Samuel had watched as the sons of Eli defiled the sacrifice of the Lord. He was around to know how Eli warned, scolded and begged with his boys to straighten up. He also knew how they had ignored Eli.
Samuel was the one thru whom God proclaimed the end of Eli families’ reign as priests since Eli had not heeded God’s earlier warning and disciplined his sons. He knew of the fate Eli, a man broken when he heard his son’s death and the loss of the ark.
Samuel had seen what happens when a man serving the Lord forgets to instill that in his offspring. When he doesn’t bring up his children ‘in the discipline and instruction of the Lord’. Yet, he went and did it himself
And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel….. His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.
1 Samuel 8:1,3
How could the one who had seen it happen and knew the consequences fall into the same mistake? I guess he was just like all of us. It’s easier to see sin and fault in others but not in ourselves and our own.
Family is a great blessing but it is never to be put before God (Luke 14:26, Deuteronomy 13:6-8). While it might be easy to make exceptions for family, in the long run, it brings pain and misery. In our desire to keep them close, we might just be leading them to destruction.
Discipline your son while there is hope, And do not desire his death.
Proverbs 19:18
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