Contempt

1 Samuel 2:13-17,22 – Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.” If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.” This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt…Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

Numbers 14:11 – The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?

Jeremiah 7:21 – “‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!

Application:

• ·         The immoral acts of Eli’s sons are reminiscent of the immorality at the Canaanite sanctuaries—acts that were an abomination to the Lord and a desecration of His house.
• ·         By refusing to believe in the Lord’s power, especially in view of all the wonders they had experienced, the people of Israel were holding Him in contempt.
• ·         Because of Israel’s sinful deeds their sacrifices were worthless, so they might as well eat it themselves.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV