Daily Digest: Capstone Capsule

“Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord” – 1 Samuel 2:12

The sons of Eli the priest – Hophni and Phinehas – were Negative MODELS of IMPACT from YOUTH: “Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord” (1 Sam.2:12). Eli’s sons were priests, but they were dishonest and disobedient to the Lord. While people boiled the meat from their sacrifices, the two priests would send over a servant with a large, three-pronged fork, to stick into the cooking pot, and whatever meat came out on the fork was seized, often by force (vv.13-16). Eli’s sons were not only worthless but also interfered in the people’s sincere worship of God; not just incompetent, but downright evil: “Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord” (v.17).

The Law gave full instructions on how the priests’ portion of the sacrificial animals was to be received, and that the sacrifice needed to have the fat boiled off before it was given to the priest (Lev.7:30-36). Eli’s sons took whatever they wanted, and did whatever they wanted, with utter impunity, disregarding divine instructions. Bullies of the worst kind, they did not care about anyone, and especially about God. When sincere worshipers tried to stop the insanity of the priests’ blatant neglect, they were threatened. Although Eli himself did not do this detestable practice, he was an absent father and grossly negligent as a priest.

Scriptures consistently contrasted the character of Samuel the boy priest-in-residence and Eli and his two sons: “...But the child ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest. Now the sons of Eli were corrupt...” (vv.11-12). Again, “Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord...But Samuel ministered before the Lord...” (vv.17-18). Eli was awfully negligent in dealing with his sons. One would reasonably expect the older Eli to be the good mentor, but it turned out that young Samuel was the actual mentor to the right life of priesthood. Eli needed to take his cues from a child. But, alas, he did not. It did not end well for him and his sons, and their branch of the Levite priesthood was eradicated by God’s judgment (1 Sam. 2: 27-36).

Eli as a parent allowed his children to self-destruct and be condemned. His major error in parenting is seen in the question that God asked him: “Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me?” (v.29). Whenever parents honour their children more than God, the potential for ruining the children is heightened. Whenever God is not first, the impact tends to be negative!