Bible Discussion Thread

I do not understand this verse. Eli was a priest and I believe he could have done something to salvage the situation. Why accept such a gruesome future.

This warning was coming to him a 2nd time, he should have rebuked his sons and done all he could to stop them from continual desecration of the house of God. If he could sense the voice of God, then he should know that God will do what he has said. Why not be remorseful and take appropriate actions to stop his sons. That's what I would have done, even if my sons threatened to kill my flesh, bcos God can kill both the flesh and the soul. Why did Eli accept this faith?

Eli seemed to have been a worthy priest in his day but found lacking in his fatherly duties & responsibilities. His feeble checking of his sons' misbehaviour didn't carry through to a stronger discipline or removal from their positions. Maybe Eli didn't have the proper parental fortitude to stand up to his sons' evil ways, or he might have been forced to overlook the matter for the sake of having 'ministering priests' available, there being no one else.

And we can see this type of thing happening when there isn't proper discipline taken in the home or the Church. For some, their elevated position & almost spiritual infallibility seem to give them licence to what they please & there being none strong enough to warn them or deal with them. Or take the example of a pastor or missionary who is so heavily involved in ministry, demanding almost all his time & energies, yet neglecting the spiritual & emotional welfare of his own family. How often we hear of these children, who ought to be wonderful examples of the Lord's servants, but having left the Church & leading lives of sinful abandon. The Lord's Work begins first in the home, the proving ground for higher service; 1 Timothy 3:4,5.