PJ HanleyA guest article from STEADFAST.
View the author’s original article here.
It’s Too Late!
The Lord has been speaking to me on the theme of fixed judgement. At what point can a generation repent resulting in God hearing their cries and relenting? And at what point is His judgement fixed on a people, nation, or generation?
As I was leading devotions with my children, the Lord began to show me a parallel to our current church generation through the story of God’s fixed judgement on the house of a father, Eli, and his sons.
The Worthless Sons
Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD and the custom of the priests with the people. 1 Samuel 2:12-13
When it says they were “worthless,” it implies in the Hebrew that they were corrupt. And what a statement that, they did not know Yahweh or His customs. The language here is not implying ignorance, like saying, “I didn’t know.” It implies they chose to disregard His ways. They had no care for Him or His Law. The customs here have to do with God’s prescribed regulations for sacrifice given to the people and priests through Moses. As priests in His house, it was their job to know, keep, and enforce all of these customs as detailed in Leviticus.
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. 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. 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.” 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.” Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for the men despised the offering of the LORD. 1 Samuel 2:13-17
What is going on here is a complete violation of God’s customs in just about every way. They simply — as the book of Judges puts it — were “doing as they saw fit.” They did not know the LORD and the custom of the priests with the people. They were doing the kingdom work without knowing Yahweh. Jesus said of these types of ministers, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Mt. 7:23). As ministers before the Lord their hearts were truly corrupt.
Under the guise of caring for God’s people they filled their bellies through selfishness and deceit. In the corruption of their hearts, they ministered out of greed. Look how they are all grabbing from the pot a portion for themselves. Under God’s Law, He had assigned the priests a good portion, but these priests weren’t content with that. They are grabbing at whatever they want, and trying to look spiritual while doing it. The fork almost sounds like a spiritual casting of lots, as if whatever portion was pulled up was given to them by God. None of this was what the Lord had prescribed. Then bad goes to worse when they try to steal the fat portions.
…all fat is the Lord’s.It is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall not eat any fat or any blood. Leviticus 3:16-17
No man — priest or not — was to eat of the fat portions, as they belonged to the Lord. The fat was the best of the best. It was a soothing, pleasing aroma given by the worshiper to the Lord. It wasn’t for man, but for God. These worthless sons were stealing the precious worship of the people towards their God, and making it all about themselves.
Reading through this passage, the Lord began speaking to me that we are seeing this same story acted out in the worldwide church. The sons, the younger generation discipled by the fathers, are like many ministries and leaders across the world today. They grew up in the church and in the ministry. Many of them were pastor’s kids, and inherited the pulpit and platform. They’ve seen and learned a form of faith and church done in the name of God that was riddled with affluence, corruption, fleshliness, and greed. Through what they saw, they grew to believe the business of godliness to be a great means of gain (1 Timothy 6:5). They saw their fathers get away with it, and they jumped on the ministry bandwagon to get their own slice of the pie. These sons and daughters have stood ministering to the people before the Lord, all the while not knowing the Lord or His customs. They have stolen from the offerings and worship of sincere believers, widows and orphans. They have robbed God of the fat portions. These have uttered threats of violence and force against those who would bring correction reciting the ways of the Lord.
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.” Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for the men despised the offering of the LORD. 1 Samuel 2:16-17
They Just Won’t Listen
Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. He said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? “No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the LORD’Speople circulating. “If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the LORD desired to put them to death. 1 Samuel 2:22-25
Eli tries to bring correction to his sons, but it is too late. The judgement is fixed. In all times of mounting judgement there comes a time when the ark door must shut. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened to display the mighty hand and outstretched arm of the Lord resulting in the deliverance of the people of Israel. The time for judgement on Eli’s house had come. There had been a time for mourning and repentance. There had been a time for turning away from idolatry to come back to the Lord, but the workers of God’s house hadn’t turned away when it was time. Now, like so many a generation, the Lord stopped up their ears, gave them over to their own wickedness, and fixed His judgement on them.
The Old, Fat Dad
A nameless prophet brings this word to Eli before the word is confirmed through Samuel.
“Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?” 1 Samuel 2:29
And later, when the judgment comes to pass, it says,
“When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel forty years.” 1 Samuel 4:18
Notice how both scriptures reference Eli as being overweight. A few years ago the Lord pointed this out to me. Where did the sons learn stealing and greediness over the meat and the fat portions brought to the house of the Lord? Obviously, Eli had corruption in him and had been living up his position for years. He too had made himself fat with the choicest of every offering. He tried to correct his sons for their sin, but the Lord responds by rebuking Eli for honoring his sons above God. Eli was just as guilty of going along for the ride. Sons and fathers alike were enjoying the perks of corruption. Dad just had enough theological tact to discourage the practice before the people.
This is where I saw the church fathers, covering ministries, and networks. Here we are today and this same theme is playing out. The very sin that major, globally recognized ministries are trying to confront in the younger generation is the same sin that they modeled to them in their formative years. It’s too late!
Judgement is Fixed
The LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. “In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. “For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. “Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” 1 Samuel 3:11-14
Currently, we are watching the mega church fathers around the world decreeing repentance, healing for the nations, and a glorious revival of the church. (1) That is where the last line of the above scripture hit me.
…Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever. 1 Samuel 3:14
It’s too late! They want to decree repentance, now?! Why not when it was their time? Why didn’t they clean up the house when they were in charge? Why didn’t they rebuke their sons before? Do you wait until you are caught to say, “Sorry?” I always say to my children, “Are you sorry because what you did was wrong and it hurts your heart? Or are you just sorry you got caught?” There no longer remained a sacrifice or offering for Eli’s house because they had already despised the offering of the LORD (1 Samuel 2:17).
For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Hebrews 10:26-27
Many of you have heard this story and felt bad for Eli. It’s a bit of the way people call out a Jezebel in the church, while feeling sympathetic towards the offender’s spouse, Ahab. You’d say, “But didn’tEli rebuke his sons in chapter 2, for sleeping with the women who served in the house of the Lord? So why did the Lord say Eli did not rebuke them?”
The reality is, Eli was guilty of turning a blind eye. His own greed and boys will be boys attitude created this problem. In the same way, we’re seeing the church fathers throwing up their hands like, “What can we do? We tried to tell them. They just didn’t seem to want to listen.” Are the sons guilty of their own sin? Of course! But by the time Eli tried to stop it, it was too late. The sons have grown up in corruption, so what did the church fathers think was going to come of it? The fathers are reaping what they have sown. The sons have continued in the same sin of their fathers, and taken it even further.
“Quick, Form a Committee!”
As I read this story of Eli’s house again today, I couldn’t shake this picture. Back up before the corona virus — if you can remember that far. For those of you who were paying attention, can anyone tell me what the Lord was exposing in the church back in 2018-2019? Major sexual scandal and misconduct in church leadership. And what generation of the church is it being exposed in? The sons. Disciples of these well known ministries are being found out as greedy idolaters, perverts, and predators all the while leaving people questioning, “Did they ever really know the Lord?”
This time, unique to many of these corruption headlines in the past, we have seen a trend of church fathers forming committees and coalitions to correct their spiritual sons’ sin of sexual misconduct within the ministry. (2) In this I saw the mirrored picture of Eli confronting his sons. These situations are too far gone to correct with a committee run by the fathers. And how do you correct and condemn the very sin that you instilled and enabled in them without repenting of your own? Why is there such chronically bad fruit coming from these institutions and ministry schools? Jesus said, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit (Mt. 12:33).”
The church fathers cannot expect to condemn immorality of a sexual nature while they themselves continue in the unrepentant sin of greed, idolatry, and financial corruption. Both stem from the same heart of covetousness and inner corruption of the heart. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (Deuteronomy 5:21)” It’s the same heart of, I’m not content with what God has allotted to me. I want what’s not mine, and I want all of it. Furthermore, the fathers cannot claim innocence of their son’s doings when they are lavishly feasting together with them on the spoils.
I truly feel from the Lord that we are on the verge of witnessing a worldwide judgement on church leadership and networks. His judgement will not just be on the sons, but on the church fathers as well. We are hearing the murmurings and seeing the correction on the sin of the sons, but God is raising up nameless prophets and a Samuel company who will speak of the fixed judgement of God. The entire house will be judged at once for the iniquity that the fathers knew about and indulged in — because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. It’s too late to turn back this current house and lineage of leadership and ministry, but there is good news.
If You Return
After the judgement on Eli’s house (which the Lord also used to judge the Philistines and their false gods, as well as to raise up Samuel as a judge and prophet over Israel) we get this passage,
…and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the LORD alone. Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah and I will pray to the LORD for you.” They gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” 1 Samuel 7:2b-6
Through the judgement of God came a short time of true repentance and revival. Only after the cleansing of immorality and wickedness could a restoration of true worship begin. So there is good news. If you return to the LORD with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him alone, God will deliver you. So let us who truly love the Lord be encouraged when we see judgement coming. Coming judgement means coming deliverance for those who have loved righteousness.
Don’t wait until it’s too late for you. There is a cleansing coming on God’s house. Walk in a repentant heart before the Lord today! Come to know Him and His customs, His Law and His ways today. Don’t settle to know about Him yet practice something else. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Don’t harden your hearts, but turn to Him as long as today is called today (Hebrews 3:13).
Footnotes:
- Examples: a. In an event from Transform our World meant to promote “ethnic reconciliation and social justice,”Pastrix Marlyne Barrett Casts out Spirit of Racism with Wizards’ Staff with Bethel.tv, “Chicago Med” actress Marlyne Barrett, along with Harvest Rock Senior Pastor Che Ahn, Harvest Evangelism’s Ed Silvoso, and Bethel Church’s Bill Johnson(https://vimeo.com/436044593) b. Apostolic Decrees to Stop Corona Virus, Che Ahn (For a quick look, watch the last 5 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlGNqr_Aw8Q)
- Examples: a. Danny Silk, Bethel Church Redding, Ca. assembled advisory board Harold Eberle, Bob Muncy, Steve & Joy Hogan, Eric Gregson & Doug Johnson investigating Jonathan Welton sexual abuse of Welton Academy members. (Note: The letter and video mentioned here have since been removed from the internet along with many of Welton’s materials and school. https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=zwc7_1537502822) b. Dr. Brown forms panel to investigate Todd Bentley over sexual misconduct allegations (https://askdrbrown.org/library/official-statement-concerning-allegations-against-todd-bentley) Rick Joyner’s letter on Todd Bentley and the panel statement (https://msm.morningstarministries.org/news/open-letter-rick-joyner-todd-bentley-and-panel-statement)