Eli was high priest of Israel before Samuel. Eli had two sons, but the sons of Eli were
corrupt; they did not know the Lord. (1 Samuel 2: 12 ) Eli’s sons took advantage of the hereditary
title of priest. They were so corrupt
that people thought, “If this is how men of God act, I don’t want anything to
do with worship.” And that made God MAD.
Therefore the sin of the young men was very
great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. (1
Samuel 2: 17)
Eli heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting (1 Samuel 2: 22)
But all Eli did was scold his sons a little. He didn’t punish them. He didn’t demand that they confess. He didn’t take away their priestly duties or
withdraw any of their privileges; even though Eli knew that his sons, priests, were
actually causing more sin.
No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people
transgress. (1 Samuel 2: 24)
The Lord sent an unnamed prophet to deliver a message to Eli. The Lord said: Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your
sons more than Me? (1 Samuel 2: 29)
Why do you honor your sons more than Me?
When you stop calling it wrong when you find out YOUR child does it, too;
you honor your children more than God.
When you ignore the way the Bible tells you to raise your children
because you don’t want to upset the child, never mind how it makes God feel;
you honor your children more than God.
When you treat your child as infallible and incapable of any wrong and
you rebuke everyone who tells you otherwise,
regardless of evidence and logic and the fact that you've heard the same things
from multiple teachers in every grade at different schools; then you have made
your child a holy god in your eyes and you honor your child more than God.
And when you honor your child more than God, then God says: Those
who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. (1
Samuel 2: 30)
When you honor your child more than God, then God says:
Generations of baby boys will die young.
I
will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will
not be an old man in your house (1 Samuel 2: 31)
Kids from good homes, surrounded by “saved and sanctified” family, in a
land full of opportunity will die young.
Despite all the good which God does
for Israel, … there shall not be an old man in your house forever (1 Samuel 2: 32)
And the ones who live will disrespect you, shame you, and break your
hearts.
Any
of your men whom I do not cut
off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart (1 Samuel 2: 33)
The tragedy will happen non-stop.
Your
two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them (1 Samuel 2: 33)
And all the potential you saw in them, all the good you “claimed in the
name of Jesus” for your own, will go to another.
I
will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind
(1 Samuel 2: 35)
And your children and the children of your children will borrow and beg
at the feet of others
Everyone
who is left in your house will come and
bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread (1 Samuel 2: 36)
All because you honor your sons more than God.
Think about it. Think about it.
Of course you love them so much that you don’t want to deny them anything. Of course you love them so much that you want
to believe everything they say.
But do you love them more than that? Do
you love them enough to discipline them into morally strong men instead of morally
empty boys?
Do you love them enough to make them be respectful to all adults because
it’s right not because it’s earned so that they grow up knowing that right is not
relative?
Do you love them enough to distrust them a little and check their stories
before you act on them?
Do you love them enough to repent of your sins and walk right before
them so that they understand that even Daddy and Mama submit to God?
Do you love your children enough to place the love of God, His Word, and His
ways above their wants and yours?
Do you love your children enough to honor God more than you honor them?
Well if you don’t, at least you know what to expect.
And the expectation isn't hypothetical.
Eli continued indulging and enabling his sons for years. But before his grandchild was born, Eli lost
both sons and the ark of the covenant that had been the great charge of his
ministry. After 40 years of ministry,
Eli passed out, broke his neck, and died knowing that he’d lost everything he’d
been trying to hold onto (1 Samuel 4: 1-18).
And the legacy of Eli’s cursed parenting did not end with his sons. The curse
passed to another generation, a generation led by a single mother filled with bitterness
over the failings of the men in her family.
With her dying breath, Eli’s daughter-in-law poured that bitterness out on
her son.
Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she
heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and
her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains
came upon her. And about the time
of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have
borne a son.”
But she did not answer, nor did she regard it.
Then she named the child Ichabod, saying,
“The glory has departed from Israel!” (1 Samuel 4: 19 )
We see this curse at work all around us.
The death, the immorality, the epidemic of shameless failure--- they
aren’t coincidences. They’re
consequences.
The consequences of honoring our children more than we honor God.
---Anderson T. Graves
II is a writer,
community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural
leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of
Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of
the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization
(SAYNO) and director of rural leadership
development for the National Institute for Human Development (
NIHD).
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry.
Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
