Good Morning Friends,
“And the LORD said to Samuel: ‘See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family-from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’'" (1 Samuel 3:11-14)
The story of Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, is a sad one. Eli was a good man who loved the Lord. He did a good job of instructing Samuel and helping him to grow into a man who loved and served the Lord. But Eli did not do the same with his sons. Hophni and Phinehas became unrestrained men. They stole from the offerings brought to the Lord and were sexually immoral. God told Samuel that Eli had failed to restrain them. He tried when they were grown men, but it was too late. He failed to teach them and discipline them when they were young boys and the result was disastrous for them and for all Israel.
Israel went to war against the Philistines and lost the first battle. They prepared to do battle again and wanted it to be different. Hoping that God’s presence would make a difference, they brought the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God’s presence from its place at Shiloh to the battlefield. Hophni and Phinehas came with the Ark and Eli, by now a very old man, remained at home.
The Ark did not have the desired effect. The Philistines defeated Israel again, killed many Israelites, including Hophni and Phinehas, and captured the Ark. When news of the death of his sons and the capture of the Ark reached Eli, he fell off his chair in distress, broke his neck and died.
At about the same time, Phinehas’s wife gave birth to a son and died in childbirth. As she was dying, she gave the son the name Ichabod, which means “there is no glory.” She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.” (1 Samuel 4:21-22)
All this because Hophni and Phinehas, who were to become the priests of Israel when their father died, were unrestrained and wicked. Eli had succeeded as a priest, but failed as a father. God punished Israel for the failure of its leaders. God withdrew His presence from them in punishment.
Two things come to mind from this sad story:
1. You can do great things for God, but if you overlook the work God wants you to do in your own family, you will be a failure.
2. Everything rises and falls on leadership! The fate of Israel was determined by the quality of those who led the nation.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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