God punished Eli for loving his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, more than the Lord, and could not restrain his sons from dishonoring the sacrifices offered to the Lord. He and his two sons died on the same day. God used Samuel when he was very young to convey this distressful message. (I Samuel 3:11-14) As a prophet, he conveyed his message, but later failed to apply the same message to his family. “When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.” (I Samuel 8:1-3) Like Eli’s sons, Samuel’s sons also were unworthy, foolish, and wicked.
Getting Old: All humans get old, no one is indispensable. The role and responsibilities in the world should be handed over to the successors. Sadly, many leaders do not think about successors like Samuel. Sometimes, they even arrogate themselves stating there is no one worthy to succeed.
Sons as judges: Samuel appointed his two sons Joel and Abijah as judges, who functioned from Beersheba.
Did not walk: The two sons did not follow the way of Samuel, who was God’s servant and steward. He challenged the whole congregation of Israel to bring charges against him. (I Samuel 12:3) Samuel did not cheat, oppress, exploit, or deceive anyone. However, his sons did not follow the same way as their father.
Mammon: Instead of worshipping God, they worshiped mammon. For Eli’s sons, their god was belly. (Philippians 3:19) Sadly, they chose only temporal things and forgot the eternal values of truth, righteousness, mercy, and justice.
Easy money: Bribes are easy money without any hard work or honest work. Their position of power gave them shameless authority to extract illegitimate money from ordinary people.
Perverted justice: Bribed blinded their eyes, that they perverted justice. Instead of punishing the guilty and wicked, they acquitted them. The righteous suffered.
Do I learn and apply lessons of truth?