“There was Eli, sitting on the side of the road, watching because his heart feared for the ark of God.” (1 Samuel 4:13 NIV)
The old priest sat by the side of the road, waiting for the news of the ark of God, watching even though He was blind. I wonder, under what circumstances had the ark left God’s House? Surely Eli had protested to the very suggestion. How did God’s most prized possession wind up being carried into battle with unclean people? I imagine Eli’s wicked sons, Hophni and Phinehas pushed aside the old priest’s objections, maybe even the old man himself, bulldozing over his wisdom and experience, trampling time-honored tradition, determined to win at any cost.
The mental image of a feeble Eli fighting his sons for the sake of the ark tugs taut on a thought that has been threading through my mind for weeks now: we are the sum of our choices. Maybe not at first, there are a lot of contributing factors in an individual story, but at some point in our lives we cross a threshold where we become the exact total of our decisions. Good or bad. Toward God or away from Him. Eternity-driven or self-serving.
Eli’s story makes this very clear. The priest appeared to be a good man, eager to serve in the Tabernacle but slow to correct his kids. A failure to discipline is destructive for any family, but particularly troublesome for a minister’s household. Eli’s sons were slated to serve in the Tabernacle next. This wasn’t a surprise twist in their story, it was divine instruction; ministry in the House of God was passed down from one generation to another. Eli would have known from the birth of these brothers that one day they’d serve in the Tabernacle. I can picture Hophni and Phinehas as little tyrants, tearing through the Tabernacle, disrupting worship and disappointing their dad. But it seems he did not correct them. The two boys grew up with little or no respect for God’s home or the holy happenings therein. We can be sure of this because by chapter two we see Hophni and Phinehas as young men, skimming off the appointed sacrifices and seducing the young women who came to serve at the entrance of God’s house.
Eli wasn’t oblivious to the immorality of his sons. 1 Samuel 2:22 gives way to a sternly-worded conversation, but no consequences were issued to the wicked brothers. They were unphased by their faint-hearted father’s pleas for repentance and righteousness.
Years later the day came when the Israelites had lost against the Philistines and the two wicked sons decided to wield God’s most-prized possession as a weapon. Old Eli had no ground to stand on as they pushed him aside and carried out their evil agenda. If Eli had stood up to his sons sooner, if he had disciplined them as toddlers while the consequences were affordable, if he had subtracted them from God’s service when he’d discovered their thieving and carousing, how would these chapters read? But instead, we see Eli cave to his son’s bad behavior over and over again. By the end of his story, he had become the sum total of his poor decisions.
The ark, the very symbol of God’s presence, was lost to the Philistines. The two evil sons were slain. And upon receiving the news, Eli fell backwards in his chair in shock, breaking his neck on impact and dying there at the city gate. Eli’s end was ultimately determined by the choices he made as a priest and father.
What about us? What is the sum of our choices? How are we doing in obeying God and allowing His image to be revealed in us? This is a hard story to hear, and certainly uncomfortable to consider, but that is precisely why we must pay attention. Eli had a giant blindspot in his life and as time passed, it only grew larger. His poor parenting was a resolvable issue early on, but he lacked the courage to confront it. I suspect he knew how weak-handed he was with his sons, but we never read of him asking God for help.
You are probably already well-familiar with your weaknesses and your areas of failure, but if not, the Holy Spirit stands by with a searchlight. He knows our frailties and has a plan for divine reinforcement. We need only the courage to ask for help.
Eli’s story didn’t have to end like this. God gave him multiple opportunities to adjust his parenting technique, but for whatever reason, Eli never rose to the occasion. He did not confront his sons. He simply succumb to the sum of his poor decisions. We can learn from his missteps and make better choices.
“…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercede though wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
(Romans 8:26-27 NIV)
Dear Lord, please search out our weakness today. Expose it. Excavate it. Convict us and strengthen us to make better choices going forward. We see the sum total of Eli’s decisions and long to do differently in our own narrative. Give us enough courage to be honest and enough inertia to transform. We want to honor You in every aspect of our story. Amen.