(a) To what extent was the moral weakness of Eli's children due to their father's lack of parental responsibility? (b) How did God react to this lapse?

Answer Details

(a) The moral weakness of Eli's children and their father's failure (1 Samuel 2-4)

Eli was the priest and judge at Shiloh, and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, served as priests. They were described as worthless men who did not know the Lord. Their moral weaknesses were grievous:

• They abused the offerings of the people, sending their servant to take by force the raw meat with a fork before the fat was burned to God, thus despising the offering of the Lord.
• They committed immorality, sleeping with the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

To a large extent this wickedness was due to Eli's lack of firm parental responsibility. Eli did hear of their evil deeds and rebuked them mildly, asking why they did such things and warning that there is no intercessor if a man sins against the Lord. However, his correction was weak and ineffective; he did not restrain them or remove them from office. God Himself charged Eli with honouring his sons above God by allowing them to grow fat on the best of the offerings. Thus Eli's indulgence, his failure to discipline decisively, and his placing of family sentiment above God's honour allowed the corruption to continue. Yet the sons were also personally guilty, for they knowingly persisted in sin, so the blame was shared: the father through weak oversight and the sons through wilful wickedness.

(b) How God reacted to this lapse

God was angry and pronounced judgment on the house of Eli. A man of God, and later the boy Samuel, delivered the sentence: God would cut off the strength of Eli's house so that no old man would be found in it; Eli's descendants would lose the priesthood, which God would give to a faithful priest; and as a sign, both Hophni and Phinehas would die on the same day. This was fulfilled when the Philistines defeated Israel, captured the ark of God, and killed the two sons in one day. On hearing that the ark was taken, Eli fell backward off his seat, broke his neck and died. Thus God's word of judgment against the negligent house was fulfilled.