Ted La Boube
Jeff Johans
Pat Egan
2-28-97
A.M.D G.
The Story of Eli
Eli was a good and kind man. An example of this is when he took in the child of Hannah because she wanted to give it to the Lord. The child, Samuel,was a nazirite and his life was dedicated to God.
Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, and these two sons of Eli were very wicked.Both sons were priest like their father, but they abused their position and misused the people and their offerings. Whenever someone would come to the Temple to give their offerings to God (this offering was of meat), the two sons would send their servants to take the meat off the fire and bring it back to them.Now the custom of the time was that the priest could take the meat off the fire only after the fat had burned, but the two sons demanded that they get their meat raw. They even threatened to take it from some people by force. This was a great sin in the eyes of the Lord.
Eli heard the news of this when he was very old, and he asked them several times why they were doing such things. He argued, "If a man sins against another man, one can intercede for him with the Lord; but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him? " The sons did not listen to their father and they continued their evil ways, but Eli looked the other way and ignored their crimes. God was not happy with this at all and he sent a man of God to give him a message. God had chosen Eli's family as the ones who would be the priests, but God told him, through the messenger, that he honored those who honored him. Because of Eli's great dishonor, God gave him a punishment. God condemned that every man of Eli's family shall never be an old man and that Hophni and Phinehas shall both die on the same day. God also established a new priest and a lasting house for him. Those who would be left of Eli's family would grovel at the feet of the new priest.