scripture paints the picture of a rotten, defiled priesthood, a totally depraved priesthood.  Look at how the sons of Eli are described. 

1.  They were sons of Belial. The Hebrew word means corrupt and wicked or scoundrels and troublemakers. The word is also used as a name for Satan himself. Eli's sons, the priests of that day, were utterly corrupt, living as though they were sons of Satan himself.  Yet they were the lead priest.

2.  They did not know the Lord. They did not respect nor show any regard for the Lord. To "know" in the Bible means to accept and believe the Lord; to commit one's life in following the Lord; to fellowship, commune, and worship the Lord. It does not mean merely having a mental knowledge of the Lord.  The sons of Eli had no fellowship with the Lord, no relationship with Him, nor did they live for Him. Following and obeying the Lord was the furthest thing from their minds.  Yet they were priest.

 

I SAMUEL 2:13-15

 

          Here the sins of Eli’s sons are described and there sins show an utter disrespect for God.

 

1.  The priests desecrated the offerings that were being given to the Lord. This wickedness was committed in three ways:

 

a.  They were not satisfied with the portion of meat that was to be given to the priests.  They insisted upon being given the best meat which belonged to the person presenting the offering.  They would take a three-pronged fork, stick it into the pot where the meat was boiling and take whatever meat they wanted. This self-serving behavior was totally contrary to God's law.   

   

    LEVITICUS 7:34

           God appointed the portion that was to be given to Aaron and his sons.  They were to get the breast from the wave offering and the shoulder from the heave offering.  They were greedy.

 

b.  They sometimes insisted upon some raw meat before the Lord received His portion.  Burning the Lord's portion as a sweet aroma was an act symbolizing that the sacrifice was acceptable to God.  In other words they made the peoples sacrifice unacceptable to God.

 

c. They even insisted upon some of the fat that was clearly prohibited by the Lord.

 

LEVITICUS 7:25

           The fat also belonged to the Lord and was to be burned as a sweet aroma to Him

 

2.  The priests also abused and threatened the people if they objected to the meat being taken. They were willing to commit violence in order to provide the very best meat and food for their own families. Selfishness, greed, and lust had gripped their hearts to the point that they had become lawless and violent priests.

 

These priests showed contempt for the Lord and His law, thus they sinned greatly. In Leviticus 6:8 – 7:38 God gave clear instructions as to how the offerings were to be presented and how the meat was to be divided between the Lord, the offerer, and the priests.  Yet Eli's sons disobeyed God's Holy Word. They showed utter disrespect and contempt for the Lord and His commandments.

 

I SAMUEL 2:22

 

3.  They committed immorality with the women who came to worship the Lord at the Tabernacle. The implication is that they actually committed immorality at the Tabernacle which means that they defiled the temple.

 Just imagine the following sins:

1.  A minister who has become so wicked that he is a very son of Belial, the devil himself.

2.  A minister who does not know the Lord, who has never been genuinely converted, and does not follow the Lord nor live for Him.

3.  A minister who desecrates and steals from the offerings.

4.  a minister who abuses and threatens people in order to secure more and more—all because of a heart of greed and lust.

5.  A minister who shows contempt for the Lord and His Word, who does not obey nor attempt to follow the commandments of the Lord.

6.  A minister who commits immorality, adultery.

 

This was the depth of wickedness into which Eli's sons had fallen. And tragically, some ministers today sink to these very same depths. But God warns all ministers: they will be held accountable, and they will face the judgment of God for their wickedness.  Remember that 2 Corinthians 5:10 says “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad”. But specifically to ministers Jeremiah 23:2 tells us “Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, says the Lord”.

 I SAMUEL 2:22-26

          This is the response of Eli who was the High Priest and their father to their sin.  Eventually Eli heard about their evil through the rumors that were obviously spreading far and wide throughout all Israel. Just imagine, the immoral, wicked behavior of the priests was so well-known, so pervasive that the scandal reached Eli himself.  Now you know this had to be going on for some time.  They did not just start this wickedness all of a sudden.  That is the problem when sin goes unchecked.

ECCLESIASTES 8:11 

What this means is because we don’t get punished for our wrong doing right away our heart moves forward into the next degree of wickedness we can find to do.  We discussed last week from Galatians 5:9 that ^“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”  A little sin festering in the body if not purged will make the whole body corrupt.

Eli was much too late in rebuking the sins of his sons and warning them of God's judgment. You cannot wait until sin is out of control and put forth the effort to stop it.  You must catch sin early before it gains too much strength and becomes a powerful, seemingly uncontrollable force in the flesh.

 This is the first recorded rebuke of Eli's sons. So far as Scripture records, Eli never rebuked his sons prior to this occasion which strongly suggests that he had always indulged the misbehavior of his sons all throughout their life. He allowed  their misbehavior to continue to decline until they became totally wicked and corrupted the priesthood. Now all of a sudden, when he was an old man, he confronted and rebuked them. But it was too late. Wickedness and immorality had become ingrained into their very nature. Their hearts were hardened against the Lord and His commandments. Eli had indulged, given license to their bad behavior for too many years.

Another thing here is that Eli only mildly rebuked them.  He warned them of what God would do, but what did he do?  He let it go on too long and then when he finally approached them it was with a mild slap of the hand.  He warned that God would severely judge them but he himself did not really judge them. He could have sat them down.  He could have taken them before the elders.  He even had right to stone them.  But he slapped their hands and allowed them to continue.  In most cases, failing to discipline our children will lead them to follow the immoral, wicked ways of the world.  Proverbs 29:15 says “the rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself brings his mother to shame”.  So Proverbs 19:18 tells us “Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying” and Proverbs 13:24 says, “He that spares his rod hates his son: but he that loves him chastens him promptly”.

 I SAMUEL 2:30-36

          Eli lightly rebuked his sons with the equivalent of a slap on the hands but God pronounced judgment on them.  The judgment was sixfold.

a.  Eli's house or descendants would be cut off as priests. They were no longer fit to be ministers who served God's people.  When sin goes unchecked we run the risk of losing the position and place in ministry already appointed to us by God.  I know that Romans 11:29 says “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”  But gifting and calling do not have to equal opportunity. God must provide opportunity for the man or woman of God to be truly used by Him.

b.  Eli's descendants would be dishonored, held in low esteem. God's Word is clear: those who honor Him will be honored, and those who despise Him will be held in low esteem and condemned.  A person professing to be a Christian and allowing his sin to go unchecked will lose the respect of those around him.  Both a sinner and a righteous man will respect the person who lives what he says and neither will have respect for the hypocrite. What does Jesus say to the Church at Laodicea in Revelations 3:15-16?  He says, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” When Christians allow their sins to go unchecked we will have honor and respect neither from mankind nor from God, and eventually not even from ourselves.

c.  Eli's descendants would thereafter have only a short life span (1 Samuel 2:31).  They would not live to reach old age.  When sin goes unchecked many times it will lead to an early death.  Sin will often put you in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It will take you outside of the will of God and thus out of the Ark of safety and into the enemy’s snare.

d.  I Samuel 2:32 means that Eli's descendants would witness the blessings of God upon others, but only distress in their own families. In the future when God would be pouring out His blessings upon the Israelites, the house of Eli would be experiencing distress.  When sin goes unchecked you may see other all around you being blessed while you struggle, barely able to make ends meet.  You may be distressed in one or many areas; financially, socially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

e.  Eli's descendants would live in sadness and grief and die in the prime of life.  Though the enemy paints a picture of sin being fun and satisfying, it really leaves you unsatisfied, craving more.  Sin brings sadness especially to the believer who knows that sin separates us from God, disappoints God, and dishonors him.  When sin goes unchecked the deeper into despair and grief we often sink until we hit rock bottom and there is no where to look but up to God.

f.  The final part of this judgment is seen in I Samuel 2:34.  Eli's two sons would die on the same day. Their deaths were to serve as a sign that God's prophetic judgment would definitely take place.  No matter how bad his sons were, imagine loosing both of them on the same day.  Sin left unchecked often brings grief not only to the sinner but also to those who love and care for him.

           The prophesy of their death is fulfilled in Chapter 4 as the Children of Israel go to battle with the Philistines.  This battle results not only in the death of Eli’s sons, but also the Ark of the Covenant is taken by the Philistines.  Now the Ark being taken symbolizes the leaving of the Glory or presence of God from Israel.  Eli, when he hears that the Ark has been captured is so distraught that he falls dead.  Finally on that day the wife of Phinehas, who was pregnant, went into labor, and had a male child who she named Ichabod, which means the glory of the Lord has departed from Israel.  Then the wife dies due to complications.  The child’s name is a constant reminder to him that his father, uncle and grandfather are the cause of God’s presence leaving Israel.

When sin goes unchecked it eventually leads to judgment.  This reminds us that judgment upon the wicked and ungodly of this world will definitely take place. The judgment that had been foretold was never believed by Eli's sons. But it took place. In fact, judgment fell upon them very soon after the prediction.  Just when the judgment of God is going to fall upon this world is unknown. Just when each of us is going to stand before God is unknown. But the day is definitely coming. The only sure thing that we know about our lives is this: we will die. It is appointed unto us to die, but after this the judgment (Heb. 9:27). Judgment is sure, definite, an absolute certainty. Judgment is coming.  Don’t let your sin go unchecked.