“2 Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no
respect for the Lord 13 or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli’s sons would
send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed
animal was still boiling, 14 the servant would stick the fork into the pot and
demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli’s sons. All the Israelites
who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way.15 Sometimes the servant would come even before the
animal’s fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used
for roasting. 16 The man offering the sacrifice might reply, “Take as much as
you want, but the fat must be burned first.” Then the servant would demand, “No, give it to me now, or
I’ll take it by force.” 17 So the sin
of these young men was very serious in the Lord’s sight, for they
treated the Lord’s offerings with
contempt…. 22…his sons were seducing the young women who
assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle.”
The Oxford
Dictionary[1]
defines scoundrel as a dishonest or unscrupulous person; a rogue. Encarta
describes rogue as someone who is dishonest especially somebody who is also
likable; somebody mischievous, a dangerous solitary animal; someone who acts
independently and using unorthodox methods that are unpredictable and are
likely to cause trouble.
This is strong word and it is found
eight times in the NIV translation of The Bible[2],
and all to describe the character of an individual:
·
Judges 9:4 – “to hire reckless scoundrels”
·
Judges 11:3 – “where a gang of scoundrels”
·
1Samuel 2:12 – "were scoundrels; they had no regard for the LORD.”
·
1Samuel 10:27 – “some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?”
·
1King 21:10 – “two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges”
·
1King 21:13 – “two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges”
·
2Chronicles 13:7 – “Some worthless scoundrels gathered”
·
Isaiah 32:7 – “Scoundrels use wicked methods; they make up evil schemes to destroy
the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.”
Today this word “scoundrels” might
not be so commonly used but what it means describe people that existed since Bible
times; and you might even know some today.
The key is to be aware and pray for them, not to judge them, but to pray
for them. If we aren’t careful, we could
fall into the same trap!
Whoever is being controlled by a
wrong behavior is in need of a “heart transplant”, meaning a touch from God. We’ve
all been there, and coming to GOD is the ONLY solution to it. HE is really the only One who can do the
needed everlasting transformation.
In the case of verses 15-16, is
referring to people that normally are in church, working for GOD, doing HIS
thing, but at the same time have gotten so used to it, that they have started
to make demands as if they were “landlords”, and/or special treatment because
of their position, and these are called “scoundrels”; is like backsliding in
church…. that’s sad! Is our duty to pray for these!
Backsliders are people who used
to love and live for God, but different reasons, have decided to place other
things, people, or even themselves before God, to the point that have straight
away from the faith; relapsing into their bad ways. In this account, these were the priest’s
children; hello!!! Did you get that? Even
our own children are at risk! LORD HAVE MERCY!!!
And one more thing, this backslider's
situation confirms that in fact a person once saved IS NOT necessarily always
save; salvation can be lost, depending on your behavior. We better NOT play with fire, because we can
REALLY GET BURN!... not good!
I pray in the name of JESUS, for those
that have fallen back into their old ways, I’m standing in the gap for the Lord
to intervene in their lives, and bring them back to live for God. I pray the Lord open their eyes like HE did
with Jonah, to realize the sin, confess it to God, asking forgiveness to
receive mercy and grace from the Savior of our soul; to get back on track to
live and serve the Lord again. And I
pray for us, the body of Christ, and the leaders who comes frequently to the
house of God to be discipled and to disciple others; I pray for the Lord to
keep our hearts, as well as our children’s, tenderized at all times in a way
that we get convicted when we’re about to give in to something we ought not to.
I pray the Lord help us to be more like HIM, and for His glory I pray in JESUS
name, AMEN!!!
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