Basic HTML Version
A Dangerous Example, May 14
1 Samuel 2:22-36
They hearkened not unto the voice of their father.
1 Samuel 2:25
.
Eli was priest and judge in Israel. He held the highest and most responsible
positions among the people of God. As a man divinely chosen for the sacred
duties of the priesthood, and set over the land as the highest judicial authority,
he was looked up to as an example, and he wielded a great influence over the
tribes of Israel. But although he had been appointed to govern the people, he
did not rule his own household.... Loving peace and ease, he did not exercise
his authority to correct the evil habits and passions of his children. Rather than
contend with them or punish them, he would submit to their will and give them
their own way. Instead of regarding the education of his sons as one of the most
important of his responsibilities, he treated the matter as of little consequence.
The priest and judge of Israel had not been left in darkness as to the duty of
restraining and governing the children that God had given to his care. But Eli
shrank from this duty, because it involved crossing the will of his sons, and
would make it necessary to punish and deny them....
The curse of transgression was apparent in the corruption and evil that marked
the course of his sons. They had no proper appreciation of the character of God
or of the sacredness of His law. His service was to them a common thing. From
childhood they had been accustomed to the sanctuary and its service; but instead
of becoming more reverent, they had lost all sense of its holiness and significance.
The father had not corrected their want of reverence for his authority, had not
checked their disrespect for the solemn services of the sanctuary; and when
they reached manhood, they were full of the deadly fruits of skepticism and
rebellion....
There is no greater curse upon households than to allow the youth to have
their own way. When parents regard every wish of their children and indulge
them in what they know is not for their good, the children soon lose all respect
for their parents, all regard for the authority of God or man, and are led captive
at the will of Satan
[141]
28
Patriarchs and Prophets, 575-578
.
145