Holiness in the House | Ep. 131

In this episode, we examine the fascinating and at times unsettling narrative of the Levitical priesthood. From Eli and his wayward sons to the golden calf debacle, we journey through the complexities of ancient Israel's spiritual leadership. The levity of the stories brings us to a somber reflection on the sacred duties of the Levites and the consequences that occur when those duties are neglected.

Venture with us as we scrutinize the downfall of Eli's household, a sobering account of judgment and the stark reminder of the reverence due to the sacred. The unfolding story serves as a poignant lesson in the critical importance of upholding holiness, particularly for those in leadership. The episode paints a dramatic picture of the corruption that permeated the priesthood—greed, manipulation, and scandal under Eli's watch—and how it led Israel to stray. 

As we close this chapter on biblical history, we're left to ponder the weighty implications of these stories for our lives today, stressing the weighty responsibility of discerning and teaching what is clean and unclean, holy and unholy. The spiritual downfall of Eli's house and the calamitous loss of the Ark to the Philistines is a sobering reminder of the importance of vigilance in our own pursuit of God and His righteousness and holiness. For every listener who has felt the pull of a higher calling, examine your life against the backdrop of these timeless biblical lessons and consider the divine challenges of our responsibilities, to uphold a divine standard of moral integrity in our service and worship to the LORD.

Transcript

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 0:03

The vision received was that of blood cells traveling throughout the body, supplying the much needed oxygen and other nutrients to the differing members of the body to fulfill their purpose. Once the blood cells are spent, they must return back to the heart to be refilled before being sent out again and fulfill their purpose. Hello everyone, hello everyone. Yeah, it's me. I thought I'd drop in and just say hi to you personally and tell you how much I am grateful and thankful that you are here listening to this particular podcast. I know normally I am releasing podcasts of teachings that I've given in the past and I've just been progressively doing that since I started this podcast, and every once in a while I'll jump in and give a live podcast where I'm speaking directly to you. This is kind of one of those. I thought I'd just pop in and say hello and I'm not going to actually do a teaching, but there's something came to my mind as I was getting together the teaching that I do want to release holiness in the house, specifically the house of God and as I was listening to it, to try to just refresh my memory, because it's something that I shared, oh gosh, probably 10 years ago. I think it was in 2014. I just it hit me. Some segments of it hit me in a different way, probably because of continual study that I've been going over recently and discussions that I've been hearing about, and I ran into a comment that was interesting in that there was an opinion not a majority opinion, but an opinion that you know in this particular example you know, some people talk about that this is God actually lying or actually breaking covenant, and I thought that was interesting and I didn't put it together until I started re-listening to this particular teaching that I wanted to release to you, and it centers on Samuel, or at least the book of Samuel, not specifically on Samuel, but there was something that took place as Samuel was growing up in the house of the Lord with Eli, and I wanted to kind of go over that as an intro to this teaching might be kind of a teaser, so that you will at least continue listening to see the actual teaching itself. But there's something I wanted to pull out that I thought was really important that I kind of addressed this idea that God actually lied or broke covenant. He broke a promise.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 2:52

So, to set the context, everyone knows or if you study the Bible and you've been versed in it. You would know that out of the 12 tribes of Israel, from Jacob, one of them was selected to service the Lord, to represent the people before the Lord and represent the Lord before the people. That was the Levites, and they were selected out to do this service to the Lord, the ordinations, the ceremonies, the sacrifices and on all of those things. So the Levites that were given commission to do that, and over time you can actually see, from the very beginning it didn't give an indication that this was going to be like something great, because the first actual priest, aaron, after the people made a covenant with the Lord or actually agreed to the covenant that the Lord gave to them regarding, you know, the commandments of God and adhering to them, moses went up to the mountain for 40 days. And Moses went up to the mountain for 40 days and in that period of time, in that span of time, the people begin to mumble and complain and to think that, oh my gosh, moses is not coming back. And so they started badgering and getting on Aaron's nerves to make an idol to represent their God. And immediately, right there, the high priest, the one that was chosen to do that work, takes all of their gold and creates a molten calf.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 4:49

And right from the very get-go of this Levitical priesthood it's off. I mean there's something wrong with it, because the first ever high priest of the Levitical priesthood fell and broke the commandments that they had all agreed to. Thou shalt worship no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make any, you know, carve engraving images and within 40 days I've already broken the covenant. I mean, you know that if you follow the account long enough, that Aaron and his sons, you know, continue to serve in the house of the Lord. But let's just fast forward a little bit to the point where you know it's centuries down the line. Israel has gone through the wilderness experience, they've already entered into the land of promise and we're now where Samuel is, and Samuel was the last judge. You know there's the book of Judges and all of those judges and actually Samuel comes in right after that and becomes the last judge.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 5:48

And during his time in Eli's house, Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, and they were doing evil in the sight of the Lord. I mean, it literally says they did not know the Lord and yet they were serving in the house of the Lord, which is a paradox in and of itself. But a man of God came to Eli one day and confronted him, and this is from 1 Samuel, chapter 2. And the Lord says to him did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt, in Pharaoh's house? So he's speaking to Eli. He's speaking to him. Didn't I reveal myself to your father in Egypt? So he's not talking about Eli's actual dad, he's talking about his lineage. He's talking about his father from way back in Egypt, meaning Levi. And did I not choose him, Levi, out of all the tribes of Israel, to be my priest, to offer upon my altar, to burn incense, to wear the ephod before me? And did I not give to the house of your father, meaning Levi, all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? And yet you kick at my sacrifice and my offering, which I've commanded in my dwelling place, and honor your sons more than me to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel, my people.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 7:14

Eli was allowing there to be corruption in the house in regards to the holy things of the Lord, the sacrifices of the Lord, and so God is confronting him through the man of God that came to Eli and he says something very interesting in 1 Samuel 2, verse 30. He said, therefore the Lord, God of Israel, says this is the man of God saying to Eli I said, indeed, that your house and the house of your father would walk before me forever. So God is saying to Eli I indeed said this to your father and his house. But now the Lord says far be it from me, for those who honor me will I honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 8:09

And that's the point where I was listening to a conversation and I was thinking about this. You know that they said well, that's where the Lord, you know, lied and he broke covenant. And I had to go back and I had to relook at this again and I had to consider that idea. And I come to the understanding that I had to relook at this again and I had to consider that idea, and I come to the understanding that, well, wait a second. The Lord came to Eli because Eli broke covenant and really, Eli was a continuation of a house, a tribe, that over the centuries had broken covenant with God, starting from the very first one, Aaron, and in his graciousness, his compassionate, loving kindness, his long-sufferingness, he allowed it to continue and continue and continue. But he got to the point where He said to Eli I'm going to cut off your arm, meaning you specifically, and the arm of your father's house, not meaning his dad, but Levi. Why? Because over the years you have continually broken covenant with me. And then I started thinking beyond that and thinking, wow, that actually opens the door and gives explanation as to why was David allowed to eat the shewbread which was only allowed to be eaten by Levitical priests. Hmm, things that make you go, Hmm, maybe that's why? Why is it that Jesus, the son of David, not the son of Levi, the son of David, was the son of the tribe of Judah? Why did he come from a tribe outside of the Levitical priesthood? And I think I'm leaning now in this direction that it's answered by this very account.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 10:26

When the Lord spoke to Eli about not just him, not just his children, not just you know, his family, but his father's house, and his father was Levi. He was going to not use them any further and he was going to raise up for himself. This says in verse 35, I'm going to raise up for myself a faithful priest and he will do according to what is in my heart and in my mind and I will build him a sure house and he shall walk before my anointed. That's just some powerful stuff and I just wanted to kind of highlight it to you as a teaser and maybe you'll go and you'll research it and look into it and then you can now listen to the actual teaching on holiness in the house. Brothers and sisters, good morning. It's good to see that the people of God are faithful to come into the house of the Lord, hopefully with ready hearts and ready minds, with great anticipation to hear what the Lord has to say to us all.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 11:56

Most of what we're going to share from is from the book of Samuel. So if you all turn there, just go to the first chapter. I've taught in previous times on the book of Samuel and focused on Samuel and his being raised up in the house of God, but I don't want to particularly do that today that I think we need to hear and heed, even though it's intermixed with the life of Samuel in the beginning. So we'll start in the first book of Samuel, first chapter. Now, there was a certain man of Ramah Thaim, zophim, of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zoph, an Epraphite, and he had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah and the name of the other was Peninnah, and Peninnah had children and Hannah had no children, and this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh, and two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas the priests of the Lord, were there.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 13:38

So as we start to read this book, we start to think about okay, this is going to be about Elkanah, because actually this book of the Bible that we call Samuel today was not originally called the book of Samuel. It was actually called the first book of the kings, in case you didn't know. And the second Samuel book was not actually called second Samuel, it was called the second book of the kings. And then the first kings that we know today was actually the third book of the kings and the second king's book was actually the fourth book of the kings. So the only reason why we probably named it Samuel is because most of the bulk of the beginning of this book was referring to Samuel, and just by the title of the book we would think this is all about Samuel and it talks about Samuel's father. It talks about Samuel's mother. It talks about Samuel's father had two wives and mother talks about. Samuel's father had two wives and one of them had children and the other did not.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 14:34

We haven't even heard the name Samuel yet, but if you know the story, the account says that one of his wives didn't have any children, Hannah, and she sought the Lord when Elkanah went to bring the sacrifices that they did year by year, and I think we all know about that. But there's this one line there that kind of catches my attention. It says and the two sons of Eli, hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there, and then it doesn't talk about them anymore, at least not in this first chapter. And so these are the two children I actually want to focus on today. I'll talk about Samuel, but I want to focus on this family, Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 15:29

Now, Eli was the high priest at the time and you know that the priests all came out of the tribe of I think I heard it Levi, Levi. Okay, so they were from the family of Levi. They came from the. They were the sons of Aaron, because Aaron's and Moses' father was Levi. They came from the. They were the sons of Aaron because Aaron's and Moses' father was Levi. And so they came from that tribe and so they were the priests of the Lord, as the Lord had chosen them out of all the other tribes of Israel to service him, to take all the care of the ordinances of the sacrifices. And so Elkanah faithfully came, year by year, bringing about his animals so that he could sacrifice and take care of his sins and the sins of his family. And it says that those that were presiding as priests were Eli, Hophni and Phinehas.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 16:27

And you know the account Hannah was seemingly drunk one night as they were celebrating their feast and her lips were moving. And Eli saw her in the night thinking that she was drunk, wondering what she was doing. And Hannah says no, no, no, no, I'm, I'm, I'm a woman sorrowful of spirit. I haven't drunken any wine, I haven't taken any strong drink, but I'm just pouring out my soul before the Lord. And Eli says to her go in peace, then the God of Israel will grant thee your petition, whatever you have asked of him. And so the woman went away and she ate and her countenance was no more sad. I didn't go over this, but the other wife, peninnah, who had children, really stuck it to her, really pinched her and poked her and prodded her with the fact that she had children and Hannah didn't have children.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 17:20

Yet it says that Elkanah loved Hannah and so she came one night. She sought after the Lord, and the Lord answered through the mouth of Eli. And when they went back to their town in Ramah, elkanah obviously had relations with his wife, hannah, and the Lord remembered her cry. And the Lord allowed her and caused her to have her first baby. His baby's name was Samuel, but she said in her prayer that I will give to you my firstborn. I will lend him to you, he will be wholly yours if you give me a child.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 18:09

And Hannah was faithful to this vow that she made with the Lord, and for about a couple more years she continued to go up to the house of the Lord and Samuel grew up, and when she was done weaning him, she then proceeded to give her own son to Eli and lent him to the Lord, he would never drink strong drink, he would never cut his hair, almost like a Nazarite vow. And then Eli took him in, brought him into the house of the Lord, young, young, young boy, just being weaned off of his mother's breast, and now Eli was going to care for him, was going to allow him to work in the house of the Lord, because that was her offering back to God her own child. It says for this child I prayed and the Lord had given me my petition which I asked of him in verse 27. Therefore, also, I have lent him to the Lord and as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there. And it begins to talk about how she exalts like Mary did, like Elizabeth. They exalted in the Lord. She exalts like Mary did, like Elizabeth did. They exalted in the Lord and they were just talking about his awesomeness and his sovereignty and recognizing his mightiness.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 19:38

And then we get to verse 12. Elkanah went to Ramah, back to his house, after they had given Samuel, and the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest. And then it says Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. In other words, they were saying these sons were corrupt, these sons were worthless I mean literally absolutely worthless children. And so if you're paying attention to details, you're wondering why did they talk about Phinehas and Hophni in the beginning and then say nothing to about them? Well, now we're getting back to them, because the main gist and the thrust is Samuel. Samuel is about to be put in a place because something else is happening, and so now we're going to get a bit of what's really going on.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 20:33

It says they didn't know the Lord. They were priests in the house of God and it says they did not know the Lord. You'd think that funny. You'd think that curious that people could be serving in the house of God and literally not know the Lord. This was Hophni and Phinehas.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 20:57

And it says in verse 13, the priest's custom with the people just explaining to us what were some of the obligations that priests did with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged flesh hook in his hand while the meat was boiling, because they would cook the meat. You know, they put it on the brazen altar and they would deal with the sacrifice, but the meat it would start boiling and then would cook it and one of the servants of the priest would stick this three-pronged fork in and whatever he took out, that's what the priest got to eat, that was his food, that was his ration. And it says when they stuck it in the kettle of the cauldron, the priest would take for himself all the flesh that was brought up. And they did this in Shiloh for all the Israelites that came there. That was their job, that was their responsibility, and it was okay for them to take some of the meat for themselves because that's how they took care of themselves. They were not allowed land, they were not allowed to go out and do this stuff for them, because their only responsibility was in service to the Lord. So it says also, before they burned the fat, the priest servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed Now here we have a problem that is arising as they're doing this in the house of the Lord. They would say to the person that gave up the sacrifice give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 22:35

How many of you read that and don't understand what's going on? Thank you, thank you very much. I appreciate that. It makes me feel useful up here. Okay, so I get to explain. It's as if you came to this particular ministry. You came and you brought forth your offering, because that's what the sacrifice is, where there are offerings unto the Lord. You put money in here and then, as we start taking up a collection, I say, sister Kim, I got to go to the bank and deposit that and it's going to cost me some gas and I need you to pay for that. How would you feel if I said that to you? You're very giving, so you would actually go to pay for that. How would you feel if I said that to you? You're very giving, so you would actually go ahead and do that.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 23:14

All right, so she's a very generous young lady and let me read what they said. It says give me meat for roasting to the freeze, because he's not going to take any boiled meat from you. He's going to take it raw. And it says and if the man said to him, meaning if the person who brought the sacrifice responded well, they should really burn the fat first, and then you could take as much as your heart's desire. I mean, you're already getting from my sacrifices, you can get the meat from there. But they said, if they said that, the servant would answer him no, but you must give it now, and if not I will take it by force. So now you have people that are in the house of God that are being greedy. It's not enough that they get to eat of all the.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 24:00

You understand how many hundreds, thousands of people came to the house of God for their celebratory feast and brought these animals so that they could be sacrificed, and they had their pick of the litter, if you will. And now they were asking for more of the people. Not even asking, demanding, and more so demanding, manipulating them, saying if you don't give me more for roasting, for doing my job, I'm going to take it from you by force. And so now we realize, therefore, the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men aboard the offering of the Lord, so bad, it got so manipulatory that the people of God began to hate coming to give their sacrifices. And if you think, if they kept doing this year by year, that they probably reluctantly, begrudgingly, brought more sacrifices because they knew they were going to have to deal with this nonsense. And so they came every year, begrudgingly. I've got to give my sacrifice and now I've got to pay off the priest to do his job. So there's a real problem in the house of God right now and Eli's the head. It's happening under Eli's eyes. So we can come back to Samuel for a second. But we need to really get, we need to understand that that's really what's going on in the house of God and there's going to be more.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 25:35

But it says here in verse 18, that Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child. And I really didn't want to talk about Samuel because I really already talk about Samuel in a previous teaching. But I see so many young faces, so many little children, that I'm trying to tell you something and it's not really me. The Lord wants you to know that there was a young boy named Samuel. He just got weaned, meaning he just stopped eating and drinking off of his mother's breast, and he was in the house of God serving the Lord. A young boy, maybe your age, probably under seven, and he was in the house of God serving the Lord. He wore the linen ephod as if he was a priest of the Lord. So don't think of yourself less young children than you ought to. Even at your age, you can serve God faithfully. It says son, again and again.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 27:06

And Eli, the high priest, would bless Elkanah and his wife and say the Lord, give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the Lord. And when they went home, the Lord remembered that word and the Lord visited Hannah and she conceived and she had more children. She had three sons and two daughters and all the while this was happening, that means if they had three sons and what is it? Three sons and two daughters, then that must have been at least five children, or exactly five children, and you can't have five children in one year. So figure a year per child, unless you're the Harris is having two in one year. You know that's about five years, at least four to five years that Samuel's just in the house of God serving the Lord and his mother keeps coming to him every year, visiting him and bringing him robes.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 28:00

And now we get back to the main gist, what I think of today's message. It says in verse 22, now Eli, he was very old. It says in verse 22, now Eli, he was very old. And it says that he heard all the things that his sons were doing in the house of Israel In how they would lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So not only were they manipulating the people for more food and for more sacrifices, you had the Hophni and Phinehas, Eli, the high priest's sons, committing adultery with the people of God. Literally, not spiritual, but physical. And he said unto them, he confronted them. Eli said why are you doing these things? I hear of the evil of the things you're doing to these people. No, my sons, it is not a good report. You make the Lord's people to transgress. You are causing the people of God to err and to sin.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 29:16

Now you know, Hophni and Phinehas, that if one man sins against another, the judge shall judge him. But if a man sin against the Lord, who is going to judge him? The Lord himself is going to judge him. Who's going to stand for him? Who's going to entreat for him? Because your issue is now between you and God, where, if it's between two men, we can bring another person a judge and he'll decide between the two and what's the quarrel in the argument and make a decision. But when you sin against God, the Lord is the one that makes the decision of your consequence and judgment.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 30:05

But it says, even though they heard him, it says they didn't listen to him, they hearken not unto his voice, they did not heed what he was telling them. And it says because the Lord would slay them. See the Lord, through foreknowledge, the Lord already knew what they had done, already knew what they were doing and already knew what they were going to do. And he had already decided I'm going to slay them. Now there's a reason for that. We're going to get to that right at the end. This is not the first time it's happened. But he desired my Lord desired to slay them. That's why they didn't listen. It's reminiscent of the Pharaoh not letting the people go, and then he hardened their heart, hardened Pharaoh's heart that he would not let them go until the 10th plague. And it's the same thing that's happening here. They're not going to listen to the word of the Lord because the Lord already decided I'm going to slay them. They are not going to change All the while.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 31:22

Verse 26, now it plots this seed again talks about Sam, and Samuel grew in stature and in favor, both with the Lord and men. And then we're back to Hophni and Phinehas and Eli. So a man of God is sent to Eli, the high priest, and this man of God says Thus saith the Lord, did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt? In Pharaoh's house, he's telling Eli didn't I come to your fathers? Didn't I reveal myself to them? And did I not choose him, levi talking about Levi, because he's the father of this tribe Didn't I choose him out of all the tribes of Beelzebub to be my priest, to offer upon my altar, to burn incest, to wear an ephod before me? Did I not give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? Haven't I allowed you to do all of these things for me, and haven't I allowed you to have the offerings given to you by the children of Israel? Haven't I done that?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 32:35

He says why do you kick at my sacrifice? If we read Hebrews 10, I believe it's verse 36. We trample underfoot the son of grace, the blood of his covenant. Well, that's what they're doing right now, because they're treating the sacrifice as if it's an unholy thing. It's just meat for us, but it was a very holy thing unto the Lord and they were using it to be greedy, to take more from the people.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 33:08

It says Wherefore, kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation. I commanded these ordinances and these sacrifices and you honorest thy sons above me to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel, my people, and right there by the prophet of the Lord. This is the man of God. He speaks directly to the root of Eli's issue. You honor your sons above me, these sons of Eli. Even though he approached them, he didn't deal adequately with the situation because he honored them more than he honored the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 34:03

It says Wherefore the Lord, the God of Israel, saith I said, indeed, that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me forever. I made a promise to your house and to your father that you would be priests always. It says let's get this straight, Eli. I did promise to your fathers that all of your generations will walk ever before me being my priest ever, continually. But let me get something straight I will honor those that honor me and those that despise me.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 34:48

I will not give a lot of credence to those that despise me. I will not give a lot of credence to, I will not look highly upon those that despise me, that disgrace me, that insult me. I will lightly esteem them. When we esteem people, we prop them up, we give them the praise, we give them the glory, but he says no, no, no, I will lightly esteem anyone that despises me. 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 thy house. I'm going to deal specifically, eli, with your house. You may be a Levite and I did make a promise to your fathers, but since you have allowed this thing to continue on in my house and so lightly esteemed me and despised me, I will deal this way with you. I will cut off thine arm and the arm of thy father's house.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 35:49

And so here we see an old covenant principle that Jesus highlighted. Anybody know what I'm talking about. Jesus said if your hand or your foot or your eye offend thee, do what with it, cut it off. See, jesus is the same God as the God of Abraham, isaac and Jacob, and he deals with sin in the very same way. Does he want to destroy all the people? He'll keep his remnant, and if his remnant be one out of a million, then he'll cut off the 999,999 people and keep his one remnant, because they were the ones that did what Honored him. He didn't care if it's just one, he'll wipe everybody else out, but in that he will stay truthful to his word. He will maintain and keep covenant because he will always reserve a remnant for himself. He says furthermore, and thou shalt see, here's a prophecy, thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thine house forever.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 37:08

Again, the judgment, now the prophetic decree, is going to be applied specifically to Eli's house, because there were other priests. Just so happened that at that point in time Eli became the high priest, but there were other Levites. They all came from the father Levi, but they had different branches, and we can look at it up there if we need to, but we won't do that for the sake of time. So there's others that God always has to continue the service of the Lord. He continues in verse 33, and the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes and to grieve thy heart, and all the increase of that house shall die in the flower of their age, and this shall be the sign. You want to know how you know this is going to happen.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 37:56

Eli, he says this that your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, in one day they shall both die and I will raise me up a faithful priest that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind, and I will build him a shore house and he shall walk before mine, anointed forever. Now that has. I don't know if y'all see it, but that has sort of like a double edged sword to it. I think he's talking about two people, because this book we named today is called the book of what Samuel is right now, at this present time, being raised up into the house of the Lord, and he's being raised up as a faithful priest to do all that is according to his mind and his heart. That's the type. Oh, is he really talking about? Prophetically? He's speaking about Jesus, and so there's a prophetic decree that applies to, I believe, two. One was the type, the other what we call the anti-type, the fulfillment of the type. So you have Samuel that is being raised up as a faithful priest, and you have Jesus, who is the faithful high priest. It says in verse 36, and it shall come to pass that everyone that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread and shall say Put me I pray thee into one of the priest's offices that I may eat a piece of bread.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 39:30

So it doesn't look good for Eli right now, because Eli, even though he be a high priest, is not dealing with the unholiness found in his own house. He may have approached them, but God required more. How do I know? Because he's bringing judgment on Hophni, Phinehas and Eli. His whole family line is being judged right now. It's not just that Hophni and Phinehas were in sin, it's that Eli allowed it.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 40:08

So this is not just talking about children wayward in the house of God or children wayward in your own house. It's talking about who is allowing this to happen in the house of God. Who is allowing this to happen in your own house? We preach for eight years that I've been here before you go out and minister, get your own house in order. Because if your house is not in order and you try to go out and minister before the Lord, the same judgment that has been pronounced on Eli will be pronounced upon you.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 40:49

Get your own house in order, get your children right, get yourselves right, whether it's you or your spouse, because we live in a day and age where it's almost the anthem is I'm a Christian, you're a Christian, he's a Christian too. Wouldn't you like to be a Christian too? Be a Christian. That's the age we live in. Today, everybody's a Christian. There is no difference between you being a Christian and them being a Christian. Over there, everybody's a Christian today, but everybody's not abiding in the word. And as long as you prop yourself as a servant of the Lord, you will be judged as a servant of the Lord, whether you truly are or not, because you are represent, or you are trying to represent, someone who is most holy, and he will not have his name blemished by you or anyone else that calls himself a Christian. He will bring judgment.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 42:02

So in chapter three we come back to Samuel. The child ministered unto the Lord. He seems to be the only one ministering faithfully unto God, and the word of the Lord was precious. In those days, there was no open vision. In other words, when God spoke, it was rare. When it says there was no open vision, it wasn't like there was the school of prophets, where man the prophets just heard and saw and they were just. No, it was very rare.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 42:32

Now you have to realize something the accounts of 1 Samuel or the book of the first kings comes right after what book. Does anybody know who said that you did? Who said that you did? We'll get you some dessert or something after church or something. That's an excellent answer. Now here's a harder question. First samuel account is like a continuation of what was going on after judges. Anybody remember something that that kept repeating in the last four chapters of Judges Said it in four different places. It was not a good time. Anybody have any idea. Said it four different times here Judges 17,. 6 said it. Judges 18, verse 1 said it. Judges 19, verse 1 said it. Judges 18.1 said it. Judges 19.1 said it. Judges 21.25 said it.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 43:40

What kind of time was it after Samson had died? It kept saying this is the day and age where there were no kings in Israel and everybody did that which was right in their own eyes. This is a continuation of that same time. Eli Hophni, phanehas, samuel Elkanah, all are living in a time where there are no kings in Israel and everybody was doing right in their own sight. Can you understand why there was no kings in Israel and everybody was doing right in their own sight? Can you understand why there was no open vision? Can you understand why the word of the Lord was so rare in that time? Because you had an obstinate people that were living in rebellion. It was the state of the day and yet they thought everything was all right because they brought their sacrifices, year by year, and took care of their sins.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 44:34

And it says, and it came to pass at that time when Eli was laid down in his place and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see. I think it interesting that he says this about there is no open vision and Eli, the high priest, he can't see. His eyes are growing dim. Yes, it's probably because of old age. I think it's more so because spiritually, he was becoming blinded. Why? Because of what he allowed in the house of God and in his own house, he did not deal with the sin adequately and it was causing him to be not only naturally blind but spiritually blind to the consequences of not adequately dealing with the unholiness that was found in his house. So if we read on, Samuel is ministering before the Lord under Eli children. And Samuel has never heard the voice of the Lord ever before in his life. Yet he was faithful in ministering in the house of God. Even if you've never heard the Lord yourself, even if you've never seen him for yourself, you can still faithfully minister to him.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 46:00

It says here that when the Lord finally called Samuel, he did it once, he did it twice, he did it three times, he did it three times. He did it four times because every time Samuel heard his name, he would run over to Eli and say here I am. And Eli would say I didn't call you, go back to bed. Did it a second time? Here I am, go back to bed. I didn't call you. Here I am, eli. Will you stop bugging me, boy, I'm trying to go to sleep. Go back to bed. Oh, wait a second. You hearing somebody call your name. Yes, you think it's me. Yes, okay, it's not me. That's the word of the Lord. Even though he's high priest, he's blinded. It took him three times to figure out. Oh, my God, the Lord is calling Samuel and you go back. You tell him here I am, thy servant listens. And the fourth time, obediently, Samuel did what Eli said. And then there was a discussion, there was an engagement between the Lord and Samuel, and so we'll read that part in verse 11 of chapter 3. And the Lord said to Samuel Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 47:23

This is where I think Samuel was just a little bit older now. I don't think he was just weaned. You know figure, maybe he was weaned about one to three. He had five siblings, so that's another five years. So maybe he's above eight, I'd say maybe near 12. I don't know, I'm just speculating. But when you hear what he says to Sam, you would think, my God, the Lord would not have said that to like a five, six year old, because they wouldn't hardly understand what he's saying. So I kind of think he was a little bit older in age.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 47:56

It says in that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house. When I begin I will also make an end, for I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth, because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not. This is not any man's opinion as to what Eli was or was not doing in his house. This is directly from the Lord. I have judged him because of this. His children are vile, they do not know the Lord and he does nothing about it. He doesn't restrain them. He needed to do something with them and not continue allowing them to be priests while they are doing this with the sacrifices and laying with the women and causing them to commit adultery with him. He knew all this.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 48:54

It's not that he said nothing, it's that he did nothing about it and therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged Again. Because of his foreknowledge, god is saying that their iniquity will never be purged Again. Because of his foreknowledge, god is saying that their iniquity will never be purged. It will never be cleansed with sacrifice nor offering forever. That's when you know God is through with wrestling with man.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 49:30

Now think about that Sin first time he hears the Lord, and it's all about his boss and their demise of his family. What a weight he must have carried. And you could tell there was a weight there because early the next morning he rises and it says he was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord said Eli never did anything wrong to him, treated him nicely, taught him the service of the Lord, let him wear a linen ephod. And now the Lord spoke to him that this judgment is coming upon your house, eli. Eli called Samuel and said Samuel, my son, here am I. And he said what is the thing that the Lord has said unto thee? I pray thee. Hide it not from me, god, do so to thee and more. Also, if you hide anything from me and all the things that he said unto thee, so if you don't tell me what God said to you, then God is going to do what he said, not just to the person, but he's going to do it to you too, if you don't tell me. So he felt the need to tell him because he didn't want that to happen to him. So he goes and tells everything. He withholds nothing. And Eli says it is the Lord, let him do what seemeth good. And then it says and I believe this happened because Samuel got over the fear of not telling Eli it says Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and did let none of his words fall to the ground.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 51:13

All Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. So Samuel didn't have to go make a name for himself, it was obvious. That's why many of the gifts in the offices of God are not needed to be advertised on the billboard signs of 78 or 316. They will know, because they will recognize the anointing on you, as they recognize anointings on that boy, that Samuel is a prophet of the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 51:58

So we come to chapter 4. First, Samuel, chapter 4, and the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Remember the time this is the time of I'm a Christian, you're a Christian, he's a Christian too. Wouldn't you like to be a Christian too? I just had to say that again.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 52:18

Samuel went out in this time where everyone did what they desired in their own eyes. There were no kings. And here they are. Israelites are having a fight with the Philistines. Who knows why, who knows decided what this happened. But they went to fight against the Philistines, and it says that the Philistines slew 4,000 men in Israel, whooped their behinds, two left.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 52:49

And so they're back here saying and you what they said, something so indicting. Look at what they said. They said wherefore have the Lord smitten us today, before the philistines? I wouldn't think they would have said that, but they recognized that they got their butt whooped because the lord did it. They said the philistines beat them. They said the Lord beat us. Why did he do that? And so they thought of another bright idea let's go get our lucky charm, our rabbit's foot. Let's go get the Ark of the Covenant. Yeah, yeah, that'll do it, yeah. And everybody starts saying yeah, yeah, let's go, let's go. They go back to Shiloh. They bring back.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 53:27

And who comes back with the Ark of the Covenant? Hophni and Phinehas. And you got to understand, after the man of God came to Eli and spoke to him, what was about to happen. Some time passed, probably some years, when God spoke to Samuel and told Samuel what was going to happen to Eli. Some time had passed, I don't know how much time, but it was enough time that everyone all over Israel could tell that Samuel was established of the Lord and called by God to be a prophet. So there's some time that has passed, years maybe, and now Samuel's probably an adult. Years maybe, and now Samuel's probably an adult. And here you have Hophni and Phinehas coming with their lucky charm, the ark of God.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 54:23

And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout so that the earth rang again. And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said what is going on? Why are the Hebrews shouting? And then maybe they saw from a distance, the ark. They have the ark.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 54:42

And they were crying out oh my God, woe unto us. Well, not oh my God, but probably old Baal or something whatever their God was. And they were saying oh my gosh, but probably old Baal or something whatever their God was. And they were saying oh my gosh, who's going to deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with the plagues in the wilderness. They feared the Ark of the Covenant. They knew what it was capable of, even though they didn't give it its reverence because they called it the mighty gods. They didn't have an understanding of God. The God of Abraham, isaac and Jacob delivered the Hebrews out of Egypt and performed these mighty miracles. It says woe unto us. Who will deliver us out of the hand? And then, who knows?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 55:29

Probably the Lord pricked somebody's courage and said hey, quit yourselves. Like men, strap your loins up. We're going to fight like men, we're not going to be servants of these Hebrews. And then they got emboldened and they got encouraged. They just took out 4,000 of them. And the Philistines fought and Israel was snitten with their lucky charm, and they fled, every man into his tent, and there was a very great slaughter 30,000 Israelites slain with the Ark of the Covenant before the Philistines.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 56:13

And it says in verse 11, and the ark of God was taken and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. And there we see the fulfillment of this prophecy. And so someone runs from the army, a man of Benjamin. He runs back to Shiloh. Shiloh is where Eli is and Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching because his heart trembled.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 56:45

He probably didn't want the ark of God to go. Because he was trembling for the ark of God. He might not have been told. There might have been a press of people coming Wait, give us the ark, give us the ark. We need the ark. We just got slaughtered. But he didn't hear the Lord. But he might have given it away just because he was afraid of the men. And they took the ark of God and he's fearing oh my God, what's going to happen to the ark Now? Eli was 98 when this happened. His eyes were dim and he could not see. And the man said to Eli I am come out of that army and I fled today out of that army. And he said to the man what happened. My son and the messenger said Israel is fled before the Philistines and there hath also been a great slaughter among the people and your two sons, hophni and Phinehas, they're dead and the ark of God is taken.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 57:54

And it came to pass not when Hophni and Phinehas were mentioned as dying. It says it came to pass at the mention of the ark of God that he fell dead. He fell back on his seat and he was a big man. It says he was heavy because he got fat off of taking, from being greedy, from all of the things. See, it wasn't just Hophni and Phinehas that allowed their servants to do this, it was all of the priests were allowing this, and Eli got a portion of it too, because he was fat and heavy. He was fattening himself up and that was one of the indictments you fatten yourself up off of the sacrifices that are brought before you. You fatten yourself up off of the sacrifices that are brought before you. And it says that he judged Israel for 40 years.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 58:45

Now you know that Phinehas, his wife, had a child right at that time, and when she heard that Eli Hophni and Phinehas all had died, she then began to go into birth pains and she began to bring forth a child, and she called this child Ichabod. The glory of the Lord has departed, and she died too. So what does this have to do with today? This is not the first time that God has dealt with unholiness in His house. There was another time, with two other children. Anybody know their names? That a fire came down from heaven and consumed them.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 59:45

Aaron's sons is right on the money. The names were Nadab and Abihu, and it says in Leviticus 10, verses 1 through 11,. Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and put incense on it and offered profane fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. Profane meaning, loathsome meaning, hateful, abhorrent meaning, oh more than extreme distaste. And so a fire went out from the Lord and devoured them and they died before the Lord, and God did not make mention to anybody what he was about to do. He just did it, and everybody was probably in awe Fire, come down, take down the priest. Why? What happened?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:00:44

And Moses said to Aaron this is what the Lord spoke, saying by those who come near me, I must be regarded as holy. Hear those words. If you are going to come nigh unto a holy God, you must regard me as holy, otherwise I will consume you with my fire. Thank God for the blood, because without the blood being shed, we would not be able to enter into his presence. We would be consumed in his holy fire because of our unholiness. Furthermore, he says, and before all the people, I must be glorified. You can't come to me any way you want. You can't say that you're a Christian and serve me any way you want. You come into My house, you must regard Me as holy. I must be glorified in your life. And Moses heard this and held his peace. In other words, his mouth was shut. He was the high priest folks. And he learned right then. And there I better fear the Lord, or he's gonna consume me in that fire, as he did my two sons. He shut his mouth. He was in silence.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:02:23

Moses called two other sons to come and take these men that just were consumed by the fire out. He tells them do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you should die in wrath. Come upon all the people, but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled. Let everyone in the house know what has just happened. I did this to let them see what I will do. If you come to me and you do not regard me as being holy, if you come to me and your life does not glorify me, I will consume you with fire. He made them an example.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:03:09

Now, what we just read about with Eli's sons happened after this. So they forgot Again. They lived in a day and age where there was no king in Israel and everybody did what was right in their own sight. So God said I desire to slay them. I'm going to make them a reminding sacrifice again. I'm going to slay them as a reminder again.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:03:39

And it's interesting that it was two sons in the house of the Lord, of the high priest, that were slain again. Then the Lord spoke to Aaron saying do not drink wine or intoxicating drink you, nor your sons with you when you go into the tabernacle of meeting lest you die. Maybe that's what their sin was, I don't know, but I know they came in a way that we would consider in the new covenant an unworthy manner. We are warned not to take of the cup, not to break the bread in an unworthy manner. That is to say, don't come taking the communion when you're walking in sin and you haven't dealt with it. We don't think that the Lord would consume someone who's taking communion walking in sin. Why Do you want to wait to see it for yourself? This is the same God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And when you come to Him, you must regard Him as holy and your life must glorify Him. And when you come to him, you must regard him as holy and your life must glorify him. It says it shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:05:13

Listen to verse 10. That you may distinguish between holy and unholy. You, servant of the Lord, you, child of God, are to distinguish between holy and unholy. Don't wrap yourself in Christian garb, calling yourself this and that of the Lord, and walk in a way that does not regard me as holy. Do you not realize, servants of the Most High God, that you are to distinguish between holy and holy? Because you are set apart, you are separated from this world, and as long as you keep dressing yourself in the garb of a world, you run the risk of being dealt with in a manner that is eternal. It says you are to distinguish between what's clean and unclean. You should have a reputation in this world as one that is separated from the world. One of my children, because they are separated to such an extent, is called sacred by her friends. Oh, you only listen to sacred music. That's a good thing, because even though you may not even have the gift of the Holy Ghost, you can still serve the Lord and do glory to his name. It says in verse 11 that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses. We have an obligation to be teaching to one another holiness and unholiness, clean and unclean Let not us take this word so lightly.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:07:19

There are so many things happening in the world today, in churches, and we're like how can that happen? How can he be involved in that sin? Homosexuality, pedophilia, you name it, the things that we regard as disgusting, yet the Lord is going to deal with them. And so we talk about how, in the end, don't be surprised when you see pastors ministering and in the midst of their ministering they fall dead. Does it have to be right from the pulpit for Him to get our attention?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:08:03

But I take this more to heart at home. Do not allow sin to run unrestrained in your own home, unchecked, undealt with, because it was the sin of Hophni and Phinehas, the children that brought about judgment on the father and the rest of his line, because he didn't deal with it adequately or appropriately. Think of this account in a way that will cause us to fear a holy God. Recognize the responsibility that we have, that we should be teaching the children of Israel what is clean and what is not, what is holy and what is not, what is good and what is bad, what is acceptable, what is not acceptable. Yes, children of light, we are held to a higher standard.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:09:11

And if you didn't know that, going in, I'm sorry, but sniff the smelling salts. Wake up. Going in. I'm sorry, but sniff the smelling salt. Wake up, because we have a higher calling and standard and we must walk in it. I say this to you as much as I say it to myself Get our house in order. There must be holiness in the house, whether it's our home or the house of God. Amen in prayer. First, then remember these four social media buzzwords share, like, subscribe or follow. Share this podcast link with someone else by text, email or word of mouth in the hopes that they might be uplifted, as you were Like by leaving a positive rating or review with whomever you listen to our podcast. With Subscribe to support the show monetarily with the link in our podcast description. Follow us on all our social media platforms. May God bless you and make you prosperous in Him as you listen and obey His voice.