Throughout the Bible God speaks of the importance of parents raising their children to obey the Lord. In the first few chapters of 1st Samuel the Bible speaks of a priest named Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Eli’s sons were wicked in the sight of God, disobeying their father Eli, and the Lord.
Here are some of the words or phrases used to describe the sons of Eli:
- “Worthless men” (1st Samuel 2:12)
- “They would not listen to the voice of their father” (1st Samuel 2:25)
- “The sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD” (1st Samuel 2:17)
- “The men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt” (1st Samuel 2:17)
- “They did not know the Lord” (1st Samuel 2:12)
In 1st Samuel 3:11-14, in a vision to the child Samuel, the Lord tells Samuel that Eli’s house will be punished:
“Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
To me one of the saddest parts of this passage is that Eli knew his sons were disobeying the Lord, yet he did not stop them from their sin. Parents have a very important responsibility to discipline their children. Children must be taught to obey their parents as well as the Lord. As Ephesians 6:4 states: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” It is vital that children are taught to obey the Lord, for if they are not, they could depart from the Lord like Eli’s sons.