DISLOCATED IN THE CHURCH

1 Samuel 1:9-13

    So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord. [10] And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. [11] And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. [12] And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. [13] Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

Eli was both a priest and a judge in Israel. His tenure marked the gradual closing of the inglorious era of the Judges when rebellion, subjugation and episodic restoration in the land were the norm.

Eli’s life reveals a five-fold leadership failure in vital areas, namely:

• Failure as a shepherd. A shepherd leads the sheep to green pastures, to still waters. Not so with Eli. He was often led by the sheep. His failure raised a congregational dictatorship and a situation where everyone did as it seemed good to them.
• Failure as a teacher. Teachers teach by word and by lifestyle. This is not visible in the life of Eli.
• Failure as a servant-leader. Great leaders are servant leaders. They lead by example. Consider, for example, the leadership styles of Paul and of Jesus Christ.
• Disciplining leader. Eli was weak in the area of maintaining discipline. The manner of life of his sons speaks volumes in this direction.
• Failure as intercessor. This priest is not seen at the place of prayer. Even when he received a proclamation of judgement upon his own family he acquiesced and wrung his hands in helplessness. He never cried out to the Lord for mercy.

How was Eli dislocated while in church? Let’s look at this and locate our own positions as we do this.

1. ELI’S POSITION: BY THE DOORPOST

1 Samuel 1:9

    So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord.

Eli sat at a post of the temple of the Lord or at the door post (NIV). The post or pillar was the place for kings and judges. Eli was not sitting in his priestly office; he was sitting in the seat of rulership and of judgement.

2 Kings 11:14 (also 2 Chron. 23:13)

    And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason.

2 Kings 23:3

    And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

Eli sat as judge, and it shouldn’t surprise us that he rose in judgement.  As Hannah prayed, the priest was concerned with watching her mouth! He was not praying. The congregant prays, the priest merely watches. There is a great misalignment in this church.

Eli assumed that Hannah was drunk. A picture of an indulgent, fleshly church. Eli marked her mouth but could not see beyond the physical movement of her lips; could not discern the spiritual sacrifice being offered right in his presence. How could this church flow in the move of God with this level of dullness of spirit?  The fact that God answered the prayer of Hannah in no way validates or confers an approval to this priesthood.

Ephes. 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

2. ELI’S SONS’ POSITION: AT THE DOOR

1 Samuel 2:12-15

    Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord. [13] And the priest's custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; [14] And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. [15] Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.

Eli’s two sons were totally abominable to both God and men. How many men of God are promoting their sons and daughters who have are called?

• They did not know, honour, love or have any regard for God

Job 18:21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.

• They did not serve God, even though outwardly they wore priestly garments
• They desecrated the peoples’ offerings. Robbed them of the joy of serving the Lord and also robbed them of the meat that rightfully was theirs.

1 Samuel 2:17

    Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.

• Fat cats! Eli himself was thick set…

• They were unrepentant.

1 Samuel 2:22-25

    Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. [23] And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. [24] Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord's people to transgress. [25] If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.

• An immoral and adulterous priesthood. Not content with robbing God, they desecrated the women who came to serve at the door of the tabernacle. These were nothing short of rapists. Agents of the devil. Subverting the efforts of the people both at the door and at the altar: as they entered with praise and went into worship.
• By taking things and people devoted to God, these deviant priests were marked for destruction. Recall Achan’s case in Joshua 7.
• Eli heard of his sons’ immorality.
• He did not see. He did not know. The priest depends on others to know what was going on in the tabernacle and in the land.

3. JUDGEMENT ON THE HOUSE OF ELI

1 Sam 2:27-36

The man of God confronted Eli and declared the judgement of Jehovah upon him and his family across generations to come.

• This priesthood would have no honour (verse 30)
• This priesthood would be grossly limited (Verse 31)
• They would be candidates for distress (verse 33)
• They would see deaths (Verse 34)
• They would be replaced (verse 35)

Acts 1:20

    For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.

Ezekiel 34:10

    Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

4. ELI’S USUAL PLACE

Earlier we saw Eli seated by the doorpost of the tabernacle. Next we see him lying in his usual place. There is no picture of this priest standing in the place of service. He is either seated or lying down. This is the defining character of a lax, comatose, self-satisfied priesthood. He could not have operated in the old order (Tabernacle of Moses) neither could he in the new move of God. Do we not see many in the church like that?

1 Samuel 3:1-3

    And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. [2] 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; [3] And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

Isaiah 56:10

    His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

This is a blind and lax priesthood who slumber, wake up and talk with no power, no authority. The blind watchmen!

1 Samuel 3:17-18

    And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee. [18] And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.

• Stopped at nothing to extract the word from Samuel. The word came as confirmation of what God had previously revealed through the prophet. Yet he did nothing with the word.
• Eli found neither room for repentance nor for intercession after hearing the judgement of heaven against him and his family.

5. ELI’S FINAL POSITION: BY THE ROADSIDE

1 Samuel 4:12-14

    And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. [13] And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. [14] And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.

We see here a progressive retreat from the place of service. He moved from his seat by the doorpost; to his bed in his usual place and finally to a seat on the wayside.  It is noteworthy that the wayside is not the place of progress. It is rather the place where seeds are trampled underfoot. It is place were virile seeds are picked up by the birds or fowls of the air. (Luke 8:5)

Eli had lost control of the (people) church. When they fought the Philistines, Israel was routed and lost 4,000 men in the battle. Without inquiring of the Lord, and without direction from Eli the priest, the people decided to take the Ark of the Covenant to the battle field. Presumptuousness never saves. 

1 Samuel 4:3

    And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.

• The church committee decided to fetch the Ark out of the authorised place of encounter, unto themselves! Congregational dictatorship is not approved of God.
• Eli’s sons were the official priestly escorts of the Ark. Two things were wrong here: the removal of the Ark was not ordered by God and the presence of the sons of El was enough to bring a “breach” upon them. (See what happened to Uzzah at 2 Sam 6:6-8)

The Ark of the Covenant is not a talisman. They had a form of worship without the power in worship and without an endorsement of heaven. John 4:24.

• Eli was not just seated on his chair; he did so by the roadside, not in the tabernacle. The Ark had been taken out, and again Eli steps out in his role as the city elder or judge, joining his elders at the city gate.
• By this time Eli was blind. Yet the Bible says he was “watching” or staring. There are many who look without seeing. There are many unapproved priests and prophets who profess to see, who pretend to look, whose eyes are open but who are completely blind.

• It was the priest’s duty to direct the people and point them to God. His duty was to help the people place their confidence in God. Here, however, we see a priest who is even more fearful than the people. Eli’s heart trembled for the ark of God, because he did not believe that God was capable of defending Himself. 

6. OUR PRESENT POSITION

The Philistines captured the Ark, suffered some calamities and sent it back to Israel after a period of seven months. For a period of about twenty years the Ark rested at Kiriath Jearim (1 Samuel 7:2)

• Because of the rebelliousness of Israel and the priesthood judgement was visited on the church. The glory was manifestly withdrawn from the church.

Today the church must remain conscious of the words opf Samuel as recorded at 1 Samuel 7:3-4

The church as pictured by Eli and his sons was a fattening room for the priesthood. It was a church in which the priests had become fat cats and the people were both robbed and raped by a voracious and vicious priesthood.

It was a church filled with priests who depended on the world for direction. It was unlike the church of the Joshua generation where the priests bare both the Ark and the trumpets. That was a church where the priests led and the people followed. It was a church where the priests blew the trumpet and the job assigned to the people was to shout…and to charge into Jericho and conquer the land. It was a church in advance against the territories of the enemy.