Consider Thyself (continued)

Beloved, in continuance of our theme, “Consider Thyself” - when Eli (the High Priest of Judah) was old, his sons made themselves vile, and Eli was no longer able to restrain them. They lay carnally with “women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation” (I Samuel 2:22). By law, when any man brought a sacrificial animal, the priest’s servants were supposed to reach into the seething pot with “a fleshhook of three teeth” (I Samuel 2:13), and give whatever they brought up to the priest. However, Eli’s sons were not satisfied with the lawful portion that was given to them for their service. The servants demanded larger portions from the people. They would say, “give (us) the flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden (boiled) flesh (from) thee, but raw” (I Samuel 2:15). If the person who brought the sacrifice contended that the sacrifice should be burned before the Lord to satisfy the demands of the Law, the servants would reply that if the flesh was not handed over, it would be taken by force (see I Samuel 2:16).

Precious Ones, Hophni and Phinehas (Eli’s sons) broke all of these laws. Can you imagine how the children of Israel must have felt about going to church during this time? They could not bring their sacrifices to these “fellas” to atone for their sin, because they knew that Eli’s dishonest sons would consume the sacrifices themselves, thus destroying the efficaciousness of the sacrifice. Yet, the people could not be their own priests. By law, they were not allowed to offer their own sacrifices. They never knew what they would have to face when they walked through the door of the tabernacle. Would they find the supposed priests committing fornication when they arrived? Would they have to wait until another day until these sinful priests had time to purify themselves? Could these ungodly priests actually reach God on behalf of the people? Would their sacrifice be honored by God?

Chosen Ones, let us “consider ourselves”. Wouldn’t you agree that we are blessed to be able to get an audience with God at any time, without having to depend on the integrity of men? Even when we commit sins “ourselves”, scripture tells us that “if any man sin, we (the saints) have an advocate (intercessor) with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous” (I John 2:1). Beloved, let us be truly grateful for this. I will write more on this subject next week.

I love you all SO very much!
In His Love,

Pastor William L. McCoy