1 Samuel 2:12-17

2. The Childhood of Samuel, 1 Samuel 2:12 to 1 Samuel 3:21.

Eli's sinful sons. 1 Samuel 2:12-17

12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord.
13 And the priests-' custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand;

14 And he stuck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.

15 Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.
16 And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.

17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.

8.

What is the meaning of the term sons of Belial? 1 Samuel 2:12

They were base fellows, meaning reckless, worthless, wicked. The term used is the masculine equivalent of the feminine form used in 1 Samuel 1:16, where Hannah besought Eli not to count her as a wicked woman. The word Belial may be used as a proper name; but whatever its origin, it denotes extreme depravity. The wickedness of these men was not so much in what they stole from God, but in the leading of the people to be contemptuous of the sacrifices.

9.

Why did the sons of Eli not know the Lord? 1 Samuel 2:12 b

No doubt Eli's sons were well versed in the Pentateuch. Probably they could recite the Ten Commandments from memory. In order to be priests they were versed in the rituals of the sacrifices. They knew that God had given the Law to His people and must have been familiar with the past history of Israel. Their knowledge of God was head knowledge. It was not heart knowledge. They did not personally follow the commandments of the Lord and thus caused many other people to go astray. They are like the people of Paul's day of whom he said Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind (Romans 1:28).

10.

What was a fleshhook of three teeth? 1 Samuel 2:13

No mention is made of the number of teeth in the fleshhooks when they were first fashioned (Exodus 38:3). The mention of three teeth in this setting leaves us to wonder if a part of the sin of Eli's sons was greediness. Certainly a fleshhook with three teeth would enable them to secure more meat than a fleshhook with only one prong. We learn that is was customary for them to strike it into the pan, kettle, caldron, or pot. All that the fleshhook brought up was for the priest. We know that the men were of base appetites, for they would not receive the sacrificial meat in the form prescribed by law. They wanted their meat to be given to them before it was roasted on the altar. They wanted raw meat, perhaps to be prepared in a way that would better satisfy their appetites.

11.

Why did all the Israelites come to Shiloh? 1 Samuel 2:14

Shiloh was the location of the Tabernacle. It had been there since the days of Joshua. In keeping with the commandments of God found in Deuteronomy 12, the people brought their sacrifices to this central location. Here is historical evidence of a central sanctuary. Radical critics deny that religion would be developed enough at this early age for people to have one place of worship. It is not because of the lack of evidence that the radical critics make this charge, but it is because of their own religious and philosophical presuppositions. They believe that religion like everything else must have evolved. They think that man began as a nature worshiper and evolved to a worshiper of demons. From demons he went to the place where he did believe in God, but he was a polytheist. To find Israel with one central sanctuary as early as 1,000 B.C. throws their schedule of evolutionary development of religion out of order. Yet we find good solid historical evidence of the fact that all Israel did come to this one central location to worship.

12.

What is wrong with wanting flesh to roast? 1 Samuel 2:15

Eli's sons were so contemptuous of the sacrifices of God that they demanded raw flesh of those who sacrificed. Evidently they wanted to take this and prepare it in a more tasteful way than would be possible if they followed the directions given to the people in Leviticus 1-6. To demand this raw flesh from the people was to cause them to despise God's ordinances.

13.

Why did some people refuse? 1 Samuel 2:16

Many Israelites must have been willing to stand up for what they knew was right. All had not gone astray. In the times of Judges there were still many who had not given up their faith in the ordinances of God. It was for the sake of these people that changes had to be made in Israel's priesthood. If such conditions were allowed to prevail over a long period of time, hardly any could be found to maintain the faith.

14.

What was the real gravity of the sins of the young men? 1 Samuel 2:17

Hophni and Phinehas were corrupt in their own lives. This is bad enough. They also refused to reason with the worshipers who came to the tabernacle. The gravity of their sin is seen in the fact that they were threatening to inflict corporal punishment upon the people (1 Samuel 2:2 - 1 Samuel 2:16 b). They threatened to take some of the sacrificial meat by force. When men stoop to force in situations like this, they admit that their reasoning is wrong. The greatest sin lay in the fact that they caused other people to abhor the offering of the Lord. It is a tragedy that man comes to the place where he rejects God's commandments and loathes God's ordinances.