I
IP
I volTih.
OXFORD, N. C., WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 1877.
NO. 25.
EL.1 AIKD HIS SONS.
Eli waa high-priest and judge
in Israel when the ark was in
Shiloh. How he came to be
priest, and how the priestly office
was transferred from the house of
Eleazer to the house of Ithaniar,
who was Aaron’s youngest son,
we do not know. The beginning
of Eli’s career is hid in the gloom
of the dark ages of Jewish history.
Samson, who was little more than
a lawless leader of lawless men,
could do but little for Israel that
would survive his own turbulent
life. He was no true ruler of the
people, teaching them right prin
ciples, and illustrating them in
his own life. He made no con
tribution to the progress of the
nation. He left to history noth
ing but the story of his amazing
strength and his terrible revenges.
When the blind giant pulled down
upon himself the temple of Dagon
in Gaza and found common death
with the lords of the Philistines,
Israel was left to the turbulence
and revenges of discordant fac
tions, and to the rage of relentless
enemies. There followed a long
and gloomy period of anarchy,
when “ there was no king in Is
rael, and every man did that
which w'as light in his own eyes.”
This is the last word in the his
tory of the Judges of Israel, and
it tells us plainly enough what
the historian had not the heart to
record. The last five chapters of
the book of Judges are crowded
with pictures of confusion, an
archy, iiTeigular worship, idolatry,
internecine struggles, and horrid
war-—pictures drawn in fire and
blood.
Amid some of the disorders of
this dark period Eli became high-
priest and judge of Israel. He
appears upon tne scene abruptly
-—sitting upon “ a seat by a post
in the temple of the Lord,” close
by the spot where Hannah, the
BOn'owful, because childless, wife
of Elkanah, was praying that God
would give her a son. When he
died at the age of ninety-eight,
he had been priest and ruler for
forty years. But we cannot tell
how long he had been in office
the day ho administered the un
merited rebuke to the pious
Hannah.
The parent who can read the
story of Eli and his sons without
anxious interest, increased by
many mingled hopes and fears
concerning his own children, is
strangely insensible. For it is a
story replete with dramatic power
and tragic interest. Nor does the
simple recital of the ancient chron
icler who compiled the annals of
Samuel need the garniture of
many words.
As to Eli himself, he does not
appear to have been a man of
great gifts or great deeds. His
life is not instructive by its ex
alted virtues and deep devotion
so much as by its neglects, its
misfortunes, and its punishment.
That his disposition was amiable
and affectionate is evident. Very
kind were his words to Hannah
w'hen once he understood why
she lingered and prayed in the
house of God.
The brightest trait in Eli’s
character is his submission to the
will of God W'hen it bore hardest
upon him and his house.
In the morning after voung
Samuel’s vision Eli called him
and said, “ What is the thing that
the Lord hath said unto thee ? I
pray thee hide it not from me. . . .
And Samuel told him every whit,
and hid nothing from him.” It
was no message of hope, but the
revelation of the doom that was
hovering over the high-priest’s
house. “ And the Lord said to
Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing
in Israel, at which both the ears
of every one that heareth it shall
tingle. In that day I will per
form against Eli all things which
I have spoken concerning his
house; wdien I begin, I will also
make an end. For I have told
him that I will judge his house
forever for the iniquity which he
knoweth ; because his sons made
themselves vile, and he restrained
them not. And therefore I have
sworn unto the'house of Eli, that
the iniquity of Eli’s house shall
not be purged with sacrifice nor
offering forever.”
In this last warning ever given
to Eli there is a reference to ad
monitions and threatenings alrea
dy delivered. About twenty
years, as is supposed, before the
midnight revelation, to young
Samuel, “a man of God”—an
unknown and unnamed prophet
suddenly appears before Eli,
delivers a fearful message, and
then steps back into tne obscurity
from which he came and we see
him no more.
What had this unnamed prophet
said to the venerable priest, while
Hophni and Phlnehas were yet in
their youth, while there was yet
hope for their reformation and
salvation ?
“ And there came a man of
God unto Eli, and said unto him,
Thus saith the Lord, Did I plain
ly appear unto the liouse ot thy
father, when they were in Egypt
in Pharaoh’s house ? And did I
choose him out of all the tribes
of Israel to be my priest, to offer
upon mine altar, to burn incense,
to wear an ephod before me 1
and did I give unto the house of
thy father all the offerings made
by fire of the children of Israel ?
Wherefore kick ye at my sacri
fice and at mine offering, which I
have commanded in my habita
tion ; and honorest thy sons above
me, to make yourselves fat with
the chiefest of all the offerings of
Israel my people? Wherefore
the Lord God of Israel saith, I
said indeed that thy house, and
the house of thy father, should
walk before me forever; but now
the Lord saith. Be it far from me ;
for them that honor me I will
honor, and they that despise me
shall be lightly esteemed. Behold,
the days come, that I will out off
thine arm, and the arm of thy
father’s house, that there shall not
be an old man in thine house.
And thou shalt see an enemy in
my habitation, in all the wealth
which God shall give Israel; and
there shalt not be an old man in
thine house forever. And the
man of thine whom I shall not
cut off from mine altar, shall be
to consume thine eyes, and to
grieve thine heart; and all the
increase of thine house shall die
in the flower of their age. And this
shall be a sign unto thee, that
shall come upon thy two sons, on
Hophni and Phinehas;. in one
dav they shall die both of them
And I will raise mo up a faithful
priest, that shall do according to
that which is in mine heart and
in my mind: and 1 willbuildhim
a sure house ; and he shall walk
before mine Anointed forever.
And it shall come to pass, that
every one that is left in thine
house shall come and crouch to
him for a piece of silver and a
morsel of bread, and shall s.ay.
Put me, I pray thee, into one of
the priest’s offices, that I may eat
a piece of bread.”
All this was terrible. God’s
wrath was to be poured in over
son, Eli wlio was sitting close by
where she knelt mistook lier for
a lewd and drunken woman.
And it came to pass, as she
continued pra3'ing before the
Lord, that Eli marked her mouth.
Now Hannah, she spake in her
heart; only her lips moved, but
her voice was not heard : there
fore Eli thought she had been
drunken. And Eli said unto her,
How long wilt thou be drunken ?
put away thy wine from thee.”
All this shows that religion was
at a low ebb indeed, and the
regulations concerning the ad-
whelming and desolating storms mission ot improper characters
upon Eli and his house. But this
was not the rvorst; so far, at least,
as this world was concerned, there
was to be no mere}’. “ I have
sworn unto Eli, that the iniquity
of Eli’s house shall not be purged
with sacrifice andofferingforever.”
What answer can Eli make to
Samuel’s message, announcing the
impending judgments of God, and
declaring anew what the “ man
of God,” the unnamed prophet,
had said twenty years ago?
Truly it was no ordinary humil
ity and resignation to the Divine
will tliat could promptly reply to
all this, “ It is the Lord ; let him
do what seemeth him good.” AVe
have a further and striking proof
of his personal piety in his deep
concern for the ark of God, and
his lieart-brcaking sorrow at its
capture, on the day of Israel’s
overwhelming defeat by the Phil
istine armies.
But Eli was a very inefficient
ruler, a very unwise, unfaithful,
and unhappy father; “ a waver
ing, feeble, powerless man, rvith
excellent intentions, but an utter
want of will.” As chief judge
and high-priest of Israel during
forty years, he held the reins of
authority with a feeble and iri'es-
olute hand. Frederick Robert
son says of him ; “ He could not
rule his own household ; he could
not rule the Church of God—a
shy, solitary, amiable ecclesiastic
and recluse was Eli. And such
are the really fatal men in the
work of life. . . . Eli’s feelings
were always good ; his acts wore
always wrong. In sentiment he
might be always trusted; in ac
tion he was forever false, because
he was a weak, vacillating man.
All history overrates such men
Men, like Eli, ruin families by
instability, produce revolutions,
die well when only passive cour
age is wanted, and are reckoned
martyrs. They live like children
and die like heroes. Deeply true
to nature and instructive is this
history of Eli. It is quite natural
that such men should suffer well.
For if only their minds are made
up tor them by inevitable cir
cumstances, they can submit.
AVhen people come to Eli and
say, ‘ You should reprove your
sons,’ he can do it after a fashion ;
when it is said to him, ‘ You must
die,’ he can make up his mind to
die ; but this is not taking up the
cross.” .
It is evident from various cir
cumstances that during his long
and feeble rule many abuses that
should have been crushed the day
thev were born liad grown up all
around him. AYhen Hannah wont
into the temple of the Lord at
Shiloh, “ and was in bitterness of
i soul,” as she prayed to God for a
into the sacred inclosure much
neglected. The manner in which
this circumstance is introduced
into the narrative shows that
drunken women were frequently
seen close about the altars of
God. AVhen matters had reached
such a pass that the sight of one
supposed to bo a drunken woman
in the sanctuary excited no sui'-
prise, and only drew from the
iiigh-priest a common-place re
proof, we may well believe that
there had been strange and criui-
inal carelessness in the adminis
tration of affairs.
Under Eli’s slack and feeble
rule many grave abuses had de
veloped in the dealings of the
subordinate priests with the peo
ple. Certain parts of the offerings
were allotted by law for the sup
port of the priests and their fam
ilies. In addition to this it had
become customary for the ser
vants of the priests to come, while
the flesh was being boiled for the
use of the offerer and his friends,
and, with his three-pronged flesh-
hook in his hand, “ he struck it
into the pan, or kettle, or caldron,
or pot.” What his “ three-pronged
flesh-hook” brought up the priest
appropriated to his own use. ‘‘So
they did in Shiloh unto all the
Israelites that came thither.” I'lie
people, perhaps, out of a habit of
veneration for a priesthood that
was indeed no longer entitled to
respect, • submitted to this addi
tional tax upon their offerings, by
which the appetite of the priests
was gratified with greater variety,
and their avarice with larger
perquisites. But these rapacious
sons of Belial, Eli’s sons, were
not satisfied with this. The flesh-
hook plunged into the pot at
random did not always bring up
the choicest pieces. They claimed
the very best of the offerings, and
if any devout, honest-minded
Israelite objected to a proceeding
so unjust, and so unworthy the
sacred office of the priests, the
very servants of these -apostates
had the effrontery to take by
force whatever pieces of the flesh
they chose. Eli rvas a careless
judge and and a negligent high-
priest to allow such outrages to
pass unrebuked, or even to allow
them to exist for a single day.
Had Eli been faithful to his
sacred duties, had he “ honored
God ” aright, he would, without
ceremony or delay, have ejected
from an office they so shamefully
abused these “ sons of Belial,”
Hophni and Phinehas—“ lording
it over God’s heritage,” and pro
faning his altar.”—A. 0. Ilaggood,
B.D.
-A book agent.
writing to the
publishers concerning a valuable
educational work, says that he is
mucli discouraged, because sev
enty per cent of tho teachers are
young girls, who do not hesitate
t) spend ton dollars for a fashion
able bonnet, but can not be in
duced to spend two dollars for a
work essential to success in their
calling. AVhile we believe tho
young man exaggerated, still his
statement contains an element of
truth. AYe have too many in
tho school-room, who seldom, if
ever, read anything pertaining to
tlieir profession, or make any ef
fort to improve their qualifica
tions as teachers. It would bo
an interesting fact, if we could
know the number of teachers who
take an educational journal, or
own so standard a work as ‘Page’s
Tlioory and Practice of Teach
ing.’ AVe lack an esprit cle corps,
and while we are not willing to
croak, still we do wish to toll the
truth. If by any means, we as
teachers, could respect ourselves
more, we should bo more respected
by others, and if we could ele
vate our own mental character,
we could more easily elevate tho
minds of others. Teaching should
be an intellectual calling; it often
is not, and years pass away in
dull routine, with no genuine
study into tho art and science of
that grandest of all callings, train
ing the mind. Successful teach-
is the result of profound
study, first of ourselves, and then
of our pupils, and lastly, of what
we are to teach them—National
Teachers' Monthly.
«NL,V.
Only a .seed—^biit it eliaiiced to fall
In a little cleft in the city wall, ■-
And taking root grew bravely up.
Till a till}' blossom crowned its toil.
Only a flower—but it chanced that day
That a burdened heart passed that way;
And the message that through the
flower was sent.
Brought the weary soiU a sweet coii-
teut.
For it s])okc of the lilies so woiidrous-
ly clad
And the heart th.at was tired grew
strangely glad
At the thought of the tender care over
all,
That noted even a sparrow’s fall.
Only a thought—but tho work it
wrought
Could never by tongue or iien bo
taught,
For it ran through a life like a thread
of gold;
And the life bore fruit—a hundred
fold.
Only a word—but ’twas .spoken in love.
With a whispered prayer in the Lord
above;
And the angels in heaven rejoiced once
more.
For a new-born soul “entered in by
the door.”
First Things First.—A young man
having embraced the Gospel, and
made open iirofes.sion of it, his father,
who w-as much offended, gave him this
advice: “.Tamos, you slioiild first get
yourself established in a good trade,
and then think of religion.” “Fath
er,” said J.aines, “Christ advi.ses me
very ditferently. lie says, ‘ Seek ye
fir.st the Kingdom of Heaven, and tho
righteousness thereof, and all other
things shall be added unto you.—
Frank Leslie's Siiiiduj/ Magazine,
Dm You Ever.—Did you over
know a tradesman asking for liis
account who had not “a bill to
make up by Friday ?”
Did you ever know a cabman
or a ticket porter with any change
about him ,?