Discipline Begins At Home - Hophni And Phinehas

Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the LORD or for their duties as priests.

1 Samuel 2:12-13

Have you ever sat at a restaurant next to a family whose children have atrocious, loud manners? Have you tried to relax on a long cross-country flight in front of a little boy who continually kicks the back of your seat while Mom and Dad seem not to notice? Have you tried to enjoy a movie with your wife while two rug rats behind you keep chattering?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you know that few things are more annoying than having to endure the behavior of children who lack proper training and discipline. What are their parents doing when they should be teaching and disciplining their kids?

That question comes to mind regarding two young men named Hophni and Phinehas. Their father was a good man, an elderly high priest named Eli, who raised and mentored Israel’s first prophet, Samuel. However, he failed to teach his own sons the basics of godly living.

Hophni and Phinehas became the talk of the town in Shiloh, and not for good reasons. They brazenly disrespected the Lord, the priesthood, and the people of Israel. They behaved in disgusting ways, even forcing themselves sexually upon young women who came to the Tabernacle to worship God.

Eventually, Eli reprimanded his sons for their wretched behavior, but they had long since stopped listening to anything he had to say. The day of reckoning arrived when God told Eli that his sons would die and that his family would forever lose the privilege of serving in the priesthood.

This was a harsh punishment, but this tragic episode should remind all believing fathers of the crucial importance of their role as leader and mentor at home. Eli was a good man but not a strong man, and children need their fathers to be both.

When you became a husband and then a father, God called you to lead your wife and children along a path that honors him and blesses those around you. Whether you serve God in the church or in the wider Christian community, remember Eli’s sad story and remind yourself that your most important ministry begins at home.