1 Samuel - The Coming King Sample

The religious and spiritual labels that spiritual leaders use can be very misleading. Whether it’s ‘Reverend’, ‘Pastor’ or ‘Bishop’, labels don’t, in and of themselves, tell you about the faith or righteousness of those leaders. 

However, no-one could be deceived about the spiritual leaders in this chapter. Here we find a description of the elite spiritual leadership in Israel, who ministered at the well-known spiritual centre of Shiloh. First of all, we meet the ‘sons of Eli’, who prove to be greedy hypocrites, stealing food from the Lord’s sacrifices (vv. 13–16) and sleeping around with their co-workers (v. 22). Their behaviour was a scandal even to the common people (vv. 16, 23). As a result, they stood condemned before the Lord (vv. 17, 25, 34). The Lord doesn’t look at labels, but the reality of our lives. 

Then we meet, Eli, their father. He knew their behaviour was a scandal, and knew that they were on a collision course with the Lord (vv. 23–25). Yet, Eli hadn’t dismissed his sons, and his action to stop them proved to be weak and ineffective. The corruption of these leaders, then, isn’t just about blatant immorality, but also about the failure of others to discipline and properly correct the immorality (v. 29; 3:13). It’s not just the sons who are at fault, but also Eli, who doesn’t deal with their behaviour (see the prophecy of coming judgment in verses 27–36). Failure on the part of spiritual leaders to deal with blatant sin makes them, in part, guilty for that sin. 

Amidst the evil, though, the Lord is at work (see verses 18–19, 26). He’s raising Samuel up as a true priest and deliverer for the people (v. 35). There are fierce warnings and judgments in this chapter, but God’s grace is also at work to revive his messed-up people. Where sin had increased, grace increased all the more.

REFLECTION

1. Why does spiritual leadership become corrupt? What can we do to stop it?

2. How can we be certain that God’s people will never be overwhelmed by the sins of any leaders?