Eli and His Sons
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Mine heart and in My mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he
shall walk before Mine anointed forever.”
God charged Eli with honoring his sons above the Lord. Eli had
permitted the offering appointed by God as a blessing to Israel to be
made a thing of abhorrence, rather than bring his sons to shame for
their impious and abominable practices. Those who follow their own
inclination, in blind affection for their children, indulging them in
the gratification of their selfish desires, and do not bring to bear the
authority of God to rebuke sin and correct evil, make it manifest that
they are honoring their wicked children more than they honor God.
They are more anxious to shield their reputation than to glorify God;
more desirous to please their children than to please the Lord and to
keep His service from every appearance of evil.
God held Eli, as a priest and judge of Israel, accountable for the
moral and religious standing of his people, and in a special sense for
the character of his sons. He should first have attempted to restrain evil
by mild measures; but if these did not avail, he should have subdued
the wrong by the severest means. He incurred the Lord’s displeasure
by not reproving sin and executing justice upon the sinner. He could
not be depended upon to keep Israel pure. Those who have too little
courage to reprove wrong, or who through indolence 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.
Eli did not manage his household according to God’s rules for
family government. He followed his own judgment. The fond father
overlooked the faults and sins of his sons in their childhood, flattering
himself that after a time they would outgrow their evil tendencies.
Many are now making a similar mistake. They think they know a
better way of training their children than that which God has given in
His word. They foster wrong tendencies in them, urging as an excuse,
“They are too young to be punished. Wait till they become older, and
can be reasoned with.” Thus wrong habits are left to strengthen until
they become second nature. The children grow up without restraint,
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with traits of character that are a lifelong curse to them and are liable
to be reproduced in others.