The Reaping of Eli and His Sons

By Danny Saavedra

“That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry. Eli heard the outcry and asked, ‘What is the meaning of this uproar?’ The man hurried over to Eli, who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see. He told Eli, ‘I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.’ Eli asked, ‘What happened, my son?’ The man who brought the news replied, ‘Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.’ When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led Israel forty years.”—1 Samuel 4:12–18 (NIV)

I’m sure you’ve likely heard the expression, “You reap what you sow,” meaning your actions or decisions will have consequences, whether good or bad. This is very clear in Scripture. 1 Samuel 2:30 (NIV) says, “Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.” More notably, Galatians 6:7–9 (NIV) says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Consistently throughout the Bible, and very much through 1 and 2 Samuel, we see that sin always has consequences. And even worse, those consequences usually aren’t isolated to just the sinner . . . they impact, affect, and can cause devastation in the lives of many.

If you remember, Eli’s sons were wretched fiends who misused and abused their role as priests—and Eli failed to do what needed to be done to put a stop to it. Because of this, God told Eli there would be severe consequences (1 Samuel 2:12–3:21).

And now, we come to it. Eli’s sons died—the reaping of sins sown by Eli and his sons. Israel was defeated by the Philistines—the reaping of sins sown through Eli’s poor stewardship of his roles as dad, high priest, and judge of Israel. And most devastating, the ark of the covenant, the earthly dwelling place of God’s presence, the most sacred and important object in all of Israel, was lost to the Philistines—again, the reaping of sins sown by Eli and, by extension, Israel.

But in all of these issues, Eli’s sin was the root. If Eli has guided his sons and corrected them as he should have, if he had respected and devoted himself to the ministry of his household and respected the office of priest, his sons wouldn’t have been able to run amok as they did. If Eli as high priest had taught the Israelites that the ark of the covenant wasn’t a lucky rabbit’s foot or talisman that would guarantee them victory in battles, if he had taught them to treat the ark with the reverence and holiness it represented, the Israelites wouldn’t have developed this misguided, superstitious view of the ark.

I hope you see that our sins can become a heavy burden to the people in our lives. It can reap destruction all around and impact countless lives. Our friends, siblings, parents, kids, spouse, and those we’re called to serve or minister to or mentor and lead will undoubtedly bear a heavy weight from it. When we live in sin, we risk becoming a cinder block attached to our own ankles and to the ankles of those around us.

Eli, who died at 98, had many chances to humbly repent and seek the Lord’s guidance for how to move forward. Instead, he chose to sit back and watch his sons and his people fall. But as we see, what impacted him the most was the realization that because of his failures, the people of God had seen the dwelling place of God taken. This was too much for him, and it led to his own death.

This brings me to the final and most important thing we must take from this. Although it’s true our sins can and will reap negative consequences for us and the people around us, nothing is worse or scarier than the realization that the way we live, what we say and do, and how we treat others can either draw people to the presence of God or lead them away from it. Our lives can serve as living arks of the covenant, dwelling places for the Spirit of God, that reveal the glory and love of God. Or, we can live in a way that obscures this truth, which as Paul says in Romans 2:24 (NIV), can lead to “God’s name” being “blasphemed among the Gentiles because of [us].”

Every day, we make choices that affect this. May we rely on the Spirit to lead us to be arks and not cinder blocks.

Pause: Why did Eli react the way he did when he heard the ark of the covenant was stolen?

Practice: Make a list today of people upon whom you have the most influence. Then consider what kind of influence you’re having on them right now.

Pray: Father, by Your Spirit I pray and ask that You would lead and guide me to being an ark where everyone around me can see, hear, and experience Your presence, power, truth, love, and grace. Help me, every minute of every day, to make decisions and live in a manner that leads people to You and doesn’t draw them away from You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.