The Fat And Blind Eli Priesthood
1 Samuel 2:12-17 – See the note below. Also see Zechariah 11:15-17.
12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless [1100~ KJV- “sons of Belial”; NKJ- “corrupt”] men [see the Bible study Worthless Men]; they did not know the Lord
13 and the custom of the priests with the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand.
14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw."
16 If the man said to him, "They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire," then he would say, "No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force."
17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men despised [5006] the offering of the Lord.
NASU
1100 beliya` al (bel-e-yah'-al)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from 1097 and 3276; without profit, worthlessness; by extension, destruction, wickedness (often in connection with 376, 802, 1121, etc.)
(Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)
a) worthless, good for nothing, unprofitable, a base fellow
b) wicked
c) ruin, destruction (construct)
OT:5006 na'ats (naw-ats')
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
a primitive root; to scorn; or (Eccl. 12:5) by interchange for OT:5132, to bloom:
KJV - abhor, (give occasion to) blaspheme, contemn, despise, flourish, great, provoke.
(Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)
to spurn, to contemn, to despise, to abhor
a) (Qal) to spurn, to contemn
b) (Piel)
1) to spurn [“to reject with disdain or contempt, to tread sharply or heavily upon, to trample (Heb. 10:29)”. Disdain is defined as “the feeling that someone or something is unworthy of one’s consideration or respect.]
2) to cause to contemn [“to look down on, show no respect for, despise”]
c) (Hiphil) to spurn
d) (Hithpolel) to be contemned
The sons of Eli took the best portion of the Israelite’s sacrifices for themselves. Their disrespect for their handling of the revealed ways of God for His sacrifice would cost them their lives. Eli did not teach them, confronting when necessary, the prescribed way that they should minister in the fear of the Lord’s commands. The Lord said through young Samuel who was being raised up to replace the corrupt minsters;
“Why do you kick [“to trample down”, see def. for spurn above] at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat [“to create, to shape, to form, to make fat”] with the choicest [“the first, the beginning, the best, the chief”] of every offering of My people Israel?”
(1 Samuel 2:29/NASU)
Eli’s lack of warning opened a doorway for the devil and would cost him and his sons lives. The corrupt, blind (1 Samuel 3:2, 4:15), non-confronting Eli priesthood of our day are headed for the same end, as well as, unfortunately, their spiritual children who act as Eli’s sons did. Like Eli, they too have become “heavy” (i.e. fat in the fleshly nature, spiritually speaking) and will fall backwards in the great falling away from the Lord at the end of this age, right before His return (1 Samuel 4:18, 2 Thess. 2:1-12).
It was a well-executed “three-pronged attack” through the ignorance and disrespect of God’s priests for the commands of God by the devil so as to destroy some of His people, in particular the leadership. Through an “inside job,” the devil used those in the church who, through disobedience, opened a way for him to enter into them, like Judas. Some would say that is not possible today (i.e. “eternal security/once saved, always saved”). They will soon find out, to their horror, how deceived they were.
What Is A Three-Pronged Attack?
Usually identified with the military, it is an attack in three separate places against an enemy.
In the cyber world, an attack might involve infiltrating systems with data-stealing malware and then dropping ransomware onto the infected system.
Malware is one of the biggest threats to the security [Hebrews 6:19, 2 Peter 3:17 in NIV] of your computer, tablet and phone. It includes viruses, spyware, and other malicious software that secretly [2 Peter 2:1-3, Galatians 2:4] gets installed on your device. Once installed [set up/established], criminals can use it to steal [John 10:10] your sensitive information, send you unwanted ads, and make your device vulnerable to even more malware.
Ransomware is malware that employs encryption to hold a victim’s information at ransom. A user or organization’s critical data is encrypted so that they cannot access files, databases, or applications. A ransom is then demanded to provide access. Ransomware is often designed to spread across a network and target database and file servers, and can thus paralyze an entire organization. It is a growing threat, generating billions of dollars in payments to cybercriminals and inflicting significant damage and expenses for businesses and governmental organizations.
In the spiritual world, the devil has infiltrated the church, secretly introducing his destructive heresies that, when accepted as truth, also threaten our security. After his demonic malware is established (i.e. installed) within the hearts of God’s people, he uses it to steal their security and install further lies of opposition against the truth that can set us free. It has unknowingly paralyzed many Christian organizations.
Peter spoke of being on guard against the cunning infiltration of the devil through his false prophets that will (not might!) arise in our midst in his second letter;
“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly [“craftily, cunningly”] introduce destructive [“utter destruction, ruin, the lot of those excluded from the kingdom of God”] heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality [“unbridled lust, licentiousness, excess, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness”], and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned [“to vilify, to blaspheme, to speak slanderously, rail at”]; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
(2 Peter 1:20-2:3/NASU)
After gaining access through his deceptive tactics, the devil then holds God’s people captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:24-26). Paul warned the Colossian Christians to guard themselves against this very thing;
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”
(Colossians 2:8/NIV)
As with the introduction of ransomware, many in the church are now held captive and must be ransomed. The good news is that the ransom demand has been met. Jesus Christ gave His life as a ransom for us at Calvary (Matthew 20:28, 1 Timothy 2:6, Hebrews 9:15). His death on the cross paid the debt that we never could. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord, repenting of our sin and thereby enter into covenant with Him, we are set free from the bondage of the devil. Jesus’ blood is the price accepted by the Father necessary for our freedom.
