Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
God speaks this word to Eli, the priest whose sons did evil while he did little more than protest. The sentence falls on the father, not only on the sons. It also raises a hard question: how can God set aside a promise He said would last forever?
The Charge Behind the Sentence
God names the motive: Eli honoured his sons above Him. One writer shows where the failure lay:
Hamilton SmithThe sons were the guilty ones, but Eli took no action against them, so God charges him with their offence. It is true he had protested. But the evil was of such a kind that to protest and still stay with the men he protested against was to approve their evil. The words "you honour your sons above Me" reveal the secret motive that governed Eli. He set family ties and the friendships of life above the claims of the Lord.
What "Despise" Means Here
Eli was a godly man, so the word "despise" seems far too strong. One writer answers that difficulty from the Lord's own teaching:
H. L. Rossier"You honour your sons above Me!" Poor Eli! For all his piety, there were men — his sons, as his behaviour proved — whom he was honouring more than the Lord... Did this righteous man Eli, then, despise the Lord? Yes, for "no servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other."
A Promise Withdrawn
Why does God take back His promise? Commentators point to the terms on which He gave it:
Leslie M. GrantUnder the covenant of law God had proposed that Eli's house and his father's house would walk before Him forever. The glaring failure of the priesthood changed this completely, because such a promise depended on their faithfulness. So God presses on Eli the unchanging principle: "those who honour Me I will honour, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed." The history of the priesthood shows how empty natural succession is.
One writer takes the point further. What Aaron's line lost, another Priest holds and never loses:
C KnappGod promised the priesthood to the house of Aaron forever... "The priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute"; but it was conditional in a way — they had to "walk before" the Lord. This they stopped doing, so they were "put as polluted from the priesthood." In the end this became true of the whole house of Aaron, and that Priest "after the order of Melchizedek, who abides continually" took its place.
A Rule That Governs More Than Eli
This is a standing rule, not a one-off ruling. One writer marks what it does and does not promise:
The Christian's FriendHe has said, "Those who honour Me I will honour," and this proves true even where the honour given may not come from a renewed soul. It is so in every age. For example, if a household honours God and calls on His name, He will bless that household in His government on earth. The same holds when people carry on daily life and business with the recognition of His name. But this is not salvation; it is temporal mercy according to the principles of God's government.
The Positive Side, and Its Condition
God's promise to honour comes with a condition. One writer sets out the pattern:
The Christian's FriendHe always delights to honour His saints in the eyes of others; but then they must not seek their own honour. He will honour His servants. But the moment we step out of the servant's place to take what we judge to be a higher place, He humbles us. The Lord Jesus Christ, the one faithful Servant, was always hiding Himself so that God might appear. And God was always honouring Him in the eyes of others.
One writer points to men whom God honoured because they honoured Him:
Hamilton SmithThese faithful men became witnesses for God, for we read that they stood "before the king." God was true to His own word, "Those who honour Me I will honour."
What God Builds After the Judgment
The judgment on Eli is not the end. God also promises a faithful priest, and one writer shows what that change prepares:
Hamilton SmithBecause Eli was unfaithful, God would cut off his house. He would raise up a faithful priest to act according to His own heart and mind... From now on the priest would no longer hold the first place before the Lord, but would walk before the Lord's anointed... So through the failure of the priest, God is preparing the way to fulfil His purpose: to establish Christ as King, with a faithful priest walking before Him forever.
Summary
- Honour misplaced — Eli did no evil himself, but he put his sons before God. He protested at their evil and then stayed with them, and that counted as approving it.
- Honour withdrawn — the promise that his house would walk before God forever rested on faithfulness. Natural succession secured nothing.
- Honour as a rule — God governs this way in every age. He blesses homes and daily business that honour His name, but that blessing is mercy in this life, not salvation.
- Honour returned — God honours those who keep the servant's place. Take honour for yourself, and He humbles you instead.
- Honour secured — Aaron's line lost its place. Another Priest holds it forever, and God sets Christ as King with a faithful priest before Him.