THE ERROR OF ELI

Trevor S. Ferguson
January 16, 2011

Text:1st Samuel 2:12-17, 22-25, 27-31
12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.
13 And the priests' custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling.
14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, "Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw."
16 And if the man said to him, "They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires," he would then answer him, "No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force."
17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.

22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
23 So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people.
24 No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord's people transgress.
25 If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?" Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them.

27 Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the Lord: 'Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?
28 Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire?
29 Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?'
30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the Lord says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.
31 Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.

INTRODUCTION
In the kingdom of God the father plays a significant role. In Old Testament times the family was clearly patriarchal, with fathers such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob being towering examples of family leadership. The father was the dominant family member. He was the head of the house and served as leader, provider, protector and priest. The father was responsible for the wellbeing of the family as well as its discipline, but his prime responsibility was religious – as family priest and teacher of the faith. It was the fathers’ responsibility to communicate a living faith in God to the next generation. Failure to do so results in a faithless generation - as we saw in Judges 2:10 “…there arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord...”

Today’s text presents us with an example of the failings of one father – Eli. I hope to use the lessons learnt from this text to prevent similar errors in this generation and ensure that our godly heritage is passed on to our children

ELI AND HIS SONS
Eli was High Priest and Judge of Israel. He served during the time of Samuel’s childhood and is known for his instructions to Samuel at the time of God’s call. Eli judged Israel for 40 years and was a good man whose life was pure. He is first seen in 1st Samuel 1, where he initially thought that Hannah was drunk, but after hearing of her distress sent her off with a blessing. The second chapter of 1st Samuel however details an account of blatant sin on the part of Eli’s sons who served as priests in the temple. In the King James Version they are described as “sons of Belial” – sons of wickedness, wicked men; they did not know the Lord!! Eli’s sons violated the office of the priest; they took portions of the sacrifice that were not allocated to the priest, contrary to the law as given in Leviticus which prescribed specific portions of the sacrifice that the priest could consume, specifically the shoulder and the breast, also all the fat was to be burnt! Hophni and Phinehas however just stuck a fork into the altar while it was yet on the altar and took whatever portion came up on the fork; they would not wait for the sacrifice to be offered and disregarded the commandments of God. They also slept with the women who served at the door of the tabernacle – introducing into the temple a type of ritual prostitution which was specifically forbidden to the people of God.

Eli offered only a weak rebuke to his sons (see verses 23-25). Hophni and Phineas completely ignored him but still Eli did not intensify the rebuke o remove them from their priestly offices.
God sent 2 warnings to Eli but still Eli did not take action against his sons. Firstly, an unnamed prophet warned that God would kill both sons in the same day (vs. 27-36 of chapter 2), then The word that came to Samuel chapter 3:11-14 which stated that God will perform the previous prophesy.

Chapter 4 details Israel’s defeat at the battle of Ebenezer – both Hophni and Phinehas were killed and the ark of God was captured, Eli fell off his seat, broke his neck and died in sorrow! Phinehas’ wife, who was pregnant, went into labour and died in childbirth. The child was named Ichabod – meaning “The glory has departed”.

APPLICATION
As fathers we have a responsibility to instruct our children (both biological and spiritual) in the principles of righteousness and godly living. When children are found to be in error they must be firmly and decisively corrected. The level of firmness and the nature of the correction must be consistent with the degree of error. Where indicated, children who have committed error (or sin) must be removed from the position of authority. This is of paramount importance in the church, but also important in business and government. Failure to act will result in God having to take action – the end result will often be death, destruction and great sorrow

CONCLUSION
Eli, although a good man and faithful priest, made a great error in failing to correct his sons. God is reminding us today of that error. We must ensure that we train up our children in the way of holiness and righteousness and take decisive action if they are found to be in error. Let us ensure that the next generation will have righteous men and women to lead people to God!