Eli was a righteous man himself, but he failed to constrain his sons, who were wicked. So the whole priestly dynasty of Eli fell. But God will not let his purposes fail. He is raising up a righteous Prophet-Priest, Samuel, and will transfer the Priesthood to the Aaronic Zadokites. There is a warning here for parents and children. Parents should restrain their children while they can; children that they can’t rest on their godly heritage.
We hate it when we find high officials with their nose in the trough. We hate corruption in high places, using high office to line your pockets.
The Arab Spring had partly to do with perceived corruption in high office.
Hosni Mubarak is thought to have had between 40 and 70 billion as a result of his high office. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heads_of_state_and_government_by_net_worth). And popular uprising which removed him from office.
Remember Imelda Marcos’ shoes!
Think of Former Indonesian President Suharto’s billions. Family members have subsequently faced criminal convictions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto).
Closer to home, we hear reports of corruption in public office. We hear of NSW ALP powerbrokers appearing before ICAC. Their sons and family members become household names. Union officials accused of using members money to visit prostitutes. High flying entrepreneurs declaring insolvent and going abroad.
We have come to mistrust authority. This is wise, because of the doctrine of sin. We rightly don’t believe we can trust anyone absolutely. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. So our democratic system of government prides itself on transparency. We need checks and balances, freedom of information, an independent media, and proper disclosure rules.
We also know that unruly children are a headache for a much loved leader. Consider Queen Elizabeth, who is widely loved and honoured. We generally don’t regard her children in the same way. Many would prefer Charles to abdicate and hand the crown to William.
Corruption in high places. And a loved parent embarrassed by her errant children. Such is what we see in our world. And such is what we see in our passage today.
But in our passage, it’s worse than in our world. Because the corruption is among the leaders of the people of God. That’s why church sex abuse scandals are so much worse. Those guilty should know so much better. Those who are leaders are judged more strictly. And judgment begins with the family of God.
Last week we saw the childless Hannah prayed for a son. And this little boy’s name is Samuel. He was dedicated to God before his birth. So Hannah gives Samuel to Eli, the old Priest, to work at the tabernacle. And we expect big things of Samuel.
This week we see that all is not well with Samuel’s adoptive family. Israel is in the midst of a leadership crisis. The behaviour of the High Priest's family is a disgrace. Hophni and Phinehas his sons bring shame on Yahweh.
In chapter 2 verse 12, we discover what Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phineas, are like. Chapter 2 verse 12:
Eli's sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD.
Literally, ‘Eli’s sons were sons of Belial. They did not know Yahweh.’
To be called a 'son of Belial' is the worst character assassination possible in the Old Testament[1]. Hannah is mortified that Eli would consider her a ‘daughter of Belial’ (1 Samuel 1:16). The word describes people who are real trouble: Wicked, apostate, greedy, violent, the sexually immoral, and rapists.
And we are given the reason for the wickedness of these sons. Why were they wicked? Unlike their father Eli, these young men did not know Yahweh. They do not know the God whom they fein to serve. They are fleshly, worldly. They have no fear of God.
Some people say it doesn’t matter what you believe. What counts is how you behave. But what you believe effects how you behave. Ditch Christian belief, sooner or later, you ditch Christian morality. Don't teach our kids the 10 commandments, then fancy that, we find them breaking the 10 commandments.
As priests and sons of the Judge, Hophni and Phinehas have great privileges. But they misuse them. They are shepherds feeding off the flock, sitting atop the pile, munching away, living off the fat of Israel. They do not honour their high office, but use it for personal advantage.
An example of their sin is given in verses 13 to 16. Under the Old Testament sacrificial laws, the priests were given the meat of certain sacrifices[2]. This was their pay. But the cuts of meat they took were strictly stipulated. And they were never permitted to eat the fat. Again and again, Yahweh told the priests, that the fat belonged to the LORD. The fat was to be burned up as an offering dedicated to Yahweh[3]. Leviticus chapter 3 verses 16 and 17:
All fat belongs to the LORD…. This is a permanent statute throughout your generations, wherever you live: you must not eat any fat (Leviticus 3:16-17 NIV)
The doctors and dieticians cheer. The priests were to have a high protein, high carb, but ‘no animal fat’ diet. Indeed, no Israelite was to eat animal fat[4]. This wasn’t just a health requirement, although that might be part of it. It was how you honoured Yahweh. So the people of Israel were told, Leviticus chapter 7 verse 25:
If anyone eats animal fat from a fire offering presented to the LORD, the person who eats it must be cut off from his people. (NIV)
Don't let cholesterol or heart attack kill the fat-eater. You kill him. To be cut off means to be killed. The fat-eater was to be taken out and stoned.
But here are Hophni and Phinehas, disdaining the Lord, and taking the fat of the offering for themselves. Chapter 2 verses 15 and 17:
But even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest some meat to roast; he won't accept boiled meat from you, but only raw." If the man said to him, "Let the fat be burned up first, and then take whatever you want," the servant would then answer, "No, hand it over now; if you don't, I'll take it by force." This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD's sight, for they were treating the LORD's offering with contempt. (NIV)
It seems that gluttony, a desire for gastronomic sensations, motivated them. They wanted roast meat instead of boiled, meat with fat instead of lean meat. 'That's a nice juicy bit of fat. That will crisp up nicely.' Instead of burning up the fat as required, they took it for themselves.
And they were lazy. Instead of taking part in the slaughtering and offering, they got the others to do the work. The Priests were supposed to join in the preparations. They were meant to mediate the forgiveness of sins, and then celebrate with the worshippers. Isn’t Yahweh a wonderful God of forgiveness, let’s have a party together. Instead, Hophni and Phinehas treat the sacrifices like dial up and home delivery. The offerors do all the work, and they send their servant to forcibly take whatever they want. This was dereliction of their pastoral duty.
And they were disobedient. They didn't scrupulously take only what Yahweh allocated to the priest. They took ‘whatever the fork brought out’. They treated the carefully apportioned fellowship sacrifices as a lucky dip. But Yahweh never sanctioned this kind of ‘potluck’. 'Oh, look what I brought up, what God has given me.'
‘Hophni and Phineas were evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’ It was too late for a rebuke. They needed to be cut off, to be taken out and stoned, for the sake of Israel.
But their corruption was worse. Chapter 3 verse 22:
Hophni and Phineas also slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. (1 Samuel 2:22) They treated the temple servant girls like they treated the meat - they could take whatever they liked. We know that at least Phinehas was married. But that didn’t stop him bedding whichever servant girl he wanted. For them, being a Priest meant you could fornicate and feast.
No wonder Eli thought Hannah was a daughter of belial! For Hophni and Phinehas had turned Shiloh into a brothel.
Eli knows about all this. But Eli’s rebuke is about as effective as being whipped with limp lettuce. Here are Eli’s words to his sons. Verses 23 to 25:
"Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the LORD's people. If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" (NIV)
True as far as it went. But it was a bit late for a fatherly chat. It was time for action. It was time to cut the cancer out of the priesthood. It was time for Eli to love Yahweh more than his sons. Jesus said, ‘If you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of me’. Eli needed to love God more than his sons.
Eli needed to rid to purge the priesthood. But he does not. Eli leaves it at words only. He doesn't bring down the full weight of God’s law on them. They remain in the job.
The Law of Moses had a punishment for just such sons as Hophni and Phinehas. They were to be taken to the elders of the city, accused by their parents of gluttony and drunkardness, and stoned, so that all Israel hears and is afraid[5].
He did not do what was supposed to happen to fat-eaters, that they be cut off.
He did not do what Joshua did with Achan (Joshua 7; 22:20). He did not purge the evil from Israel with the stipulated death penalty.
Eli did none of these things. This was Eli’s sin of omission, his failure of leadership.
But again, we see both human responsibility, and divine sovereignty. Hophni and Phinehas were responsible for their sin. The soul that sins will die. But Yahweh is sovereign. The all-powerful God, who hardens hearts, wanted them dead. The last part of verse 25:
His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the LORD’s will to put them to death. (NIV)
Yahweh has a sovereign will, and that will must come to pass.
And through executing judgment on his corrupt priests, God’s name will again be honoured and glorified. If the Priests at Shiloh won’t glorify his name, God will leave Shiloh. Yahweh himself will glorify his name away from them without them.
And that is what happens in chapters 5 and 6 of 1 Samuel. Yahweh’s name receives the glory it deserves far away in a foreign land.
Chapters 5 and 6 record what happened after Yahweh symbolically left Shiloh, after the Ark of the Covenant was captured. The capture of the Ark looks like disgrace for Yahweh, the God of Israel. Israel says ‘the glory has departed’. And that's true. But Yahweh will still get the glory. If Israel won’t glorify God, Yahweh will depart and get the pagan nations to do it. And he will bring his people around again.
So in 1 Samuel 5, when the Ark goes to Philistia, Dagon the Philistine God falls flat on its face in front of it. And after 7 months of plaguing the 5 Philistine cities, their own priests advised their kings, ‘Give glory to Israel's God’[6] (1 Samuel 6:5 NIV). They knew it was Yahweh afflicting them, as he did the Egyptians[7].
And then in Chapter 6, Yahweh gets glory from his own people. If God can bring the pagans around, he can soften up his own. The men of Beth-Semesh were struck down for mishandling the Ark on its return. The result? Beth-Semesh asks:
Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? (1 Samuel 6:20)
God is again confessed to be Holy in Israel. Whether it is the nations, or God’s own people, God will get the glory.
Eli won’t bring the proper Old Testament judgment on his wicked sons. He loves his sons more than Yahweh. Wicked Hophni and Phinehas don’t know Yahweh. They won’t give him the glory he deserves.
So God steps in. God sends an unnamed Prophet, a man of God. And this Man of God convicts and judges Eli’s house. He uncovers the sin of Eli’s house and announces doom for his priestly line.
In Chapter 2 verse 29, the Man of God first uncovers the sin. He declares to Eli, verse 29:
Why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honour your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?' (NIV)
The you is plural. It is Eli and his sons. This is expanded in chapter 3 verse 13:
For I told him that I would judge his family for ever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. (NIV)
Eli shared in his son’s sins. Eli did not restrain nor did he punish them. So Eli honoured his sons more than God. Probably Eli also ate the unjustly acquired sacrifices. There is an interesting little comment at the death of Eli. When Eli hears of the loss of the Ark we read in chapter 4 verse 18:
Eli fell backwards off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. (NIV)
How did Eli get so heavy? Maybe he also fattened himself on the fat portions. It seems that Eli, too, enjoyed the fruits of his son’s wickedness. And thus became heavy.
And in chapter 2 verses 31 to 34, we read the punishment that is coming upon Eli and his line.
The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your family line and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, in your family line there will never be an old man. Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life[8]. And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you - they will both die on the same day. (NIV)
Because of their abuse of privilege, Eli’s house won’t live long and prosper. God will do good to Israel, but not to Eli’s house. They will be cut off from the priesthood. And God has plenty of ways of doing that[9]. God also has more than enough descendants of Aaron to do the priest’s job properly. The house of Eli misused their privileges. They are about to lose them.
Here is a father, Eli, righteous enough in himself. But Eli indulges his children’s sin. As a result Eli brings down his whole house.
There is a warning in this for us parents. We need to discipline our sons and daughters while we can. Because there comes a time when rebuke is too late. Proverbs chapter 22 verse 6:
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. (NIV)
Eli is a tragic figure. He is one of the last judges. He was a judge priest. He had led Israel for forty years. But he failed as a father. And it cost his family their livelihood and their lives.
But all this time, there is a boy in the background. God is planning godly leadership that will last.
The boy in the background is Hannah’s young son, the servant-boy, Samuel. While Hophni and Phinehas’ shenanigans are going on, we read chapter 2 verse 18:
But Samuel was ministering before the LORD - a boy wearing a linen ephod. (NIV)
Again, chapter 2 verse 21:
Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD. (NIV)
And chapter 2 verse 28:
And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favour with the LORD and with men. (NIV)
Samuel is growing up in the same manner as our Lord Jesus Christ: in favour with God and man. And we say to ourselves, surely Samuel is the answer. Surely Samuel will remedy the problem of Eli’s household.
So we read chapter 2 verse 35, when God says through his prophet:
I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always [lit, before my Messiah all the days]. (NIV)
To the question is, ‘Who is the faithful priest?’, we at first glance, answer ‘Samuel’. Surely it is Samuel.
But we will discover that it is not Samuel. We will learn that Eli’s weakness has carried over to his adopted son, Samuel. The old man Samuel continues to worship Yahweh. But when Samuel grows old, Samuel as Judge of Israel appointed his sons as Judges. And sadly, Samuel’s sons also turn away after dishonest gain. History repeats itself. 1 Samuel chapter 8 verses 1 to 3:
When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. (NIV)
Oh no! Not again! Children rejecting the faith of their parents! And from this, Heavenly Father, preserve us. Here are two righteous men, Eli and Samuel, undone by their children. May we fathers learn lessons from them, and restrain and teach our sons while we still can.
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4 NIV)
Proverbs 19:18, Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death. (NIV)
Proverbs 29:17, Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul. (NIV)
Eli and Samuel were righteous as men but failures as fathers.
But there will be another set of Old Testament priests. And the rest of the books of Samuel and Kings speak of these Priests who will replace Eli’s family. They will minister before the Lord’s anointed, the Messiah, the King. All the days of the Davidic King, this line of Priests will serve at Solomon's temple.
And they are the house of Zadok, another descendant of Aaron. Zadok will become the head of a new priestly family to replace Eli[10]. The house of Zadok will faithfully serve only the King who God appoints. Zadok served before King David as priest. And the sons of Zadok served the sons of David as priests.
And we too have a faithful priest, whose priesthood is firmly established. We have Jesus Christ, in whom the offices of priest and king are united, a king-priest in the line of Melchizedek. Jesus Christ became 'a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God', 'so that he might make atonement for the sins of the people' (Hebrews 2:17 NIV).' Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priest, and he always lives to intercede for us, and thus save us completely (Hebrews 7:24-25).
But we are jumping ahead of ourselves. All this lies ahead in the Books of Samuel and Kings and Chronicles, and in the New Testament.
But for now, we need to know we are in a similar position to Eli. We, like Eli, have received great privileges. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood. We are called to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. We have the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God. We are a light to the nation. And these wonderful privileges come to us by grace, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest.
But we cannot take God for granted. We cannot receive God’s grace in vain. 1 Samuel chapter 2 verse 30 enunciates an abiding principal.
Those who honour me I will honour, but those who despise me will be disdained. (NIV)
Familiarity breeds contempt. But we must not be contemptuous of God. We must honour God with our bodies. Food is not God. Sex is not God. God is God. And Hophni and Phinehas acted the way they did because they didn’t know God.
But we do know God. So now, our lives are all about giving God the glory. And if we don't, it's our loss. Because God will get the glory in the end. He will simply choose someone else, and we will miss out, to our eternal ruin.
Let’s be different to Hophni, Phinehas and Eli. Remembering that whoever honours God, God will honour them.
Let’s pray.
[1] In the Old Testament so far, the phrase has been used of ‘idolatrous apostates’ (Deuteronomy 13:13), the stingy man who won’t cancel debts in the seventh year (Deuteronomy 15:9), the perverts of Gibeah who wanted to commit homosexual gang rape (Judges 19:22; 20:13). In the books of Samuel, the description will reappear to describe the men who doubted and despised Saul (1 Samuel 10:27), the foolish Nabal (1 Samuel 25:17), and Sheba Son of Bicri, who sought to divide Benjamin from the restored King David (2 Samuel 20:1).
[2] Leviticus 7:28-36: The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites:`Anyone who brings a fellowship offering to the LORD is to bring part of it as his sacrifice to the LORD. With his own hands he is to bring the offering made to the LORD by fire; he is to bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast before the LORD as a wave offering. The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons. You are to give the right thigh of your fellowship offerings to the priest as a contribution. The son of Aaron who offers the blood and the fat of the fellowship offering shall have the right thigh as his share. From the fellowship offerings of the Israelites, I have taken the breast that is waved and the thigh that is presented and have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons as their regular share from the Israelites.'" This is the portion of the offerings made to the LORD by fire that were allotted to Aaron and his sons on the day they were presented to serve the LORD as priests. On the day they were anointed, the LORD commanded that the Israelites give this to them as their regular share for the generations to come (NIV)
Deuteronomy 18:1-3: The priests, who are Levites - indeed the whole tribe of Levi - are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the offerings made to the LORD by fire, for that is their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them. This is the share due to the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the jowls and the inner parts. (NIV)
[3] The fat of the sacrifices was commanded to be burnt up (eg the sacrifices for the ordination of priests: Exodus 29:13, 22). Regarding the fellowship offerings (Leviticus 3), while the Priests were expressly permitted to have certain parts of the sacrifice (Leviticus 7:29-36), they were not permitted to eat the fat (Leviticus 3:16-17).
[4] Leviticus 7:23-25: "Tell the Israelites: You are not to eat any fat of an ox, a sheep, or a goat. The fat of an animal that dies naturally or is mauled by wild beasts may be used for any purpose, but you must not eat it. (NIV)
[5] Deuteronomy 21:18-21: "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or mother and doesn't listen to them even after they discipline him, his father and mother must take hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown. They will say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he doesn't obey us. He's a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. You must purge the evil from you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid. (NIV)
[6] 1 Samuel 6:5-6: Give glory to Israel's God, and perhaps He will stop oppressing you, your gods, and your land. Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When He afflicted them, didn't they send Israel away, and Israel left? (NIV)
[7] Compare 1 Samuel 6:9 with 6:12.
[8] Several of Eli’s descendants are mentioned subsequently in Scripture.
(1) Ichabod is Eli’s grandson through Phinehas (1 Samuel 4:20-21).
(2) Ahitub was Ichabod’s (older) brother, and wore the Ephod with Saul (1 Samuel 14:2-3). From points (3) and (4) below, Ahitub had two sons, Ahijah and Ahimelech.
(3) Ahijah was a son of Ichabod's brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD's priest in Shiloh. (1 Samuel 14:2-3).
(4) Ahimelech is the brother of Ahijah. Ahimelech is the leader of the priests of Nob mentioned in 1 Samuel 21:1. Ahimelech is the son of Ahitub serving as priest at Nob (1 Samuel 22:9). Ahimelech is described as a descendant of Ithamar, (1 Chronicles 24:3), so Eli was also a descendant of Ithamar, the Son of Aaron.
(5) Abiathar, son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub, alone escaped Saul’s slaughter at Nob, and served David as High Priest with the Ephod (1 Samuel 22:20-23; 23:6; 30:7-8). Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD, ‘fulfilling the word the LORD had spoken at Shiloh about the house of Eli.’ (1 Kings 2:27). Solomon appointed Zadok ‘in the place of Abiathar’ (1 Kings 2:35):
See further J Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Preach the Word, 563 n 5, 564 n 18.
[9] He will end up doing it through Zadok, who is in the line of Aaron, Eleazar, and Phinehas, thought to be the original High Priestly line. Phinehas was promised a lasting priesthood (Numbers 25:12-13; Psalm 106:30-31).
[10] It appears that Zadok son of Ahitub (a different Ahitub from the descendant of Eli) was a descendant of Eleazar son of Aaron, while Ahimelech son of Abiathar was a descendant of Ithamar son of Aaron through Eli, priest at Shiloh.
2 Samuel 8:17: Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests (NIV).
1 Chronicles 18:16: Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests (NIV).
1 Chronicles 6:3-10: Aaron's sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Eleazar fathered Phinehas; Phinehas fathered Abishua; Abishua fathered Bukki; Bukki fathered Uzzi; Uzzi fathered Zerahiah; Zerahiah fathered Meraioth; Meraioth fathered Amariah; Amariah fathered Ahitub; Ahitub fathered Zadok; Zadok fathered Ahimaaz; Ahimaaz fathered Azariah; Azariah fathered Johanan; Johanan fathered Azariah, who served as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem (NIV).
1 Chronicles 6:50-53: These are Aaron's sons: his son Eleazar, his son Phinehas, his son Abishua, his son Bukki, his son Uzzi, his son Zerahiah, his son Meraioth, his son Amariah, his son Ahitub, his son Zadok, and his son Ahimaaz (NIV).
1 Chronicles 24:3: Together with Zadok from the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech from the sons of Ithamar (NIV).