Thread by @TosinOlunuga

Was Studying about the prophet Eli this morning and I had a few "What if" kind of scenerio on my mind. (My usual practice when studying. I try to paint a scenero, asking myself what I would have done if I was the one)

When Eli and his son's did what God considered evil, He (God)

decided to reign judgement upon them.

1 Samuel 3:14 MSG
This is my sentence on the family of Eli: The evil of Eli's family can never be wiped out by sacrifice or offering."😱😱
1 Samuel 3:18
So Samuel told him, word for word. He held back nothing. Eli said, "He is God. Let him

do whatever He thinks best."

It's like telling your boss or the authority over you to do what he or she thinks best, even, after it had been established that you goofed big time. (Trust me, that is a very poor response)

Concerning Eli's family, they had really goofed and no one

was in doubt about their excesses.

Now, I thought of a few "what IFs.."

What if Prophet Eli had asked for mercy and promised to do the needful about his son's excesses this time around.

What if, from the foregoing, he relieved his son's from their priestly duties.

What if his sons were spoilt brats and he had lost control over them, rendering him helpless.

What if Eli was afraid of a faceoff with his over pampered sons.

What if he had asked God for strength to redress, this time around, the situation

What if he felt this overwhelming

weight of failure that could not be redeemed by anyone.
(Eli was a prophet no doubt, but, he is first a man and susceptible to periods of disappointments, discouragements etc)

OR

Could it be Prophet Eli only knew God as a Judge and was blinded to His (God's) merciful side?

Well, I thought, he could not have been ignorant of God's mercies. He knew too well how God showed the stiff necked israelites overwhelming mercy when they left Egypt. Several times, God vowed to destroy the Israelites, infact, wipe them out, but, Moses, interceded and asked for

mercy, and the rest, we say is history.

What could have made Eli utter those words..."He is God, let Him do whatever He thinks best."

At the wedding at Cana;
Mary insisted the host and his servants make some water pots available, even inspite of Jesus' initially resistance to

performing a miracle, after all, no.one had seen him perform one before.

We read in John 2vV4
woman, what have i to do with you? mine hour is not yet come, His mother said unto the servants, whatever, He saith, unto you, do it...

You see, what Mary knew of Jesus drove her into action. She insisted that the pots of water be arranged. She knew stuffs about Jesus. She knew Him as a compassionate one, a helper, a faithful one etc

What Eli also knew of God, drove him to say, in
1 Samuel 3:18b
"He is God.

Let him do whatever He thinks best."

It's like, he was in a situation where he believed nothing more could be done. You are God, whatever You want to do, go ahead and get it over with.

Truly, one can only make demands on the strength of what he or shr knows about God and the

understanding of His Word.

What do you know about God?

Yes, we may not know everything about Him, but what we NEED to know about Him are all at our finger tips....His Word, the Holy Bible.

The more we study His Word, the more He reveals Himself to us and then, we can draw

strength on the basis of what we know of Him.

Ignorance kills faster.
Make it a habit studying the Word.

What are your other "what IFs?"
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