- Joined
- Jan 7, 2018
- Messages
- 126
- Reaction score
- 60
- Points
- 28
- Location
- Midwest - close to St Louis, MO
I came to know Christ as my personal savior as a young teenager and began my real journey in life as a Christian. As I grew in age, my Christian focus would change with the important events of my life and when my first child was born, I tried to learn as much as I could regarding my responsibilities as a father before the Lord.
During this time, I received a lot of bad direction from fundamental preachers, but I see some of that changing with this new generation. One of the worst things was the misuse of Proverbs 22:6 where we are told to "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." This was repeatedly preached as a "promise" from God and emphasis was always placed on parents to do what they should and God would ensure the direction and outcome of their children. There are too many examples in modern Christianity of the one not leading to the other and many parents have tortured themselves with doubts of where they went wrong in raising their children who ended up following their own way instead of God's. I have been pleased to see that this interpretation is no longer being spewed and was shocked when a former pastor of mine, who used this promise repeatedly, told me that this was NOT a promise, but a principal. My, how things have changed.
Another biblical threat that was popular in those days, as I continued to grow as a parent, was I Samuel 3:13 "For I (God) have told him (Eli) that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not."
For a brief recap, Eli was a priest of God (possibly the high priest during the time of Samuel's childhood) and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, also served as priests, but they were evil. It is even recorded in scripture that they "knew not the Lord" and they used the priesthood for their own gain and pleasure. God tells Eli that he has made himself "fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people" and in His judgement, according to His own prophecy, Hophni and Phinehas are killed on the same day in a battle with the Philistines. Upon hearing the news, Eli fell off of his chair, broke his neck and died.
I have heard preachers repeatedly use this story and that particular verse (13) to threaten young fathers that if they did not "restrain" their children from doing wrong, God could judge them as he did Eli. I look back on this and think, wow, what arrogance...….. and ignorance. The best way to assess bad scripture interpretation is looking at other scripture with similar issues. Is there another father in the Bible whose child did wrongly? Well there was Adam's son Cain, who killed his own brother Abel. God judged Cain but he did not judge Adam for Cain's sin. There is also David, referred to as a man after God's heart. Absalom, son of David, was planning to overthrow and possibly kill his father to be the new king of Israel. Rather than face him in battle, David fled, but this was an attack on the Lord's anointed king and seems pretty sinful to me. Absalom, of course was killed, but David was not judged by God for Absalom's sin. David had plenty of other things that he personally did and was judged by God for those. So what is the difference between Adam, David and Eli?
It took me a long to time to work this out, but the answer is obvious. Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were all priests and Eli, if not the high priest, was senior to his sons. Their sin before God was in dishonoring the priesthood that God had established; something Eli had the authority and ability to stop, but he chose not to. He even profited from their evil, making himself fat. I Samuel 2:22-25 records a halfhearted attempt by Eli to point out their sin, but they "hearkened not unto the voice of their father" and remained in the priesthood continuing their evil. It was Eli's duty, not just parental, but as senior/high priest was to remove his sons from their holy office for their sins and restore honor to God. There lies the difference. It was not his parenting that God judged, but his service as priest and allowing God to be dishonored by his own sons.
We all have to answer to God for our own personal choices, just as we are saved when we make personal acknowledgement of our sins and throw ourselves on the mercy of God. Perhaps the older fundamentalist preachers thought they could use fear to encourage (?) fathers to bring their children to church, Sunday School, etc., but the basis for this threat is totally false and does far more damage than good.
I sincerely hope that no preacher, Sunday School teacher, evangelist, etc. will use the story of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas as an example of bad parenting and potential fatal judgement on this upcoming Father's Day.
Humbly submitted.
During this time, I received a lot of bad direction from fundamental preachers, but I see some of that changing with this new generation. One of the worst things was the misuse of Proverbs 22:6 where we are told to "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." This was repeatedly preached as a "promise" from God and emphasis was always placed on parents to do what they should and God would ensure the direction and outcome of their children. There are too many examples in modern Christianity of the one not leading to the other and many parents have tortured themselves with doubts of where they went wrong in raising their children who ended up following their own way instead of God's. I have been pleased to see that this interpretation is no longer being spewed and was shocked when a former pastor of mine, who used this promise repeatedly, told me that this was NOT a promise, but a principal. My, how things have changed.
Another biblical threat that was popular in those days, as I continued to grow as a parent, was I Samuel 3:13 "For I (God) have told him (Eli) that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not."
For a brief recap, Eli was a priest of God (possibly the high priest during the time of Samuel's childhood) and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, also served as priests, but they were evil. It is even recorded in scripture that they "knew not the Lord" and they used the priesthood for their own gain and pleasure. God tells Eli that he has made himself "fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people" and in His judgement, according to His own prophecy, Hophni and Phinehas are killed on the same day in a battle with the Philistines. Upon hearing the news, Eli fell off of his chair, broke his neck and died.
I have heard preachers repeatedly use this story and that particular verse (13) to threaten young fathers that if they did not "restrain" their children from doing wrong, God could judge them as he did Eli. I look back on this and think, wow, what arrogance...….. and ignorance. The best way to assess bad scripture interpretation is looking at other scripture with similar issues. Is there another father in the Bible whose child did wrongly? Well there was Adam's son Cain, who killed his own brother Abel. God judged Cain but he did not judge Adam for Cain's sin. There is also David, referred to as a man after God's heart. Absalom, son of David, was planning to overthrow and possibly kill his father to be the new king of Israel. Rather than face him in battle, David fled, but this was an attack on the Lord's anointed king and seems pretty sinful to me. Absalom, of course was killed, but David was not judged by God for Absalom's sin. David had plenty of other things that he personally did and was judged by God for those. So what is the difference between Adam, David and Eli?
It took me a long to time to work this out, but the answer is obvious. Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were all priests and Eli, if not the high priest, was senior to his sons. Their sin before God was in dishonoring the priesthood that God had established; something Eli had the authority and ability to stop, but he chose not to. He even profited from their evil, making himself fat. I Samuel 2:22-25 records a halfhearted attempt by Eli to point out their sin, but they "hearkened not unto the voice of their father" and remained in the priesthood continuing their evil. It was Eli's duty, not just parental, but as senior/high priest was to remove his sons from their holy office for their sins and restore honor to God. There lies the difference. It was not his parenting that God judged, but his service as priest and allowing God to be dishonored by his own sons.
We all have to answer to God for our own personal choices, just as we are saved when we make personal acknowledgement of our sins and throw ourselves on the mercy of God. Perhaps the older fundamentalist preachers thought they could use fear to encourage (?) fathers to bring their children to church, Sunday School, etc., but the basis for this threat is totally false and does far more damage than good.
I sincerely hope that no preacher, Sunday School teacher, evangelist, etc. will use the story of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas as an example of bad parenting and potential fatal judgement on this upcoming Father's Day.
Humbly submitted.