Eli’s Sons Reject God and God Calls Samuel (1 Samuel 2:12-3:21)
How do you respond to God? Do you respect Him? Do you honor Him? Or do you minimize the concepts of His power and His holiness in your mind?
Just yesterday, I saw a man with a saying printed on the back of his t-shirt. It was a religious statement, and the essence of what he tried to convey was that he believed that God is a concept invented by man. He apparently doesn’t believe God is real, personal, or imminently present. It probably wouldn’t surprise you to know that I’m praying that the Lord will soften this man’s heart and open his eyes to the truth.
The opening chapters of 1 Samuel present two very different responses to God. Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, served as priests but treated God’s commands with contempt. Samuel was still a boy, but he learned to listen when God spoke. One group possessed religious authority without knowing God, while Samuel came to know God through His revealed word.
1 Samuel 2:12 gives a direct description of Eli’s sons:
“Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.” (1 Samuel 2:12)
Hophni and Phinehas were priests by family connection, but their hearts were far from God. They participated in worship ceremonies and held respected positions among the people, but they didn’t know the Lord. Their lives demonstrate that religious activity isn’t the same as genuine faith.
Their conduct also corrupted Israel’s worship. God established specific instructions regarding the portions of sacrifices that priests could receive. Hophni and Phinehas ignored those instructions. Their servants demanded meat before the fat was burned and threatened to take it by force if a worshiper resisted.
Scripture explains the seriousness of their sin:
“Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.” (1 Samuel 2:17)
The sacrifices pointed to God’s holiness, the seriousness of sin, and the need for atonement. Hophni and Phinehas used the worship of God as an opportunity to satisfy their appetites. Instead of helping people approach God according to His commands, they exploited those who came to worship.
Their behavior reminds us that spiritual leadership carries serious responsibility. When leaders use ministry for personal advantage, they misrepresent God to the people they’re called to serve. Their position may give them influence, but it also increases their accountability.
The account then shifts to Samuel.
“Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy clothed with a linen ephod.” (1 Samuel 2:18)
Samuel’s service provides a contrast with the corruption of Eli’s sons. Hophni and Phinehas were grown men with official authority, but they rejected God. Samuel was a child, but he served God faithfully.
Each year, Hannah made Samuel a little robe and brought it to him when she and Elkanah came to offer their yearly sacrifice. This simple act shows the continuing love between Hannah and her son. She fulfilled her vow by dedicating Samuel to God’s service, but she didn’t forget him.
God also blessed Hannah with additional children. Eli prayed that God would give her children in place of Samuel, and she eventually gave birth to three sons and two daughters. God graciously provided for Hannah while Samuel continued growing in His presence.
“And the young man Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD.”
(1 Samuel 2:21)
Meanwhile, Eli heard disturbing reports about his sons. In addition to abusing the sacrificial system, they committed sexual sin with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Eli confronted them, asking why they were doing such evil things.
He warned them:
“If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?”
(1 Samuel 2:25)
Eli recognized that his sons’ conduct was evil, but his response was inadequate. He spoke to them, but he didn’t remove them from priestly service or restrain their behavior. Later, God would accuse Eli of honoring his sons above Him.
Parents can’t control the decisions their adult children make, but Eli also served as Israel’s high priest. He had a responsibility to protect the worship of God from corruption. His family loyalty was a blind spot that kept him from taking the necessary action.
Verse 25 adds that Hophni and Phinehas wouldn’t listen to their father, “for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death.” This doesn’t mean God prevented repentant men from turning to Him. Their repeated sin revealed hearts that were already hardened. God’s decision to judge them confirmed the path they had persistently chosen.
Samuel’s social and spiritual development continues to stand in contrast with their rebellion, and there’s a deeper spiritual reason we’re being shown these things…
“Now the young man Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man.” (1 Samuel 2:26)
This description resembles what Luke later says about Jesus: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). Samuel isn’t Jesus, but his life provides an early picture of a faithful servant growing under God’s favor while corruption surrounds him.
God then sent a prophet to confront Eli. The prophet reminded him that God had chosen Aaron’s family for priestly service and had provided portions from Israel’s offerings for the priests. Eli and his sons responded to that privilege with dishonor.
God asked Eli:
“Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?” (1 Samuel 2:29)
Eli participated in the benefits of his sons’ sin. His failure wasn’t limited to weak discipline. He shared in what they took from the sacrifices and allowed their conduct to continue.
God announced that judgment was coming upon Eli’s household. Both of his sons would die on the same day, and his family’s priestly influence would come to an end.
God also promised something better:
“And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.” (1 Samuel 2:35)
This promise had an immediate historical fulfillment through the priestly line of Zadok, which later replaced Eli’s family. It also directs our attention beyond Zadok to Jesus Christ, our perfect and eternal High Priest.
Hophni and Phinehas took sacrifices from the people. Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice for His people. Eli’s sons used their position to serve themselves. Jesus “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
Chapter 3 then begins by describing the spiritual condition of Israel:
“And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” (1 Samuel 3:1)
God’s word was rare, but God hadn’t abandoned His people. He was preparing Samuel to serve as His prophet.
One night, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord near the ark of the covenant. He heard someone call his name and assumed it was Eli. Samuel ran to him and said, “Here I am, for you called me” (1 Samuel 3:5).
Eli told him that he hadn’t called, and then instructed him to lie down again. The same thing happened a second time. Samuel heard his name, went to Eli, and was sent back to bed.
The passage explains why Samuel didn’t recognize what was happening:
“Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.” (1 Samuel 3:7)
Samuel had served in God’s house, but he hadn’t previously received a prophetic revelation from God. He needed to learn how to recognize God’s voice.
When God called a third time, Eli finally realized what was happening. He instructed Samuel to return to bed and say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant hears” (1 Samuel 3:9).
God came and called again:
“Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” (1 Samuel 3:10)
Samuel’s response expresses the posture every servant of God should possess. He was available, attentive, and ready to obey. He didn’t ask God to confirm his personal plans. He placed himself under God’s authority and listened.
God’s message wasn’t easy for Samuel to hear or deliver. God told him that judgment was coming upon Eli’s family because Eli knew about his sons’ sins and failed to restrain them. Their guilt wouldn’t be removed through sacrifices or offerings.
Samuel remained in bed until morning, afraid to tell Eli what God said. That fear is understandable. He was young, Eli was his mentor, and the message concerned the downfall of Eli’s family.
Eli insisted that Samuel tell him everything. Samuel faithfully repeated God’s message without hiding any part of it. His first recorded prophetic assignment required courage and honesty.
Eli responded:
“It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him.”
(1 Samuel 3:18)
Eli accepted the justice of God’s decision. His response didn’t undo his earlier failures, but he recognized God’s right to judge his household.
As Samuel grew, God remained with him.
“And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.” (1 Samuel 3:19)
God confirmed Samuel as His prophet by bringing his words to fulfillment. From Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, Israel recognized that God established Samuel as a prophet. The word of the Lord was no longer rare because God revealed Himself through Samuel at Shiloh.
Samuel’s calling shows that God can raise up a faithful servant in the middle of widespread spiritual corruption. Hophni and Phinehas held the priestly office, but God chose to speak through a boy who was willing to listen.
The passage also prepares us to understand our need for Jesus. Israel needed a faithful priest and an obedient prophet. Samuel served faithfully, but his ministry couldn’t provide final atonement for sin. Zadok’s priestly line couldn’t do that either.
Jesus fulfills what Israel’s priests and prophets could only look forward to. He is the faithful High Priest who perfectly does the Father’s will. He doesn’t exploit worshipers or take from those who approach God. He gives Himself to bring sinners into God’s presence.
Hebrews 7:26 describes Him:
“For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.” (Hebrews 7:26)
Jesus is also the perfect Prophet who reveals God to us. Samuel spoke the words God gave him, but Jesus is the divine, eternal Word of God who became flesh. He doesn’t just deliver a message from God. He makes God known because He is God. Jesus is eternally one in essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
At Jesus’ transfiguration, the Father declared, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). Samuel teaches us to say, “Speak, for your servant hears.” God now commands us to listen to His Son.
We hear Jesus through the Scriptures. We don’t need to wait for an audible voice in the night. God has spoken through His Son, and the Holy Spirit uses the written Word to teach, correct, encourage, and shape us.
1 Samuel 2 and 3 show us both a warning and a promise. Hophni and Phinehas warn us against participating in religious activity while refusing to know and obey God. Samuel shows the beauty of a heart ready to hear God’s word.
The greater promise is that God has given us the faithful Priest and perfect Prophet we need. Jesus, God the Son, offered the sacrifice that fully atones for sin, speaks the words of eternal life, and brings everyone who trusts Him into the presence of God.