Faithfulness Trumps Birthright in the Economy of God

Synopsis     1Sam 2:9-18     8/12/2018

Hannah left her son with Eli the High Priest at Shiloh. There, Samuel learned to serve before the Lord from Eli. He wore a linen ephod.

Meanwhile, Eli’s son were running the tabernacle sacrificial system.  But they had become corrupted. Over time, they had started the practice of demanding overlarge portions for the attending priest. Often, the priests would not even allow for the fatty portions of the sacrifice to be offered on the fire before demanding the priest’s portion.

Adoption Into the Priestly Line

The passage reads, “Samuel, wearing a linen ephod, was serving in the presence of the Lord.” 1Sam 2:18.

The linen ephod was a priest garment. But, Samuel was born into the tribe of Ephraim. Elkanah was an Ephraimite. Yet, from the time of the exodus, only Levites were candidates for priesthood. So, by virtue of his birth, Samuel should not have been serving in a priestly capacity.

Still, Samuel devoted himself to both God and Eli. And so, by virtue of his faithfulness as a young boy, he found himself serving as a priest.

The only context for Samuel being allowed to serve as a priest was the utter delinquency of Eli’s sons. They had become totally indifferent to God despite being in His service. And so, while they extracted disproportionate portions from the Israelites who came offering sacrifices, Samuel was learning how to serve before God under the guidance of Eli the High Priest.

Faithfulness Trumps Birthright In the Economy of God

In proverbs it says, “A wise servant will rule over an unworthy son, and will share the inheritance of the children.” (Prov 17:2) This is Samuel’s story. Hannah gave him to be a servant to Eli. However, because he was so faithful, Eli functionally adopted him so that he could serve as a priest before the Lord.

In God’s economy, faithfulness trumps everything. It still does. Faithfulness trumps everything.

“He said to them in reply, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.'” Luke 8:21