Return the glory to the home
Today we will journey together to the house of Eli the priest. (1 Samuel
12)
Eli, whose name means “the Lord is uplifted,’ was a priest in Shiloh. For
the first time in Israel, Eli embodied the functions of both high priest and
judge, judging Israel for forty years.
Ask anyone; they would have said that Eli was a great man and held a
fatherly influence in their lives. He solved their disagreements and he
interceded with the Lord for them. As priest, Eli was entrusted with the task of
raising and training up Samuel, a boy who had been dedicated to the Lord at
birth. Samuel went on to become a man of God and was known as Israel’s
greatest judge.
Eli was a deeply pious man whose service to the Lord was unblemished.
However, he was a neglectful father who could not control his two sons,
Phinehas and Hophni.
The Bible tells us that these two young men were corrupt and took advantage
of their privileged position as sons of the priest. The Bible says that they
took the meat offered in sacrifice before the fat had been burned off
according to the law, thus treating the Lord’s sacrifices with contempt.
They unlawfully had sexual intercourse with the women who served at the
entrance of the Tabernacle. Their sinful conduct was obvious to everyone,
but Eli chose to look the other way.
God sent a prophet to confront and condemn Eli. He accused him of honoring
his sons more than God. Some parental problems have been around since the
beginning of time. Don’t we often overlook disobedience because we can’t
bear to punish our children as they deserve? Failure to discipline according
to what is right is a fatal flaw. Eli lost the honored position that God had
given him and his family.
God had promised that Eli’s house would minister
before Him forever. But, with the curse, Eli’s descendants would never even
see old age. God later sent young Samuel with a similar prophesy. Eli knew
God’s will for him. He said, “ Let the Lord do what is good in His eye.” But
he failed to act upon what he knew.
Eli reprimanded his sons for their behavior but they showed no more respect
for their earthy father than they did for the Lord God of Israel. Certainly
they knew that his word was weak and no discipline would follow. However,
God’s word was strong and so God followed through with the discipline he had
promised.
Eli’s two sons met their death on the same day in a battle with the
Philistines. (1Samuel 4:17,18) Eli was 98 when he heard of their death. At
the same time, he heard that the Ark of the Covenant had been lost to the
Philistines. The Ark was the symbol of God’s presence. God had already
withdrawn his favour from Eli’s house but it was the symbol that Eli valued.
Its loss upset him so much that he fell off his chair backward, broke his
neck and joined his sons in death. Eli had become very fat from eating all
the meat that was to be offered as a sacrifice.
Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was with child, about eight to
nine months pregnant. When she heard the news of the Ark of God was stolen
by the philistines, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead,
she went into labour and gave birth to a son and she named him Ichabod,
meaning ‘The glory is departed from Israel’: because the ark of God was
taken, and because her father-in-law and her husband were dead.
The promise made to Eli’s forefather, Aaron was removed. The prophetic
denunciation declared that the family of Eli would have its privilege
removed and that the high priesthood would be given to another line. The
glory had departed from the house of Eli. The bible also tells us that God
said to Eli, “Behold the days come , that I will cut off thine arm and the
arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine
house.”…All the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their
age.
True to his name, Eli uplifted the Lord to the people of Shiloh but he
failed to do this in his own home. God expected Eli to teach his sons
respect for their Lord.
God expects all fathers to teach their children respect. Their earthly
father is the first glimpse they see of their Heavenly Father
So important is obedience to God’s appointed leadership in the home that we
are promised long life and wellness. (Ephesians 6 v 1-3) “Children obey your
parents in the Lord: for this is right…Honour thy father and mother; which
is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and
thou mayest live long on the earth.”
Failed leadership
The US News in December 2008 reported that failed leadership caused the
Financial Crisis
It is quoted as saying. “We need to do more than fix the crisis; we need to
fix the mind-set that got us into it.”
There are also reports that failed leaders are unable to bring peace to
Palistine.
Since the start of this year, approximately ten families have already been
murdered by their fathers, in one instant, when the man’s attempt to commit
suicide failed, after killing his wife, he ran to the. police station to
report that he had killed his wife.
All around are more and more reports of failed business leaders, failed
marriages and families, failed communities and failing nations. The world
is still ailing from a failed financial system and failing economic plans.
Much of the failures of today lie squarely at the feet of leadership;
leadership that have been lacking in commitment, lacking in integrity and
trust; leadership that have turned away from God and turned their backs on
their responsibility. The failure of our leaders to take hard decisions in
the past has resulted in many innocent people losing their lives. We pay a
heavy price for fail leadership.
We are in dire need of leadership that will *do their job in a dependable
way; leaders who will treat their job as a sacred trust and leadership that
knows how to motivate others to greater and greater accomplishment.
Today we will journey together to the house of Eli the priest. (1 Samuel
12)
Eli, whose name means “the Lord is uplifted,’ was a priest in Shiloh. For
the first time in Israel, Eli embodied the functions of both high priest and
judge, judging Israel for forty years.
Ask anyone; they would have said that Eli was a great man and held a
fatherly influence in their lives. He solved their disagreements and he
interceded with the Lord for them. As priest, Eli was entrusted with the task of
raising and training up Samuel, a boy who had been dedicated to the Lord at
birth. Samuel went on to become a man of God and was known as Israel’s
greatest judge.
Eli was a deeply pious man whose service to the Lord was unblemished.
However, he was a neglectful father who could not control his two sons,
Phinehas and Hophni.
The Bible tells us that these two young men were corrupt and took advantage
of their privileged position as sons of the priest. The Bible says that they
took the meat offered in sacrifice before the fat had been burned off
according to the law, thus treating the Lord’s sacrifices with contempt.
They unlawfully had sexual intercourse with the women who served at the
entrance of the Tabernacle. Their sinful conduct was obvious to everyone,
but Eli chose to look the other way.
God sent a prophet to confront and condemn Eli. He accused him of honoring
his sons more than God. Some parental problems have been around since the
beginning of time. Don’t we often overlook disobedience because we can’t
bear to punish our children as they deserve? Failure to discipline according
to what is right is a fatal flaw. Eli lost the honored position that God had
given him and his family.
God had promised that Eli’s house would minister
before Him forever. But, with the curse, Eli’s descendants would never even
see old age. God later sent young Samuel with a similar prophesy. Eli knew
God’s will for him. He said, “ Let the Lord do what is good in His eye.” But
he failed to act upon what he knew.
Eli reprimanded his sons for their behavior but they showed no more respect
for their earthy father than they did for the Lord God of Israel. Certainly
they knew that his word was weak and no discipline would follow. However,
God’s word was strong and so God followed through with the discipline he had
promised.
Eli’s two sons met their death on the same day in a battle with the
Philistines. (1Samuel 4:17,18) Eli was 98 when he heard of their death. At
the same time, he heard that the Ark of the Covenant had been lost to the
Philistines. The Ark was the symbol of God’s presence. God had already
withdrawn his favour from Eli’s house but it was the symbol that Eli valued.
Its loss upset him so much that he fell off his chair backward, broke his
neck and joined his sons in death. Eli had become very fat from eating all
the meat that was to be offered as a sacrifice.
Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was with child, about eight to
nine months pregnant. When she heard the news of the Ark of God was stolen
by the philistines, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead,
she went into labour and gave birth to a son and she named him Ichabod,
meaning ‘The glory is departed from Israel’: because the ark of God was
taken, and because her father-in-law and her husband were dead.
The promise made to Eli’s forefather, Aaron was removed. The prophetic
denunciation declared that the family of Eli would have its privilege
removed and that the high priesthood would be given to another line. The
glory had departed from the house of Eli. The bible also tells us that God
said to Eli, “Behold the days come , that I will cut off thine arm and the
arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine
house.”…All the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their
age.
True to his name, Eli uplifted the Lord to the people of Shiloh but he
failed to do this in his own home. God expected Eli to teach his sons
respect for their Lord.
God expects all fathers to teach their children respect. Their earthly
father is the first glimpse they see of their Heavenly Father
So important is obedience to God’s appointed leadership in the home that we
are promised long life and wellness. (Ephesians 6 v 1-3) “Children obey your
parents in the Lord: for this is right…Honour thy father and mother; which
is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and
thou mayest live long on the earth.”
Failed leadership
The US News in December 2008 reported that failed leadership caused the
Financial Crisis
It is quoted as saying. “We need to do more than fix the crisis; we need to
fix the mind-set that got us into it.”
There are also reports that failed leaders are unable to bring peace to
Palistine.
Since the start of this year, approximately ten families have already been
murdered by their fathers, in one instant, when the man’s attempt to commit
suicide failed, after killing his wife, he ran to the. police station to
report that he had killed his wife.
All around are more and more reports of failed business leaders, failed
marriages and families, failed communities and failing nations. The world
is still ailing from a failed financial system and failing economic plans.
Much of the failures of today lie squarely at the feet of leadership;
leadership that have been lacking in commitment, lacking in integrity and
trust; leadership that have turned away from God and turned their backs on
their responsibility. The failure of our leaders to take hard decisions in
the past has resulted in many innocent people losing their lives. We pay a
heavy price for fail leadership.
We are in dire need of leadership that will *do their job in a dependable
way; leaders who will treat their job as a sacred trust and leadership that
knows how to motivate others to greater and greater accomplishment.
*Leadership that will not enslave the minds of the people they lead but teach
them how to dream and make their dreams a reality. We need leaders to show
the people that no matter how huge the vision there must be submission to
God and His perfect plans.
I put it to you today that our homes are in trouble, our communities are in
trouble and the global world is in trouble has the leaders are missing, the
God appointed leaders are missing. The world has become and is by far a
fatherless world.
In a recent choir rehearsal I had at a church I asked the question if you
were raised by your father or…
My hand was raised to say yes there is still hope, though it seemed like one
small ray of hope it is all we need, one little light of hope, Jesus Christ.
1 Cor. 11:13 “But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every
man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”
HEAD - What does it mean?
Illustration...when the boss/owner of a business leaves for a long trip he
most often will leave someone in charge…upon his/her return, the appointed
leader must give an account. The man appointed by God as the HEAD, means
that God is coming back to hold man accountable for his home.
In the fourth verse of Eph. Chapter 6, Paul admonishes the fathers not to
provoke their children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and
admonition of God. Fathers can provoke their children to wrath by injustice,
loss of temper, undue severity, cruelty, favouritism and misuse or abuse of
authority. Nurture means ‘training’, denoting spiritual education.
Admonition is instruction that points out one’s responsibilities and duties.
All this must be done in the Lord, with the Lord’s help. Parents must never
raise their children alone. We were never designed that way.
In his book, “Fathers – The glory of children”, Dr. Clarence Sexton asked
the following questions:
Where does a nation find its glory? She finds it in her people. Where do
her people find their glory? The Bible says that children find their glory
in their fathers. Where do fathers find their glory? They must find their
glory in God.
He went on to state that, When fathers do not glory in God, the children
find no glory in their fathers. As a result, the nation finds no glory in
her children. We are a nation with fewer and fewer people finding glory in
God, and we can find no glory in our children. The Bible says that the glory
of children is their fathers.
This is a message to fathers. Every father should be a man who follows the
Lord Jesus Christ. If you are a father, your heart should be stirred. You
should say, “God helping me, I am going to be all I should be and can be for
the Lord and for the good of my children.” Dad, please consider what it
could mean to your family if you loved the Lord like you should love Him, if
you served Him as you should serve Him.
There is an urgent call for men to take their place, in our schools and
churches, in our communities, in leadership, in the home and in our nation.
In the same book of 1 Samuel, God called Samuel and he obeyed, he led Israel
to repentance and later led them into victory against the Philistines (1
Samuel 7:3 -11)
But we see again in Chapter 8 that when Samuel was old he made his sons
judges over Israel, Joel and Abiah who did not have a heart for God like
Samuel and so they accepted bribes and perverted judgement, like Eli, Samuel
did well in securing peace with both Canaanites and Philistines, due to his
godly leadership but then was too preoccupied with his ministry to properly
oversee the spiritual upbringing of his own children.
Of note too is the fact that Samuel made his sons judges when he became old,
just as Eli did. Where is the season of training? Where is the time of
admonition?
The task ahead is great, but the God ahead of us is greater.
*To be able to lead others, a man must be willing to go forward alone.*
- Harry Truman*
*You can't win any game unless you're committed to winning.**
**We should seize every opportunity to give encouragement.
***Encouragement is oxygen to the soul.
What does God expects of us?
It is time to return the glory to the home…our young boys are looking for
fathers so they turn to dons, terrorist leaders, political leaders and
gangsters. The enemy delights in removing the men from the homes, as when
he does he leaves the home very vulnerable and he removes the glory.
them how to dream and make their dreams a reality. We need leaders to show
the people that no matter how huge the vision there must be submission to
God and His perfect plans.
I put it to you today that our homes are in trouble, our communities are in
trouble and the global world is in trouble has the leaders are missing, the
God appointed leaders are missing. The world has become and is by far a
fatherless world.
In a recent choir rehearsal I had at a church I asked the question if you
were raised by your father or…
My hand was raised to say yes there is still hope, though it seemed like one
small ray of hope it is all we need, one little light of hope, Jesus Christ.
1 Cor. 11:13 “But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every
man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”
HEAD - What does it mean?
Illustration...when the boss/owner of a business leaves for a long trip he
most often will leave someone in charge…upon his/her return, the appointed
leader must give an account. The man appointed by God as the HEAD, means
that God is coming back to hold man accountable for his home.
In the fourth verse of Eph. Chapter 6, Paul admonishes the fathers not to
provoke their children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and
admonition of God. Fathers can provoke their children to wrath by injustice,
loss of temper, undue severity, cruelty, favouritism and misuse or abuse of
authority. Nurture means ‘training’, denoting spiritual education.
Admonition is instruction that points out one’s responsibilities and duties.
All this must be done in the Lord, with the Lord’s help. Parents must never
raise their children alone. We were never designed that way.
In his book, “Fathers – The glory of children”, Dr. Clarence Sexton asked
the following questions:
Where does a nation find its glory? She finds it in her people. Where do
her people find their glory? The Bible says that children find their glory
in their fathers. Where do fathers find their glory? They must find their
glory in God.
He went on to state that, When fathers do not glory in God, the children
find no glory in their fathers. As a result, the nation finds no glory in
her children. We are a nation with fewer and fewer people finding glory in
God, and we can find no glory in our children. The Bible says that the glory
of children is their fathers.
This is a message to fathers. Every father should be a man who follows the
Lord Jesus Christ. If you are a father, your heart should be stirred. You
should say, “God helping me, I am going to be all I should be and can be for
the Lord and for the good of my children.” Dad, please consider what it
could mean to your family if you loved the Lord like you should love Him, if
you served Him as you should serve Him.
There is an urgent call for men to take their place, in our schools and
churches, in our communities, in leadership, in the home and in our nation.
In the same book of 1 Samuel, God called Samuel and he obeyed, he led Israel
to repentance and later led them into victory against the Philistines (1
Samuel 7:3 -11)
But we see again in Chapter 8 that when Samuel was old he made his sons
judges over Israel, Joel and Abiah who did not have a heart for God like
Samuel and so they accepted bribes and perverted judgement, like Eli, Samuel
did well in securing peace with both Canaanites and Philistines, due to his
godly leadership but then was too preoccupied with his ministry to properly
oversee the spiritual upbringing of his own children.
Of note too is the fact that Samuel made his sons judges when he became old,
just as Eli did. Where is the season of training? Where is the time of
admonition?
The task ahead is great, but the God ahead of us is greater.
*To be able to lead others, a man must be willing to go forward alone.*
- Harry Truman*
*You can't win any game unless you're committed to winning.**
**We should seize every opportunity to give encouragement.
***Encouragement is oxygen to the soul.
What does God expects of us?
It is time to return the glory to the home…our young boys are looking for
fathers so they turn to dons, terrorist leaders, political leaders and
gangsters. The enemy delights in removing the men from the homes, as when
he does he leaves the home very vulnerable and he removes the glory.
The man has also been charged with the responsibility of passing on the blessing.
What happens when the 'blesser' is out of place?
Today, make a commitment where you are to do all you can to help a brother, help a man, give him a hand...
Today, make a commitment where you are to do all you can to help a sister, help a woman, a girl to see her role in ensuring men are in their rightful place.
