Compromise
| That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head. 13 When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry. 14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, "What is the meaning of this uproar?" The man hurried over to Eli, 15 who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes were set so that he could not see. 16 He told Eli, "I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day." Eli asked, "What happened, my son?" 17 The man who brought the news replied, "Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured." 18 When he mentioned the ark of God, 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. (1Samuel4:12-18) |
Did you get it?
He fell of his chair and broke his neck because he was an old man and heavy.
This is the sad conclusion of the life of Eli who had been the high priest and judge of Israel for forty years.
Eli is a tragic mixture of devotion and complacency.
At times he could get it so right and at times he could get it so wrong.
He got it right when he realised that God wanted to bless Hannah,
he got it right when he realised that God was speaking to Samuel and
he got it right when he mentored Samuel in the ways of the Lord.
But he got it so wrong with his sons...
He didn't stop his sons from taking the ark into battle.
He didn't stop his sons' immoral behaviour.
He didn't heed the multiple warnings God sent him.
He didn't act against his sons' gluttony.
In fact, it would seem that he participated in their gluttony...
As the boys forcibly took the choice fatty cuts from the temple offerings, it would seem that Eli partook and benefited from their gluttony, for he was an old man and heavy.
This is the tragic price of compromise.
The small "exceptions" become regular habits which add up and accumulate and before we know it we've justified them and they are part of our lives.
I imagine Eli being offered some of the choice meat his sons had "grabbed" and saying to himself: "I work hard and this is a thankless task, this is just a little treat." But the treat became a habit and the habit became an entitlement and the entitlement became the lard of years of compromise.
Our compromises may look different, but the dangers are the same.
Let us learn the significant lessons Eli has to teach us.
