1 Samuel 2:11-36

There are spiritual leaders who are corrupt and those who are committed...and God has his way of sifting away the corrupt and lifting the committed. Join Dr. Marty Baker in 1 Samuel 2:11-36 as we continue to explore Spiritual Snapshots in 1 Samuel.

One day, in a small town in northern California, a deacon showed up at the front door of his church to gain access, only to find a huge steel chain draped around the door handles and held together by a massive lock.  “What in the world is going on?” he thought.  He found out eventually. The Senior Pastor had sold the church, taken the proceeds, and purchased a big black BMW.  Can you spell the word corruption?

Unfortunately, cases of spiritual leaders going off the righteous rails are all too common.  They also are a sign that the sin of the world has permeated the church, and caused some leaders to succumb to the temptation to act contrary to their calling and the clear teaching of the Word of God.  The results are detrimental to the culture because darkness replaces light, untruth rules over truth, self-aggrandizement takes the place of self-abasement, and sinful urges are unleashed while self-control is bridled.  As goes the Church, so then goes the people.

This reality is nothing new.  During the 349 years of the Judges of Israel, as detailed in the book of Judges, compromise and corruption ran rampant.  From the local Joe on the street to the spiritual leaders, most were looking to fulfill their desires at the expense of truth, law, modesty, and care for the well-being of others.  What happened to the nation? It unraveled, slow at first and then at break-neck speed.

Many of us can nod in agreement because we see the same corrosive corruption in our own country.  How are we, as followers of Christ, supposed to think about this? The historical record of Israel’s spiritual condition, as disclosed in 1 Samuel 2:11-36, gives us helpful answers and insight regarding how to halt the degradation and build toward restoration and rejuvenation.

From a cursory reading of this pericope, the interpreter will quickly realize how the passage vacillates back and forth between spiritual leaders who were corrupt versus those who were committed.  Such is the condition of a nation in a moral and spiritual death spiral.  Most spiritual leaders eventually digress from spiritual truth and sound, sacred living. At the same time, a minority progresses in their commitment to the Lord and His holy Word, teachings, and commands no matter what.

While you might not be a spiritual leader, there are timeless truths you can glean from this vacillation and apply to your life.  If you are a spiritual leader, there is much to pay attention to, for so much hangs in the balance.  As goes the spiritual leader, so goes the people.  The premise speaks of your need to walk uprightly in decadent and degenerative times.

Progression Number 1: Samuel (1 Sam. 2:11)

The opening historical text is sad but exciting.  Sad because these parents came to Shiloh with their only son and returned without him because they dedicated him to priestly service in the Tabernacle.  I am sure that was a lonely, quiet, somewhat teary-eyed ride home. But it is exciting because Elkanah and Hannah gave God’s miracle boy back to service to the living Lord God.  That sacrifice would eventually impact the spiritually and morally-adrift nation because it lacked sound, solid spiritual leadership. The impact would arise slowly through the life of a little boy named Samuel.

¹¹ Then Elkanah went to his home at Ramah. But the boy ministered to the LORD before Eli, the priest. (1 Sam. 2)

The Hebrew text purposefully highlights the contrast by wedding the coordinating conjunction, waw, with a non-verb, “the boy.”

‎ 1 Samuel 2:11  וַיֵּ֧לֶךְ אֶלְקָנָ֛ה הָרָמָ֖תָה עַל־בֵּית֑וֹ וְהַנַּ֗עַר הָיָ֤ה מְשָׁרֵת֙ אֶת־יְהוָ֔ה אֶת־פְּנֵ֖י עֵלִ֥י הַכֹּהֵֽן׃

While the parents traveled about fifteen miles due west back down the mountain to Ramah, their little boy began performing some of the mundane tasks of a priest of God. The verb “ministered” is a participle denoting iterative or repeated action.  Translated, little Samuel was all in when there was work to do in the Tabernacle. The Menorah needed attention each day. Twelve cakes of bread on the Table of Showbread were replaced every Sabbath.  Incense on the altar required attention. Water was necessary for cleansing holy vessels. The living quarters of the many priests needed cleaning.  Yes, whatever a little priest could do fell on Samuel, and he did not balk but wasted no time serving God in the practical things. He is who is faithful in little will, in God’s eyes, always be rewarded with the opportunity to be faithful with much. Are you faithful in the little, mundane things God puts on your plate? Great leaders, by the way, are well familiar with this drill.

So, this short introductory verse gives us a snapshot of a leader in leaderless times.  He was innocent and young but faithful to God as the day was long.

Digression Number 1: Hophni & Phinehas (1 Sam. 2:12-17)

In a time of out-of-control compromise in a nation, spotting those who cause the chaos is not hard.

¹² Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD

Again, the Hebrew creates a profound contrast here by wedding the waw (pronounced vav) to a non-verb, viz., “sons” at the beginning of the clause.

‎  1 Samuel 2:12  וּבְנֵ֥י עֵלִ֖י בְּנֵ֣י בְלִיָּ֑עַל לֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּ אֶת־יְהוָֽה׃

In times of ever-increasing wickedness, there is always a Samuel providentially planted by God for His purposes.  Some contribute to the moral and spiritual disintegration. Here, the two leading sinners are, shockingly, the sons of the High Priest, Eli. We first met them briefly in chapter 1. Their names are Hophni and Phinehas (1 Sam. 1:3).  As priests, words like godly, righteous, holy, and self-control should have defined them.

Such was not the case. They were worthless. In Hebrew, the word is Belilal. The word literally means to be without profit and also denoted a Canaanite false god. It is first used in Deuteronomy 13:13 to represent men who tempted others to reject God and follow the false gods of the land.  In Judges 19:22, the word is used to describe sex-crazed men who wanted to defile a priest and his concubine.  Based on this word usage, it is only logical to see how it became the word for “worthless.”  Men who should have known and followed God did not. They chose to use their power and position for personal gain.

Why were Eli’s sons called worthless when they should have been called priceless . . . as priests of the living God? Read on, and you will see:

¹³ And the custom of the priests with the people [was that] when any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand. ¹⁴ Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus 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 was sacrificing, "Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw." ¹⁶ And if the man said to him, "They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire," then he would say, "No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.” (1 Sam. 2)

Levitical law provided food provision for the priests of God (Lev. 7:28-36; Deut. 18:3).  They could take the “breast” and “right thigh” of a sacrifice, and they could only do this after the rest of the meat was burned up on the fire of God’s altar.  These two “progressive” priests, however, improvised on God’s law and created their own law.  They would use a massive fork to fish for food to their liking before the meat was offered entirely to God, first. Shocking. In addition, priests were only supposed to take their share after the fatty portions were burned on God’s altar.  These spiritual losers disregarded God’s law and instructed servants to go and fish for food for them and take the best parts before God received His in worship. Anyone who stood in the way of their enterprise met with intimidation through force.  How would you like a pastoral staff that played fast and loose with God’s Word and then used muscular thugs to threaten you when you did not give them what they wanted?  No wonder the nation fell into chaos with spiritual leaders like this.

How did this go over with God? Not well.

¹⁷ Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for the men despised the offering of the LORD.

This text teaches you something about God. He is quite aware of sin, especially when it crops up in the lives of spiritual leaders who should know better. For instance, when the world descended into constant violence and corruption before the Noaiac Flood, God knew exactly how bad the spiritual and moral conditions had become.

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. (Gen. 6)

Trust me, the same Lord is aware of the same sin issues in our day and is very concerned yet patient.  But His patience will eventually wear thin, and He will move to deal with evil people to restore order (Matt. 24). Those spiritual leaders who compromise the Word for the sake of filling a sanctuary, to make a name for themselves, or to sell books, should take note of God’s response to the immoral escapades of Hophni and Phinehas.

When times look bleak because spiritual leaders are anything but spiritual but bask in compromise and corruption, do not think for a minute that God is not working His lofty, life-giving, peace-building plan behind the scenes.  We see this in the following historical panel.

Progression Number 2: Samuel (1 Sam. 2:18-21)

This section is as sweet as it is short:

¹⁸ Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD, as a boy wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁹ And his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "May the LORD give you children from this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD." And they went to their own home. ²¹ And the LORD visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the LORD. (1 Sam. 2)

How can you not see the contrast between Elkanah, Hannah, and Samuel and Eli, Hophni and Phineas?  It could not be starker. The former family was God-fearing, obedient, and servant-oriented.  Samuel is pictured year in and year out continuing to serve God in the Tabernacle, while Hophni and Phineas served themselves in the same sacred compound. And Hannah? What a woman.  They journeyed to Shiloh yearly for worship, and she hand-sewed a priestly undergarment for her son.  I wonder if she took the outgrown robes of her faithful boy and brought them home and hung them in a closet to remember him?  All of this stands in bold relief against the insatiable greed and gluttony of the corrupt older priests of the High Priest, Eli.

And speaking of the High Priest, how did he respond to this humble, faithful, and God-honoring family?  He prayed God’s blessing of children over them, and God certainly heard his prayer for Hannah, who went on to have five more children!  God is good, is He not?  When He wants to bless you, He does it magnanimously.  Blessing of this nature did not rest on Eli’s own family.

All of this reminds us that in testy, tumultuous times within a nation, God is looking for families like that of Elkanah, Hannah, and Samuel.  When people are selfish, will you be sacrificial? When people do not worship God, will you? When the mundane tasks of ministering before God are put before you, do you quietly step up, like Samuel, and serve? These are the people God uses to impact the wicked world, and their lives are always in a state of holy contrast to the darkness about them.  How is the contrast in your life?

Real life is frequently messy, however. That is what we see in the ensuing section.

Digressions Number 2: Hophni & Phinehas (1 Sam. 2:22-25)

If you thought the sin of taking the best meat from God’s sacrifices was jaw-dropping. You have not seen anything yet.  One form of unchecked greed led to another, for such is the way of sin.  It is always spreading out like a cancer in sound flesh:

²² Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

Why does the inspired author tell us the High Priest, Eli, was old? Because when you get old, you can grow weary of addressing complex sins in your family, especially if you have done it on more than one occasion to no avail.  If you have grown children or grandchildren who have run off the spiritual reservation, and you have attempted on countless encounters to warn them of the error of their ways, and they have arrogantly blown you off because you were old and out of touch, then you know why this info is supplied.  Let not your age keep you from saying and doing what you should.

Eli is not a positive model in this regard.  He failed miserably as the spiritual leader of his family and people to say and do the hard things to stop outright unadulterated evil. His sons became greedy sexual predators.  They used their power and position to proposition women who lined up at the Tabernacle to offer sacrifices to God for sins committed and to worship Him.  Can you imagine anything more vile? I cannot. Greed unchecked in one area logically became greed in another area: sex. Just like they wanted the meat when they wanted it, now they also wanted the women when they wanted them.

Note what their father did when he caught wind of their new evil enterprise:

²³ And he said to them, "Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people?

He was the High Priest, God’s spiritual representative on earth, the man who knew the Word of God thoroughly, and he did not understand what motivated his sons to act like this. Really? He was as spiritually blind as they were. His sons were greedy sexual perverts, sexual addicts by our definition. As the life of the late Jeffery Epstein illustrates, illicit sexual activity is a drug that never satisfies. Be not deceived by sexual deviancy. It is like drinking seawater when you are thirsty while lost at sea on a raft. It never quenches your thirst, and then it kills you because the salt in your system shuts down your kidneys. It is also a deep, dark well with no bottom. At least Epstein did his unspeakable sexual evil on an island. These two priests did it at the Tabernacle of God in God’s holy presence.

Eli’s weak-kneed response to his wayward sons is tragic:

²⁴ "No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the LORD's people circulating.

Talk about an understatement.  The intel he received was “not good”? Are you kidding me? This intel was blasphemous and the epitome of perversion.

So, how did Eli attempt to wake his sinful sons up?  Here it is:

²⁵ "If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?"

He attempted a little logical reasoning.  Basically, he told them, “Look, if you guys had sinned against a person, God could intervene and help you fix the problem. But you sinned directly against the Lord by doing this grotesque evil before Him. So, you are beyond redemption.”  He did not tell them to repent.  He told them it was over for them, and God would take them out.

Did this word of warning cut through their hardened hearts? No.

But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the LORD desired to put them to death. (1 Sam. 2)

Note to self: When you permit a little sin to go unconfessed, it grows and flourishes.  As you continue to entertain it, like a monster with powerful tentacles, it will eventually overpower your life, causing you to commit sins you never dreamed you would. Are you a spiritual leader rationalizing the growth of a particular sin in your life? Better come clean before God’s holy throne before you descend to the point where God wants to remove you from the planet. And if you are a father with wickedly wayward children, I must ask, “What are you saying to them? Are you challenging them to repent and turn to God? Or, are you looking the other way so family unity is not disturbed?”

The first church I served in kept asking me in the interview process if I loved Liz.  I kept reassuring them that I did.  Later, I found out why this question kept coming up.  A former married worship pastor had flirted with a beautiful but married choir member.  Eventually, flirting led to other things, and they got to know each other, if you know what I mean, on more than one occasion in his church office.  Yeah, you read that right.  What was the guy’s name? I do not recall, but it could have been Hophni or Phinehas. If you are a spiritual leader, be very careful what sinful activity you claim is simply harmless adult pleasure.  It may become a fire that will burn you and many others.  Far wiser to mortify the sin and move toward holiness.

Eli had every right, based on the law, to at least remove them from the priesthood, but he did not because he was spiritually soft.  That softness, in turn, wrecked countless lives. When will you grow a spiritual spine? Families and nations grow stronger when spiritual leaders lead sinners instead of following them.

Turning from the darkness of this episode, we turn again to the light of Samuel’s life.

Progression Number 3: Samuel (1 Sam. 2:26)

While Eli’s sons were growing in godlessness, Samuel was growing in godliness:

²⁶ Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the LORD and with men.

May this be a lesson regarding God’s ways and what He desires from us as we live in decadent days.  May we be known as people of the Word who obey the Word and emulate God’s character. This describes Samuel.  As other spiritual leaders slid off the proverbial cliff and dragged others with them, this spiritual leader led the way to life, resulting in people like them.  This happens when we choose, as leaders, to follow hard after God instead of our own flesh and desires.  His face shines on us, and He blesses our relationships with others.  This, in and of itself, builds strength in a family, a community, and a nation.

Unchecked sin, however, never continues forever.  Because God is holy, there is always a day or a time of discipline and judgment.  It might appear that compromised, corrupt leaders in various capacities are getting away with their evil, but it will not always be so, for God is not mocked by their activity.  The chickens of discipline and judgment always come home to roost on them. This is what we see in the next section:

Digression Number 3: Hophni & Phinehas (1 Sam. 2:27-35)

God’s grace with Eli and his sick sons finally ran out.  It always does because God is holy.  So what did God do? Read on and see:

²⁷ Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house?

The unnamed prophet lowered the boom on Eli with some questions.  The answer to the first question is a resounding “Yes.”  Eli’s progenitors and other Israelites learned firsthand about God’s existence through the miraculous plagues and His ominous personal revelation on Sinai in the wilderness (Eph. 19:16-20).

The second question was equally probing:

²⁸ 'And did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel?

Again, the answer is a definitive “Yes.”  The God who disclosed Himself specifically chose Eli’s family line to be the priestly line through Aaron’s son, Ithamar. The bottom line of this exchange could not be more precise: A man given such responsibility from God should not desecrate it in any way, shape, or form. As Jesus said much later,

⁴⁸ And from everyone who has been given much shall much be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. (Lk. 12)

How true. If you are a spiritual leader called by God, then much is required of you in your walk and service to God because He has entrusted so much to you.

God will not lightly look upon those who pollute what is holy.  No, He moves in judgment when they do not judge their sin. The third question sets this timeless truth up:

²⁹ 'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?'

Because Eli had failed to deal with his sons definitively because he was weak, God would deal with all of them.  And God’s judgment was just because Eli’s toleration of his son's sin made him equal in God’s eyes.

³⁰ "Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, 'I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever'; but now the LORD declares, 'Far be it from Me-- for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. ³¹ 'Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³² 'And you will see the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all that I do good for Israel; and an old man will not be in your house forever. ³³ 'Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar that your eyes may fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life. ³⁴ 'And this will be the sign to you which shall come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them shall die. (1 Sam. 2)

It took time for this prophecy to be fulfilled, but it was to the letter, down to Hophni and Phinehas dying in battle on the same day. Eventually, Eli’s line for the High Priesthood was wiped out as God predicted. They thought they could live however they wanted because God had promised the priesthood to their line forever (Ex. 29:9; 40:15; Num. 18:7; Deut. 18:5).  They should not have challenged God or presumed upon His goodness.  He eventually judged them and moved the priestly line to Aaron’s other son, Eleazar.

Be not deceived if you are a spiritual leader.  God will not tolerate your deception and carnality forever (Heb. 12:1ff).  He will ensure your sin is brought to light, and you are disciplined for your devious activity.  That discipline, of course, will probably cost you your role as a spiritual leader, and rightly so.

Consider what happened to me when I did a youth internship during the summer of my third year at Dallas Theological Seminary.  I had only been at the church in San Diego for about two weeks when the Senior Pastor informed me that I would need to be the youth pastor for the rest of the summer.  Why?  The former youth leader was eventually caught having the boys in his group over to his apartment so he could show them X-rated movies and enjoy all the pot he could supply.  Some girls in the group discovered what occurred at these “ministry” events and gave the information to the lead pastor and the elder council. They took it from there, and I, the newbie, learned how to be a youth pastor on my own.  Needless to say, the youth leader never, to my knowledge, led youth again.

All of this positive and negative back and forth culminates in the closing two verses:

Progression Number 4: Samuel & Beyond (1 Sam. 2:35-36)

Here, God reveals what He was up to in these sinful times when the priesthood was racked by corruption and compromise:

³⁵ 'But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always. ³⁶ 'And it shall come about that everyone who is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread, and say, "Please assign me to one of the priest's offices so that I may eat a piece of bread."'" (1 Sam. 2)

Here, we have a prophecy of Israel’s future. The godless gluttons would be subservient to the new obedient priesthood. Can you say what goes around comes around?

God was working to raise a faithful one in a world full of unfaithful priests. At first, this would be Samuel. Note: God always works behind the scenes to raise a Samuel to shine brightly in the darkness. The Samuel-types love God and obey His Word to the letter despite what the culture says. Are you Samuel? Will you be Samuel?

But this paragraph is a word about a priest beyond Samuel. This is about an “enduring house.” As I said, that house of the High Priest would come through Eleazar. Eli’s great, great grandson, Abiathar, from the line of Ithamar (the line of Eli), would be the High Priest at the time of David, along with the High Priest from the line of Eleazar named Zadok. During Solomon’s time, Abiathar would be removed as the High Priest, and that right would be given to Zadok, thus eliminating the line of Eli forever as prophesied (1 Kings 2:26-27, 35). Ultimately, an anointed priest would always walk before God. Who would this be? He would be Jesus, THE prophet and THE priest after the eternal order of Melchizedek (Zech. 3:1-10; 6:9-15; Heb. 7).

Just as God worked behind the sinful scenes of this period to raise a mighty man to lead the nation forward out of sin, God still works in our day to accomplish the same purpose. If you are a leader, be mindful of how you walk before God so He can use you for maximum impact. And never forget the import of this powerful episode: When spiritual leaders drift, God always sifts and then lifts. He is sifting today but also lifting up Samuels to call our nation to love and follow God.  I thank God for His work.  Join me.