But Samuel

1 Samuel 2:12,18-22 – Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord…But Samuel was ministering before the Lord—a boy wearing a linen ephod. Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the Lord.” Then they would go home. And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord. Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

1 Samuel 1:3 – Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord.

Application:

• ·         In Old Testament usage, to “know” the Lord is not just intellectual or theoretical recognition. It is to enter into fellowship with Him and acknowledge His claims on one’s life.
• ·         Three times a year every Israelite male was required to appear before the Lord at the central sanctuary.
• ·         The immoral acts of Eli’s sons are reminiscent of the immorality at the Canaanite sanctuaries—acts that were an abomination to the Lord and a desecration of His house.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV