The matter at hand is Eli’s failure to honor God over his own sons. In light of his son’s radical wickedness and his do-nothing attitude, God is stepping in to do what Eli would not. We will actually begin our sermon in [esvignore]Deuteronomy 21:18-21[/esvignore] from which we will hear some very strong opinions that God has about wickedness and how Israel should deal with it. We’ll see that the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament, and He has not lightened up with regard to his view of evil. In addition, we will look at several other passages that help to show us the binding moral law of God underlying the very graphic Old Testament expressions of those laws. We will show how we practice the general equity of the Law of God even today in the church, yet how we cannot affirm that the laws of that state of Israel are mandatory for nations today. From our primary sermon text, [esvignore]1 Samuel 2:27-36[/esvignore], we will see how God steps in to do what Eli would not do, and we’ll then be called to honor God and to revere Him over all other things, even our children. We must be warned by Eli and his sons.
Our public reading was [esvignore]Romans 1:18-32.[/esvignore]