Part 2 – Factors that Led to the Rejection of Eli’s Family
(1 SAMUEL 2:12FF)
Eli’s family was rejected because of the following reasons;
Eli’s sons violated the regulations governing God’s sacrifices as they were laid down in the book of Leviticus. They would get their share of the sacrifice before God would get his share which was against God’s expectations.
The sons of Eli were greedy; they ate the fatty parts which were meant for God. Thus they had contempt for God. (1 Sam 2:15ff)
The sons of Eli indulged in sexual immorality in the sanctuary of Shiloh. They played sex with maids who worked at the entrance of the temple hence their rejection.
They were rejected because they were guilt of blasphemy (spoke evil of God). This was bad as far as the Israelites were concerned because they were warned in Exodus 20:7
Eli failed to discipline his children right from childhood; for this reason they became immoral and thus the rejection.
Eli himself had grown old. He kept on hearing what his sons were doing but almost did nothing to stop them which annoyed God hence rejection.
The sons of Eli were corrupt; they accepted bribes in judging cases. To this end therefore the whole family was rejected.
The sons of Eli were always intimidated the people who brought offerings. They often used force to get best parts that they rejected
The sons failed to respect for their father which was against the commandment of God. This explains why they faced Yahweh’s judgment.
The two sons practiced paganism. They introduced and perpetuated pagan worship at Shiloh temple when they accepted offering to idols in the tent of God.
Eli`s sons never respected God. They paid no attention to the lord in that they never listened to God`s messengers whom He sent to warn them about their wickedness.
Eli knew what his sons were doing and knew that punishment would befall them but never bothered to correct them. 1samuel 2:23
His sons failed to follow the example of their father who had served the lord faithfully as a priest of God hence rejection.
He made a mistake of appointing his sons as judges yet judges were leaders who were appointed by God but Eli decided to make judgeship hereditary.
As a result the sins of Eli affected the whole nation because God punished the Israelites by using the philistines who killed Eli`s sons 1samuel 4:11 and the news shocked Eli to death.