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I. THE SINS IT INDUCES. The sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are the more prominent, so we will contemplate,

1. Their conduct and character. They appear in an official capacity; but the official must be viewed in its association with the personal, A degenerate priest is but the natural outgrowth of the degenerate man. The evil is in the moral constitution of these men, and whatever they do, wherever they go, it will appear.

(1) They were audacious. (Ver. 12.) The children of Satan, and yet in the temple of God. They knew not the Lord. There are certain qualifications needful to the right discharge of every occupation, and he is a bold man who will undertake the duty without the fitness. What verdict would society pass upon anyone who should pursue the career of a doctor, without having studied the principles of anatomy, ignorant of the laws of medicine? Death to the patient would in all probability be the result. Much more criminal he who will engage to remedy the malady of the immortal soul when ignorant of its antidote. "They knew not the Lord." They were in the very place surrounded by indications of the Divine — how wilful their ignorance! The history of their religious life was embodied in the ark; they could not look upon its ancient timbers without seeing in every board the mercy and providence of God. But their hearts were out of sympathy with these holy associations, and instead of stimulating to devotion, habitual contact with such sanctities led to criminal familiarity. When it is said that they knew not the Lord, it cannot mean that they doubted the reality of His existence. Faint gleams of His essential life had shone upon their intellects. Though in the sunlight, they saw not the beauties it revealed. Probably when at first they entered upon the Temple duties it was with feeble steps — the pallor of a revealed dread would blanch their cheeks; but now fear had lost its tremor in the cool hardihood of habitual sin. What a degree of defiance does their conduct disclose!

(2) They were covetous. (Vers. 18, 14.) What a contradiction is an avaricious priesthood! how strangely out of harmony with the royal beneficence of its Institutor, and the noble munificence of its intended exercise. A devoted ministry looks more to the Divine remuneration than to the human, and does not strike its "fish hook" into the "caldron" of the worshipper. So instead of stimulating the religious sentiments of penitent souls, and lifting them to God, they perverted the design of their office by making themselves the object of its toil. "The priest took for himself." Such a class of men have almost unlimited scope for the exercise of their purpose. The strongest instincts of the soul are those which pertain to God and His worship. Hence when claims are presented to the mentally weak and morally credulous, such demands have but to be uttered to be obeyed. How mean thus to make religion a means of personal gain!

(3) They were despotic. (Ver. 16.) Coercion is operating without its sphere when brought to bear on matters of religion. Spiritual life and devotion are essentially free, both as regards the principle of its action and the form of its homage. "I will take it by force" of these wicked priests. A religion that cannot establish its claim by motive must be weak. Force is always the weapon of the morally imbecile.

(4) They were adulterous. (Ver. 22.)(5) They brought contempt upon religion. (Ver. 17.) Men failed to make a distinction between the priests and the religion whose interests they wore pretending to serve. Nature is inherently beautiful, but if viewed through a piece of stained glass its perfection would be marred by an unnatural tint. So if we desire to behold the loveliness of piety we must not regard it as presented through any coloured media, but by direct contact and inspection. Religion to be correctly estimated must be felt; it is not a thing for the eye to admire, but for the heart to appreciate. Still, ungodly men have their ideals of rectitude, often sharply defined, and such, seeing the sacrilege of the priests," abhorred the offering of the Lord."(2) The conduct and character of Eli. As a parent he was over-indulgent (1 Samuel 13:18). This statement is demonstrated even by his rebukes. Eli was "very old," and the slightest vexation would be harassing to his feeble energies, but especially when occasioned by the ill conduct of his sons. What a sad reality! — the father old in years, the sons old in sin!What a reflection upon his discipline and example!

(1) The method of Eli's reproof. He reproves them

(1)  Collectively — "Ye." Should not each have been taken to the private chamber, that correction might have been adapted to disposition and age. The reproof was, therefore, indiscriminate. He reproves

(2)  By interrogation (Ver. 23);

(3)  By assertion (Ver. 24);

(4)  By argument (Ver. 25).

(2) The Effect of his reproof. "They hearkened not." Eli would be reminded that correction had come too late; though the plastic nature of childhood might have yielded to his touch, he had now to deal with sterner material. God's controversy with an indulgent parent (Ver. 27). Eli is held responsible for the sins of his family. "Unto Eli." He is charged with

(1)  Ingratitude (Ver. 28);

(2)  With insult (Ver. 29).

II. THE SORROWS IT ENTAILS.

1. God revokes the mandate of Eli's election, and asserts the universal principle of his action (Ver. 30). Eli's election was not unalterable, or irrespective of personal conduct. A motto for the warehouse, "Them that honour Me I will honour." The punishment predicted. This was the cloud before the storm.

(1) It was humiliating (Ver. 31). The once priestly family is to be divested of all authority or power. "I will cut off thine arm."(2) It was irreparable (Ver. 32).

(3) It was eternal. A new line of priests was to be established which should be "forever." How the prophetical becomes historical! It is a page of war which issues in

(1)  National defeat (1 Samuel 4:10);

(2)  Social consternation — "All the city cried out."

(3)  Spiritual declension (Ver. 22).

(4)  Family extinction (Vers. 17-20). While Eli sat on the gate, above it sat the Eternal God. So one evil family contained the germ of the nation's overthrow.

LESSONS:

(1)  Parental discipline should be firm as kind.

(2)  The welfare of the nation and church depend upon family training.

(3)  A respect of God the truest way to promotion.

(4)  The sorrowful termination of even a good man's life.

(5)  The awful extinction of an impious priesthood.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

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KJV: Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

WEB: Now the sons of Eli were base men; they didn't know Yahweh.