The continuation of this chapter shows us the ruined state into which the priesthood had fallen. “Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial: a terrible pronouncement, when it concerned those in Israel who were the closest to God! The sin of these men had two characteristics: they disregarded the rights of those who came to worship the Lord by confiscating their portions (1 Sam. 2:13-14); they disregarded the rights of the Lord, laying profane hands on the Lord’s portion, seeing to it that they themselves were served before He was, thus taking precedence over God Himself (1 Sam. 2:15-16). They made themselves fat with the Lord’s offerings and caused men to abhor them.
Are not these the principles of any clerical system, whether pagan, Jewish, or Christian—no doubt, more or less coarse and despicable according to the case—but, in the final account, the principles of every class of men who appropriate to themselves authority or privileges over other men in religious matters? (Matt. 24:48-49). They pretend to have rights over simple believers, they see that they themselves are served at the expense of these same believers, and in their opinion even the priest’s servant has more authority than the worshippers themselves. They usurp, in a measure, God’s prerogatives and, in sum, cause Him to be despised, in order that they themselves may be honored instead of Him. They did not know the Lord (1 Sam. 2:12); “There [was] no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:18). Without this fear, there is no hatred of evil. Is it surprising that they displayed the most shocking corruption? (1 Sam. 2:22).
In the midst of all this ruin, was the high priest’s function at least being maintained? Alas no! Eli, godly Eli, lacked spiritual discernment. Nevertheless he showed himself to be capable of teaching God’s mind and ways to young Samuel. Furthermore, he formed a righteous judgment of the evil, and his heart bled at the sight of the dissolute life of his sons. He did not hide it from them. Doubtless no one had expressed his disapproval as plainly as their father had: “Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil deeds from all this people. No, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make Jehovah’s people transgress. If one man sin against another, God will judge him; but if a man sin against Jehovah, who shall intreat for him?” (1 Sam. 2:23-25).
You ask, What was this man of God lacking? Just this: He judged the evil, but he did not separate himself from it. It is a sad and humiliating thing to state: this is the situation of the majority of God’s children in Christendom. Their bonds, their relationships, their affections, and their customs to which they are more attached than to the Lord’s glory prevent them from recognizing that one is liable for an evil which one judges but from which one does not separate oneself.
This is what the man of God is charged to declare to Eli. In no way was Eli personally following the ungodly and disorderly behavior of his sons, but nevertheless these solemn words are addressed to him: “Wherefore do ye trample upon My sacrifice and upon Mine oblation which I have commanded in My habitation? And thou honorest thy sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the primest of all the oblations of Israel My people” (1 Sam. 2:29). “Thou honorest thy sons above Me!” Poor Eli! despite all his piety, there were men, his sons—his behavior proved this - whom he was honoring more than the Lord. God had been patient with him, but now he was about to reap the bitter fruit of the lack of holiness in his walk, for holiness is nothing other than separation from evil in view of God’s service. The house of Eli, the descendant of Ithamar, was about to come to an end; it could not, in the condition in which it was found, “walk before [God] forever” (1 Sam. 2:30). “For them that honor Me I will honor, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Sam. 2:30). Did this righteous man, Eli, then despise the Lord? Yes, for “no servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and will love the other, or he will cleave to the one and despise the other” (Luke 16:13). And so a terrible judgment is pronounced on the house of Eli (1 Sam. 2:31-34). But God, the God of grace, takes no pleasure in judgment; He uses it in order to establish before Himself a priesthood once for all. He entrusts the priesthood to Eleazar’s descendants: “And I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind; and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before Mine Anointed continually” (1 Sam. 2:35). Simultaneously with the establishment of a priesthood according to His heart, the Lord makes known the change of dispensation which is to follow, but prophetically, this reaches far beyond the priesthood of the sons of Eleazar under David and under Solomon. The Anointed is Christ, and when He shall be on high as king and high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, on earth there will be, during the Millennium, a faithful priesthood of the family of Zadok whose functions will all tend to glorify the chosen king, the Man at God’s right hand (Ezek. 44:13-15).
May we profit from Eli’s example. We are living in times characterized by a certain activity in service. This activity often presses itself upon ourselves and others, for it has the appearance of great zeal for the Lord and for His work. It may even be accompanied by eminent gifts, but the gifts and activity are of little significance, if there is not the corresponding moral character. This moral character was grievously flawed in Eli’s case; and without this character there can be no true service according to God.
Samuel offers a striking contrast to this state of things in every detail. In his case, we may trace the uninterrupted development of a life of holiness, despite more than one weakness, for perfection is found only in Christ.
When he was still only a small child, it is said of him, in chapter 1:28: “And he worshipped Jehovah there.” Just so, a “newborn babe” in Christ must immediately take his place as a worshipper before Him. In 1 Samuel 2:11 his second act is: “And the boy ministered to Jehovah in the presence of Eli the priest.”
This attitude will characterize Samuel’s entire life, but here he serves under Eli’s direction, for being still very young, he needed to learn before becoming capable of teaching others.
In his third act (1 Sam. 2:18), Samuel does not serve before Eli, but rather more directly, “before Jehovah, a boy girded with a linen ephod,” that is to say, in a priestly character, for the linen ephod was the special clothing of the priesthood (1 Sam. 2:18). Now that the priesthood had fallen, the Lord clothes this young Levite with it, provisionally, so to speak. The scene is the same later on in the case of David, who wore the ephod before the ark (2 Sam. 6:14). However, the Christians’ situation is different: they are perpetually kings and priests before God the Father.
In his fourth act (1 Sam. 2:21), “the boy Samuel grew before Jehovah.” The point here is his intimacy with God, without which service cannot be effective.
In his fifth act (1 Sam. 2:26), “the boy Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with Jehovah and also with men.” I call this the intimacy of favor. The relationship of affection between Samuel and the Lord caused his walk to draw the attention of men, who took note of it as a walk pleasing to the Lord. Intimacy with God was reflected in the face of this young boy. This is what is told us of John the Baptist (Luke 1:80), and for how much greater reason, of Jesus: “Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). All the power of our Christian testimony depends on a secret life spent in the Lord’s presence.
May God grant us to resemble young Samuel in our conduct more than Eli, instructed as he was in the knowledge of the Lord’s mind through his age and his public functions!