MONDAY May 16, 2022
Children of Disobedience
So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
1 Samuel 4:10-11
Eli’s sons grew up in the temple. They watched their father doing all the ordinances and rituals. They heard Eli praying to God, blessing the people, and reading the Word of God to them. Yet while living in the temple, they lay with the women, sexually. Hophni and Phinehas stole the money from the temple and took the best of the meat sacrifices for themselves (1 Samuel 2:12-17). Eli’s children never truly followed God; they took the way of the world.
As they were rebellious children, God judged them. As Eli’s sons went out into the battle against the Philistines, they were both killed. A messenger ran back to Eli with bad news concerning his sons’ deaths. As a father, he was grieved, but when he received word that the Ark of the Covenant, that stood for the presence of the Lord among the people of God, was captured, he fell backward and broke his neck. With Eli’s death, that was the end of the priesthood (1 Samuel 4:12-18).
Even the Prophet Samuel’s children did not walk with God. Samuel placed them in positions of authority––judges––but they were not godly leaders like their father:
...his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice (1 Samuel 8:2-3).
Sometimes, like Eli and Samuel, as parents and grandparents, we can become poor disciplinarians with our children and grandchildren. One thing we must never do––let our children and grandchildren get away with sin. If you do not correct them according to the Word of God, they will go their own way and can become like Eli’s and Samuel’s sons. Children need to be trained in the ways of the Lord, or they will go their own way and forget all about God.
Begin early to teach, for children begin early to sin.
~C.H. Spurgeon~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
