11 Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest. 12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD. 13 And the priests' custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. 14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, "Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw." 16 And if the man said to him, "They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires," he would then answer him, "No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force." 17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for men abhorred the offering of the LORD. 18 But Samuel ministered before the LORD, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod. 19 Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, "The LORD give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the LORD." Then they would go to their own home. 21 And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the LORD. 22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 23 So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. 24 "No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the LORD's people transgress. 25 "If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the LORD desired to kill them. 26 And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the LORD and men.
These lines reveal the importance of the period of youth, the way to overcome evil in our early lives, and the importance of godly boys. Boys and men are important, for they represent God’s image as leaders in home, society, and church. They are called to protect and lay down their lives for the weaker, to stand against Satan’s self-gratifying, self-serving lies, and to represent God’s authority and order. For this reason, Satan hates boys. He tries to corrupt them, to enslave them to private lusts, selfish pride, and laziness. He tried to corrupt the boy Samuel by surrounding him with evil men. He failed. Environmental evil is not more powerful than God’s covenant grace. The allurements of the flesh are not more powerful than God’s quickening Holy Spirit. Even bad leaders cannot overturn the good the Lord is working in us.
Eli’s Wicked Sons (vv. 12-17, 22-25)
Profaneness, Violence, Immorality
In this section, two very different families and “boys” are contrasted. Shockingly, both were in the church. Then as now, “not all Israel was of Israel” (Rom. 2:28-29). The kingdom of heaven is like a net that catches many fish, our Lord said, some good, some bad. The good bear fruit and serve the Lord. The bad serve themselves and persecute the godly. Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas; they were evil. The fat of the sacrifice belonged to the Lord, but they took the first portion of the offering for themselves (see Lev. 3:3-5; 7:34-39). If the worshipper resisted their theft, they or their servants would take it by force. It is telling that the godly knew the Scriptures better than their leaders – or wanted to obey it more. Possession of the Scriptures is a vital safeguard against ignorance and the abuse of position in the church. Hophni and Phinehas also committed immorality with the women who either helped at the tabernacle or came there to worship. There could not be a greater contrast between Eli’s sons and what God’s worship and his servants should be.
God’s Worship Despised on Their Account
Because of Eli’s two sons, God’s worship was abhorred. The godly bore it as best they could, but the majority detested and stayed away from the tabernacle. Pastors should be especially fervent in serving the Lord, faithful to his word, and godly in life. They set an example for God’s people and labor to make his church a place of refuge and respite for God’s besieged flock. When the opposite happens, it is miserable. If God’s ministers are greedy and impure, God’s name will be blasphemed in the world (Rom. 2:24). The more evil the age, the more pastors, teachers, and elders must labor to keep God’s worship and word pure from human inventions. They must go against the tides of lawlessness, no matter what it costs them, for they serve the Lord Jesus, not themselves (Gal. 1:10; Rom. 14:10). This is the reason that men coming into office at any level in the church must be carefully examined in their lives and doctrine. God’s honor is at stake. His worship and preaching of his word bear witness against the world. When they are infected by the world, the church loses her voice, purity, and relevance.
Eli Would Not Restrain or Remove Them
Eli was like too many parents. He said some strong words to his sons, but he would not restrain them. He was old and very fat, so controlling them by force was out of the question. But the Lord had better remedies in his law. He should have taken them to the local judges, testified against their evil, and joined with the local men in putting them to death (Deut. 21:18-21). If that seems harsh, what is worse – for God’s worship to be utterly perverted or for wicked men to be put to death? I wonder how the fathers whose daughters Hophni and Phinehas violated felt about Eli’s parental passivity. It is vital for parents who want their children to overcome evil to be active, prayerful, exemplary, and firm in standing for the Lord – from their earliest days. This does not negate tenderness, engagement, and patience. It does require that we be proactive in confronting the sins of the heart, faithful in confrontation, correction, and discipline. We must not be gentle and passive when dealing with sin. Sin is not something we outgrow but that must be put to death. Non-confrontational parenting usually creates monsters, for the will and heart must be directly faced with God’s claims over us. Parents are the first line in God’s war for the heart and soul of the next generation.
The Lord Intended to Kill Them
Eli preferred his sons to the Lord, as will soon be made clear. Many parents prefer an artificial peace in the home. It is much easier to sweep a child’s sins under the rug or lash out in anger rather than nurture and admonish them when they are young. It is hard work to do battle against sin in the home, while maintaining love and tenderness. Good parenting is spiritual work and requires union with Christ. Eli gave his sons verbal correction, as if we can beat sin and the devil with our words. His sons would not listen, “for the Lord intended to kill them.” Death is not natural. Death does not simply happen. Death is in God’s hands, as is life, not simply because he ordains death, but also because he actively kills and preserves according to the counsel of his own will. While “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints,” the Lord makes war against his enemies. His enemies are those who hate his word and take his name in vain and will not submit to be governed by him. Some of his enemies are in the church, as we learn here. Sometimes, the Lord removes them in this life. He is angry with the wicked (Ps. 7:11). He is a consuming fire (Isa. 33:14; Heb. 12:29). God is love (1 John 4:8), and his love is consistent with his anger, holiness, and justice. His love is not sentimental mush; his anger is not uncontrollable rage. His wrath falls upon the children of disobedience, never fully in this life, but certainly in the next. This is not revealed to make us arrogant judges of others but so that we walk very humbly before him and dread provoking or offending him as worse than a hundred horrible deaths, as Calvin wrote (Mic. 6:8; 1 Cor. 10:22; Heb. 12:28).
Samuel Serve the Lord (vv. 18-21,26; 3:1)
A Boy Who Served the Lord
Three times in this section we read that the boy Samuel served the Lord (vv. 18,26,3:1). We can endure Hophni and Phinehas if we see young Samuels walking around. It must have cheered the hearts of the brave souls who worshipped in those dark days. To see young boys serving the Lord and devoting themselves to him gives us hope for the future. No one must despise faithful, young servants of the Lord, by looking down upon them, envying them, or being suspicious of them. “Out of the mouth of babes” is still the Lord’s general rule. He uses the young and weak. The old can become stagnant, self-serving, and territorial as they advance in years. Cherished sins bear bad fruit in older men’s ministries, unless they repent and turn from them and make the glory and praise of Jesus Christ their goal and reward. Let us encourage the young, especially boys, to come early to Jesus Christ and devote themselves to his service. They will enlist either in God’s service or the devil’s, or their own, from their earliest days. Let us make serving the Lord attractive to our sons, as Hannah did to Samuel, and pray for our children, believing his promises and trusting the mediation of our Lord Jesus.
A Family Blessed by the Lord
Eli’s family went from bad to worse, but the Lord blessed Elkanah’s family. When they left Samuel at the tabernacle, Eli blessed Elkanah and Hannah – may the Lord give you more children for him you have lent to him. We cannot outgive the Lord. Even coming from the mouth of Eli, the Lord heeded this blessing. The office is legitimate even if the man is not. Hannah had five more children. She did not forget Samuel. They lived only ten miles apart, and I suspect visits were frequent, especially in his younger years. Each yearly visit to sacrifice, she brought him a new coat. His daily attire was a linen ephod, a priestly garment, to signify that he was set apart for the Lord’s service. With this blessing, Elkanah and Hannah leave the story. We pause to remember their part in the great work of spreading God’s word into the world. Samuel was the first of the school of the prophets that was raised up to guide Israel’s kings, until Shiloh, our Lord Jesus Christ, came. The Lord used Hannah’s prayer and her gift to prepare the world for his coming. She played her part in God’s story. The rest of her days were spent raising her other children and quietly serving the Lord. She and Elkanah are now with their King. Let us remember their gift and give all we have to the Lord for his use. He will repay faith and love to him and his people. Our gifts are giving back to him the love he has given to us. Families who give and serve the Lord are blessed and never forgotten. We remember Elkanah and Hannah to this day, on the other side of the world, three thousand years later. The Lord never forgets the smallest seed of his grace, the cry of faith, the smallest gift.
A Boy Growing in God’s Grace
In the evil environment of Eli’s family, Samuel flourished. He “grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and also with men.” This is like our Lord as a boy (Luke 2:52). We must repent of our fear that since the world is bad, then boys will be bad. Boys (and girls) will be in a fight, but boys are bad if they choose to be bad, not because their environment is evil. Samuel likely was the subject of much ridicule and animosity from Hophni and Phinehas. It did not matter. The Holy Spirit within us is more powerful than a million demons from hell. It is our unbelief that makes us weak, our divided hearts, and our worldly loves. If Samuel could grow in that environment, we can grow in ours. Every boy in the church must listen to the good word he is hearing, hide it in his heart, and resolve to serve the Lord. Do it now, and you will grow. God’s grace cannot be stopped. “Where sin abounds, grace abounds more” (Rom. 5:21). There is far too much fear and handwringing in the church about how bad the world is. It makes our children hopeless. Why fight or serve Christ if we cannot win? This is a lie. It is doing the devil’s work for him. Of course we can win – we are going to win. “Greater is he who is in us that he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The Lord will not do many mighty works if we are governed by unbelief and fear of man rather than by faith in his word and reverence for him (Matt. 13:58).
A Call to Boys and a Warning to Parents
Never Too Young to Serve the Lord
The boy Samuel teaches us that we are never too young to serve the Lord. It is the reason we exist. It is our privilege as our Father’s handiwork. Encourage all children warmly and early and by good example to serve the Lord. Was not Samuel the fruit of his mother’s prayers? And of her piety in the early years she nursed him? Parents who would have children that serve the Lord must be passionate themselves about serving him, faithful to his word, earnest in prayer, and believing his promises. Never keep your children away from the Lord by a bad example or lukewarm heart or hypocrisy. For even when we are children, every small service is pleasing to the Lord. Samuel opened doors, cleaned sacrificial vessels, and took out the trash – he was serving the Lord. Too often we refrain from doing anything because we cannot do everything or something big. It is the cup of water in the Lord’s name, the daily serving him quietly, the faithfulness in little tasks done unto him that he highly honors.
Reject the Evil around You; Overcome with Good
This passage rebukes our environmentalism – that our children will rise no higher than their environment, or since the times are so evil the future is hopeless. The Lord tells us to overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21). The boy Samuel overcame Hophni and Phinehas by doing good. He saw their evil, and he rejected it. It is your choice, dear boys. You will see and hear much evil in our day. Your parents cannot hide the evil from you, or you from the evil. Whom do you love? If you love the world, the evil will draw you. If you love the Lord, the evil will repulse you. When you feel a war within, walk in the Spirit. He is your strength. No boy prevails by inner strength (2:9). You will overcome by the strength of Jesus Christ working through the Holy Spirit. The Lord is more powerful than sin. Gain this vision for your boys and girls, Christian parents – do not be passive, hoping sin will grow less over time; it will not. Do not trust your children to do the right thing. Trust the Lord and command them in the Lord’s ways (Gen. 18:19). It is evil for parents to withhold correction from your children for fear of displeasing them. We must not love our children more than the Lord. That kind of love creates Hophni and Phinehas.
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