What was happening in this story? First, we are told that Eli’s sons took a
three-pronged fork and ate whatever meat they brought out of the pot when
sacrificing an animal. This was in contradiction with the law for priests, who
were commanded to eat the breast and upper thigh of the animals (Leviticus
7:30–34). The priest’s duty was to burn the fat on the altar as a pleasing
aroma to the Lord (Leviticus 3: 16). Both fat and blood were barred from human
consumption (Leviticus 3: 17), and anyone who offended in this matter was to be
“cut off from their people” (Leviticus 7: 25).
The story is bookended with two statements:
“Now the sons of Eli were worthless men.
They did not know the Lord.” (1
Samuel 2:12, ESV)
And
“Thus the sin of the young men was very
great in the sight of the Lord,
for the men treated the offering of the Lord
with contempt.” (1 Samuel 2:17, ESV)
“The Hebrew text here calls Eli’s sons benei beliyya’al, which is literally
rendered as “sons of Belial.”[1] The cause of such a horrid characterization is that “they did not
know the LORD.” The result was a egregious sin before God because in the end
they were treating the offering of the LORD with contempt.
Why is this story included in the canon? Will there are a couple of reasons that will
surface, but the immediate one is that these men are seen in contrast to
Samuel. The NIV and NASB text in verse 18 start with “But Samuel”. Unlike these men (Hophni and Phinehas) who
were stealing and being gluttonous with God’s offering and showing contempt for
His offering, Samuel was serving before the Lord.
The inspired author draws the distinction
based upon this one fact: “they did not know the LORD”. Now as priests they would have known His
commands and precepts. They knew they
were in contravention with God’s Word, there problem was that they did not know
God. The boy Samuel (to read on) did not
know the Lord yet (“Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord
had not yet been revealed to him.” (1 Samuel 3:7, ESV) but he would when
the Lord revealed Himself to him.
This is the key. In Matthew 11:25–26 (ESV),
we read:
25 At
that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them
to little children; 26 yes,
Father, for such was your gracious will.
It
ultimately requires the sovereign will of God to reveal Himself to people. Those who know Him, follow Him. Someone might counter, “Well how can God
judge someone to whom the Father has not chosen to reveal Himself to?” Paul would answer:
“You will say to me then, “Why does he
still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to
answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made
me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same
lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if
God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with
much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known
the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand
for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the
Gentiles?” (Romans 9:19–24, ESV)
Thus little Samuel, while he was sleeping
was the gracious subject of the Lord’s mercy: “The lamp of God had not yet
gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the
Lord called Samuel, and he said,
“Here I am!”” (1 Samuel 3:3–4, ESV)
We who are “the called” are totally and
completely thankful, for without the sovereign, initiatory call we would not
know God, nor serve Him as we ought. We
would stand condemned, worthless, having been judged as people who showed
contempt for the Lord’s offering.
[1] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M.,
Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study
Bible (1 Sa 2:12). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
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