Bad Influences in God's House.
This post is part of my 1 Samuel series.
I strongly encourage you to listen to the audio since I did not manage my time and resources well enough to have a fully polished blog post to accompany this message.
Here are some of the insights I gained from this passage.
Pedigree or social power is not an alternative to faithfulness.
Eli’s sons were literally sons of Belial which has its root in two words beli or “without” and yal or “profit“ so Belial means without profit, worthless, wicked, or destruction.
Eli’s failure as a parent threatened the sanctity of the Lord’s name in the community of faith, and by extend the world around them.
God takes priestly misconduct seriously - Leviticus 10:1-10
Elkanah and Hannah received a priestly blessing 1 Samuel 2:20 and abundant life from the Lord 1 Samuel 2:21 cross-reference Leviticus 26:9; Deuteronomy 28:4. Their devotion to God and willingness to be faithful had lead to blessings.
by contrast, Hophni and Phinehas received a priestly rebuke 1 Samuel2:23-25 and a death sentence from the Lord 2:25 for their open rebellion and disregard regarding the will of God.
Practical Application
What I take away from this story is that when you encounter the equivalent of Hophni and Phinehas in God’s house instead of walking away from God and from the worship of God because of what some people at church might be like, you should continue to strive to be faithful to God. In this story, we witness Hophni and Phinehas, the wicked/worthless sons of Eli, but we also witness Samuel ministering and growing before the LORD. We can focus on the negative or on the positive. Yes, the situation is messy, it rightly makes the reader angry, The behavior of Eli’s sons should never take place and should not be tolerated. But even when it is present, it does not mean that God is not also acting, calling someone, to be faithful to Him and to lead His people. The church is not perfect. Sadly we do run into the equivalent of Eli’s son in ministry. But we also run into the equivalent of Samuel, faithful to God and willing to serve. I pray that I am like Samuel. I pray that my kids can be like Samuel. I pray that you and your kids may be like Samuel and that none of us will have to experience the heartache and suffering that comes with being like the sons of Eli or of having sons like his.
