1Samuel 2:12
Sunday School
Eli
I. \\#1Sam 1:1-2:11\\ Hannah - A Woman God Honored
II. \\#1Sam 2:12- 4:22\\ Eli - A Failed Father
The story of Eli is contained in four chapters of the Bible.
\\#1Sa 1:1-4:16\\. He was a priest \\#1Sa 1:9\\, even the High
Priest \\#1Sam 14:3\\, and a judge over Israel \\#1Sa 4:18\\.
Even though he should not have been—and the Bible does not plainly
state that Eli ever was—there is evidence that Eli was not only a
priest but the high priest.
1. We are told that Eli, the last priest that we know of who
served in Shiloh, wore the ephod.
1Sa 14:3 And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s
brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the
LORD’S priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And
the people knew not that Jonathan was gone.
a. While all priests might wear an ephod, “the" ephod would
be a reference to the unique and holy ephod worn by
the high priest.
b. This verse seems to indicates the line through which
"the" ephod passed, beginning with Eli, then Ahitub,
and then to Ahiah.
2. The judgment that God promised against Eli’s house
\\#1Sam 2:30-36\\ and the subsequent fulfillment
\\#1Samuel 4:11-18,1Kings 2:26-27\\ seem to indicate that
Eli’s family were being removed from a higher office than
mere priests.
3. In addition, IF the Abiathar that Jesus referred to in
\\#Mark 2:26\\ was the great, great, grandson of Eli
\\#1Sam 14:3, 22:9\\, then Eli would likely have been the
first high priest in that line; however, I doubt that the
Abiathar that Jesus referred to was the same as Abiathar,
son of Ahimelech for that would set up a contradiction in
\\#Mark 2:26\\. \\See 2015SundaySchool on "1Sam 21:1"\\
Even so, the first two evidences mentioned above still
suggest that Eli was the high priest.
But for Eli to be the high priest, the line of high priest would have
had to have switched between two of Aaron’s sons, Eleazar and
Ithamar. The High Priest line went from Aaron to Eleazar
\\#Nu 20:26\\ and then to Eleazar’s son, Phinehas \\#Jud 20:28\\, but
Eli was born through Aaron’s youngest son, Ithamar. Since Phinehas is
mentioned so late in the book of Judges, it is thought that Eli
directly succeeded Phinehas as the high priest, changing the line of
the high priest. Switching the high priest lines between sons of
Aaron without an explanation or even a Scriptural notation seems
extreme, but it seems to have happened.
There are some who doubt that Phinehas lived that long, although that
might be explained if some of the judges overlapped in their office.
It is not known why a cousin would take the role of High Priest when
Phinehas had a child, Abishua \\#1Ch 6:4\\. I could not find a verse
that stated when Phinehas died, how old he was when he died, or why
the High Priest changed lines.
Eli was an older man by the time we meet him. He died at 98 years of
age \\#1Sam 4:15\\ so it is very likely that he was in his late 70s
or early 80s when Hannah first came to the temple praying for a
child. Eli ruled Israel for 40 years \\#1Sam 4:18\\, making him 58
years old when he became Israel’s judge. No details of Eli ascending
to the role of judge is given. The judge before Eli appears to have
been Samson whose death is recorded in \\#1Sam 16:30\\. Eli was
Israel’s next to the last judge.
Outside of Eli’s interaction with Hannah, his life can be summed up
as follows:
I. \\#1Sam 2:12-17, 22-25\\ Eli’s Parenting Skills
Sadly, Eli is not the only failed father in this book. All of the
godly leaders in Israel recorded in 1 Samuel failed as a father.
1. Eli - \\#1Sam 2:12-17, 22-25\\
2. Samuel \\#1Sam 8:1-3\\
3. Saul - The worst leader recorded in 1 Samuel actually raised
one of the best sons, Jonathan. Saul had three sons and two
daughters \\#1Sam 14:49\\. The only son really mentioned was
the oldest, Jonathan, who loved the Lord and loved the man who
would be heir to the throne, David. The only daughter
mentioned was Michal, who married David, but was intended by
her father to be a weakness to David.
4. David
a. His oldest son, Amnon, raped his sister.
b. Absalom, his third born son, killed Amnon and later tried
to overthrow his father, being killed by Joab.
c. Adonijah, his fourth born son, attempted to overthrow
David’s selected heir to the throne, Solomon, who was King
David’s tenth born son, causing Solomon to kill Adonijah.
d. Although Solomon started well, he turned his heart from
God, turning Israel after false gods. \\#1Kings 11:4\\
https://www.gotquestions.org/sons-of-David.html
II. \\#1Sam 2:27-36\\ Eli Warned by A Prophet
Part of the prophecy in these verses was that Eli’s priestly
line would be cast out as high priest, God raising up a faithful
line \\#1Sa 2:35,36\\. That was not fulfilled when Hophni and
Phinehas were killed for the priesthood continued through Eli’s
grandson, Ahitub and then Eli’s great-grandson, Ahiah
\\#1Sa 14:3\\. Rather, this was fulfilled in Solomon’s reign,
when he cast out Abiatha for following his brother, Adonijah,
in a plot to overthrow him \\#1Ki 2:26,27\\. Abiatha was
replaced with Zadok \\#1Kings 2:35\\. The appointment of Zadok
as High Priest returned the line of high priests back to
Eleazar, Aaron’s oldest surviving son.
III. \\#1Sam 3:1-21\\ Eli Warned by God
IV. \\#1Sam 4:1-22\\ Eli & Israel’s Judgment
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