A Huge and Painful Lesson from the Sons of Eli

Friends, well I just thought that perhaps it is time for another lengthy reading and I would like to focus on the sons of Eli.  So here's a little bit of a background of Eli and his sons:

Eli was the high priest during the time of the judges when no king yet ruled Israel.  As a priest, he had to come from the lineage of Levi and that of Aaron.  He can be last seen in 1 Samuel 1-2 having dealings with Hannah before his inevitable death in 1 Samuel 4.

The sons of Eli were Hophni and Phinehas.  These two were coined as "sons of Belial" in 1 Samuel 2:12 which meant they were unsaved and degenerate.

Now let's begin the whole story shall we?  Now we have the issue of that Eli was a good public servant for 40 years yet why did he have two unsaved sons?  It was perhaps he paid little attention to them which is said in 1 Samuel 3:13 saying, "For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not."  Those were God's words to his future servant Samuel, who too made the same mistake in a failure to teach the sons the right from the wrong, a mistake that David too will commit which nearly ended the Davidic dynasty.  For certain there is that spoiling the child is as bad as abusing the child and that fact can be seen in the story of Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli.

There have been much of what Hophni and Phinehas did to make the LORD upset.  What were these activities?  Now it's time to see their sins:

First sin- desecrating the ceremonial offerings for the LORD

• In 1 Samuel 2:13-17 we read of what they did.  So here the offering was for the LORD yet they greedily wanted it for themselves.  This was an issue of the priests bearing rule by their means, an issue that will soon go further even today.  So what they did was that they wanted the best portions of the burnt offerings which was supposedly for the LORD.  Seriously they were mocking the sanctity of the Old Testament blood sacrifices.  They could have learned the lesson of Nadab and Abihu's deaths caused because the two offered strange fire before the LORD.  However because they knew not the LORD as 1 Samuel 2:12 tells us but they were children of the Devil, how sad it was.  Priests yet sons of the Devil.  It was obvious that the wickedness of the house of Eli was already vexing the LORD.

Second sin- sexual immorality

• In 1 Samuel 2:22, we learn that they did this- they slept with the the women that assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.  Seriously, that should really freak anybody out.  First, the priests had a special set.  In Leviticus 21 which speaks of how priests were ordained.  In verse 13 it says, "And he shall take a wife in her virginity."  Notice that the priests unlike the commoners were discouraged from polygamy because soon enough, the monogamous covenant would be for all.  But what did these two sons of the Devil do?  Instead, they defiled themselves with that would be an extramarital affair and perhaps they even had orgies with the women at the Tabernacle of the Congregation.  In short, they were treating the place of worship as if it were an orgy chamber.  The succeeding verse has Eli tell the boys about their sins YET he was only responding, not solving the situation.  In fact, it was kind of "too late" because both of these corrupt priests had chosen to do their evil.  

Looking at the two great sins, how foolish was it of Eli not to restrain his sons.  In fact, the problem was so great that in 1 Samuel 3, we notice that God Himself would be speaking to Samuel who he would make the last judge and a prophet for Israel.  Now here's the whole episode in 1 Samuel 3:11-14, "And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.  In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house when I begin, I will also make an end.  For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth, because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not.  And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever."

So here's what the LORD has spoken with these points:

First, Eli knew for well the iniquity of his children Hophni and Phinehas yet he didn't do anything to restrain them from evil.  That is, he was perfectly aware of what they were doing all these times.  I would consider Eli to be one incredibly questionable high priest- as a high priest he should have known better than not to restrain his sons with their sinful activities.  Here, we can see one big problem in parenting today.  That is, the parents have 100% knowledge of what wrong their children are doing yet they do not do a thing about it to restrain them from sin.  Instead they condone the error and cover it up.  Just think of how foolish it is after a child messes up in school, the parent quarrels the teacher instead of thanking the teacher for bringing up the issue.  Proverbs 13:24 says, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."  That is true love does not condone error because error brings only harm and sin.  We ought to know this that he had 100% knowledge of the sins of his sons yet in the past, he restrained them not until to the point during those years of his ministry, his sons shamed him by their sexual immorality.  Everything starts little like how a little bad thought becomes a deed, how a little bad did becomes a habit and how a bad habit becomes a lifestyle.  Parents ought to restrain their children lest they ignore the Word of God and know not the LORD.  Sadly many can't tell the difference between discipline and child abuse.

Second, I would like to point out that aside from Eli knowing for 100% what his sons were doing, God is not mocked at all and He will certainly keep His promises of doom against iniquity.  I do believe only if Hophni and Phinehas would have humbled themselves and truly repented, God would forgive them.  However the issue is that as a result of Eli's failure to raise them properly, they have continued in their pride and stubbornness which I believe led them to the sin of sleeping with the women at the Tabernacle.  How shameful indeed.  I just thought for myself that such a rebellious lifestyle is more than enough proof they know not the LORD.  In fact, nobody who is truly saved and eternally secure in Jesus Christ would for one bit think it's okay to live in immorality.  The reality is that offerings and sacrifices are OKAY but the Bible also warns of this truth- obedience to the LORD is always better than sacrifice which Samuel later spoke to Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22 with this statement "Behold to obey is better than sacrifice..."  Today many people think they can sin all they please, offer sacrifices and it'd be okay.  No- God does not take offerings and sacrifices as much as obedience to what He says.  Sinful lifestyles mock at the purity of God's holiness- no man truly saved would ever live like the rest of the world.

Now looking further at the two sons of Eli in 1 Samuel 4, we do learn of the inevitable fate of them as an act of God's justice.  Surely indeed, God kept His word concerning the unrepentant state of Hophni and Phinehas.  In the 11th verse, we do read that they were slain by the Philistines who managed to recover despite Samson's sacrificial death in Judges 16's closing to free the nation of Israel.  What was indeed a reality was that, God showed He was still in control.  Eli surely had the sad fate as a 98 year old man killed him out of grief.  How sad will it be indeed when doting parents would soon learn to see their own children die out of their own sins all because the parents spared the rod from them.  As said when you spare the rod, you spoil the child.