1 Samuel 2:12-17 – The Sin of Eli’s Sons
¹²Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the Lord ¹³and the custom of the priests with the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand.
¹⁴Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
¹⁵Also, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw.”
¹⁶If the man said to him, “They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.”
¹⁷Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men despised the offering of the Lord.
1 Samuel 3:15-18
¹⁵So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
¹⁶Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.”
¹⁷He said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you.”
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.”
You may have been to church last Sunday.
Today we are not at church, but at school or at your employer.
We are back on our feet in the world and what do we see around us?
I think you see the same things happening that Samuel saw.
He saw Eli’s sons mocking God! They were selfish, kept the best to themselves! Eli’s sons slept with many women! They were unfaithful in love, all they cared about was sex, even at the entrance of the tabernacle.
What do we see around us? Infidelity, cheating each other, these are also the daily ingredients of many soap operas.
Are you also looking at these blatant, shameless sins?
Eli doesn’t even dare to criticize his children anymore. He was afraid of their big mouth. Yes, then we just shut up and let everything go…!
Samuel must now tell Eli what the penalty for the sins will be. God is not endlessly mocked. Dare to call the sins by name.
Now ask yourself consciously: Am I serving the Lord in everything I do?
Samuel and the sons of Eli are worlds apart!
A gigantic contradiction. Which side are you on?
About Author
