The Wickedness of Eli's Sons

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(1 Samuel 2:11) And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.

In the last post, Hannah had brought her child to Eli at the tabernacle of the Lord, as she had vowed in her prayer when she asked the Lord for a son.  Hannah had delivered a song of thanksgiving and praise, and now her husband Elkanah, with Hannah, I'm sure, went back to their home in Ramah.  Their son Samuel stayed with Eli and ministered to the Lord in whatever way he could at his young age, surely learning songs of praise and learning to read the book of the law.

(12) Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they did not know the Lord.

1 Samuel 1:3 told us that the names of Eli's sons were Hophni and Phinehas, and they were priests of the Lord.  Since Eli was high priest, his sons were priests by birth.  However, we learn here that they really didn't know the Lord but were sons of wickedness.

(13) And the priests' custom with the people was when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand while the flesh was boiling, (14) And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

I believe the sense is that the priests had made their own custom that was not in agreement with the law of the Lord.  According to the law, if this was a burnt offering, it was wholly consumed by fire, so this must have been a peace offering where part belonged to the Lord, the fat which was burnt, the breast and shoulder went to the priest, and the rest went to the owner of the sacrifice, who made a feast of it for his family and friends.  The parts of the flesh that were boiling were probably the parts belonging to the owner and his family, but the priests, Hophni and Phinehas, had made it a custom to send a servant with a three-pronged fork to draw up more portions for themselves.  This they did to all the Israelites with their offerings.

(15) Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came and said to the man who sacrificed, "Give flesh to roast for the priest, for he will not have boiled flesh of you, but raw." (16) And if any man said to him, "Let them not fail to burn the fat presently and then take what your soul desires," then he would answer him, "No, but you shall give it now, and if not, I will take it by force."

Also before they burnt the fat of the offering, the priest's servant came and demanded flesh to roast for the priest, for he wanted raw flesh to roast, not boiled flesh after the owner's portion was boiled.  If a man told the servant that they must burn the fat first in keeping with the law, the priest's servant refused and said he wanted it right then, and if the owner refused, he would take what he wanted by force.  It was obvious in this that the priests had no respect and reverence for the things of the Lord, nor for His laws.

(17) Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.

The sin of the priests was very great before the Lord, in that they took what was not their own, sometimes by force, and before the Lord had His part in the offering, and all this was done in the Lord's house, in His presence.  This plainly showed that they had no respect nor fear of God.  Also they caused all men to find offering to the Lord a disagreeable thing when they saw how the law of God was not followed.  It probably made some neglect bringing their sacrifices at all.

(18) But Samuel ministered before the Lord as a child, girded with a linen ephod.

However, Samuel ministered before the Lord, even at his young age.  He wore a linen ephod such as the priests wore, which would appear to be a special privilege to one so young.

(19) Moreover, his mother made him a little coat and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

Hannah, his mother, would make Samuel a coat to wear over his other clothes and bring one to him every year when her family came to offer the yearly sacrifice.

(20) And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, "The Lord give you descendants of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord." And they went to their own home.

On one such occasion Eli blessed Elkanah and Hannah, telling them they would be blessed with more children because of their gift of Samuel to the Lord.  Then they went to their own home.

(21) And the Lord visited Hannah so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord.

Indeed, the Lord gave Hannah more children, three sons and two daughters, while Samuel grew up before the Lord in the tabernacle.

(22) Now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Eli became very old, and it seems it was only then that he heard about what his sons had been doing to the Israelites with regard to their offerings, and also how they sexually lay with women who assembled at the door of the congregation.

(23) And he said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. (24) No, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear; you make the Lord's people to transgress."

Eli asked his sons why they did such things.  He heard of all they were doing from the people.  Not only were they doing evil, but they caused the people to sin, as well.  They caused the people to sin in the way they offered their offerings, and they caused the women to sin who came to the tabernacle, whom they took to satisfy their sexual desires.

(25) "If one man sins against another, the judge shall judge him, but if a man sins against the Lord, who shall intreat for him?" However, they did not hearken to the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.

Eli continued with his somewhat mild rebuke of his sons.  If a man sinned against another man, a judge would determine the outcome, but if one sinned against God, who would dare intercede for him?   I think his point was that even he, their father, would not be able to defend them if they sinned against God.  However, his sons would not listen to their father nor heed his warning, but that was part of the Lord's will, for He would kill them for their wickedness.

(26) And the child Samuel grew on and was in favor, both with the Lord and also with men.

Meanwhile, Samuel grew in the tabernacle, and he was in favor of the Lord, as well as with men.

(27) And there came a man of God to Eli, and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Did I plainly appear to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? (28) And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before Me? And did I give to the house of your father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?'"

A messenger from God went to Eli, and speaking the words of the Lord, reminded him that the Lord Himself had appeared to his forefather Aaron when they were in Egypt, and that He had chosen Aaron and his descendants out of all the tribes to be His priests.  They had much honor and privilege, and the Lord provided them with their share of the offerings.

(29) "'Therefore, why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My habitation, and honor your sons above Me to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all offerings of Israel My people?'"

The man of God continued with the words of the Lord, asking why Eli trampled upon and despised His offering that He had commanded in His house.  He accused him of honoring his sons above the Lord because he allowed them to dishonor Him by their actions.  It is likely that Eli would have taken part in feasts their sons made with the choicest pieces of the offerings of the people.  More than likely, it is probably a sure thing that he did, as the message of the Lord was that all of them made themselves fat with the best of the offerings.

(30) "Therefore the Lord God of Israel says, 'I said indeed your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever.' But now the Lord says, 'Be it far from Me, for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.'"

The man of God continued.  The Lord God of Israel had determined that Eli's line through his father, Ithamar, should minister before Him forever.  However, now the Lord said it was far from Him to allow the priesthood to continue in the line of Ithamar and Eli.  He would honor those who honored Him, but those who despised Him, as Eli's sons had shown they did, would be only lightly esteemed.  Actually, the original word "qalal" that was translated as "lightly esteemed" is more often translated as "cursed" in other scriptures.  That is probably a better meaning here.

(31) "'Behold, the days come that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, that there shall not be an old man in your house.'"

The Lord warned Eli that the days were coming when He would cut off his strength, power, and authority, and that of his father's, and there would be no old man left in his house.

(32) "'And you shall see an enemy in My habitation, in all which God shall give Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.'"

Eli would live to see an enemy or affliction in the Lord's tabernacle in all the wealth that the Lord had planned for Israel.  The prophet repeated that there would not be an old man in Eli's house, and this time he added the word "forever." 

(33) "'And the man of yours whom I shall not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart, and all the increase of your house shall die in the flower of their age.'"

The state of any man of Eli's posterity whom the Lord did not cut off from His altar would make his eyes cry and his heart full of grief.  All of his posterity would die in the prime of their lives.

(34) "'And this a sign unto you that shall come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas, in one day they shall die both of them.'"

There would be a sign to Eli that all the man of God had told him would be fulfilled when he saw his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, die on the same day.

(35) "'And I will raise Me up a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in my mind, and I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.'"

Continuing with the words of the Lord, the man of God told Eli He would raise up a faithful priest who would do according to the will and heart of the Lord.  The Lord would build him a sure house, which probably meant He would give him a numerous posterity to ensure the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.  He and his posterity would walk before the Lord's anointed, the Messiah, forever.  The priests were to represent Christ, act in His name, and point toward the coming Messiah.

(36) "'And it shall come to pass, everyone who is left in your house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, "Put me, I pray you, into one of the priests' offices that I may eat a piece of bread."'"

Everyone left alive in Eli's house would be reduced to begging God's priest for a small piece of silver and a morsel of bread and asking to be put into one of the priests' offices in whatever inferior post they might find in order to keep them from starving.

The main subject of this part of the chapter focuses on the wickedness of Hophni and Phinehas, and even Eli, because of his weakness and leniency and failure to stop the wicked behavior in God's house.  The sad state of the priesthood throughout this post is sprinkled with the bright spots of little Samuel growing in the Lord.  It's a perfect picture of our world today, so much wickedness even in high places of government and the church, but throughout the world in different walks of life, God is raising up His people to follow Him, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him." (2 Chronicles 16:9)

It's not that God was raising up Samuel to be His priest, as Samuel was not from the correct line of priests, but He was raising him up for other purposes.  There is only one perfect priest who can do all according to the heart and mind of God, and that is Jesus Christ.  In Him, the Lord will build a sure house, the Christian church upon the rock that is Jesus Christ.  The wickedness of Eli's sons and Eli himself who knew what his sons were doing was evil, but he did nothing about it, illustrates the need for a Savior.  We all sin and come short of the glory of the Lord (Romans 3:23).  "But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).