Eli’s Sons and the Warning to Eli

Eli’s sons were wicked men who did not know the Lord. When Israelites came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices, the priests’ servant took meat in a greedy way. He even demanded meat before the fat had been burned, and if a man objected, he said he would take it by force. Their sin was very great, because they despised the Lord’s offering.

In the middle of this sad account, Samuel was serving before the Lord as a child. He wore a linen ephod, and each year his mother brought him a little robe when she came with her husband for the yearly sacrifice. Eli blessed Samuel’s parents, and the Lord gave Hannah more children. Samuel grew before the Lord.

Eli was very old, and he heard what his sons were doing to Israel. He also heard that they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Eli rebuked them. He said their deeds were evil and that they were causing the Lord’s people to go astray. But they would not listen to their father, and the passage says the Lord intended to kill them.

Then the story returns to Samuel, who kept growing and found favour with both the Lord and with people. After that, a man of God came to Eli with a message from the Lord. He reminded Eli that God had revealed himself to Eli’s father’s house, chosen that house for priestly service, and given them offerings from Israel.

But the message was also a charge against Eli. God said Eli had honoured his sons above the Lord and had become fat from the best of the offerings. So the promise of honour for his house would not continue. God would cut down his family line, and a sign would confirm the warning: Hophni and Phinehas would both die on the same day.

The Lord also said he would raise up a faithful priest who would do what was in God’s heart and mind. Those left from Eli’s house would one day bow low and ask for money, bread, and a priestly place so they could eat. This passage asks a searching question about anyone trusted with holy service: will they honour God, or use his gifts for themselves?