Eli’s Children

I. Introduction: The story of Eli’s children is a cautionary tale for parents. His failure teaches us the importance of teaching our children reverence for God from an early age.

II. Text: 1 Samuel 2:12-18

III. Historical Background

A. During the last part of the period of the Judges

B. Around 300 years after Israel conquered the Promised Land Eli and Samuel are the last judges of Israel; Samuel will anoint Saul as the first king of Israel in the latter part of his life

C. Hophni and Phineas corrupt the worship of God

D. The sons of Eli were priests of the Lord who abused their position.

E. They took unlawful portions of the people’s sacrifice

F. The lawful offering, Leviticus 6:24-30 (7:6-10)

G. God allowed the priests to eat some of the sacrifice. They were to boil the sacrifice then destroy the bowl in which it was boiled Deuteronomy 18:1-5 – It was God’s provision for His priests

H. Hophni and Phineas’ abuse

I. They took portions not allowed by God They took the sacrifice before it was offered to God They took the sacrifice by force

J. Their actions kept the people from worshipping God properly

K. The people knew that Hophni and Phineas were disobedient and tried to politely rebuke them The sons of Eli ignored the rebuke of the people

L. To add to their wickedness, the sons of Eli committed fornication with women who came to the door of the tabernacle of meeting

M. Some translations suggest that the women were assistants who served at the Lord’s tabernacle, others suggest they came to worship. No matter the reason the women gathered, Eli’s sons involved others in their wicked and abominable practices For Phineas, at least, this was adultery for he was married. This, in part, helps explain why Eli was so harsh with Hannah, Samuel’s mother, when she prayed at the door of the tabernacle, 1 Samuel 1:9-16.

N. Eli’s sons did not know God

O. 1 Samuel 2:12 is an interesting accusation

P. Of course, they knew who God was because they served in His tabernacle. However, they did not have a close relationship with God and did not revere Him or respect His worship. Matthew 7:21-23 explains the N.T. application of this same problem

Q. Summary of condemnation

R. They served in God’s sanctuary but did not know Him. They did not respect God’s sacrifice and took unlawful portions. They corrupted others and prevent Israel from properly serving God.

IV. Reason for their wickedness

A. Ultimately, Hophni and Phineas must stand before God to account for their wickedness.

B. However, God places a lot of the blame on Eli

C. He honored his sons more than God, 1 Samuel 2:29

D. By not commanding his sons to serve God properly, replacing them, or even bringing them to the congregation to be stoned for their blasphemous actions, Eli was putting his relationship with his sons above his relationship to God.“Eli was, on the whole, a good man, but lacking in the moral and religious training of his family. He erred on the side of parental indulgence; and though he reprimanded them (see on De 21:18), yet, from fear or indolence, he shrank from laying on them the restraints, or subjecting them to the discipline, their gross delinquencies called for. In his judicial capacity, he winked at their flagrant acts of maladministration and suffered them to make reckless encroachments on the constitution, by which the most serious injuries were inflicted both on the rights of the people and the laws of God.” Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (1 Sa 2:22-25). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. His leniency did not bring them closer to God or lead them to obedience; they became more hardened and wicked.

E. He did not restrain his sons, 1 Samuel 3:11-14

F. He gives the sons a rebuke in 1 Samuel 2, but did not take more serious action to restrain his sons. For God to bring the charge against Eli, we must assume that Eli had the power to restrain his sons but he did not do it, or did it ineffectively.

G. I have observed parents ineffectively trying to restrain their children.

H. Boy begging for a soft drink; told no, kept begging, parent gave in. Discipline is not easy, and sometimes parents must be creative, but ultimately effective discipline changes unacceptable behavior. Eli did not properly discipline his children and lost them eternally.

V. Lessons we should learn

A. We must teach our children reverence in worship

B. A central problem of Eli’s sons was their lack of reverence for worship to God.

C. Though they daily came to the tabernacle of meeting, their hearts were not there and they did not develop a relationship with God.

D. We must teach our children to revere God in our worship assembly.

E. When children go to school, they are expected to sit in their seats quietly, listen to the teacher, and not to make multiple trips to the bathroom.

F. In worship, however, some school age children are as active as children on a playground.

G. If they got up and down in school as often as they do in the worship assembly, the teacher would demand a meeting with the parents to discuss the behavior problem. I can remember a young person in Birmingham that we suspected of having a bladder problem because he would make multiple bathroom trips during services; his problems stopped when his parents restrained him, thus reducing the disruption in God’s service. Let us not accept in our worship what we would forbid in school.

H. Some young people, who are capable of listening to a teacher, are allowed to play and sleep in the Lord’s assembly.

I. I realize that some children get very worn out and cannot fight their sleep; however, if they are sleeping because they did not get to bed early on Saturday night, this is a problem that can be fixed. What is sad is when you see a young person sleeping in service then look over and see their parent (or parents) asleep as well. We copy fill-in-the-blank charts for the children who can write to follow along with the sermon and actively pay attention by looking for the words to add to their charts; they can copy the verses as well.

J. As children learn to behave and pay attention in elementary school, they need to learn to pay attention in worship service; by late elementary school, there is no excuse for them playing or sleeping during worship.

K. I saw a young person bring a Harry Potter type book to church one time to read; if the kid can read Harry Potter, they can follow along in their Bible. Again, we parents must ask if our children are simply mimicking our behavior; their disinterest reflecting our disinterest. If so, let us repent and resolve, with our children, to show reverence to God’s word when it is taught, when praises are offered in song, and our hearts are humbled in prayer.

L. We must remember that the irreverence of Eli’s sons affected the worship of others.

M. However, I am concerned by comments of older children disturbing worshippers.

N. Some visitors have remarked that it is hard to sit in the back of one of our assemblies because of the activity of older children during the worship.

O. When in Birmingham, I remember a girl, about 5 or 6 years old, who would make laps up and down the pew, crawl under the pew to exit the auditorium, and you could see her playing in the vestibule through the windows in the back. It takes time, patience, and the diligent effort of both parents to teach children how to behave properly in worship, to restrain the children, but the effect on the worship of the parents and surrounding worshippers is worth the effort. If our young people, who are expected to listen quietly in school, are allowed to play and act up when they are young, talk and write notes as they get older, continue to talk, write notes, and sleep when they are in high school, at what point do we expect to teach them reverence?

P. I do not have in mind the parents of babies.

Q. I admire and appreciate the mothers who bring their babies to worship so that, from their earliest experience, they will know of worship to God.

R. When the babies get a little hard to handle, our parents are good to take them to the nursery so that the worship is not interrupted.

S. If you want to help the parents of the young children, do not get them wound up with active playing during the worship; it is harder for the parents to control the children when they are overstimulated. I beg you, please do not play with children that are not your own and are not in your control during the worship; it is disrespectful to God and makes things difficult for the parents.

T. Reverence in speech

U. Our children must learn to revere God’s name

V. Jesus taught that God’s name is to be hallowed, Matthew 6:9. To hallow His name is to hold it in high esteem. When a child is reverent in speech, he will not use it as an expletive like saying “Oh, my God,” or say “Jesus Christ” in a casual way. They will not learn reverence for God’s name on the television so we need to teach them that using His name in vain is forbidden and that variations, such as “Oh, my gosh” should likewise be avoided.

W. Respect for authority

X. Eli’s sons did not respect their father’s authority and, as a result, had no respect for God’s authority. Respect for all authority: God, elders, government begin with respect of parents.

VI. This is a difficult lesson to teach

A. I see times when my children disobey, sleep during services, and talk.

B. Just because you see some difficulties on my part, do not neglect your responsibility as parents. We will all make mistakes and have setbacks as we try to teach our children reverence. Instead, let us all resolve to teach our children how to serve God.

C. I know some children have problems that enhance the normal difficulties of discipline

D. I pray for you and thank you for your efforts in the middle of difficult circumstances. I ask that you do not give up your efforts and continue to seek help on addressing more serious discipline problems. These cases, however, are a very small minority; for the majority, we need to step up our efforts in raising our expectations of a child’s behavior in worship.

E. Lessons like this won’t win me any popularity contests

F. If I wanted popularity, I would not have pursued the preaching of God’s world. I love children and want all of our children to become active servants of God even if it means that I have to preach a difficult and painful message to remind us that we must train them from their earliest age to revere God. I am encouraged by the words of Hebrews 12:11 that chastening will yield good results though it is painful at the time. I ask that you consider the example of Eli and do not let me become your enemy because I have told you the truth, (Galatians 4:16).