Honour

When God sent this message to Eli by word of a nameless man of God, he was the priest (probably the high priest) over the Tabernacle at Shiloh. His sons, Hophni and Phinehas, also served as priests in the temple, but they were base and worthless, they did not know or regard the Lord. Instead, they were corrupt – stealing, embezzling, even committing acts of sexual immorality with women who came to the Tabernacle to worship. Their wickedness profaned the Tabernacle, but even worse than that, people avoided coming to worship God because of their actions.

Now Eli was made aware of what his sons were up to, and we read in verse 23-25 that he spoke to them about their sinful behaviour. Nevertheless, God held him accountable for the actions of his sons. Why would this be?

Eli’s responsibility was two-fold. As their father, he should not have condoned some of their behaviour by sharing in the illicitly gained portions of the offerings that people brought to the Tabernacle to offer to God. They took the portions that were meant for God for themselves, sometimes even threatening to use force – verse 29 Why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honour your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel? And then as high priest he should have fired the two of them for the disgraceful way in which they conducted themselves, sinning against God in every way possible instead of leading the nation to serving God.

It is Eli’s inaction to do something about his son’s wicked behaviour that leads God to ask why he honours his sons more than Him, and this misplaced honour is the sin that Eli will be judged for.

We have all been in this situation, where we see wrongdoing, but because we do not want to lose the love and regard of brothers/sisters/parents/friends/work colleagues/fellow church goers… we fail to do something about it. It is however important to heed Paul’s instructions regarding this in 1 Cor 5:12-13 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. God will judge those outside. We first need to build relationships with fellow believers before we may lovingly confront them with the truth, following Holy Spirit’s leading all the way.

Points to ponder: Carefully consider the question: who do I honour above God? Is there a situation in my home/work/church that I am ignoring, simply because it is easier to just do nothing about it, than to open that can of worms and maybe ruffle a few feathers? Ask God for a strategy to confront wrong in a loving but honest way. And this will become a win-win situation, because of His promise to honour those who honour Him!