1 Samuel 2:12-36: What Legacy Are You Leaving?

1 Samuel 2:12-36: What Legacy Are You Leaving? 

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of 1 Samuel, and today the next passage we come to is 1 Samuel 2:12-36, so I’ll be reading a selection of verses from that passage. It says,

12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt…. 22 Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. 24 No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. 25 If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death…. 27 And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord… 28 …I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. 29 Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ 30 Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares… 31 ‘Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever…. 34 And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. 35 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 go in and out before my anointed forever.’” 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we pray according to Isaiah 55 that as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so would your word be this morning—that it would not return to you empty but would accomplish that which you purpose and succeed in the thing for which you send it. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. A few weeks ago, I attended the funeral for Gerald Caskey. For those who may not be aware, that’s the father of Jeremy Caskey here at our church. Gerald was himself a pastor and was, by all accounts, an incredibly godly man. In fact, I have to say that Gerald’s funeral was one of the most moving funeral services I’ve ever attended. 

First of all, there were way more people in attendance than that funeral home was designed to hold. In a room that could probably comfortably accommodate about 80-90 people, I’d estimate there were at least 150 people there. About 30 of us had to be out in the hallway, because there was just no way so many people were going to fit in that room. And I believe that in itself speaks volumes about Gerald and the man he was and the impact he made on so many people. 

And as Gerald’s three sons got up and told stories about Gerald and described his love and devotion to the Lord and the way he cared so deeply and ministered so faithfully to his family, it was truly inspiring. And I left that funeral service asking myself, “What kind of legacy am I leaving? Am I leaving a legacy of godliness like Gerald did?” And maybe that’s something that’s very important to you as well. I imagine that, for a strong majority of us, it is. We want our lives to count for something and to make an impact on others that will still be felt even after we’re no longer here. We want to leave a legacy of godliness. 

Yet as our main passage this morning makes clear, that can sometimes be a challenge. Even Eli, who was a priest in Israel and was devoted to the Lord in many ways, nevertheless failed to leave a legacy of godliness. So, how can we make sure we don’t end up like him? That’s a big part of what we’ll be talking about this morning. 

As we’ll see, the main idea of this passage is that God will judge the negligence of Eli and the wickedness of Eli’s sons and raise up in their place a faithful leader. Again, God will judge the negligence of Eli and the wickedness of Eli’s sons and raise up in their place a faithful leader.

So, let’s look first at verse 12. It says, “Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord.” The Hebrew word translated here as “worthless men” is also translated as “wicked men,” “useless men,” and even “worthless scoundrels.” Suffice it to say that these were not the kind of men that most people would want to have any association with. 

And to make matters worse, these two sons of Eli—named Hophni and Phinehas, by the way—were priests in Israel and therefore had the responsibility to be mediators of sorts between God and the rest of the Israelites. They were entrusted with sacred duties in the temple, including the offering of sacrifices. So, they were supposed to be spiritual leaders among the Israelites. But instead of leading in a godly manner, they were “worthless men.”  

For example, we read in the subsequent verses that they regularly abused their leadership positions by taking for themselves a portion of the sacrifices that the Israelites offered. Verses 13-14 tell us, 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

Now, the Old Testament law did allow for priests to take certain portions of certain sacrifices for themselves as a form of material support and compensation for their ministry as priests. However, these priests went far beyond anything the law allowed and indiscriminately helped themselves to all kinds of sacrificial portions, whether those portions were allotted to them or not. It would be kind of a like pastor today not being satisfied with the legitimate salary from the church that he’s entitled to and just reaching his hand into the donation box every Sunday and keeping whatever donations his hand happened to grab. That’s what the priests—including Hophni and Phinehas—were doing. 

We also see in verses 15-16 that they were doing something similar with the fat of the sacrifices—taking for themselves what should have been offered to the Lord. Therefore, verse 17 tells us, “Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.” In other words, their behavior was a flagrant offense to God. 

In addition, as we move down to verse 22, we see that Eli’s sons also abused their positions of authority in an even more scandalous way. It says, “Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” So, basically, there were women who were responsible for various practical duties in the “tent of meeting” where the sacrifices were offered, and Hophni and Phinehas would actually force these women to grant them sexual favors. It’s difficult to imagine any more vile way for a priest to abuse his authority than that. 

And Eli’s response to their outrageous behavior left much to be desired. We read in verses 23-25, 23 And he [Eli] said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. 24 No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. 25 If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” 

Now as we can see, everything Eli says to his sons is true. However, considering the magnitude of their offenses, Eli’s response to their behavior is pretty weak. He basically just gives them a verbal slap on the wrist. Instead of actually holding them accountable or issuing consequences for their outrageous behavior, Eli just scolds them and tells them that what they’re doing isn’t good. It also seems reasonable to conclude that this negligence in dealing with the problematic behavior of his sons was a longstanding pattern. The reason Eli’s sons had become such “worthless men” is because, throughout their lives, Eli had habitually neglected to discipline them or allow them to face any real consequences for their actions. 

And unfortunately, it seems that most parents in our society today are likewise hesitant to discipline their children—or even opposed to any meaningful discipline whatsoever. Instead, following the recommendations of supposed “experts,” they adopt an approach to parenting that’s often referred to as “gentle parenting.” According to this popular philosophy of parenting, parents shouldn’t punish their children but should instead address their children’s undesirable behaviors through problem-solving. The idea is for the parent to be more of a life coach for their child and ever so gently help their child see that there’s a better way to behave. After all, we certainly wouldn’t want to damage our child’s mental or emotional health by saying that their behavior is wrong or punishing them for their behavior. Instead, according to these “experts,” a more positive approach is much better for the development of our children. 

Now, to be clear, I’m not saying that everything about the “gentle parenting” philosophy is wrong. However, a fundamental way in which much of the advice of these “experts” is flawed is that it ignores the fact that children have a sinful nature. This is something the Bible teaches in many places, such as Psalm 51:5, where David says of himself “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” 

That’s why those of us who are parents don’t have to teach our children how to lie or be selfish or manipulate. Somehow, they already know how to do all of those things surprisingly well. It’s all a part of their sinful nature coming out. And if you don’t recognize the fact that children have a sinful nature, it’s going to distort just about every aspect of your parenting philosophy. If you start with a wrong premise, you’re virtually guaranteed to arrive at a wrong conclusion. 

Yet if we start with a biblical premise and recognize that children do indeed have a sinful nature, it follows that discipline is an essential component of raising them well. That’s why Proverbs 13:24 tells us, “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” And Proverbs 22:15 helpfully explains why discipline is so necessary. It tells us that “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.” The only way to liberate your child from the “folly” or foolishness that’s in their hearts is through discipline. 

And lest we think discipline is only an Old Testament concept, Ephesians 6:4 states, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Notice in this verse that fathers are cautioned against provoking their children to anger—which would include excessive discipline or unfair discipline. Yet, as the second half of the verse makes clear, that warning doesn’t at all rule out discipline that’s carried out in a loving and responsible manner. 

So, with that in mind, let me briefly suggest four principles for parental discipline. First, be united. You and your spouse need to be on the same page when it comes to when and how you’ll discipline your kids. If the two of you haven’t come to an agreement on the when and how of discipline, things are going to be confusing for your children and difficult for the whole family. Also, your children—being the clever little manipulators that they are—will very quickly figure out how to pit the two of you against each other in a situation in which discipline is needed. 

Then, secondly, be clear. Make sure your children understand what the rules of the house are and what exactly is expected of them. Make sure they also clearly understand what will happen to them if they disobey those rules. 

And flowing out of that is a third principle, which is to be consistent. I can’t think of anything that will undermine the effectiveness of your discipline more than a failure to be consistent in following through with discipline whenever it’s warranted. If you’re not consistent in your discipline, it’s probably not going to accomplish very much. Children learn very quickly how far they can push you before you’ll discipline them. And if you routinely make empty threats about discipline, don’t be surprised when your children don’t take what you say very seriously. Your children will behave according to what they believe you’ll actually do rather than merely what you say you’re going to do. 

For example, think about gravity. Children learn very early on that gravity is always a reality. That’s why they don’t intentionally throw themselves face first down into the asphalt street in front of your house. Your children know that the consequences of them doing that are absolutely certain. It’s going to hurt a lot 100% of the time. So, they don’t do it. But if they think the likelihood of you discipling them for a particular behavior is somewhat less than certain, they’re much more likely to try their luck, so to speak, and see what they can get away with. Children will almost always behave according to what they believe to be the actual consequences of their behavior rather than merely the threatened consequences. 

And then a fourth and final principle is to be loving. Disciplining your children in a loving manner involves, first of all, making sure they understand why you’re disciplining them. There was a rule, the consequences for disobedience to that rule were clearly communicated, and they chose to disobey. Even though your children may not be happy about the fact that discipline is now necessary, they shouldn’t be surprised or caught totally off guard. Also, it’s important to never discipline out of anger or to lose control of yourself in the discipline of your kids. If you don’t have your emotions under control, you need to wait until you do have your emotions under control before you engage in any discipline. 

Then, after you discipline your child, reaffirm your love for them. Make sure they understand that, even though discipline was necessary, you still love them and will never stop loving them no matter how much they misbehave. You might even explain that that’s the way God loves us. The gospel teaches us that God’s love for us isn’t dependent on our moral performance but on Jesus and what Jesus has done for us on the cross. Therefore, if we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we can be sure that God still loves us and accepts us as his children no matter how much we struggle to live for him. 

And before we leave this subject of discipline, let me make an appeal here that’s directed specifically toward fathers. If you’re a father, you need to step up when it comes to the discipline of your children. Don’t put your wife in the position of always have to be the “bad guy.” If you’re home, the responsibility for discipline rests on your shoulders, regardless of how tired you are from a hard day at work. You need to be the one to take the lead when it comes the discipline of your children.  

There was a time a few years ago when one of our boys was misbehaving during the day while I was away at work. And my wife warned him that she’d have to spank him if he didn’t stop his problematic behavior. And when he kept pushing the boundaries, she warned him that, if he didn’t stop, daddy would spank him when he came home that evening. And immediately, this boy said, “No, not daddy. He gives the hurting spankings.” So, as a man, that’s part of your job. Your children need to know that “hurting spankings” will come to them if they cross a certain line. 

And for anyone who’s still a bit a skeptical about this, I want to clarify that I’m certainly not suggesting any of us abuse our children in any way. I’d also like to emphasize that this approach to discipline is what I believe leads to children being the happiest overall. I believe that, deep down, kids actually like boundaries. It helps them feel safe and cared for and looked after. Even though they’ll almost always push the boundaries however far they think they can, they actually thrive with firm and consistent boundaries in place. I honestly believe that our four kids are incredibly happy and would tell you that they have a wonderful childhood. 

And in my experience at least, if you’re very consistent with spankings at the beginning, you eventually get to a point where you don’t really have to resort to spankings all that often. Personally, I can only remember giving out two spankings this entire past year. And I think one reason for that is because my kids know that when I threaten to respond to a certain behavior with a spanking, it’s not an empty threat. So, when I ask them to do something, they usually do it. And when I use a certain tone of voice to ask them to do something, they pretty much always do it. And it just saves everyone from having to go through the misery of endless negotiations. 

As a result, Becky and I are able to actually enjoy spending time with our kids and enjoy taking them out places to do fun things without worrying about our time together being ruined by them misbehaving or having a bad attitude. So, my point is that consistent discipline actually enables the entire family—both parents and children—to be happy together and to enjoy spending time with one another. 

Now, I know I spent a lot of time talking about that, but it just seemed to be a very clear application of our main passage and a very important one especially for those who are parents. Don’t be like Eli, who neglected to discipline his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, with the result that they eventually grew up to be monsters.  

We then read further details about Eli’s parental shortcomings in verse 29. After God reminds Eli of what a tremendous privilege it is to be a priest, he asks Eli, “Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?”

So, this verse seems to imply that, not only did Eli neglect to discipline his sons for eating more portions of the people’s sacrifices than was allowed, Eli himself also participated in that sin. God asks Eli, “Why… do you scorn my sacrifices…?” God also says to Eli later in the verse that he and his sons are guilty of “fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering.” It’s also worth noting that Eli is described in 1 Samuel 4:18 as a “heavy” man—probably from all of the forbidden portions of sacrifices he ate. 

This is a good reminder for those of us who are parents that it’s not enough to simply tell our kids to honor God with their lives. We have to actually model a godly lifestyle ourselves. And if we don’t take our own sin seriously, it has very real consequences for our kids. 

Even though we may be able to manage the outward behaviors of our kids through discipline, our ultimate goal hopefully isn’t merely to manage their outward behaviors but to also win their hearts. That means our kids have to genuinely respect us and see a basic correlation between what we teach and the way we live. As a parent, your goal should be to live in such a way that your kids want what you have. They should want to know God the way you know God. And that means they have to see you living a life that’s both respectable and desirable. 

One author named Pete Scazzero writes, “Who you are as a person…will always have a larger and longer impact on those around you than what you do…. We cannot give what we do not possess. We cannot help but give what we do possess. We can teach what we know, but we will reproduce who we are.” So, as a parent, you can teach what you know, but you’ll usually end up reproducing who you are.

Now, of course, you’re not capable of perfection—and that’s okay. But your kids do need to see a general pattern of godliness in your life. And when you do sin in a way that your children can see, acknowledge your sin to them. Explain to them that daddy also is a sinner who needs a Savior, or mommy also is a sinner who needs Jesus to rescue her. And whenever your sin is not only in front of your children but also against your children, be sure to ask for their forgiveness. 

Yet, as we can see here in these verses, Eli fell lamentably short in this area. As a result, in the subsequent verses, God announces what the consequences will be for Eli and his descendants. God says to him in verses 31-34, 31 Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. 34 And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. 

So, Eli’s sinful shortcomings would have severe consequences not just for him but for his children as well and even for subsequent generations after them. 

And the same is also true for those of us today who are parents. The way we live will have a tremendous impact not only on our children but on our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on. Of course, on the one hand, this is a very sobering thought for us as we consider our many shortcomings. Yet it can also be a very encouraging thought as we think about the enormous spiritual impact we can make on future generations by the way we live today and through our efforts to minister faithfully to our children and grandchildren. 

Suffice it to say that I don’t know of any greater way to make an impact for the gospel than by having a lot of kids, diligently raising them to know and love the Lord, and then sending them out into the world to live faithfully for Jesus and have a lot of kids of their own whom they can teach to do the same. 

Also, I realize I’ve been focusing on parents this morning—since that does seem to be the chief application of this particular passage. But I do also want to emphasize that this doesn’t just apply to parents. Those who aren’t parents can also leave a legacy of godliness and make an enormous gospel impact by investing in the children God brings into your life—perhaps children in your extended family or children in this church. We could always use more volunteers for our Children’s Ministry on Sunday mornings and our Awana ministry for children in kindergarten through sixth grade on Wednesday evenings. 

In addition, you can also make an impact on others by investing in them in the context of a discipling relationship. Hopefully, if you’ve been a Christian for some time, you’re actively seeking to disciple—or mentor—those who are younger in the faith, even meeting with them on a regular basis for that very purpose. So, even if you don’t have biological children, you can still have numerous spiritual children—and even grandchildren and great-grandchildren—by investing in the lives of people around you. 

Yet, looking once again at our main passage, we see that, even though Eli failed to leave a legacy of godliness, God would nevertheless raise up a faithful priest in the future. He says in verse 35, “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 go in and out before my anointed forever.” As we’ll see in subsequent chapters, this “faithful priest” would be Samuel. God would raise up Samuel to be a “faithful priest” for his people Israel. 

Yet even Samuel would fall short in many ways. Therefore, God’s people needed another priest who could act as the ultimate mediator between them and God. And as we now know from reading the New Testament, that priest would be none other than Jesus. Even though this prediction of a “faithful priest” would have its most immediate fulfillment in Samuel, it would have its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. 

Hebrews 4:14 refers to Jesus as our “great high priest,” and Hebrews 7:27 tells us that Jesus is superior to the priests of the Old Testament, who offered daily sacrifices for the sins of the people. Instead, it says, Jesus is the ultimate priest who offered one sacrifice for all sin—and that, of course, was the sacrifice of himself on the cross. Jesus suffered the penalty for our sins on the cross so that we wouldn’t have to suffer for our sins in hell. 

It’s in this way that Jesus is the ultimate—and indeed, the only—priest or mediator between people and God. As 1 Timothy 2:5-6 states, 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Then, after Jesus died on the cross, he was triumphantly raised from the dead, with the result that everyone who puts their trust in him for rescue will indeed be saved from their sins, brought into a right relationship with God, and receive the free gift of eternal life in heaven. 

And for those who are parents and who haven’t yet done that, let me emphasize that the only way you can expect to have a meaningful spiritual impact on your children—or on anyone else for that matter—is if you yourself have embraced this gospel message and put your trust in Jesus. You may want your kids to have a relationship with God, but the first question to ask is whether you yourself have a relationship with God. How do you expect to pass on to your kids something that you yourself lack? 

Also, maybe you’re here today and are already a Christian and yet are very aware of significant ways in which you fall short as a parent. Let me just encourage you by reminding you that we all fall short. Parenting is no easy undertaking, and every one of us falls short in so many ways. That’s why it’s so critical for us to remember that it’s Jesus who makes us right with God rather our stellar performance as a parent. 

There are times when we’ll inevitably blow it as parents. Yet God loves us just as much when we blow it as he does when we have a great day as a parent—because our standing with God is based not on our imperfect parenting but on the perfect righteousness and the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. And may we also never forget that God is more than able to overcome all of our weaknesses and shortcomings with our children in order to raise our children up to be godly and devoted followers of him.