“Why were Samuel’s sons not destroyed when they failed to receive correction, while Eli’s sons were destroyed?”

QUESTION: Why were Samuel’s sons not destroyed when they failed to receive correction, while Eli’s sons failed to receive correction and were destroyed?

ANSWER: “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Prov. 29:1). Eli’s sons are a good illustration of the truth of this verse. We are explicitly told in 1 Samuel 2:25 that they did not heed the voice of their father. Their sin was “very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord” through what these priests did. Malachi later pointed out the awfulness of priests departing from the way, causing many to stumble at the law when they should have been the Lord’s messengers to teach the Law (Mal. 2:7-9).

God does not tell us of any efforts to correct Samuel’s sons. He clearly states that they did not walk in their father’s ways and that they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes and perverted justice. Their conduct was the reason Israel’s elders gave for demanding a king, yet Samuel later points out that their real reason had been the threatening posture of the king of Ammon (1 Sam. 12:12). Beyond question, what Samuel’s sons did was absolutely wrong, but they were only judges in the southern tip of the land – not priests at God’s sanctuary at Shiloh.

The sin of Eli’s sons continued unrestrained for many years before God acted in judgment. The conduct of Samuel’s sons brought judgment, too (though nothing is said about judgment upon them personally), for God told Israel through the prophet Hosea, “I gave you a king in My anger, and took him away in My wrath" (Hos. 13:11). God is a righteous Judge. He knows both our deeds and our motives and ever does what is right.

By Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.