Staying Pure in the Face of Corruption

 At a young age, Samuel witnessed genuine wickedness and corruption. Eli had two sons named Hophni and Phinehas. Samuel's account reads: "The sons of Eli were good-for-nothing men; they did not acknowledge Jehovah."  (1 Samuel 2:12) The two thoughts in this verse go hand in hand. Hophni and Phinehas were "good-for-nothing men"-literally "sons of worthlessness"-because they had no regard for Jehovah. They thought nothing of his righteous standards and requirements. From that one failing sprang all their other sins.

God's Law was specific about the priests' duties and the way they to offer sacrifices at this tabernacle. For good reason! Those sacrifices represented God's provisions to forgive sins so that people could be clean in his eyes, eligible for his blessing and guidance. But Hophni and Phinehas led their fellow priests to treat the offering with great disrespect.

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