A Note
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A Verse
1 Samuel 2:27-36
And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever. And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests’ places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’”’
A Comment
Today, we are going to revisit 1 Samuel 2:27-36. Yesterday, we considered the words the prophet delivered to Eli regarding his household. But, as I mentioned at the beginning of that episode, this passage has too much to cover in one devotional. So, today, I want to look back at the prophetic significance of the prophet’s words regarding the priest that God would appoint in Eli's place.
In its historical context, the priest who replaced Eli was Samuel. And Samuel’s pivotal role in the book of 1 Samuel is how he will anoint David as king in place of Saul. So, if you are wondering what the book of 1 Samuel is all about, it’s primarily focused on the legitimacy of David as God’s anointed and appointed King.
However, some aspects about Samuel clue us in more here than initially meets the eye. I covered some of this earlier this week when I mentioned the use of language about Samuel growing in stature and in favor with God and man (1 Samuel 2:26). As noted previously, this language is similar to the language used to refer to Jesus in Luke 2:52, which says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”
In 1 Samuel 2:27-36, we find language that highlights the nature of Samuel’s priesthood, which contrasts the priesthood of Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phineas. Yet, as we read Scripture as a collective whole, as a canon, we can also see this language in other places. For instance, as one scholar notes, we likely see an allusion to 1 Samuel 2:35 in passages like Hebrews 3:1-5, which states, “
Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later.
In Hebrews 3:1-5, the author addresses the superiority of Jesus to Moses, yet Samuel falls within this Mosaic trajectory as a priest who would not be like his contemporaries. Thus, when we read 1 Samuel 2:27-36, we should be mindful of how later fulfillment of the man of God’s prophecy are fulfilled not only through the kingship of Jesus, but also through the priesthood of Jesus.
In his excellent book, Typology: Understanding the Bible’s Promised-Shaped Patterns, James Hamilton notes this connection between the earlier promise of Samuel’s priesthood and Jesus’ later fulfillment (see pages 73-77). In this way, Samuel is a type of Christ, which means that there is both a historical significance to Samuel’s fulfillment of the promises made to Eli in 1 Samuel 2:27-36 but also an escalation of the fulfillment found in Jesus, the only true Priest who is faithful over all of God’s household.
Why does this matter to us? If yesterday’s devotional was a little unsettling or challenging to receive because of our failure, we must recognize that we have a faithful priest who represents us before the Lord, Christ Jesus himself. Our failures to honor the Lord do not define our relationship with the Lord because Jesus is our mediator. Jesus is the one who fulfills what Eli, his sons, and even Samuel are unable to fulfill due to their own sinfulness and failure.
This should fill us with hope and peace. To know that Jesus is our high priest who mediates our relationship to God should assuage our fear and guilt before God. The Lord knows that we fail and will continue to fail in and of ourselves. Yet, He has made provision in Christ. Thus, while the message of 1 Samuel 2:27-36 certainly implies expectations of our honoring of the Lord, it also reminds us that we, like others, will fail and need a better priest. Christ is the priest we need, and Christ is the priest provided. May we run to him for the forgiveness we need!
A Prayer
Would you pray with me?
A Blessing
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Coming of the Faithful Priest - Christ in 1 Samuel (1 Samuel 2:27-36)