A Warning Unheeded

The sons of Eli were entirely unfit to serve as priests.

They showed marked disrespect for the services.

Eli’s lack of early discipline made them incorrigible.

No amount of pleading now made any impression on their behavior.

“By their vile lusts they lowered the service of the Lord in the eyes of the people to the level of the sensual orgies of the neighboring idol groves.” When Eli failed to act, God intervened. One day a man of God appeared at the sanctuary with a warning message for Eli (1 Samuel 2:27–36). It should have had a sobering effect, but such was not to be.

“The promise had been made that the house of Aaron should walk before God forever; but this promise had been made on condition that they should devote themselves to the work of the sanctuary with singleness of heart and honor God in all their ways, not serving self nor following their own perverse inclinations. Eli and his sons had been tested, and the Lord had found them wholly unworthy of the exalted position of priests in His service.” The house of Eli would cease to exist. Eli’s sons would die a violent death.

They would not be punished immediately nor die by the direct hand of God, but “in turning away from the angel of the Lord (Ps. 34:7), they sealed their own doom. It was the Philistines who killed them (1 Sam. 4:10, 11), yet God permitted their death because of their refusal to follow Him.” God lifted the veil and showed the results of continued sin.

“He did not foreordain it. He who knows the end from the beginning knows all that affects the exercise of free choice. By warning individuals of what the future holds in store for them, God proves to the universe that men go so far of their own free choice that even that knowledge will not deter them.” The influence of a Christian home is best seen in the character it develops.