March 12, 2025

1 Samuel 3:10-14 (HCSB)
10 The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel responded, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” 11 The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that everyone who hears about it will shudder. 12 On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end. 13 I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are defiling the sanctuary, and he has not stopped them.14 Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.”

Trey Manor
God does all that He says He will do. Once Samuel was prepared for action (knowing the voice of God), God again returned and gave a message. Here, God promises to fulfill everything he said would befall Eli’s sons. God stayed true to His word and displayed the seriousness of blaspheming against Him. Here God shows the gravity of obeying Him and the duties placed upon parents. In Chapter 2, verses 23-25 Eli hears about his sons’ actions, and he confronts them. Essentially, he tells them to stop doing evil because that is displeasing to the Lord. However, two things are still in motion: 1 -his sons do not stop their behavior,   2 -It was actually God’s will to make an example of them (2:25b). Therefore, the promise of 3:13 will come to pass -Eli’s sons would be destroyed. God judged them to show the significance of disobedience and the importance of timely intervention. God states in 3:14 that Eli’s sons’ sins cannot be atoned with sacrifices. What they did was too unacceptable. Additionally, these actions did not take place in one day, week, or month. Eli had time to intervene. Back in 2:22 it states that “Eli heard what his sons were doing to all Israel” (emphasis added). These actions took place over a long time with many people. Their actions were not secret and they were not corrected.