1 Samuel 2:22-26

Abandoned.

The facts are—

1 . Eli in advancing years hears of the abominable deeds of his sons.

2 . He remonstrates with them, pointing out the con sequences of their conduct.

3 . Heedless of the warning, they persist in sin, being abandoned by God. The narrative of the sacred historian seems to take in two extremes—two elements working on in moral antagonism till the one passes away and the other becomes ascendant. The abominations and profanations of Eli's sons, and Samuel's purity and entire devotion to God, are placed in striking contrast. The history of the former is sketched as explaining the course of Providence in the deliverance wrought by Samuel's subsequent conduct. The stage in the course of the dissolute priests here indicated brings into view—

I. FEARFUL PROGRESSION IN SIN . The iniquity of years culminates in the most abominable crimes men could commit. The descent to shamelessness and utter corruption becomes very rapid. One can hardly imagine these vile sons of Belial as once having been gentle youths taught to revere Jehovah's name, and to tread his courts with awe. The momentum gained by evil desires when once let loose is among the most fearful features of human experience. It is the same sad story as often told now to the hearts of wailing parents:—disobedience,. aversion to holy things, formal observances, secret associations of evil, seared conscience, loss of self-respect, profanation of sacred places, contempt for religion, self-abandonment to lust, defiance of God. What tears fall to earth nightly over erring ones! What blasted hopes lie on life's pathway! What cruel triumphs of sin over all that is fair and strong in human nature! Holy Saviour, many of thy followers share in thy tears once shed over sin finished in righteous doom! ( James 1:15 ). When, when shall the mighty power come in answer to the cry of try Church to turn back the tide of woe, and drive the curse from the heart and home of man? "How long, O Lord, how long?"

II. DEFECTIVE DISCIPLINE . No doubt Eli, as a good man, deplored the vices of the age, and above all the crimes of his sons, and he performed a father's part in remonstrating with them on account of their deeds, warning them of the dangers to which they were exposed at the hand of the invisible Judge. But the day for warning and remonstrance was past, and the day for swift, unsparing punishment had come. As judge in civil capacity, and as high priest in spiritual capacity, the course of Eli was clear— immediate banishment from office and capital punishment (Le 1 Samuel 18:6 , 1 Samuel 18:20 , 1 Samuel 18:29 ; 1 Samuel 20:10 ; 1 Samuel 21:6 , 1 Samuel 21:7 , 17, 23). We see how a man good in many respects, may recognise duty and not perform it. Eli knew that the sin of contempt for the ordinance of sacrifice, utter disregard of the honour due to God, prostitution of the holiest office to the vilest uses, was past condoning, past covering even by sacrifice. For God, as Eli puts it, makes no provision to pardon and save those who wantonly scorn the means of pardon and salvation. No sacrifice l no intercessor! Yet the appointed judge in Israel is content with a bare declaration of truth, refraining from an exercise of the powers wherewith he is invested for the vindication of justice and the maintenance of order. Moral weakness was the sin of Eli. The imperious claims of God, of public welfare, of religious purity, appealed to the sense of duty in vain, because of some personal sentiment or lack of resolution. Cases often arise in national affairs, Church discipline, home life, where duty comes into collision with private sentiments and personal affection. Sometimes, as with Nathan in accusing David, and Ambrose in placing Theodosius under the ban, moral strength is conspicuous. Often, as with Eli, Jonah, and David in one instance, sense of duty yields to inferior impulses. True moral courage is a quality of high order. It confers great honour on those in whom it appears, and is a most important element in securing the welfare of the individual, the home, and the public. Its presence in most perfect Christian form may be ascribed to the combination of various elements.

(a) A natural sense of justice —a psychological condition in which moral perceptions have more prompt influence than transitory emotions.

(b) A careful culture of the conscience through early years, and in relation to the minutiae of life.

(c) Intelligent faith in the inviolability of moral law.

(d) Formation of the habit of immediate submission to moral dictates, on the general principle that in morals first thoughts are truest.

(e) Strength of will to endure present suffering, as not being the worst of evils.

(f) A nature brought fully under the quickening influence of practical Christianity, as consisting in radical renewal, obedience to the precepts of Christ, fellowship with a holy God, and perpetual aspiration after holiness. There are instances still in which failure in moral courage is the one great blot on an otherwise excellent life. Where such occur sin flourishes, and the righteous mourn. The severe hand of justice is frequently the hand of true kindness. Favouritism and subordination of righteousness to personal ends, in public and domestic life, cause iniquity to abound, and sooner or later these will be visited by the judgment of God.

III. DIVINE ABANDONMENT . The sons of Eli were given up by God to their deserved doom. They heeded not remonstrance, for they had gone so far into sin as to be left destitute of that gracious influence from God, without which the soul is held fast in the cords of its iniquity. The outward fact of despising the father's warning was evidence to the historian that God had judicially abandoned them. "They hearkened not, because the Lord would slay. them." The solemn truth is clear that men may persist in sin so utterly as to be given up by God without mercy to all its consequences.

1 . The evidence of this is full.

(a) Men are sometimes smitten with death as a consequence of persistent sin, as in case of Sodom, and the rebellion of Korah, all means of repentance being judicially cut off.

(b) The New Testament references to the sin against the Holy Ghost, and the apostasy of counting the blood of Christ an "unclean thing."

(c) The fact that at the end of life the impenitent are given over to look for "tribulation and anguish."

2 . The rationale of this is partly discoverable. It is not mere arbitrariness, nor is it the effect of imperfect benevolence.

(a) It is consonant with the working of natural law. Physiology and psychology prove that there is a tendency to permanence of character in all. This is especially true of those who persist in strong unhallowed desires.

(b) There are transgressions even in society which admit of no restoration to society.

(c) In a wise and endlessly ramified moral government which rests on an eternal right, there can be no proof that a moral Ruler, whose existence is bound up with right and order, is obliged to cover the past of free beings who have deliberately persisted in evil, by giving them a new power which shall make them different from what they prefer to be.

(d) The judicial abandonment of the intensely sinful acts as a wholesome deterrent on the moral universe, by vindicating the holiness of God, and the claim of universal society on the pure, loving life of each of its constituents, and this too while giving to free beings only what they prefer.

Practical lessons:—

1 . The importance of guarding against first tendencies to deviate from the path of purity and truth.

2 . The value of early habits of devotion, regard for right and purity, as a preventive of habits of a reverse character.

3 . The extreme danger to the Church of a professional religion in alliance with a tendency to sensual indulgence, and the need of watching closely against such a possible combination.

4 . The value of an early training of. the moral sense, and its constant culture, as against the inferior elements of our life.

5 . The use of the lessons of history, as illustrating the terrible power of sin, and the damage done to society and the Church by defective discipline.

HOMILIES BY B. DALE

1 Samuel 2:11 . (SHILOH.)

Samuel's childhood and. growth.

"And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest." "And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men" ( 1 Samuel 2:26 ). ( 1 Samuel 1:24 ; 1 Samuel 2:18 , 1 Samuel 2:19 , 1 Samuel 2:21 ; 1 Samuel 3:1 .) "Great is the reverence due to children." It is said of an eccentric schoolmaster in Germany, who lived about 300 years ago, John Trebonius, that he never appeared before his boys without taking off his hat and bowing very humbly before them. "Who can tell," said he, "what may not rise up amid these youths? There may be among them those who shall be learned doctors, sage legislators, nay, princes of the empire." Even then there was among them "the solitary monk that shook the world." But a much greater than Luther (with whom he has been compared— Ewald ) was the little Nazarite, who with unshorn locks ministered in the tabernacle at Shiloh; and at a very early age he gave signs of his future eminence. "Even a child is known by his doings" ( Proverbs 20:11 ). "The child is father to the man." But what he will be depends greatly on his early training; for "the new vessel takes a lasting tincture from the liquor which is first poured in" (Horace); "the soft clay is easily fashioned into what form you please" (Persius); and "the young plant may be bent with a gentle hand, and the characters engraved on the tender bark grow deeper with the advancing tree" (Quinctilian). Consider—

I. HIS EDUCATION , or the influences to which he was subject, consisting of—

1 . Impressions under the parental roof. He did not leave his home at an age too early to prevent his receiving deep and permanent impressions from the example, prayers, and instructions of his parents. His destination would be explained to him by his mother, and made attractive and desirable; so that when the time came for the fulfilment of her vow he might readily make it his own. The memory of those early days must have been always pleasant to him; and the sacred bond of filial affection would be renewed and strengthened by the annual visit of his parents, and by the yearly present which his mother brought to him (verse 19). The making of the "little coat" was a work of love, and served to keep her absent boy in mind, whilst the possession of it was to him a constant memorial of her pure affection. The first impressions which he thus received were a powerful means of preserving him from evil, and inciting him to good. "Every first thing continues forever with the child; the first colour, the first music, the first flower paint the foreground of life; every new educator affects less than its predecessor, until at last, if we regard all life as an educational institution, the circumnavigator of the world is less influenced by all nations he has seen than by his nurse" (Locke).

2 . Association with holy things. Everything in the tabernacle was to his childish view beautiful and repressive, and overshadowed by the mysterious presence of the Lord of hosts. "Heaven lies about us in our infancy." And the veil which separates the invisible from the visible is then very attenuated. When he afterwards saw how much beneath the outward form was hollow and corrupt, he was strong enough to endure the shock, and distinguished between "the precious and the vile." Association with sacred things either makes men better than others, or else very much worse.

3 . Occupation in lowly services. Even when very young he could perform many little services in such a place as the tabernacle, and in personal attendance on Eli, who was very old and partially blind. A part of his occupation we know was to open the doors ( 1 Samuel 3:15 ). By means of such things he was trained for a higher ministry.

4 . Instruction in sacred truth, given by his kind hearted guardian in explanation of the various objects and services in the tabernacle, and, still more, gained by the perusal of the religious records stored up therein ( 1 Samuel 10:25 ).

5 . Familiarity with public life. "There at the centre of government, he must early have become conversant with the weightiest concerns of the people."

6 . Observation of the odious practices of many, especially Hophni and Phinehas. For this also must be mentioned among the influences that went to form his character. It as impossible to keep a child altogether from the sight of vice. External safeguards are no protection without internal purity. On the other hand, outward circumstances which are naturally perilous have often no effect on internal purity, except to make it more decided and robust. "The jarring contrast which he had before his eyes in the evil example of Eli's children could but force more strongly upon his mind the conviction of the great necessity of the age, and impel to still more unflinching rigour to act up to this conviction" (Ewald). But this could only take place by—

7 . The power of Divine grace, which is the greatest and only effectual teacher ( Titus 2:11 , Titus 2:12 ). The atmosphere of prayer which he breathed from earliest life was the atmosphere of grace. The Holy Spirit rested upon him in an eminent degree, and he grew up under his influence, "like a tree planted by the rivers of water," gradually and surely to perfection.

II. HIS CHARACTER , or the dispositions which he developed under these influences. He "grew on" not only physically and intellectually, but also morally and spiritually, manifesting the dispositions which properly belong to a child, and make him a pattern to men ( Matthew 18:3 ).

1 . Humble submission.

2 . Great docility, or readiness to learn what he was taught.

3 . Ready obedience to what he was told to do. How promptly did he respond to the voice of Eli, who, as he thought, called him from his slumber ( 1 Samuel 3:5 ). The watchword of childhood and youth should be "Obey." And it is only those that learn to obey who will be fit to command.

4 . Profound reverence. For "he ministered before the Lord," as if under his eye, and with a growing sense of his presence. "He was to receive his training at the sanctuary, that at the very earliest waking up of his spiritual susceptibilities he might receive the impression of the sacred presence of God" (Keil).

5 . Transparent truthfulness and guilelessness.

6 . Purity and self-control ( 1 Timothy 4:12 ; 2 Timothy 2:22 ).

7 . Sincere devotion to the purpose of his dedication to the Lord. In this manner he gradually grew into the possession of a holy character, and needed not, like many others, any sudden or conscious "conversion" from the ways of sin to the ways of God. Like John the Baptist, "he grew and waxed strong in spirit" ( Luke 1:80 ); and his childhood is described in the very words employed to describe the childhood of our Lord:. "And Jesus increased in favour with God and man" ( Luke 2:40 , Luke 2:51 , Luke 2:52 ).

III. HIS ACCEPTANCE , or the favour he obtained ( Proverbs 3:4 ).

1 . With God, who looked down upon him with delight, beholding in him the effect of his grace, and a reflection of his light and love. For "the Lord taketh pleasure in his people" ( Psalms 149:4 ).

2 . With men. The gratification which Eli felt in his presence and service appears in the benediction he uttered on his parents when they visited the tabernacle, and in accordance with which they were compensated with three sons and two daughters for "the gift which they gave unto the Lord" ( 1 Samuel 2:20 , 1 Samuel 2:21 ). Even Hophni and Phinehas must have regarded the young Nazarite with respect. And the people who brought their offerings to the tabernacle looked upon him with admiration and hope. So he was prepared for the work that lay before him.—D.

1 Samuel 2:12-17 . (SHILOH.)

A degenerate priesthood.

"The best things when corrupted become the worst." It is thus with official positions such as were held by the priests of old. Their positions were an hereditary right, and their duties consisted largely of a prescribed routine of services. It was required, however, that their personal character should accord with their sacred work ( Malachi 2:7 ); and their influence was great for good or evil. Whilst they reflected in their character and conduct the moral condition of the times, they a]so contributed in no small degree to produce it. The sons of Eli employed their high office not for the welfare of men and the glory of God, but. for their own selfish and corrupt purposes, and afford an example of "great and instructive wickedness." Concerning them the following things are recorded:—

I. CULPABLE IGNORANCE OF GOD ( 1 Samuel 2:12 ). They had no proper conception of him as holy and just, and they did not consider that he observed and hated sin by whomsoever it was committed, and would surely punish it. They had no communion with him, no sympathy with his purposes, and no sense of their own obligations to him. They were unspiritual men, and practically infidel. And they were such notwithstanding the instructions they received, the opportunities they possessed, and the services they rendered. Although the servants of God, "they knew not God," and were "without excuse." Amidst a blaze of light men may be dark within. "And if the light within thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"

II. OFFICIAL ROBBERY OF MEN ( 1 Samuel 2:13 , 1 Samuel 2:14 ). Not satisfied with the liberal portions of the peace offerings which were legally assigned to them (the breast and shoulder), they claimed other and larger portions, to which they were not entitled, and robbed the people for the gratification of their own appetites. What they would have fiercely denounced in others they deemed venial offences in privileged men like themselves. How often do official positions and selfish indulgences blind men to the injustice of their conduct, and harden them in iniquity.

III. WILFUL VIOLATION OF THE LAW ( 1 Samuel 2:15 ). It was required by the Levitical law that the fat should be burnt on the altar before the offering was divided between the priest and the offerer; but instead of doing this, the priest sent his servant beforehand to demand his portion with the fat, that it might be better fitted for roasting than boiling, which was not to his taste. He thus appropriated to his private use what belonged to the Lord, and "robbed God" of his due. It was a gross act of disobedience, sacrilege, and profanity, prompted by the same pampered appetite as his dishonesty toward men; and, in addition, it hindered the people from fulfilling their religious purposes, and made his own servant a partner in his sin.

IV. DESPOTIC EXERCISE OF AUTHORITY ( 1 Samuel 2:16 ). When the people gently remonstrated, and promised to give up their own portion if the fat were first burnt on the altar, it was said to them, "Nay, but thou shalt give it me now, or else I will come and take it by force." Reason as well as right was overridden. Instead of regarding himself as a servant of God for the good of men, the priest made himself a "lord over God's heritage" ( 1 Peter 5:3 ). Having cast aside the authority of God, he made his own arbitrary dictum the law of others, and urged obedience to it by the threatening of force. By the same means, backed by spiritual terrors, he has often sought to accomplish his wishes in every age.

V. INJURIOUS INFLUENCE ON RELIGION ( 1 Samuel 2:17 , 1 Samuel 2:24 ). Men abstained from presenting as many offerings as they would have given, or even from presenting them at all, being repelled from the service of God by the evil conduct of his ministers. "Ye make the Lord's people to transgress" ( 1 Samuel 2:24 ). One unworthy priest has often made many unbelievers. Instead of strengthening what is noblest and best in men, he has destroyed it, and made its restoration impossible. And, generally, ungodly conduct on the part of professed servants of God is a great hindrance to the spread of truth and righteousness, and a powerful influence in extending error and evil in the world. "One sinner destroyeth much good." To complete the picture, two other things must be added, viz.—

VI. SHAMELESS INDULGENCE IN VICE ( 1 Samuel 2:22 ). They knew nothing of self-control, gave the rein to their lusts, and indulged in vices which the heathen commonly associated with their idol worship, and which made that worship so terrible a temptation to Israel. The idol feasts at Shiloh were doubtless scenes of gross sensuality; and the sons of Eli scarcely cared to disguise their participation in similar indulgences, and made the tabernacle of the Lord like a heathen temple.

VII. SUPERSTITIOUS USE OF SACRED THINGS ( 1 Samuel 4:11 ). Having become insensible to the presence of the invisible King, they treated his services as a mere outward ritual, which may be performed without any felt inconsistency between it and any amount of immorality. Why should they observe it at all? From self-interest and from superstition. They still supposed that there was some mysterious benefit inseparably connected with the ark, and enjoyed by those who possessed it, apart from their moral and spiritual state. Their religion had become a superstition, like that of the heathen. And hence they took the ark into the battle field, in sure confidence of their safety, and were deprived of it by the heathen, and they themselves destroyed.

1 . It is possible for men to possess the highest privileges, and yet sink into the deepest degradation.

2 . The patience of Heaven toward sinners, is wonderful, and designed to lead them to repentance.

3 . When men despise the goodness of God, and persist in transgression, they are certain to meet with signal punishment.—D

1 Samuel 2:22-25 . (SHILOH.)

Ineffective reproof.

A man may possess many amiable qualities, and be, on the whole, a good man, and yet be marked by some defect which mars his character, prevents his usefulness, and makes him the unintentional cause of much mischief. Such a man was Eli. Of his early life nothing is recorded. He was a descendant of Ithamar, the youngest son of Aaron, and held the office of high priest, which formerly belonged to the elder branch of the Aaronic family, that of Eleazar ( Numbers 20:26 ), but which was now transferred to the younger, from some unknown cause, and which continued therein until the time of Solomon. At the age of fiftyeight he became judge, and "judged Israel forty years" ( 1 Samuel 4:18 ). When first mentioned he must have been at least seventy years old. His sons were children of his old age; for some time afterwards they were spoken of as young men ( 1 Samuel 2:17 ), and, as is not uncommon in such cases, he treated them with undue indulgence. He was hasty and severe in reproving Hannah, but slow and mild in reproving them. The inefficiency of his REPROOF appears in that—

I. IT WAS NOT ADMINISTERED IN PROPER TIME . The tendency to go wrong generally appears at an early age; and it must have been seen by him in his sons long before the rumour of their flagrant transgressions reached him, if he had not been blind to their faults. But he had no adequate sense of his parental responsibility, was old and weak, of a gentle and easy going temperament, and omitted to reprove them ( 1 Kings 1:6 ) until they had become too strongly devoted to their evil ways to be amenable to expostulation. A little plant may be easily rooted up, but when it has grown into a tree it can only be removed by extraordinary efforts. If some children are "discouraged" ( Colossians 3:21 ) by too much strictness, far more are spoiled by too much indulgence. "Indulgence never produces gratitude or love in the heart of a child."

II. IT WAS NOT GIVEN WITH SUFFICIENT EARNESTNESS ( 1 Samuel 2:23 , 1 Samuel 2:24 ). Gentle reproof may sometimes be most effective, but here it was out of place.

1 . It was not sufficiently pointed in its application; being given to them collectively rather than individually, in indefinite terms, by way of question, and concerning things which he had heard, but into the certainty of which he had not troubled himself to inquire.

2 . It exhibited no sufficient sense of the evil of sin ( 1 Samuel 2:25 ). He spoke of the consequences rather than of the nature, the "exceeding sinfulness" of sin, and spoke of them in a way which indicated little deep personal conviction.

3 . It showed no sufficient determination to correct it. He did not say that he would judge them for their injustice toward men; and with reference to their sin against the Lord, which was their chief offence, he simply confessed that he could do nothing but leave them to the judgment of a higher tribunal. "In the case where the rebuke should have descended like a bolt from heaven we hear nothing but low and feeble murmurings, coming, as it were, out of the dust. Cruel indeed are the tenderest mercies of parental weakness and indulgence. And the fate of Eli shows that by such tender mercies the father may become the minister of vengeance unto his whole house" (Le Bas).

III. IT WAS NOT FOLLOWED BY ADEQUATE CHASTISEMENT . The law of Moses in the case of disobedient children was very severe ( Deuteronomy 21:18-21 ). But Eli neither observed this law "when they hearkened not to his voice" ( 1 Samuel 2:25 ), nor took any further steps to prevent the continuance of the evil which he reproved. He had none of the zeal for which Phinehas the son of Eleazar was approved ( Numbers 25:11-13 ); but as a father, a high priest, and a judge he was guilty of culpable infirmity and wilful disobedience ( 1 Samuel 3:13 ). "Osiers," says an old writer, "can never be pillars in the State or in the Church."

IV. IT DID NOT RESULT IN ANY IMPROVEMENT ( 1 Samuel 2:25 ). Their contempt of reproof showed that they were already infatuated, hardened, and abandoned to destruction; or (reading for—therefore), it filled up the measure of their iniquities, and exposed them to inevitable judgment. "He that hateth reproof shall die" ( Proverbs 15:10 ).

1 . Reproof is often a solemn obligation.

2 . It should be given in an effective manner.

3 . When not so given it does more harm than good.

4 . When justly given it should be humbly and obediently received.—D.