1 Samuel 2:12-21

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Isaiah 12
• Hymn
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Nicene Creed
• Scripture Reading — 2 Samuel 21:15-22
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Offertory Prayer
• Hymn — Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
• Sermon
• Closing Prayer
• Hymn
• Benediction — 1 Thessalonians 5:23
• Gloria Patri

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Sermon Title: Light in the Darkness — Godly and Ungodly Priests in Israel

Scripture: 1 Samuel 2:11-26

I. The Light of a Godly Priest versus the Darkness of Ungodly Priests

A. Samuel ministers before the Lord in 1 Samuel 2:11, contrasted immediately with Hophni and Phinehas in 1 Samuel 2:12

1. Hophni and Phinehas are called "worthless men" who "did not know the Lord"
2. Samuel is introduced as ministering before the Lord — he knows the Lord

B. The wickedness of Eli's sons as priests (1 Samuel 2:13-17)

1. The three-pronged fork was meant to arrange sacrifice on the altar, not to take food for the priests
2. According to Leviticus 7:28-36, God allotted the breast and right thigh of the peace offering to the priests — Hophni and Phinehas took beyond what was prescribed
3. Per Leviticus 3, the fat of the peace offering was to be burned before the Lord first — the priests demanded raw meat before the fat was burned, taking by force if refused
4. Their sin was "very great in the sight of the Lord" because they treated the offering of the Lord with contempt

C. Samuel shines as a light amid the darkness (1 Samuel 2:18)

1. He is clothed in a linen ephod — the priestly garment — marking him as a true and coming priest
2. He is likened to a "morning star" — a precursor to the sun rising, as John Wycliffe was a morning star before the Reformation, and as John the Baptist was before Christ
3. No matter how thick the darkness in the church, Christ promises the gates of hell will not prevail — he will not leave himself without a witness

II. The Light of Life in Abundance versus the Darkness of Death and Judgment

A. Hannah's faithfulness brings the blessing of life (1 Samuel 2:19-21)

1. Hannah makes a small robe to cover Samuel's priestly ephod — her focus remains on his service to the Lord
2. Eli blesses Elkanah and Hannah; the Lord visits Hannah and she bears three more sons and two daughters
3. Life abounds in the household of faithful parents

B. Eli's sons face the judgment of death (1 Samuel 2:22-25)

1. Hophni and Phinehas slept with the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting
2. Eli rebukes them, noting a crucial distinction: if a man sins against another man, God may mediate, but sinning against the Lord himself — who can intercede?
3. As priests and appointed intercessors, their direct offense against God in his own house left no mediating third party

C. The hardening of Hophni and Phinehas (1 Samuel 2:25)

1. "They would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death"
2. The text does not say God put them to death because they would not listen — they would not listen because God had already determined to put them to death
3. God confirmed them in their wickedness by giving them deaf ears to calls of repentance — consistent with Romans 1, where God manifests wrath by giving sinners over to their sin
4. Application: Do not presume on God's mercy by delaying repentance — today is the day of salvation; the example of Hophni and Phinehas warns that continual, unrepented sin can result in God confirming a hardened heart in judgment

III. The Light of a Good Reputation versus the Darkness of a Bad Reputation

A. The dark reputation of Hophni and Phinehas (1 Samuel 2:22-23)

1. Their evil deeds were heard by "all the people" — leaders called to model holiness had soiled their name before those they served
2. Corrupt leaders are among the most devastating forces to the people of God; the darkness in Israel began at the top

B. The qualifications for godly leadership

1. The elder must be above reproach — 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 emphasize character above all else
2. Historical example: Samuel Blair (1740) described religion as "dying and ready to expire its last breath" in America — corrupt scholastic leadership had overtaken godliness
3. God raised up Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield in that darkness — men committed not only to preaching truth but to living it before their people, sparking the Great Awakening

C. Samuel's growing reputation as the counterpoint (1 Samuel 2:26)

1. "Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man"
2. Unlike the judges, Samuel would do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, not his own eyes
3. Application: Pray not only for leaders who preach the truth but for leaders who practice the truth — men above reproach whose lives magnify the light of Christ before their people