1 Samuel 2:30

_WHEREFORE THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL SAITH, I SAID INDEED THAT THY HOUSE, AND THE HOUSE OF THY FATHER, SHOULD WALK BEFORE ME FOR EVER: BUT NOW THE LORD SAITH, BE IT FAR FROM ME; FOR THEM THAT HONOUR ME I WILL HONOUR, AND THEY THAT DESPISE ME SHALL BE LIGHTLY ESTEEMED._ I said indeed, that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever - (see the note at Exodus 28:43; Exodus 29:9.) It is true that this promise was made to Aaron and his house generally, and was verified by the permanent possession of the priestly dignity by his descendants during the subsistence of the Jewish dispensation. The bestowment of that honour upon Phinehas and his descendants (Numbers 25:12) was in token of the d

27-36 Those who allow their children in any evil way, and do not use their authority to restrain and punish them, in effect honour them more than God. Let Eli's example excite parents earnestly to strive against the beginnings of wickedness, and to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In the midst of the sentence against the house of Eli, mercy is promised to Israel. God's work shall never fall to the ground for want of hands to carry it on. Christ is that merciful and faithful High Priest, whom God raised up when the Levitical priesthood was thrown off, who in all things did his Father's mind, and for whom God will build a sure house, build it on a rock, so that hell cannot prevail against it....

Verse 1 Samuel 2:30. _SHOULD WALK BEFORE ME FOR EVER_] See Exodus 29:9; Exodus 40:15; Numbers 25:10-4, where it is positively promised that the priesthood should be continued in the _family of Aaron_ FOR EVER. But although this promise appears to be _absolute_, yet we plainly see that, like all other apparently absolute promises of God, it is conditional, i.e., a _condition_ is _implied_ though not _expressed_. _BUT NOW - BE IT FAR FROM ME_] You have walked unworthily; I shall annul my promise, and reverse my ordinance. See...

BE IT FAR FROM ME - The phrase so rendered is a favorite one in the Books of Samuel, where it occurs ten or eleven times. It is variously rendered in the King James Version, “God forbid,” and “Be it far from me, thee, etc.” Literally, “Be it an abomination to me.”...

EXPOSITION THE DIVINE JUDGMENT UPON ELI AND HIS HOUSE (1 Samuel 2:27-9). 1 SAMUEL 2:27 THERE CAME A MAN OF GOD. The title _man of God_ is the usual appellation of a prophet in the books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings, and as such is applied by Manoah to the angel who appeared to him (Judges 13:6, Judges 13:8). Though the recorded interpositions of the Deity in those times were generally by angels, still the readiness with which Manoah gave his

WHEREFORE THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL SAITH,.... This being the case, so much contempt cast upon his sacrifices, and dishonour on himself: I SAID INDEED THAT THY HOUSE, AND THE HOUSE OF THY FATHER, SHOULD WALK BEFORE ME FOR EVER; or minister in the priest's office before him: if the house of Aaron in general is meant, it did continue so to do, in one branch or another of it, as long as the Mosaic dispensation lasted, which is meant by the phrase "for ever"; but since it is afterwards denied that it should, rather the house of Ithamar, or of the immediate parent of Eli, is meant, and this said when the priesthood was translated from the family of Eleazar to the family of Ithamar; when, and on what account that was done, we nowhere read. It is a tradition f, that it was in the time of the Levite's concubine; and because Phinehas, and the other priests, did not go from city to city, and reprove...

3. THE FAILURE OF ELI AND HIS SONS CHAPTER 2:12-36 _ 1. The wicked sons of Eli (1 Samuel 2:12)_ 2. Samuel before Jehovah and Hannah blessed (1 Samuel 2:18) 3. The empty warning of Eli (1 Samuel 2:22) 4. Judgment announced (1 Samuel 2:27) The corruption of the sons of aged Eli is next exposed. They were sons of Belial; they knew not Jehovah, and yet they ministered in the outward things of the sanctuary. It could result only in the worst corruption. They handled holy things and were wicked in heart and life. It has been well said “a holiness that is but external is the worst unholines

A PROPHET FORETELLS THE DEATH OF ELI'S SONS, AND THE EXPULSION OF HIS FAMILY FROM THE PRIESTHOOD. Composed by the Deuteronomic Editor (see above, p. 273), to connect the misconduct of the sons of Eli with the massacre of his house at Nob and deposition of his descendant, Abiathar, from the priesthood in favour of the house of Zadok (1 Kings 2:26 f.); and perhaps also with the unhappy condition of the priests of the high places, after these were suppressed (2 Kings 23:8 f.), though there is no indication that the priests of the high-places as a class were reckoned descendants of Eli. 1 SAMUEL 2:27. MAN OF GOD: see Judges 13:6. D

The doom of Eli's house 27. _a man of God_ i.e. a prophet commissioned by God. Even in the general decay of religion (1 Samuel 3:1) God still had his messengers. The title "man of God" is applied to Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, and others. It is specially frequent in the Books of Kings. _Did I plainly appear_ Better, _Did I indeed reveal myself_. See Exodus 4:14 ff., Exodus 4:27; Exodus 12:1; Exodus 12:43 for revelations made to Aaron. _in Pharaoh's house_ IN BONDAGE TO PHARAOH'S HOUSE....

DISCOURSE: 284 ELI’S UNFAITHFULNESS REPROVED 1 Samuel 2:30. _Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed._ HOWEVER the promises of God may be expressed, they are never so to be understood, as if they should be fulfilled to us whilst we are in a state of wilful sin: there is always in them an implied condition, that we depart from iniquity, and endeavour faithfully to serve the Lord. To Aaron a promise was made, that the priesthood should be continued in his family, and in that of Eleazar his son: yet for some wickedness of his descendants it was transferred from the family of Eleazar, his eldest son, to that of his younger son, Ithamar, from whom Eli was descended. Again the promise was made, that it should be continued in the line of Eli: but, for a similar reason, it was afterwards taken from Abiathar, his descendant, and given