Several months ago a friend and I
discussed Eli. More specifically we discussed the kind of parent Eli was. Or
wasn’t. Since that conversation Eli and Samuel have come up multiple times and
I find myself revisiting Eli time and again. With each of those encounters I
discover that I learn just a little more, understand just a bit more, of Eli
and his life.
Scripture doesn’t give us a lot of
insight into Eli. The best I can figure Eli is in the Bible not so much for his
contribution to it but for his supporting role in it. In the world of fiction
Eli would be called a supporting character. From what I can tell that seems to
be Eli’s place in Scripture. He has a place but he doesn’t appear to be the
main focus. We see him only for a short time and always his story is a part of
someone else’s story, a part of a bigger picture.
We first read of Eli in 1 Samuel 1:3…
… at
Shiloh,where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord.
In that first exposure
to Eli we are told only that he has two sons that were priests at Shiloh. And
even that little bit is told as we read of Elkanah, husband of Hannah. We aren’t
introduced to Eli for what and who he is but rather as a small part of a bigger
story. He is given but a small mention as we are introduced to Hannah,
Peninnah, and Elkanah.
Our next encounter
with Eli comes when he discovers Hannah…
After they had eaten and drunk
in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the
doorpost of the temple of the Lord. vs 9 ESV
We’re told here that Eli was at the
temple in Shiloh…sitting on the seat beside the doorpost. I read somewhere that
Eli was a man that didn’t want to expend energy. That was someone’s opinion.
Scripture really doesn’t tell us that that was Eli’s character. But if one
wanted to see Eli that way, this verse could be seen to support that. He was
sitting there doing…what? We don’t know. What time of year was it? What time of
day? What had Eli been doing before he sat down? Had it been a busy day and
Hannah caught him while he was taking a quick rest? Or was it his custom to sit
by the doorpost? And if he sat there all day, every day…why did he do it? We
really don’t know. All we know is that when Eli encounters Hannah he was
sitting by the doorpost.
10 She was deeply
distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept
bitterly.
11 And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant
and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a
son, then I will give him to the Lord all the
days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” 12 As
she continued praying before the Lord, Eli
observed her mouth.
From the verses above we are shown two
things. 1) Hannah, who we know is now in or at the temple, is deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly, and 2) Eli observed her mouth. So we know that
Hannah was very troubled…she was sad…she was crying and praying. And Eli is
sitting at the doorpost watching her.
Why is he just sitting
there watching here? Why isn’t he going to her? Why isn’t he, as high priest,
trying to help her in her time of distress?
When Eli finally does
talk to her it isn’t to offer comfort or support, it’s to rebuke her. In verse
14 he tells her…
14 And Eli said to
her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.”
Why would he say such a thing? Why
would he assume that she was drunk? He based that opinion on the actions of
someone that was very upset. Verse 13 tells us…
Therefore
Eli took her to be a drunken woman.
So because Hannah was crying out to the
Lord in distress, because she prayed while moving her mouth but saying nothing,
Eli assumed she was drunk. Why?
If we saw someone in a ‘church’
building today, crying and weeping, mouthing words without voice would we take
them to be a drunk? Would they be looked upon as someone that had been drinking
or would it be assumed that they were hurting and in need of comfort?
The reality is that both reactions
would be nothing more than assumptions on the part of the person observing the
distressed person.
Prior to going to the temple Hannah
had… After they had
eaten and drunk in Shiloh. Was it possible that Hannah may have smelled of
wine? We’re told later that Hannah said…
I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink …so we know she hadn’t been
drinking but we don’t know whether wine or some other ‘strong drink’ may have
been served during the meal or if she could have had a bit of it on her
clothes, making her smell as if she had been drinking. We know only that Hannah
was very upset and distressed.
In her distress may
she have staggered into the temple, possibly even fallen to the ground or into
walls? What actions of Hannah’s, if any, other than her silent prayers, caused
Eli to assume she was drunk? Or was Eli simply prone to believing the worst of
people? Did he simply see a woman in a sad state, talking without voicing
words, and assume she was drunk?
Scripture doesn’t tell
us why Eli assumed what he did. We don’t know if he made the assumption because
of his own ideas or if he made the assumption because having drunk people in
the temple was a regular occurrence, or if Hannah truly was acting as if she
was intoxicated. We just don’t know.
Hannah explains
something of her situation to Eli…
15 But Hannah
answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither
wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.
16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless
woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and
vexation.”
Hannah, in no way told
Eli why she was so distressed. She simply tould him that she has been pouring out my soul before the Lord… for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety
and vexation. That’s it.
That’s all she tells Eli of her situation.
And yet Eli gives her
this answer…
17 Then Eli
answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have
made to him.”
Eli, without knowing
the details of Hannah’s pain and distress, told her God would grant her
requests. Eli then has no further
mention until after Hannah has Samuel and he is old enough for her to take him
to the temple.
…And
the child was young.
25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and they
brought the child to Eli. 26 And she
said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here
in your presence, praying to the Lord. 27 For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 28 Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”
Here we see Eli again.
Years have passed since we last heard of him. How many years, we don’t know. We
know from Scripture that Hannah didn’t go to the temple while she was nursing
Samuel. We also know that in the above verses it says…the child was young. But
exactly how young, we don’t know. Was he a toddler? Weaned at a year or so old?
Or was he a bit older? And if so…how much older? How old could he be and still
be labeled as young? We don’t really know.
Not that it really
matters other than for ourselves. We know that Samuel was given to Eli. If
Samuel was a toddler or very young child he would have required more watching
by Eli. If he was a bit older he would have needed less supervision and could
have been put to doing certain tasks and studies.
But we really have no
way of knowing just how old or ‘young’ Samuel was when he was given to Eli.
What did Eli think of
being given this child? Hannah said… I am
the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. Did Eli
remember her? It had been at least two years since she had been there, praying
in distress. Did Eli remember that he had taken her to be drunk? Had he been
convinced by her words that she wasn’t really drunk that night or had he simply
said what he did to placate her and get her out of the temple? And if he did
remember her, what did he think of her as she stood before him and reminded him
of their previous encounter?
In chapter 2 verse 11
we are shown that Samuel was left in the care of Eli...
And the boy was ministering to the Lord
in the presence of Eli the priest.
Now
what did Eli think of Hannah? The woman that he had presumed to be drunk had
returned telling him that here was the child she had prayed for…and she left
him with Eli. Did he want to take the boy in? Did he want to raise this child
that Hannah left in his care? Was he given any say in the matter or was Samuel
just handed over as his parents left him?
Did
Eli question how a woman that had prayed for a child could just leave him? Did
he think highly of her for giving her son to the Lord or did he think she was
looking for a way to get rid of the child she claimed to have prayed for?
We
don’t know. All we know is that Eli wound up raising Samuel. We’re told nothing
of what he wanted or thought about that.
Here
is where we get into the part of Eli’s life that came up in conversation with a
friend of mine. During that conversation, Eli’s character as a parent was
brought up. It was mentioned how Eli failed in raising his sons.
I
don’t see anywhere in Scripture that we are told that Eli failed as a parent.
What I see is that we are shown the character of two of Eli’s sons. We don’t
even know if those are the only two children Eli had. For all we know he could
have had a hundred. Or he could have had only those two. No matter how many
children he did or did not have, Scripture doesn’t tell us that Eli did this so
his sons became that. No, Scripture only tells us…
12Now the sons of Eli were worthless
men.
And
why were they worthless? The very next words, the second part of that same
verses says…
They did not know the Lord.
We
are told later of the things that Eli’s son’s do. The evil that they commit,
the sins they partake in but in that verse we are told that they are worthless
and they do not know the Lord. Are they worthless because they do not know the
Lord?
We
know that Eli’s sons were priests and that they were misusing their position…
13The
custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice,
the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a
three-pronged fork in his hand, 14and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle
or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for
himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
15Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say
to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will
not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16And if the man said to him,
“Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say,
“No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17Thus the sin
of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated
the offering of the Lord with contempt.
Those
verses tell us that the Lord saw the sins of Eli’s sons as being very great.
Their actions in their position were horrible sins. Was that why they were
worthless men? Because of their actions?
What
caused them to be labeled as worthless? The fact that they didn’t know the Lord
or the fact that they were committing great sins? We don’t really know exactly
what caused them to be labeled as worthless but we do know that never in
Scripture does it mention any failure on Eli’s part in raising them.
Was
Eli aware of the great sins his sons were committing? We know from Scripture
that he knows of these sins later but did he know of them at that time? We
don’t know.
From
the above verses, speaking of the worthlessness and sins of Eli’s sons,
Scripture goes to Samuel…
18 Samuel was ministering before the
Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod. 19And his mother used to make for him a
little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to
offer the yearly sacrifice.
It
seems to me that in the handful of verses about Eli’s sons and in Samuel
Scripture shows us the differences between the boys/men. Verse 12 starts out… Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. And
goes on to tell us…they did not know the
Lord. In two short sentences we are shown the type of men that Eli’s sons
were. Worthless and lost.
In
verse 18 we are shown a very different character in Samuel… Samuel was ministering before the Lord. Samuel was ministering
before the Lord while Eli’s sons were worthless and lost. We are given those
two insights into the characters of the boys that Eli raised in three short
sentences.
We
are shown the differences in them but we aren’t given any indication that Eli
is to blame or be credited for any of their actions, characters, or condition
of their salvation. In fact Eli isn’t mentioned at all in those verses. Eli’s
sons, who Scripture says were men, are identified on their own merits…or lack
of…being tied only to Eli through their relationship to him. Samuel is also
spoken of on his own. We aren’t told the Eli’s sons were wicked because Eli
raised them to be such or that Samuel wasn’t wicked because Eli raised him to
be such. We are told of them and their characters but nothing is mentioned of
Eli’s role in who and what they have become.
Much
as in the other places where Eli shows up in Scripture, his role here could
almost be completely ignored. Those verses are about two men, priests, and a
boy serving in the temple. Eli isn’t the focus. He’s more of a side note.
When
we see Eli again he’s once again more of a side note…
20Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his
wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman for the petition
she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home.
21 Indeed the Lord visited Hannah, and
she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters.
Eli
is mentioned as saying… May the Lord give
you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the Lord. That’s
it. He conveys a…blessing…from the Lord to Elkanah and Hannah for Hannah’s
prayers. And then Scripture goes back
to Samuel…
And the boy Samuel grew in the presence
of the Lord.
That’s
a pattern we will see again. Eli shows up only to lose the focus…if he ever had
it. the very next verses focus on Eli for a brief moment.
22Now Eli was very old…
We
are now given and idea of Eli’s age. No years are given but we can now know
that he was an old man. Exactly how old, we can’t know, but we do at least have
an idea of his age.
…and he kept hearing all that his sons
were doing to all Israel…
We
also now know that Eli is aware of the things his sons are doing. And for the
first time we learn that his son’s sins have extended beyond what we were shown
earlier.
…and how they lay with the women who
were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
So
Eli’s sons have committed great sins by abusing their position as priests.
We’re told why their sins were great…
17Thus the sin of the young men was
very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord
with contempt.
But
Scripture doesn’t stop at listing those sins, it goes on to tell us…
they lay with the women who were
serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
So
we’re given two very different sins that they were committing. The Lord
considered both of those sins as being important enough to mention. They would
also be the sins that will later get those men killed. But I’d like to point
something else out here. In this very important set of verses we are told of
Eli, of his age, of how he heard of his sons sins. But even in that, as
Scripture is focused once again on Eli…it isn’t really focused on him. We are
told of Eli here, but we’re only told of him as we are given more information
about Eli’s sons.
Then
we continue to see Eli in the next set of verses but once again we see him in
connection to his sons…
23And he
said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from
all these people.
Eli,
an old man, is confronting his grown sons, sons Scripture labeled as men, about
the sins they have committed. He questions them on why they’ve done such
things. He tells them that he hears of what they’ve done from others.
We
aren’t told exactly how this takes place. Does he pace before them, wringing
his hands and worried? Asking them why? Why, my sons, do you do this? Is he
hurt and saddened at what they’ve done? Is his tone gentle and questioning?
Does
he stand before them with anger on his face, his arms crossed over his chest,
his stance clearly showing his displeasure? Is there anger in his tone? Is it
hard and unrelenting as he asks ‘why’?
Do
his questions penetrate? Do his sons respectfully listen to their dad and
respond? Do they answer honestly? Or do they spout of excuses and platitudes?
Do they look at each other and roll their eyes? Do they tell their dad it’s
their business? Do they even care about what he’s trying to tell them or do
they merely tolerate this rebuke?
We
don’t know. Scripture gives us no indication of how Eli’s sons act or how Eli
feels as he confronts them. We are told only of what he says…
24No, my sons; it is no good report
that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad.
Eli
tells them that he’s hearing nothing good being spoken of by the people. But
it’s in the next verse that he tells them something they should have taken note
of…
25If someone sins against a man, God
will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede
for him?”
Eli’s
sons should have listened to that, they should have set up and took notice of
what he said, but they didn’t. What Eli said there was very important. Eli told
them they weren’t committing sins against men but against God. And he told them
that there would be no one to intercede for them….there was no help for them if
they sinned against God.
But they would not listen to the voice
of their father…
Here
we see that neither son would listen to that vital piece of information. I’d
like once again to point out what we were told about these two men earlier…
12Now the sons of Eli were worthless men.
They did not know the Lord.
And
I’d like to point something else out. When someone doesn’t know the Lord, the
Lord can’t be used to get through to them. Why would they care if no one could
intercede for them with God if they didn’t know…or care about…God?
Not
all that long ago I found myself briefly engaged in a conversation with an
atheist. It was the first time I had spoken with an atheist about the Lord or
Scripture. During that conversation I found that this person twisted everything
I said, even when what I said came straight from Scripture, to support their
own belief. There was no way to make a point with this person because they held
not the smallest speck of belief in the Lord. Scripture was less than useless
to this person and it showed in every statement they made.
Eli’s
sons did not know the Lord. What use did they have for the rebuke Eli gave them
when he used God as the example of the punishment they would be given if they
continued in their wickedness?
Much
the way I used Scripture in my conversation with the atheist only to discover
that it was like pouring small amounts of water on a raging inferno. Water on
an inferno may hiss when it hits the flames but it will do nothing to put out
the fire. It will take a flood to put out the inferno and it will take much
more than the threat of what God will do to unbelievers to make an impact on
someone that doesn’t believe in God. If a person doesn’t believe in God…what do
they care what God will do? They have no belief in Who you’re telling them will
punish them.
This
appears to be the condition Eli’s sons. We don’t know if they had a belief in
God but we know…They did not know the
Lord.
Since
they didn’t know the Lord, using God to make a point made no point at all. It
had no impact. In the second half of that verse we are shown why it had no
impact…
…for it was the will of the Lord to put them
to death.
I
think this is probably the single most vital part of all we have been told
about Eli’s sons so far. And it shows a very important point in what made the
difference of how I saw Eli and how my friend saw Eli when we discussed him. My
friend was looking at Eli as a parent and drawing conclusion based off what
we’re told in the above verses. I can easily understand the conclusions my
friend made. Basically that conclusion was that Eli failed to live out his
faith and so his sons were lost.
But
that isn’t what Scripture tells us. We aren’t told that Eli failed to live out
his faith, we aren’t even told of Eli’s faith. We’re told of his position. And
we can see in chapter 2 verse 25 that while rebuking his sons, Eli pointed them
toward God. But beyond that we know nothing of Eli’s faith. The fact that he
was a priest should have meant that he had a great faith but we can see from
his sons that just being a priest doesn’t guarantee he has faith. Eli’s sons
should have had faith in God to be priests but we’re shown that they did not
know the Lord. So the fact that Eli was a priest doesn’t guarantee that he knew
the Lord any more than his sons did. We are left to guess at his faith. We are
shown later that Eli directs Samuel toward the Lord.
Again
we are left to assume what Eli’s faith is. Whether he had a deep and profound
faith or not, I can’t see that his faith is the important point in the ‘story’
of him. As we’ve seen through Scripture Eli shows up as a secondary character.
Every time we are told of Eli, we are told of his sons and Samuel (or Hannah in
relation to her having Samuel).
But
back to that most vital bit of information…
…for it was the will of the Lord to put
them to death.
Here
we are given the why of all that took place. …it was the will of the Lord to put them to death. Eli’s sons had
to sin, not just little sins, not sins against men, but great sins against God,
for the Lord’s will to come about. For them to commit the sins they did, they
had to be wicked men, they had to not know the Lord. And they had to not be
swayed by their dad’s rebuke.
Once
again, this is where my friend and I wound up on opposite sides of the fence so
to speak. She looked at Eli’s story as that of a parent raising kids. I looked
at it as the Lord’s will. And the point I failed to notice as she and I
discussed Eli was that very small section of all of Eli’s story……for it was the will of the Lord to put them
to death.
We
are clearly shown in those handful of words exactly what the Lord wanted where
Eli’s sons…and Eli…are concerned. It was the Lord’s will to put them to death.
It
was…
The
Lords will.
There,
in five words, is the basis for the entire story of Eli. But it isn’t just the
basis of Eli…it’s the basis of every person for all time. It’s the Lord’s will.
He wanted. He chose. He created. He…He…He…
The
Lord made everything and everyone and He has a plan for all mankind. It’s a
plan that He will work out according to His will. Eli’s story isn’t about Eli’s
failure or success as a parent. He isn’t there to show us how not to
parent…although I’ve seen quite a few articles that try to say that very
thing…He’s there to show us his place in the Lord’s plan.
And
if we look at the verses about Eli very closely we see that pattern I pointed
out earlier. Eli doesn’t have a story. He is only there as a part of the story
of others. He was used by the Lord in Hannah’s life. In Scripture we are told
that after Eli told her the Lord would grant her prayers, Elkanah ‘knew’ his
wife. It was from that ‘knowing’ that Hannah conceived Samuel.
If
we really think of that encounter Eli had with Hannah…what purpose did he
serve? The Lord could easily have blessed Elkanah and Hannah with Samuel
without Eli’s rather small role of telling Hannah her prayers would be
answered. But Eli was placed there, at that time, in Hannah’s life. His role
wasn’t about him but about that small role in the life of Samuel. Because even
then…Hannah’s very reason for going to the temple was all about Samuel.
Eli
was used to convey the Lord’s answering of Hannah’s prayers. Later he was the
instrument through which Samuel was raised for the Lord. We aren’t told how Eli
raised Samuel, we are told that as a boy Samuel was ministering before the
Lord. Eli isn’t the important person in any of what we’ve been told since we
were first introduced to him in Scripture. His importance was only in the fact
that he had a role in the lives of the people around him. Now, that role was
most likely vital in the lives of Samuel and his sons. The Lord placed those
boys in his care for a reason. The Lord chose Eli to raise those three boys
that we are shown two very different ways of living through.
Eli
raised both a righteous man and wicked men.
But
it wasn’t Eli’s faith that was the important factor in any of that. Nor was it
Eli’s role as a parent. The importance of Eli came in through his role in the
lives of the men that the Lord had willed certain things to happen to.
…for it was the will of the Lord to put
them to death.
And
that shows us what, exactly the Lord’s will was in the lives of Eli’s sons.
There may well have been other things the Lord willed for them. Were they
important so that Samuel could see up close what wickedness looked like so that
he wouldn’t act wickedly himself? We don’t know. Did Eli live for Christ and
therefore make a very obvious contrast to the wicked lives of his sons…a
contrast that set the example for Samuel to follow? We don’t know.
What
we do know is……for it was the will of the
Lord to put them to death.
But
we also should take very important note of that section of verses. It was the
Lord’s will. We aren’t told that Eli’s sons were put to death for the choices
they, or Eli, made. We’re told that they were put to death because it was the
Lord’s will. That very short section of Scripture clearly tells us that it
doesn’t matter what Eli’s faith was or wasn’t, the fate of his sons rested in
one thing and one thing only. The Lord’s will.
We
can also see in that set of Scripture that the focus once again shifts from
Eli. This time the focus goes from Eli to the Lord…rather, it goes to his will.
Even in the next verses we can see something of the Lord’s will…
26Now the boy Samuel continued to grow
both in stature and in favor with the Lord...
We
can see there that Samuel is growing in favor with the Lord. If we didn’t
already know that Samuel gaining favor with the Lord came only through the
Lord’s will, we wouldn’t be able to see that in that verse. We would know only
that he was gaining favor with the Lord. But just as it was the Lord’s will to
put Eli’s sons to death, it was the Lord’s will for Samuel to gain his favor.
But
we can also see that same shift in focus here. We have gone from Eli, to the Lord’s
will for Eli’s sons, to Samuel. We didn’t stay focused on Eli. He was there for
that important part…when he rebuked his sons, when we were given information
about his age, and more importantly when we were told what the Lord’s will for
his sons were…and then he was gone.
He’s
in and out of a much bigger picture, of a story that will continue long after
he is no longer there.
Our
last encounter with Eli showed him rebuking his sons and gave us that all vital
piece of information about the Lord’s will. We saw that Eli pointed his sons
toward God but that it did no good. We moved away from Eli but in the next
verses we will go back to him again.
27And there came a man of God to Eli
and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house
of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? 28Did I
choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my
altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your
father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel.
In
those verses we are shown how Eli became what he was. We are given a glimpse
into his past. We aren’t told of Eli’s family history, are in reality told very
little of Eli at all but through Scripture we can piece together some of Eli’s
family history. We’re told above a little of how Eli became what he did. If we
look to other places in Scripture we can piece together a bit more of Eli…or
how he came to be.
Abiathar
was the son of Ahimelech, he was the
tenth high priest and the fourth descendent from Eli. Chronicles says that
Abiathar is a direct descendent of Ithamar. In the books of Samuel we’re shown
that Abiathar was son of Ahimelek who was the son of Ahitub. We are also shown
that Ahitub is the brother of Ichabod. Ichabod is the son of Phinehas. We are
told in 1 Samuel that Phinehas is the son of Eli. That’s the long way of saying
that Biblical scholars have determined that Eli must be a descendant of
Ithamar.
Not that that tells us
much about Eli…it’s just a bit of information that might be interesting to
someone. I want to say as a side note that that was information I came across
somewhere and I didn’t take the time to verify its accuracy. I did just enough
research to see that it appeared to be correct.
And so…we see from what
the man of God said to Eli that Eli
was essentially born into his role of priest. Which was exactly what happened.
Priests originated in the family of Aaron and his four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with
him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests- Aaron and Aaron’s
sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and ithamar. Exodus 28:1 esv
When Nadab and Abihu died, the line of
priests came from Eleazar and Ithamar. It was their descendants that filled the
role of preists in Israel.
There are some things
that can be gathered about Eli, much the way the Bible scholars determined his
ancestry. Knowing the linage that a priest must be born into supports the belief
that Eli was a descendent of Ithamar. But we can gather so much more about Eli
from Scripture.
Scripture tells us that
all priests were Levites. So we know that Eli was a Levite. A levite was a
member of the Jewish tribe of Levi. The temple was the Jewish temple.
So we know that Eli was
Jewish.
We know that priests were
born into a certain family, descended from Aaron. I wonder…since the role of
priest was essentially a family role…what would have happened if the only men
to appoint as priest didn’t believe in God? Or were…wicked? We know nothing of
any other children Eli may have…or may not have…had. We know only of his two
sons. With the role of priest that of a family lineage…what happened if the
only men available to appoint as priests were wicked?
I don’t know that that
was the case in Eli’s situation, I’m just questioning what might happen if it
was the case. Could it explain some of why Eli’s sons had the position of
priest?
It’s another one of those
we don’t know situations.
In Exodus 28 we’re told
of the specific kinds of clothes that Aaron and his sons were to wear. By
reading those verses we can get an idea of how Eli dressed. Leviticus 8-9 tells
of the anointing that Aaron and his sons got in order to become priests.
Scripture doesn’t tell us that Eli wore the exact same garments that Aaron and
his sons did, nor does it tell us that he went through the same anointing they
did. The anointing or lack of it really makes no difference in who Eli was but
the clothing may well show us a bit more of Eli. It won’t tell us who he was
but it will help us to better picture him as a man.
We know that Eli was old.
If we look to Exodus 28 to get an idea of the priestly clothes he may have worn
we see that they were…sacred garments (28:2), made by
…skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters (28:3). But we’re
shown something else in those verses too…
Make
sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor. 3 Tell all
the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are
to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest.
4 These are the garments they are to make: a
breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to
make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may
serve me as priests. 5 Have them use
gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen. Exodus 28:2-5 niv
In those verses we are told of the garments
that were made. But we’re shown that they were made by the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters. These
garments weren’t just thrown together. They were made by those with special
knowledge in making them and they were made by someone that knew well how to
sew. They were quality clothes made from gold,
and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.
But we’re shown something else too… garments for Aaron, for his consecration,
so he may serve me as priest. So these special, quality clothes made by
skilled workers that were given wisdom for this specific task were required for his consecration, so he may
serve me as priest. Chances are if these special clothes were required for
Aaron and his sons, they were required for Eli.
So this gives us something of an idea of
what Eli may have looked like…an old man wearing a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash and
made of gold, and blue, purple and
scarlet yarn, and fine linen.
But more importantly than showing us how
Eli dressed those verses show us something else…
Tell all
the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters…
These skilled workers weren’t just gifted
in their ability to make clothing. These particular clothing makers had
something that others didn’t…workers to
whom I have given wisdom. They had a special wisdom given by the Lord for
making these sacred garments.
In these verses we see not only that the
Lord chose who could be priests but we see that they were required to wear
sacred garments that were made in a way that was so special that he gave wisdom
to those that should make them. These weren’t just ordinary clothes. They were
important.
Chances are Eli was wearing them too.
Now that we can imagine Eli…sort of…in his
very special, sacred robe and garments, let’s go back to him. When we left him,
he was with the man of God. He’d just
been told of how God had lined up the position he held. From Scripture we know
that was no small position. Eli was head priest. He held the same role Aaron
did. He was important. Not just to the people but in his role for God. In fact
he was important enough that God sent someone to speak straight to him. After
pointing out the importance of the position that Eli holds, the man of God continues…
29Why then do you scorn my sacrifices
and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me
by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people
Israel?’
We
are told nothing of Eli honoring his sons above God, in fact if we look back
all we see was when he rebuked them, pointing them to God as he did so. But
this verse shows us something else…
29Why then do you scorn my sacrifices
and my offerings
He
didn’t say why do your sons scorn, he said why do you. What is the importance
in that? Why would he not point out that Eli’s sons were the ones that were
doing the scorning? In fact Eli’s sons aren’t even mentioned as those that did
the scorning. It was Eli. Further in we also see that the man of God says…
…by fattening yourselves on the
choicest parts of every offering…
Here
he says… by fattening yourselves. We
never saw that Eli was eating the choicest parts of the offerings but the man of God clearly throws him in with
his sons by saying yourselves. Was
Eli considered guilty by association in the Lord’s eyes? Why did the man of God use the word yourselves?
That’s
another thing we don’t know. And it’s something that’s easily overlooked as we
read through Samuel. Such a small thing but why that word? How does it fit in
with Eli?
And
still the man continues…
30Therefore
the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the
house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’…
Here
he speaks of a promise made to Eli's family. One made long ago.
…but
now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor,
and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31Behold, the days are
coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s
house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32Then in distress you
will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on
Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33The only one
of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes
out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the
sword of men. 34And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and
Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day.
There
we are shown why and how it was God’s will that Eli’s sons should die. He
explains it all in those verses but he goes further than that. We now begin to
see some of His will in Eli’s sons and in Samuel. Those verses tell how the
Lord will put an end to Eli’s linage. In fact, Abiathar, who we discovered
earlier is Eli’s great-great grandson, was the last in the linage of Eli. So
there were only a few generations after Eli, some of which had already been
born when the man of God came to Eli.
The
man of God has just foretold how the linage of Eli would come to an end, how
they would lose their position among the Lord’s people. Now we are told who
will replace them.
35And I will raise up for myself 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 go in and out before my
anointed forever.
And
there we have Samuel. He is the one that the Lord will raise up… a faithful
priest. If we think back to the way Samuel was raised, not by his parents but
in the temple, his mother having given him to God from the very beginning…was
Samuel not raised up by God?
Not
only has Eli just been told that his family had fallen from their favored
position but he was told…whether he realized it or not…that the very boy he had
raised would replace him.
36And everyone who is left in your
house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and
shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests’ places, that I may eat a
morsel of bread.
And
that those left in his family would go begging to Samuel.
Here,
again, we see Eli but we see him in his connection to the bigger picture. We
see him as he fits into the story of his family’s downfall, through his wicked
sons, by the will of God, and in the rise of their replacement in Samuel, also by
God’s will.
This
larger picture, the picture that Eli is but a small part in, is beginning to
take shape for us to see. We are now seeing the Lord’s plan among these people
that have shown up in Scripture.
Going
back to the conversation that I had with my friend…there is no failure on Eli’s
part, not in how he raised his sons, not in how he lived out his faith. By
looking at the bigger picture of Eli’s life…what we are shown of it…and looking
at it only as it…as he…shows up in Scripture…we see that much bigger picture.
Here…is the reason we are introduced to the reason we encounter Eli. It is the
fall of one lineage in the Lord’s plan and the rise of another.
The
time for the sons of Aaron to be priests is over, the Lord had them there for
his purposes but that purpose has ended, He no longer needs or wants them in
that position and so He implements the rest of the plan. He brings it about.
Hannah,
years before this encounter that Eli has with the man of God, had a vital role
in the plan we now see. Hannah in her despair, in her crying out to God for a
baby, fulfilled a very important part of that role. She begged the Lord for a
baby, promised him to the Lord, and fulfilled that promise when she was given
the child she prayed and begged for.
In
her despair for a child, a despair that was made even worse through the
tormenting she received from her husband’s second wife, she played a role in
the Lord’s plan, a plan that wouldn’t be worked out for years.
If
we look back to Hannah we can see that she was very hurt by her inability to
have a baby, so much so that she wouldn’t eat. She was in great despair. What
cloud of pain must have surrounded her? How much her empty arms and womb must
have ached for the baby she wanted. How terribly hurt she must have been to not
eat to the point that her husband worried about her and she went crying to the
temple, so distraught that she was taken for a drunk woman.
And
yet…Hannah’s very pain made her cry out to God and in her pain she offered the
child she wanted so desperately to God. She told Him if He would give her a
baby she would give it back.
Why?
What
good could Hannah have gotten from that? What good would it have done her to
have a child that she was going to give away? And yet she did just that.
Now
that the Lord’s plan has been shown through Scripture we can see that Hannah
had to hurt so much in her lack of having a child that in her pain she would
give that child to God. She had to give Samuel to Eli in order for the Lord’s
plan to come to fruition.
Samuel
had to be raised up the way he was so that he could become the replacement the
Lord spoke of. Here was the purpose for this long story that has shown us small
snippets of the lives of several different people. They all tied together in
the form of Samuel.
But
still we see more of that story, more of the Lord’s plan…
1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to
the Lord in the presence of Eli.
Here
we see something different in Samuel. Before we saw that Samuel was ministering
before the Lord, now we see that he’s ministering to the Lord.
What
does it mean to minister to the Lord?
That
verse goes on to tell us…
And the word of the Lord was rare in
those days; there was no frequent vision.
So
during this time the Lord was quiet. Few heard from Him. This was a time when
God did not speak very often. In the entire story of Eli we have seen only one
place where the Lord spoke or revealed himself to anyone. That was when the man
of God came to Eli. Now we’re told that the word of the Lord was rare. How much
more rare could it be than only once in the years that we covered in Eli’s
life?
2At that time Eli, whose eyesight had
begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place.
We
are told a bit more about Eli here. His eyesight is failing him. We know from
before that he is an old man, how old we still don’t know, but here we see that
he is in bed, and his vision isn’t good.
3The lamp of God had not yet gone out,
and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
The
first part of that verse tells us the time of day. Or gives us enough
information for us to have an idea of the time of day. The lamp of God had not yet gone out… If we look to Scripture we
are told what the Lamp of God is…
Command
the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that
the lamps may be kept burning.
21 In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain
that shields the ark of the covenant law, Aaron and his sons are to keep the
lamps burning before the Lord from evening till morning. This
is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come.
Exodus 27:20-22 niv
Command
the sons of Israel that they bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light,
to make a lamp burn continually.
3 Outside the veil of testimony in the tent of
meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the Lord continually; it shall be
a perpetual statute throughout your generations. 4 He
shall keep the lamps in order on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord
continually. Leviticus 24:2-4 NASB
So we see that the Lamp of God burns
through the night but not in the daytime. We are shown in the above verses that
the lamps burn from evening to morning but
we should not take the part of the verse that says that they burned continually
to mean that they burned day and night. They did not burn in the daytime, only
at night. 2 Chronicles 13:11 better explains their use…
11
“And every morning and evening they burn to the LORD burnt offerings and
fragrant incense, and the showbread is set
on the clean table, and the golden lampstand with its lamps is ready to light every evening; for we
keep the charge of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken Him.”
We see here that the lamp was ready to
light every evening and know from the first set of verses that the lamp burned
from evening till morning. The lamps burned through the night until the
morning. The lamp of God had not yet gone out…that means the lamps were allowed
to burn out sometime in the morning. And if they had not yet gone out, chances
are it was sometime in the early morning hours.
Which is really one of those little
details that doesn’t matter, except that much like Eli’s clothes, it allows us
to see the bigger picture. Here is an old man, lying in bed, his eyesight
nearly gone, in the very early morning. Knowing this allows us to see a bit of
what is happening in Eli’s life in a clearer way.
We have been shown Eli, just briefly,
because again we are about to move away from him. We are given the information
on his health, where he is, and a small bit of information that when paired
with other Scriptures gives us an idea of the time of day. And now we see that,
once again, Eli has shown up in Scripture in how he fits into what is happening
with someone else.
4Then the Lord called Samuel,
This
was not a regular happening, and is, in fact, a first time happening for
Samuel. But we know from Scripture that the Lord was mostly silent during this
time. So here Samuel was, in bed, most likely sleeping when the Lord calls to
him.
and he said, “Here I am!” 5and ran to
Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
Samuel,
most likely never having heard the Lord’s voice before, assumed that it was Eli
who called him. It’s possible that Samuel may be used to Eli calling him
through the night. Eli is now an old man with bad eyesight. He could have
needed help from Samuel on a regular basis. We really don’t know. It’s just as
likely that Samuel was never called during the night and so hearing what he
thought to be Eli calling may have made him jump up quickly and run to see what
the matter was.
Scripture
doesn’t give us those details and they really aren’t important. They’re just
some of those things that could have been. Whether Samuel was used to being
summoned by Eli or not, he ran to him when he thought he had called.
But
he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.
Since
it wasn’t Eli that called it’s possible that Samuel woke Eli up when he went
running to him saying ‘here I am’. But Eli hadn’t called him, and whether he
was awake or not when Samuel ran in, he sent Samuel back to bed. But once again
the Lord called to Samuel…
6And the Lord called again, “Samuel!”
And
Samuel responds the same way…
and Samuel arose and went to Eli and
said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
And
once again Eli gives Samuel the same response…
But
he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”
So
Samuel is once again sent back to bed. But this time we are given a bit more of the
story. We see more of the whole picture. Earlier in Scripture we were told that
Samuel grew in favor with the Lord. From that we could have easily come to the
conclusion that Samuel was saved but we are about to be shown that he wasn’t.
7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord,
and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
So
the fact that Samuel grew in favor with the Lord wasn’t the same as knowing the
Lord. We see in the above verse that Samuel did not yet know the Lord. The
addition of yet in that statement tells us that Samuel will know the Lord.
Earlier we were told that Eli’s sons were wicked, that they didn’t know the
Lord. There was no yet added into the information we were given on them. They
simply didn’t know the Lord. But Samuel did not yet know the Lord. This night
is about to become eye opening for Samuel. And for Eli.
This
night is Samuels Damascus road encounter. It is for Samuel what that experience
was for Paul. It is his moment. His time to be saved has arrived. He began this
night not knowing the Lord but he will end it in a much different state.
8And the Lord called Samuel again the
third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called
me.”
Three
times now Samuel has run to Eli without having any idea what was going on or
Who was calling him but on this third time Eli realizes what’s happening…
Then
Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9Therefore Eli said to Samuel,
“Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your
servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
At
this point we once again move away from Eli. We can see, again, that Eli was
there because he was instrumental in Samuel’s understanding of what was
happening. It was through Eli’s instruction that Samuel understood it was the
Lord calling to him. But Eli himself wasn’t really that important in this part
of the story.
Through
the next bit of Scripture Eli himself isn’t important, Samuel and his encounter
with the Lord are the important part. But Eli is an important part of that
conversation, just as he was an important part of the story that the Lord
unfolded in the priest lineage and in Samuel. Eli now becomes important as the
Lord speaks of him as He reveals what is to come to Samuel.
11Then the Lord said to Samuel,
“Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone
who hears it will tingle. 12On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I
have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.
That
statement tells us that the Lord had planned out ‘Eli’s house’. It had a
beginning and an end. Earlier we were told that it was the Lords will to kill
Eli’s sons. Now we’re told that the Lord had a beginning and an end to ‘Eli’s
house.’ And that he’s about to fulfill all that he had spoken…from beginning to
end. This was planned ahead. He straight out says he is fulfilling what he has
spoken.
13And I declare to him that I am about
to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons
were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14Therefore I swear to the
house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by
sacrifice or offering forever.”
Here is when we see that Eli has gotten
himself into quite a bit of trouble for not restraining his sons.
But here is also where we need to stop
and look at this just a bit deeper. To
do that though, we have to jump forward in this ‘story’ just a bit. We must
move from Samuel now, to Samuel later in his life. In chapter 9:6-9 Samuel is
called a seer, the same word that is also used to call someone a prophet, but
in those days prophets were called seers.
Just as we weren’t told of Eli’s wife,
we are not told of Samuels wife, but we are told of Samuel’s sons. In chapter 8
we see the character of these sons…
When
Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. 2 The
name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they
served at Beersheba. 3 But
his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and
accepted bribes and perverted justice. 1 Samuel 8:1-3 niv
The very last of those verses is very
important. We are told that Samuels sons did not follow his ways but more than
that we are told what they were doing. They
turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
Proverbs chapter 17:23 shows us…
The
wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.
So we can conclude that Samuel’s sons were
wicked. So here was a man that we are told was a prophet, a seer, the ESV says
he was a man of God. Yet his sons were wicked just as Eli’s were.
Once again I remember how my friend said
that Eli’s sons were wicked because of the way Eli raised them. And yet here we have a man that has
been called a prophet, a seer, a man of God who has raised sons that are
wicked.
But Samuel didn’t just have wicked sons. He
had wicked sons that he had appointed as judges over Israel. In Exodus 18:21 we
are told…
Moreover,
look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy
and hate a bribe.
Samuels sons did not fit that description.
They were not qualified to be judges. So
here…in Samuel’s sons we have wicked men that are judges. In Eli’s sons we had
wicked men that were priests. Both sets of men help important roles. Both sets
of men were over God’s people.
God punished Eli and his sons in the
most severe way for the wickedness of Eli’s sons but Samuel and his son’s weren’t
punished. Why? What was the difference?
Eli and his sons were priests. They
were in charge of the keeping God’s law. They were in charge of keeping that
which was pure and holy. They had in their possession the Ark of the Covenant,
something so holy that Scripture says men were not allowed to touch it lest
they die. They were in charge of the holy of holies. Remember even their
clothes were sacred. They failed to keep those holy things pure through their
actions and were punished with death.
Samuel and his sons held positions of
power over the people but they weren’t punished at all for his son’s
wickedness. The difference in Samuel and his sons and Eli and his was that
while Eli and his sons were in charge of keeping that which was holy, Samuel
and his sons were in charge of keeping that which was earthly.
Samuels sons broke that which was
temporal. Eli’s sons broke that which was eternal.
Which brings us back to Samuel as he received
the message from the Lord. He is being told of what is to be done to Samuel and
his sons. That couldn’t have been an easy message for Samuel to hear, Eli was
the same as his dad. He was the man that raised him. Eli’s sons were the
equivalent of his brothers. These weren’t strangers the Lord was speaking of
but Samuels family.
15Samuel lay until morning; then he
opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the
vision to Eli.
That
verse seems to show that Samuel understands the gravity of the message he was
given. He went about opening up the temple but he was afraid to tell Eli what
he’d been told. As Samuel goes about his morning, possibly trying to avoid Eli,
Eli once again comes back into the picture.
16But Eli called Samuel and said,
“Samuel, my son.”
Here
we see that it’s very possible that Eli considered Samuel to be his son. He
didn’t just call Samuel son in the way some men refer to little boys but called
him my son, implying a close relationship.
And
he said, “Here I am.” 17And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not
hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from
me of all that he told you.”
Here,
Eli makes Samuel tell him everything that the Lord told him. We don’t know what
Eli thought or expected. The last message Eli got from the Lord wasn’t a nice
one. It would seem that Eli should be afraid of what Samuel was told but we’re
given no indication of that. We are shown only that Eli wanted to know
everything that Samuel was told.
18So Samuel told him everything and hid
nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to
him.”
When
Samuel tells Eli what he has been told, Eli’s response is almost as if he knew
what was coming. And he very well could have. He had already received one
warning. It would have done him no good to beg or try and change anything at
this point. The Lord had already declared what was coming.
But
what must have been going through his mind at that time? We know he’s an old man
with failing eyesight. He may have been ready to die, may even have welcomed
it, but what of his sons? Did he hurt for them? Did he wish he could do
something to save them? Did he stay calm and collected in front of Samuel to
keep him calm then go off somewhere alone to weep and cry and repent? Or did he
simply accept what was coming knowing that not even repentance could save them?
I
think of Eli knowing that his son’s deaths were imminent, knowing that he would
lose two sons in one day, and as a mother, I imagine the pain that knowledge
must have caused. But then I think too of the elderly woman I know whose son
died after many years of living a sinfilled life. When he died this woman did
nothing. She didn’t claim the body, she didn’t hold a funeral. In fact she said
that the world was better off without him. Was that Eli’s thoughts too? Had he
watched the wicked ways of his sons, had he seen how they wouldn’t listen to
him and how they showed no regard for God, and did he think that the world
would be better off without his sons?
If
he truly had faith in the Lord, or knew the Lord as it was referred to with
Samuel, then he had to be grieved at his sons behaviors. He had to look at
those sons that were living sinful lives, that were corrupting that which was
holy, and know that they were wickedness parading around as the most holy of
people. They were wolves in sheeps clothing. Did Eli think of that when he
thought of the deaths his sons would soon face? Or did he think of his sons,
the little boys they once were, and did he ache and hurt for what was about to
befall them? Did he blame himself for his failures as a parent the same way my
friend blamed him? Or did he see only the Lord’s right to do with them what He
wanted?
His
response seems to show that no matter what he felt or thought, he did recognize
that very important fact.
“It is the Lord. Let him do what seems
good to him.”
We
are told after that that everyone knew that Samuel was a prophet. So during the
night, when the Lord revealed himself to Samuel, Samuel was converted, he ‘knew
the Lord’ and it was after that that he became a prophet. Eli had fulfilled his
role in the plan for Samuel. In chapter 4 we are shown what happens to Eli’s
sons…
And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and
Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
5As soon as the ark of the covenant of
the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth
resounded. 6And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they
said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when
they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, 7the Philistines
were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.”
Even
the Philistines understood the holiness of what was in their presence. They
understood what Eli’s sons failed to understand. Or at least they showed fear
and awe for that which Eli’s sons disregarded. We are never shown how Eli’s
sons treated or thought of the Ark of the Covenant but we are shown their
disregard for God’s laws and for their positions as keepers of that which is holy
and eternal.
And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing
like this has happened before. 8Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of
these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort
of plague in the wilderness. 9Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you
become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.”
10So the Philistines fought, and Israel
was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great
slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11And the ark of
God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
12A man of Benjamin ran from the battle
line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on
his head. 13When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching,
for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city
and told the news, all the city cried out. 14When Eli heard the sound of the
outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told
Eli. 15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he
could not see.
Here,
for the first time, we are told how old Eli is. We are also told that he has
now completely lost his eyesight.
16And the man said to Eli, “I am he who
has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, “How did
it go, my son?” 17He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled
before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the
people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God
has been captured.” 18As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over
backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he
died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.
We
have now seen the fulfillment of the messages that were given to Eli and we
have come to the end of Eli’s life. Eli was an important man. He was a
descendent of Aaron, was himself a high priest and a judge over Israel. He was
responsible for the holy things of God. Despite the importance of Eli we are
shown very little of Eli. We are shown his life only as he impacts the lives of
others. And only as he fulfills the plans of the Lord.
But
it is in those plans that we see the most important part of Eli’s life. He had
a role to fill in the ending of the priest’s lineage and he had a role to play
in the life and in Samuel becoming a prophet. Eli’s most important role wasn’t
as that of dad but in his part in creating and raising up sons that it would be
the will of God to put to death, ending the linage of priests through Eli
forever, and in his role as the one that raised Samuel who the Lord would make
a prophet.
Eli’s
sons had to be wicked. They followed the way of sin and of wickedness because
that was what God appointed for them to do. Much the way Judas was appointed as
the one that would betray Jesus, Eli’s sons were appointed as the ones that
would bring destruction to the house of Eli.
Through
Scripture we can see that plan being worked out in Eli’s life. If we look at
the bigger plan, we can see that Eli was but a small part of a much bigger plan
that was set in motion long before we are introduced to him.
