Flesh-hooks

I was wanting to write an entry about our culture's overwhelming obsession with sexual relationships. I wanted to include the many passages warning of the dangers of serving the flesh, but I didn't really know where to start. So I fired up the trusty old Logos Bible Software and did a topic search under "Flesh". The listing that came back included several listings for "Fleshhook".

"Fleshhook"? Like there was any chance I was going to pass that up?

Doesn't the very sound of the word describe so many temptations and desires? How cool... It's like a sermon in a single word. "The fleshhook caught me!" or "What's the fleshhook in your life?"

So what, I asked, is a fleshhook? According to Harper's Bible Dictionary:

Fleshhooks
Forklike implements used by priests for sacrifices (Num. 4:14; 1 Sam. 2:13-14, which speaks of their having three prongs), now usually translated ‘forks.’ Those in use at the Jerusalem Temple were made of gold (1 Chron. 28:17) and bronze (2 Chron. 4:16)
_{- Achtemeier, Paul J. ; Harper & Row, Publishers ; Society of Biblical Literature: Harper's Bible Dictionary. 1st ed. San Francisco : Harper & Row, 1985, S. 312}

The Easton's Bible Dictionary further explains that:

"used in the sacrificial services (1 Sam. 2:13, 14; Ex. 27:3; 38:3) by the priest in drawing away the flesh. The fat of the sacrifice, together with the breast and shoulder (Lev. 7:29–34), were presented by the worshipper to the priest. The fat was burned on the alter (3:3–5), and the breast and shoulder became the portion of the priests."
_{- Easton, M.G.: Easton's Bible Dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996, c1897}

Fleshhooks were used by Eli's sons to sin against The Lord:

"Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the Lord. Now it was the practice of the priests with the people that whenever anyone offered a sacrifice and while the meat was being boiled, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand. He would plunge it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot, and the priest would take for himself whatever the fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh."

- 1 Samuel 2:12-14 NIV

Three-pronged forks... Fleshhooks.

Go Figure.