SIULAI 16, 2023
KICKING AT GOD
‘AKA KI HE ‘OTUA
1 SAMUEL 2:29
[GOD SAID TO ELI,] "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?"
1 SAMIUELA 2:29
Ko e hā ‘oku mou malaki ai ‘eku feilaulau, mo e tuku me‘a‘ofa kiate au, ‘a ia kuo u tu‘utu‘uni ‘i he Fale; pea ‘oku mamafa ange kiate koe ho‘o fānau ‘iate au, ke fangapesi kimoutolu ‘aki ‘a e ‘uluaki ‘o e ngaahi me‘a‘ofa ‘a ‘Isileli, ka ko hoku kakai?
Hebrew prefers words you can sink your teeth into, see, smell. So, very often, behind an abstract word in English translation is a concrete Hebrew word. For instance, the verb for Eli "scorning" God's sacrifices is ba'at ("kick at"). He kicked at them like garbage, treating them as unholy. Significantly, ba'at occurs only once more, in a description of how Jeshurun (Israel) "grew fat and kicked ... then he forsook God who made him" (Deut. 32:15). The picture of Eli is thereby rounded out: as Israel got fat and kicked, so Eli and his sons kick at God's offerings by fattening themselves. In the end, Eli dies by falling backward and breaking his neck, because he was "old" and-you guessed it-"heavy" (1 Sam. 4:18). This kicking priest, whose god was his belly (Phil. 3:19), finally digested his own destruction.
When persecuting Christians, Paul too, like a recalcitrant ox, was kicking "against the goads" (Acts 26:14). Thank God that Paul's end, unlike Eli's, was that of a faithful martyr. Rather than continuing to kick, he preached the Messiah who has "all things under his feet" (Eph. 1:22).
O holy and most merciful Lord, create in us new hearts that treat you and your gifts as holy.
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