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The figure is one drawn from the pastoral life of the people; one they could well
understand. The ox, or the ass, overfed, pampered and indulged, becomes unmanageable,
and refuses obedience even to his master. Verse 29 then goes on to reveal that Eli bore
an equal responsibility with his sons in this matter:
"Why do you honour your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves on the choice
parts of every offering made by My people Israel" (I Sam. 2: 29, N.I.V.).
The messenger from God to Eli then continues:
"Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house and the house of
thy father, should walk before Me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from Me;
for them that honour Me I will honour, and they that despise Me shall be lightly
esteemed" (2: 30).
This is surely true of every dispensation. If the Lord by His Spirit has opened our
eyes to those spiritual blessings that are in heavenly places (Eph. 1: 3; 2: 6), and we
lightly esteem them, are we likely to receive His commendation? It is only those who
seek to honour Him by searching His Word and trying by His help to walk worthily of
the truth that will receive His "well done" in that day.
No.6.
2: 31 - 3: 21.
pp. 130 - 136
From what we read about Eli it seems inconceivable, however, that this God-fearing
old man shared in the illicit wealth that his sons accumulated by their extortionate
demands from those who came up to Shiloh to worship. On the other hand, he must have
been aware of what they were doing and his fault lay in his weakness in allowing it to
continue. So in verses 31 to 34 God's judgment falls:
"Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's
house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. And thou shalt see an enemy in
My habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old
man in thine house for ever . . . . . and this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon
thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them."
So "the arm" that signifies "power and strength" will be cut off. His descendants
would die at an early age, and Eli would see "an enemy in My habitation", or literally,
"you shall see the affliction (or distress) of the Tabernacle My dwelling place". As the
Psalmist records:
"He . . . . . greatly abhorred Israel: so that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the
tent which He placed among men; and delivered His strength into captivity, and His
glory into the enemy's hand" (Psa. 78: 59-61).
Hophni and Phinehas, Eli's two sons, were to be cut off, both of them in one day.
This would be the evidence to Eli that the sons of his descendants would die in the flower