Our Way or His: 1 Samuel 2:12-17
When we try to tell God how things should work, we kick the door to sin wide open. It isn’t so much a power struggle as a condition of the heart. Following God isn’t about power, it is about humility. It is about learning to cast aside oneself and put others first.
Eli’s sons were trained as priests. Under the Levitical code, the priests came from the tribe of Levi, specifically from the lineage of Aaron, Moses’ brother. Since Eli was the high priest, his sons should have been properly trained. His eldest should have been specifically trained to be the next high priest.
Before getting to the problem, we should discuss why the problem exists. The Hebrew people needed a priest to manage the temple system and make sacrifices before God. This wasn’t a luxury; it was a necessity. The Law provided a system based on lineage to ensure there would always be a high priest trained to manage the sacrifices. By having it depend upon lineage, it ensured training could happen from childhood and there would be little argument about who the next priest is. They wouldn’t need to run elections; it would be an assumed role.
The problem with this setup is human beings don’t always pass interest and spirituality through genetics. Aaron was a great high priest. However, three hundred or more years have passed from Aaron to Eli. There was plenty of time for laziness or reticence to creep into the system. Complacency or entitlement easily become a part of the position of high priest.
We’ve already seen Eli’s lack of interest in caring for people. Today we see his son’s treatment of the sacrificial system. When a priest, but not necessarily a high priest, offered a sacrifice to God, Eli’s sons would come and take the meat of their choosing. The sons – or their servant, even – would demand the meat before the fat could be burned. This is in violation to Leviticus 3:16-17, which specifically says that all the fat of the sacrifice was the Lord’s. The aroma of the cooking meat was pleasing to God. Taking the meat before the fat could be burned deprived God of His desire. The sons of Eli were putting their own desires above God.
Additionally, Leviticus 7:28-36 teaches the breast and the right thigh were devoted to the priest. However, the sons of Eli would stick their fork in and remove whatever meat came! No doubt they designed a fork capable of claiming more than their share, although it is not specifically mentioned in the text.
What we see in the text is a disregard for God’s direction, even among the high priest. The sons of Eli did things their own way. They were not interested in following God, they wanted to dictate the right way to God. That’s dangerous. When we try to tell God how things should work, we kick the door to sin wide open.
