“”Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and your father’s house would minister before me forever.’ But now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained. 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. Although good will be done to Israel, in your family line there will never be an old man. Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.” (1Sam 2:30-33NIV)
Those were very strong words from God to the household of Eli. And from what He said to them, it is clear that excellence, health and peace of mind would be far from them, even from their unborn children. But why should God give this kind of judgment to this family?
Well, from what we see in the account, it was because of the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas. And what was so special about them that God would curse their father’s entire household because of them? Again, as we see in the account, these young men were scoundrels, wicked and unreasonable people who had no regard for God at all. (Cf. 1Sam 2:12)
But they were raised in the house of the Lord. They were, in fact, raised as priests of the Lord. And from what we know in the bible, they were raised by the same person that raised Samuel. They were raised by their father, Eli. But Samuel did not turn out to be bad, wicked or unreasonable. Instead, he turned out to be a faithful servant of the Lord.
What, then, was the problem with Eli’s sons? Why could not the same training that made Samuel a great man of God make them great men of God? The reason was that they would not allow the word of God to dwell in their hearts.
Now the bible tells us that when people refuse to retain the word of God in their hearts, they will, at some point, be given over by God to do things that are not convenient, things that will ultimately destroy them. And that was what happened to Hophni and Phinehas. God, at some point, gave them over to impurities because they would not retain His knowledge in their hearts or give Him regard. Therefore, their wickedness degenerated to a point where they began to shamelessly sleep with the women that were working at the entrance of the Lord’s tabernacle. (Cf. Rom 1:28)
What, then, did their father do when he saw that they had utterly lost their way and were on the verge of self-destruct? He called them and rebuked them. And did that work? No, it did not work. They did not listen to him. And what did he do when he realised that they would not listen to his words of rebuke? Nothing! He just let them be. (Cf. 1Sam 2:22-25)
But could he really have done anything else to stop them from destroying themselves? Yes! He could have removed them from their positions as priests and sent them far away from the Lord’s tabernacle. That way, he could cleanse the house of God of their impurities and corruption. And doing that would have satisfied the God of justice. But he did not do so. Why? We are not given the reason for that in the bible.
At any rate, because Eli failed to judge these sons of his, he opened the door for God’s judgment to come upon his entire household. And as we see in our opening bible text, the judgment that came upon them was so severe that no right-thinking person would want to marry from their family or into their family. That judgment ruined their future. But was it really God’s judgment that ruined their future? No! It was their sin that ruined the future for them.
In like manner, our sins and errors can ruin the future for us and our family lines. And there are many in the world today that are already ruining the future for themselves and their descendants through greed, sexual immorality, bloodshed, oppression or some other forms of wicked practices. While these ones may think that they are enjoying themselves right now, they are actually taking away peace, joy, honour and excellence from their descendants that will come after them. And unless such descendants of theirs know God truly and give themselves to living for Him, they will not be able to separate themselves from partaking in the judgment on their ancestors.
So, watch the way you live and how you use your various positions and privileges in life. Don’t ruin the future with your present. Otherwise, those coming after you may turn your name into a curse. Then, if, as a child of God, you are currently partaking in some generational curse or judgment, begin to steadfastly take your stand against it, in the name of Jesus. That is because you are now a new creation in Christ Jesus. So, you can refuse to share in any ugly generational experience of your natural family. And may you find sufficient strength in God to do this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Cheers!
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