1 Samuel 3:12, commentary and pictures

In that day God would carry out against Eli's house everything He had spoken concerning it, beginning the work and bringing it to a complete end. The judgment was forever, cutting off his strength so that both Hophni and Phinehas died in one day in their sins without pardon, because persistent wickedness without forsaking it could never be removed by sacrifice and offering. The cause was Eli's known failure as father and judge to restrain, judge, or remove his sons from sacred office, but indulging and honoring them above God while they made themselves vile, profaned the sacrifices, and corrupted the nation to ruin. After forbearance delayed year after year to give time for reform was met only with confession without true repentance or effective action, the sentence was fulfilled without delay in Israel's defeat, the taking of the ark, the slaying of his sons in battle, and Eli's own death. His curse stands as a fearful warning to parents now, for God holds parents in great degree accountable for the faults of undisciplined offspring, and mere advising without control and restraint brings His wrath upon both parents and children.

Message Given to Samuel

The message came at night when communication from the Lord was rare and there was no open vision, before the lamp of God went out in the temple where the ark was, while Eli lay down in his place with eyes grown dim so he could not see and Samuel lay down to sleep. The Lord called Samuel three times, and each time Samuel hurried to Eli saying Here am I, for thou calledst me, until Eli perceived the mysterious call was the voice of God. Eli felt no envy or jealousy but told Samuel how to answer if called again, and when the voice came again Samuel answered in awe at God speaking to him, unable to remember Eli's exact words.

God passed by Eli and entrusted the message to the child Samuel, no longer speaking to Eli, as a bitter but deserved rebuke. The rebuke came because Eli had neglected to train his children in obedience and to restrain and remove his sons, only remonstrating with words without decisive action, judgment, or separation from sacred service though they were utterly unfitted for holy office. Eli was thus passed over for failing in duty as parent and as judge, dishonoring God and allowing a terrible example, while God chose and gave the solemn message to the boy Samuel and would make it known through the surprise and inquiry of the youth.

God honored youth by choosing the boy Samuel, who had been given to the Lord by his mother's vow before birth and ministered before the Lord as a child girded with a linen ephod, his mother making him a little coat and bringing it year by year at the yearly sacrifice, and who grew in favor both with the Lord and with men. The Lord watches over children with intense interest in the characters they form, as seen also in Joseph chosen in youth for a special work, and in John the Baptist and Christ. Older people may receive God's message yet fail to hear it with a firm will to obey, while God can instruct and shape the minds of children and youth, as He did Samuel while still a child.

Samuel lived surrounded by the most corrupting influences, seeing and hearing things that grieved his soul, with Eli's sons ministering in holy office while controlled by evil and polluting the whole atmosphere until men and women were daily fascinated with sin. He walked untainted with spotless robes of character, having no fellowship or delight in the sins that filled Israel with fearful reports, but keeping his soul in close connection with Heaven so that a heavenly messenger was sent to talk with him about those sins. His experience proves youth can hold principle so firm that the most powerful temptations will not draw them away, remaining proof against temptation by uniting ignorance to divine wisdom and weakness to divine strength.

Samuel made the warnings and reproof against Eli's house known throughout the nation, hoping to counteract the harm caused by past neglect and to bring reform. The judgment had been delayed year after year to give time to redeem past failures, but priests and people alike disregarded the warnings. Samuel later taught these warnings and judgments against Eli's house to his own sons so they were not ignorant of them.

Judgment Fully Performed

In that day God would perform against Eli everything He had spoken concerning his house, beginning the work and making a complete end of it. The giving of the word through the child Samuel was itself a bitter yet deserved rebuke, for the Lord passed by His aged priest to commune with a child. The judgment was forever, judging his house forever for known iniquity. The arm of Eli and the arm of his father's house would be cut off so that no old man would remain, both Hophni and Phinehas dying in one day. God would not pardon their transgressions or bless Eli's house, but would cut them off in their sins.

The cause was Eli's known failure as both parent and judge in Israel. He indulged his sons and honored them above God, shrinking from decisive action and only remonstrating with words while taking no decided measures. He failed to restrain their wrong habits and practices, failed to judge them, failed to separate them from the Lord's service, and failed to put the evil away from Israel, though they were sons of Belial who knew not the Lord and were utterly unfitted for holy office. He even allowed their repeated wickedness to continue and placed them in sacred office, dishonoring God and allowing a terrible example. His responsibility as priest and ruler did not excuse his neglect of his family.

His sons made themselves vile and corrupt by deliberate profaning of the sacred sacrifices. They ministered in holy office while controlled by evil, polluting the whole atmosphere until men and women were daily fascinated with sin. Their evils polluted the sanctuary and led thousands in Israel to ruin, corrupting the nation. Their persistent sin without willingness to forsake it reached a point where guilt could never be removed by sacrifice or offering and sacrifice and offering could never atone for it.

The judgment was delayed year after year to give time to redeem past failures. Eli confessed his guilt but had no true repentance, for he did not renounce the sin and took no effective measures to correct the evils. God's forbearance caused Hophni and Phinehas to harden their hearts and grow bolder in transgression, while surrounding nations grew bolder in idolatry and crime. Because God's authority had been set aside and His worship neglected and despised, God had to interpose to maintain the honor of His name and carry His threatened purpose through to completion.

The sentence was fulfilled without delay when the guilty sons were slain in battle. Israel suffered the humiliation of defeat with loss of strength and glory, and the ark of God was taken by the enemy and fell into the enemy's hands. Eli knew his neglect in failing to stand for the right and restrain wrong had at last deprived Israel of strength and glory. Though he could endure hearing of his sons' death he could not bear the loss of the ark, and he fell backward and died.

Eli met the warning by merely leaving the matter with the Lord, submissive without feeling the importance of acting himself at once. Discouraged and thinking it of no use to make an effort, indolent and blind from neglect of duty, he did not repent as the Ninevites did but only said the will of God be done. His trust in the ark more than in the God who gave the ark was vain, because the ark is of no consequence when the law it contains is not kept. The same danger faces God's people now who say they have the law and understand the truth and expect that knowledge to save them while not yielding the full obedience that transforms character.

Warning to Parents Today

Eli's standing as priest and ruler did not excuse his neglect to govern and train his household according to God's rules, for the verse declares that God would carry out to completion the judgment announced against Eli and his house because he failed to restrain his sons when they made themselves vile. Age and long experience in sacred work likewise afforded no excuse for neglect of parental duty, since he failed to discipline his wicked sons and to remove them from holy office, so that God would not pardon their transgressions or bless his house but would cut them off in their sins. His neglect of sacred duty included failure to train his children rightly, and therefore God passed him by to choose the boy Samuel and entrust to him the solemn message.

The judgment came because God no longer spoke to Eli but called youthful Samuel to reveal the punishment upon Eli and his house, confirming what the messenger had already told Eli that his arm and the arm of his father's house would be cut off so that no old man would remain and that both Hophni and Phinehas would die in one day. It came because Eli neglected his duty as parent and as judge in Israel, indulged his sons, failed to restrain their wrong habits and practices, failed to judge them, and failed to separate them from the Lord's service though they were sons of Belial who knew not the Lord and were utterly unfitted for holy office, by which he dishonored God and allowed a terrible example. He only remonstrated with words while taking no decided measures, and his sons did not listen. Neglect to train children in childhood and youth in self-control with God's glory in view, letting them have their own way in self-indulgence, brings loss and judgment that careful training might have averted.

Parental blind affection and shrinking from decisive action to correct known iniquity can bring grave consequences beyond the household, including calamity for Israel, for God would carry out fully the judgment He had declared against Eli's household because his sons did wickedly and he failed to restrain them. God condemns negligence that dallies with sin and crime and a slow insensibility that is slow to detect its baleful presence in the families of professed Christians, holding parents accountable in great degree for the faults and follies of their offspring. He visited His curse not only on the sons of Eli but on Eli himself as a fearful warning to parents of this time, since Eli as an ease-loving, affectionate father only remonstrated without acting promptly to restrain them and put the disgusting evil away from Israel, then submitted by leaving the matter with the Lord without feeling the importance of acting himself at once and without being aroused to the full guilt of his neglect, after which Israel suffered the humiliation of defeat and the ark of God fell into the enemy's hands. Merely advising children without exercising control or enforcing discipline does not stop wrongdoing, and when parents tolerate and support an evil course God's wrath falls on both parents and children as God carries out to completion the judgment announced against Eli's household.

Eli's sin was defective home management in parental responsibility for the education, training, and restraint of children and in permitting evil practices, and the judgment on his household stands as the reproach and divine displeasure brought by a household left undisciplined. When parents face a crisis over defects in their home management and refuse to see and correct them, Satan blinds their perception so that Eli's sin becomes their own sin, placing them under the same divine judgment to fully carry out what God has spoken against Eli's house, beginning and making an end. Yet the fact that Samuel received no such message about his own house proves he had not failed in duty to his sons even though his sons turned aside after lucre, took bribes, and perverted judgment, showing that children by their own course can weaken and counteract the best efforts of faithful parents while God sent to Eli the message that He would perform judgment against his house to the end because Eli failed to do his duty to his sons.