Today’s passage: 1 Samuel 2:12-36
Helpful thoughts:
- Right after Hannah’s prayer exulting in the Lord (See verse 9), we learn that Eli’s sons were “worthless men” who “did not know the Lord.”
- That Eli’s descendants would cease to serve in the priesthood because of their disobedience was not unprecedented. See Leviticus 10:1-11.
- “It was the will of the Lord to put them to death” could be taken as God’s sovereign plan, or as God’s desire for justice due to the nature of the sin of Hophni and Phinehas. Either interpretation could be justified.
Questions to consider:
- Compare and contrast the description of Hophni and Phineas with Samuel. Who was Samuel being trained under? What influences surrounded him? Why did Hophni and Phineas go the direction they did and Samuel the way he did?
- What was Eli specifically rebuked for doing (Verse 29)? How might his sons have heard Eli’s rebuke of them in verses 22-25 if he had “fattened” himself through their sinful actions and honored them over the Lord for all those years?
- How important is it for parents to back up their teaching of the Gospel to their children with Gospel-centered living? Why is “perfect” parenting (Which none of us can do) still not enough to guarantee a certain outcome? What has to happen in the heart of the children?