Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Your Surprising Spiritual Enemy | Historical Books | 1 Samuel 2:12-21

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. Keith is currently out of the office and unable to record, so I am going to be filling in today. My name is Luke Simon. I'm an avid TMBT listener, and I'm excited to be your guest host. So let's get started. Sometimes it feels like I am my greatest enemy. It's amazing how good I am at self-sabotage. Usually it's my mouth that gets me in trouble, saying something dumb, speaking at the wrong time, making a joke, I immediately regret. Take this, for example. My wife, Gigi and I started dating five years ago when we were seniors in high school. Yes, we're sweethearts, COVID sweethearts. And like every other fresh couple in the middle of the pandemic, we had to get creative with date nights. So when the

Starting point is 00:00:52 world was shut down and people were stuck inside, we did what any rational couple would do. We went minigolfing. We drove about 25 minutes to this course. Tickets were like $20 each, a little pricey. But of course, as the gentleman I am, I paid. I figured we'd make it. it worth it, right? But the moment we got on the course, I realized Gigi had no interest in actually playing. She was just slapping the ball around, barely trying, totally uninvested. Meanwhile, I, maybe a little too competitively, was hoping for a bit of a challenge. I didn't expect her to take it as seriously as the Masters, but at least enough to justify the money. Looking back, I think she was just nervous because, trust me, I have definitely seen her competitive side come out since then. But at the

Starting point is 00:01:35 time, I was annoyed. Why? Who knows? Maybe it was 18-year-old hormones. Maybe I was just being a jerk. But when we finished the course, I let my frustration get the best of me and said, well, if I knew you were going to play like that, I would have just made you pay for yourself. Oops, immediate regret. Now, Gigi handled it gracefully, and here we are, happily married years later. But let's be real, I was the problem. She wasn't the enemy. The golf course wasn't the enemy. My own selfishness and stupid mouth were the real issue. And I think that's how it is for a lot of us. We tend to think our biggest battles are external, people who frustrate us, jobs that stress us out, circumstances that don't go our way.

Starting point is 00:02:15 But often, the greatest threat isn't out there, it's inside us. In 1970, a comic strip called Pogo coined the classic phrase, we have met the enemy, and he is us. It's funny because you expect your enemy to be someone else, maybe a boss who's always on your case, a friend who betrayed you, or health problems that won't go your way. But the truth is, we are often our worst enemies. And that's exactly the situation Israel finds itself in during 1st Samuel 2. If we were to look at Israel's enemies, you'd assume their biggest threat was the Philistines, or maybe one of the other surrounding nations. But in reality, the greatest threat wasn't from the outside, it was inside Israel.

Starting point is 00:02:54 Their biggest problem wasn't a foreign army. It was the corruption of their own leaders. At the center of it all were Eli's two sons, Hoffney and Phineas. These men were supposed to be priests, spiritual leaders in Israel. But 1 Samuel 212 tells us everything we need to know. It says this, Eli's sons were scoundrels. They had no regard for the Lord. These were men who had been given positions of power, authority, and influence.

Starting point is 00:03:19 And yet, they cared nothing for God. They used their priesthood for their own gain, stealing the best portions of sacrifices before they were offered to God, exploiting their position, and even sleeping with the women who served at the entrance of the tabernacle. Their role was to serve God and the people, but instead they served themselves. And the worst part, they didn't care. This wasn't a momentary lapse in judgment.

Starting point is 00:03:42 This was a way of life. They had no respect for the holiness of God, no concern for justice, no fear of the consequences of their actions. They were comfortable in their corruption, and that's always a dangerous place to be. Eli, their father, was the high priest, the man who should have stepped in to stop them. He knew what they were doing. He heard the reports. He warned them. but that's all he did. In 1 Samuel 2, 23 through 24, Eli says this to his sons.

Starting point is 00:04:08 Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons, the report I hear spreading among the Lord's people is not good. But that's all he did. A warning, a weak passive response to the sons who were trampling on the worship of God. Eli had authority. He could have removed them from their positions. He could have taken real action. But instead, he let it continue. And as a result, corruption spreads. His sons ignored his rebuke, of course. Picking up in verse 25, his sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke, for it was the Lord's will to put them to death. That's a terrifying statement. They had hardened their hearts for so long that there was no turning back. God gave

Starting point is 00:04:49 them over to their sin. This is how sin works. No one wakes up one day and decides to be corrupt. It starts small. A little compromise here, a justification there, and over time the heart becomes numb. What once might have bothered your conscience doesn't anymore. And eventually you stop caring altogether. That's what happened to Hoffney and Phineas. They had been given multiple chances to repent, but they didn't. They assumed they could get away with it forever, but judgment came. Paul warns us in Galatians 6-7, do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sews. Sin always catches up with us. Maybe not immediately, but eventually. Hoffney and Phineas thought that they could keep doing whatever they wanted because nothing had happened yet. They mistook God's

Starting point is 00:05:33 patience for permission, but there comes a point where God says enough. In the middle of all this corruption, though, there was one faithful servant. First Samuel 226 says this, and the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people. While Hoffney and Phineas used their position for selfish gain, Samuel served humbly. While Eli's sons rejected correction, Samuel listened and obeyed. While corruption spread around him, Samuel remained faithful. He was a light in the darkness. That's the choice before us. Hoffney and Phineas didn't end up where they did overnight. It was a series of choices, small compromises that turned into a hardened heart. But Samuel made a different choice. He chose to serve, to listen, to remain faithful, even when the people around him

Starting point is 00:06:19 weren't. We have that same choice. We can go the way of Hoffney and Phineas, living for ourselves, ignoring God's voice, thinking we can get away with what. whatever we want. Or we can go the way of Samuel, walking and obedience, growing in faith, and living to serve. Which path are you on? The story of Hoffney and Phineas is a warning. The story of Samuel is an invitation. God is always raising up faithful people. He is always bringing light into the darkness. The question is, will you be a part of it? Amen.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Your Surprising Spiritual Enemy | Historical Books | 1 Samuel 2:12-21

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