OH! WHAT A SAD END!

1. Oh! What A Sad End!

a) Many a story in the scriptures illustrate how parents have tried, either successfully or unsuccessfully, to teach their children to keep the commandments of God.

b) One such instructive story is that of Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. 

c) Before a permanent temple was built at Jerusalem, the portable tabernacle was located at Shiloh, a city north of Jerusalem. Eli was the priest (probably the high priest) over the tabernacle at Shiloh (1 Samuel 1:9, 2:11) as well as a judge in Israel (1 Samuel 4:18). By this time, Eli was 98 years old (1 Samuel 4:15).

d) Unfortunately, Eli’s own sons did not submit to their father’s supervision. Like their father, Hophni and Phinehas were also priests at the tabernacle (1 Samuel 1:3). The sons of Eli “knew not the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:12). They are referred to as “sons of Belial” (1 Samuel 2:12), which is a term of derision used elsewhere in the scriptures. The word Belial basically means “wickedness” or “worthlessness.'

e) The sons of Eli earned their bad reputation. 

@1. For the priests to obtain their rightful portions of the sacrifices, it was customary at the tabernacle at Shiloh for the priest’s servant to thrust a large fork into the pot in which the sacrificial animal was cooking and to give the priest whatever portion of boiled meat the fork happened to bring up (1 Samuel 2:13–14). 

@2. However, the sons of Eli wanted roasted meat instead of boiled meat; so Hophni and Phinehas compelled the priest’s servant to extort the best portions of meat from the person presenting the sacrifice before the fat was burned and before the meat was boiled (1 Samuel 2:15–16).

@3. If the one who was presenting the sacrifice refused to hand over the desired portions of meat before the fat was burned, the sons of Eli compelled the priest’s servant to take the meat by force (1 Samuel 2:16). 

@4. In addition to extortion, the sons of Eli were also guilty of sexual immorality with the women who gathered at the entrance to the tabernacle (1 Samuel 2:22).

f) As priests, Hophni and Phinehas were consecrated to be holy representatives and upstanding teachers; in a sense, they belonged to the Lord.

g) Eli instructed his sons that they did not merely “sin against another” person but rather they did “sin against the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:25).

h) Although Eli chastised Hophni and Phinehas, he apparently had not done everything he could to correct their bad behavior. 

i) Eli was guilty of neglecting his parental duties toward his sons because “he restrained them not” (1 Samuel 3:13). 

j) As a result of Eli’s neglect, the Lord said that Eli and his house would be cut off from His favor and that, as a sign of the truth of the Lord’s words, both sons would die on the same day (1 Samuel 2:30–34).

k) After the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines and lost a battle, the sons of Eli accompanied the ark of the covenant to the battlefront because the Israelites hoped the ark would provide some divine protection (1 Samuel 4:1–5).

l) The result was that “the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain” (1 Samuel 4:11).

m) When Eli heard that the ark was captured, he fell backwards off his seat, broke his neck, and died (1 Samuel 4:18).

n) Oh! What a sad end! 

o) What are the lessons to be learned?

@1. As priest of the Lord, Eli successfully supervised Samuel at the tabernacle but was not as diligent as he could have been toward his own sons. 

@2. In a similar fashion, although many endeavors may be worthy of our time and attention, we ought not to neglect our responsibility toward our family because of our devotion to other activities. 

@3. Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. 

@4. Husbands and wives — mothers and fathers — will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

p) The story of Eli and his sons reminds us of the serious responsibility parents have to teach their children the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the heartbreaking consequences that can result if parents neglect this sacred obligation.