The Sin of Eli

Call to Prayer

Title: The Sin of Eli

By: Daniel Peter

Date: 24.01.2023

Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 1 Samuel 2:30 KJV

Eli was a priest who led Israel as a Judge. His relationship with Prophet Samuel, especially in the area of acknowledging and responding to the voice of God, has become a model in our relationship with God and growing in the Prophetic. However, Eli and his family were rejected by God because of the sins of His children and his failure to restrain them.

For many years I wondered why the Lord said that Eli did not restrain his children. Especially as it was recorded in 1 Samuel 2:22-25 how Eli spoke to restrain his children from the evil act they were doing. Then I noticed something in 1 Samuel 2:12, which states: “Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD”. Meaning, they lacked the knowledge of God. Now, this was also the state of Samuel as at the time God visited Him at first. The Bible said of Him: “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him (1 Samuel 3:7 KJV)”. However, Eli went on to pass the knowledge of God to Samuel, who was a child, by helping him recognise God’s voice and teaching Him how to respond to Him.

As at the time Eli knew about the acts of his children and rose to speak to restrain them, Judgement had already been passed by God. This was why the Bible stated that: “… they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them “(1 Samuel 2:25 KJV). In other words, the reason they did not listen to their father was that God had already decided to kill them for their sins. Therefore, the sin of Eli was that he failed to teach his children the knowledge of God on time. When he rose to speak, it was already too late.

What should we learn from this? “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it (Prov. 22:6)”. The passing of knowledge to those God has entrusted to us should be done with much diligence, and from the outset. This should not be reactive, but preemptive.

Prayer Point

Let’s thank God for His word today. Let’s ask Him to help us to pass knowledge to those He has entrusted to our care early enough to keep them from falling.