1 Samuel 2:25, commentary and pictures

An offense of one person against another can be settled by a human judge, but sin against the Lord Himself leaves no human pleader who can secure pardon. When the priests themselves sinned with open contempt, their guilt being bound up with their own work of offering sacrifice for sin, they profaned God's appointed means of atonement so that no expiation remained and not even their father as high priest could entreat for them. Hophni and Phinehas committed this higher sin, serving as mediators while living corruptly, defrauding the offerings, corrupting worship, and leading Israel and unbelievers to despise God and emboldening others in ungodliness. Though Eli as father, judge and high priest warned them of the enormity of their guilt, they refused to heed, hardened their hearts and grew bolder until the Lord cut them both off in one day to die in their sins. Eli knew their wickedness yet only mildly rebuked and entreated instead of firmly restraining and removing them from sacred office, and by excusing and tolerating their sin from mistaken affection he shared their guilt, dishonored God, and brought curse on his house and calamity on Israel, warning parents and ministers now to restrain evil decisively and rebuke sin impartially lest they sanction it and be disqualified from guiding God's church.

Meaning and Historical Setting

An offense of one person against another could be judged and settled by a human judge, but sin against the Lord has no human advocate who can plead for the offender or secure pardon. Eli set this distinction before his sons as a warning that wrongdoing between people can be judged by human authorities, while sin against the Lord is more serious because no ordinary judge can settle it and no one remains able to intercede. Their refusal to listen to that warning did not remove guilt or avert judgment, but came under the Lord's judgment unto death.

Under Israel's system an ordinary interpersonal wrong could be reconciled when the appointed judge fixed a penalty and required restitution so the offender might be pardoned, and a sin that was not presumptuous could be met by a sin offering and atonement through the officiating priests. When the priests themselves sinned against God with open contempt for His authority, there was no one left to atone for them. Their crimes were interwoven with their own ministration in offering sacrifice for sin, profaning and dishonoring God's work before the people so that no expiation could be accepted. Even their own father though high priest dared not entreat for them and could not shield them from the wrath of a holy God. Of all sinners those are most guilty who cast contempt upon the means Heaven has provided for redemption.

Hophni and Phinehas committed this higher sin against the Lord while serving in sacred office as mediators between God and repentant sinners. Though married men, they lived corruptly, defrauding Israel in offerings, boldly transgressing God's law, acting with violence, and corrupting the holy service. They caused the people to despise and neglect worship and to sin, contaminating those around them while Samuel remained untainted and had no part in their sins. Their conduct disgusted unbelievers, brought reproach upon the cause of truth, exerted a corrupting influence wherever they lived, and emboldened others in ungodliness, immorality and idolatry. Their wicked example tested Israel's faith and devotion, so that some used the sins of leaders to excuse their own, while they gave free rein to passion and disguised depravity under religion to the ruin of souls.

Eli, as their father and also as judge and high priest in Israel, reproved, rebuked and warned his sons and set before them the enormity of their guilt and sin. They refused to heed his voice, counsel and correction, regarded not his warning, and hardened their hearts. They became still bolder in transgression while God delayed His threatened judgments year after year. The verse declares that the Lord would slay and judge them, that their transgressions would not be pardoned, that both sons would be cut off in one day and die in their sins.

As judge in Israel and high priest he had authority and responsibility for their conduct to correct them, to abolish their injustice and iniquity, to restrain them, and to remove them at once from the priesthood. He should have judged them as their case deserved even to death for their abominable example, because permitting men loaded with guilt to remain as priests would lead the people to lightly regard crime and despise the sacrificial offerings. His duty to restrain them remained though his sons were married men and adults under his authority as father and priest of God.

Parental Failure and Warning

Eli knew of his sons' wicked conduct and gave them right instruction and a good example, yet he only rebuked, entreated and remonstrated without promptly, firmly and decisively restraining, stopping and disciplining them through firm discipline. His sons did not heed his voice and counsel, and their sin against the Lord left no one able to intercede or atone for them, so the Lord would bring judgment upon them. He was accountable for failing to restrain them, reprove their sin and execute justice, and should have begun with mild measures and, if they failed, used the severest means. As judge and high priest he was responsible for their conduct and should have at once removed them from the priesthood and judged them as deserved, even to death for their abominable example, instead of permitting men loaded with guilt to remain as priests and lead the people to lightly regard crime and despise sacrificial offerings. His indulgence and neglect brought the Lord's displeasure and left his household and Israel exposed to the consequences of their evil.

His neglect came through undue affection and partial judgment, excusing in them what he would have condemned in others. It came from mistaken love and fondness that indulges children to their hurt, and from lax discipline and indulgence that let rebellion continue until faults hardened into habits. He could have restrained his wicked sons but feared their displeasure and suffered them to go on in rebellion until they were a curse to Israel. He feared them and yielded to them, fearing to cross their will and being in subjection to his children instead of moving with decision and requiring the following out of his views of right.

His duty required ruling his own house well, promptly and firmly correcting, training and restraining, and requiring obedience while children are under the parental roof and dependent. Beginning with mild measures and, if they failed, using the severest means was required, and he was cursed because he did not promptly and firmly restrain his wicked sons but excused and tolerated rebellion. As their father and as priest and judge he was still required to restrain them though they were married men, for their adulthood did not excuse him from exercising authority over them. Permitting men loaded with guilt to remain as priests would lead the people to lightly regard crime and despise the sacrificial offerings, so they should have been removed at once and judged even to death.

By permitting, excusing, tolerating and giving consent to their sin instead of defending what was right, he swerved from loyalty to the principles of truth and equity and made himself a partner in their guilt. Those who become partakers of sin by giving consent to evildoers share the guilt of the transactors of wrong, and parents who indulge their children and fail to restrain wrongdoing share in the sin and may face its retribution. Whether injustice is practiced in mere worldly business or in connection with the cause of God, it brings dishonor upon God, bears false witness concerning His character, misrepresents Him, and God will judge for these things. He did not himself commit the sins his sons were guilty of, and he reproved them, but by allowing them to go on in sin he dishonored God, and his example could also lead others into harm.

That failure brought God's curse and displeasure, with judgment against the sons, ruin on them, disaster on Eli whose house would not be blessed, and calamity to Israel. His sons persisted in sin against the Lord and would not heed their father's correction and warning, and their refusal came under the Lord's judgment so they were destined to die in one day. Through lax discipline and wickedness in holy office they exerted a corrupting influence upon the whole nation, polluting the sanctuary, leading thousands to ruin and emboldening surrounding nations. His failure to restrain was sin that kept God from going forth with His people, so God passed him by to speak to the innocent child Samuel, sending an angel to speak with Samuel about the corruption. The ark itself was of no consequence when the law inside it was not kept, and though warned and confessing guilt he showed no true repentance by renouncing sin and taking effective measures, but remained discouraged, indolent and blinded by neglect of duty, thinking correction useless, unlike the Ninevites who repented.

The history warns parents now not to pet, excuse or support persistent evil ways but to promptly and firmly correct rather than tolerate wrongdoing as unavoidable. Parents are required to restrain their children and not leave them unrestrained to indulge pride and follow their own inclinations, for the salvation of children depends very much upon the course pursued by parents. Mistaken love nourishes pride and vanity over dress, leaves the heart void of Christian graces and filled with self-love, haughtiness and uncontrolled passion, makes companionship poisonous and leading to death even in Sabbath-keepers' children, and sows seed that springs up to make children despise parental authority. Every parent must make the family a pattern of good works and a perfect Christian household, and in a pre-eminent degree those who minister in sacred things and to whom the people look for instruction and guidance must do so, being examples to the flock, for he who fails to direct wisely his own household is not qualified to guide the church of God, and even experienced workers may be passed by for neglecting home.

Ministers are warned to rebuke sin impartially, whether the person is high or low, rich or poor, or a dear friend, for neglecting this duty disobeys God, sanctions sin and brings His wrath upon His people. The same guilt appears when parents permit a daughter living under their roof and supported by the church to have her own way, to go and come as she pleases, choose her own society, write to whom she pleases, talk and tattle as she pleases, and by loose habits bring awful trial and reproach upon the cause. As long as she is under their roof she must conform to their rules and be restrained by their counsel and wishes, and when she will not consent she must no longer remain dependent on them and on the church. This was the case of Mary under Brother and Sister Bates and the church in Monterey, whose breach of the marriage vow in scattering her ways to strangers and encouraging the addresses of corrupt and vile men became the greatest source of trial that church ever had, and was greater before God than the sin of Darius Myers at Green Vale, Illinois, made a public matter when it should have been private; to bear down with an unsparing hand on another's lesser course while laboring to clear and cover up the same or greater course in one's own daughter repeats Eli's guilt, and God is displeased both with such parents and with the church that suffers it so long, giving enemies occasion to speak reproachfully.