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No Restraint, May 15
1 Samuel 2:22
I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because
his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
1 Samuel 3:13
.
Eli was a good man, pure in morals; but he has too indulgent. He incurred
the displeasure of God because he did not strengthen the weak points in his
character. He did not want to hurt the feelings of anyone and had not the moral
courage to rebuke and reprove sin....
He loved purity and righteousness; but he had no sufficient moral force to
suppress the evil. He loved peace and harmony, and became more and more
insensible to impurity and crime....
Eli was gentle, loving, and kind, and had a true interest in the service of God
and the prosperity of His cause. He was a man who had power in prayer. He
never rose up in rebellion against the words of God. But he was wanting; he
did not have firmness of character to reprove sin and execute justice against the
sinner so that God could depend upon him to keep Israel pure. He did not add
to his faith the courage and power to say No at the right time and in the right
place
Eli was acquainted with the divine will. He knew what characters God could
accept, and what He would condemn. Yet he suffered his children to grow up
with unbridled passions, perverted appetites, and corrupt morals.
Eli had instructed his children in the law of God, and had given them a good
example in his own life; but this was not his whole duty. God required him, both
as a father and as a priest, to restrain them from following their own perverse
will. This he had failed to do
Those who have too little courage to reprove wrong, or who through indo-
lence or lack of interest make no earnest effort to purify the family or the church
of God, are held accountable for the evil that may result from their neglect of
duty. We are just as responsible for evils that we might have checked in others
by exercise of parental or pastoral authority as if the acts had been our own
[142]
29
Testimonies for the Church 4:516, 517
.
30
The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 2:1009
.
31
Patriarchs and Prophets, 578
.
146