What Is Good in His Eyes

Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.” (1 Samuel 3:18, NIV 1984).

My Musings – What was good in the Lord’s eyes, was not good for Eli and his sons. “In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.” (1 Samuel 3:1, NIV 1984). Perhaps because the priesthood had become corrupt (Eli’s two sons) or unwilling to deal with sin when it hit close to home (Eli).

Eli’s two sons – “Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the Lord…they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt…they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.” (1 Samuel 2:12, 17, 22, NIV 1984).

Eli – “Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing…His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke…and he failed to restrain them.” (1 Samuel 2:22, 25, 3:13, NIV 1984).

God warned Eli. “Why do you honor your sons more than me? The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your family line, and you will see distress in my dwelling. And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day. I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind.” (1 Samuel 2:29, 31-32, 34-35, NIV 1984).

That “faithful priest” would be none other than Samuel. And God reached out to Samuel to confirm what He was about to do. One night, “the Lord called Samuel” three times. Each time, having never heard the Lord’s calling before (“In those days the word of the Lord was rare“), “Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.'” The first two times Eli replied, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” But the third time, “Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So, Eli told Samuel, ‘Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'” (1 Samuel 3:2-9, NIV 1984).

The Lord spoke, and what He said was not good news for Eli. “The Lord said to Samuel: ‘See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. At that time, I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, the guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.'” (1 Samuel 3:11-14, NIV 1984).

When told what God had revealed to Samuel, “Eli said, ‘He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.‘” No attempt to plead for another chance. No apparent effort to finally restrain his sons. Just resignation. “Now [i.e., ‘at that time’] the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. So, the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated, and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty-thousand-foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.” (1 Samuel 4:1, 10-11, NIV 1984). When Eli was told the news, “[He was] sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching. 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 heavy. He had led Israel forty years.” (1 Samuel 4:13, 18, NIV 1984).

What about Samuel? “The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word. And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.” (1 Samuel 3:19-4:1, NIV 1984).

My Advice – Some advice when in the situation of Eli or his two sons. “When I [the Lord] say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself. Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself.” (Ezekiel 3:18-21, NIV 1984).

Some advice that applies to those chosen like Samuel. “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16, NIV 1984).

How to be among the chosen? “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:10, NIV 1894).