Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli the priest, “were worthless men… who did now know the LORD” (1 Samuel 2:12). They dishonored the offerings to the Lord and slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting (2:17, 22). They met with death on the battlefield with the Philistines in Chapter 4 just as the Lord had said they would.
Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” This verse popped in my head as I read these chapters today. Galatians 6 goes on to talk about how “the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (6:8) We can see in these chapters of 1 Samuel that Hophni and Phinehas were sowing to their own flesh.
A contrast is drawn between them and Samuel in 2:21 when it says, “And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD”. Again, we see a time in Israel when the people were doing what was right in their own eyes, in contrast to doing what was according to the will of the LORD. Yet there is always a remnant of faithful people. Samuel was one of those people. He would be the last judge of Israel and would faithfully serve the LORD for many years. And just as Galatians 6:7-8 show us a contrast between those who sow according to the flesh and those who sow according to the Spirit, 1 Samuel 2 shows us the contrast between the sons of Eli and Samuel.
There will always be a contrast between the unfaithful and the faithful.
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