February 8, 2011 (I Samuel 1-8)

These first chapters describe Hannah, a barren woman who prayed to God for a son and He granted her request. She named her son Samuel. In turn, she gave him back to the Lord, to serve Him in the temple. Eli was the priest that Samuel served under and Eli's two sons were wicked. Eli knew about it, but never really disciplined them. 

^3:11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. ¹² I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. ¹³ I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn’t disciplined them. ¹⁴ So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.”

And his sons were both killed in battle not too long after that. Fast forward to Samuel. He is now a father and I found it very interesting when I read this:

^8:1 As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. ² Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba. ³ But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.

Although it doesn't say here that God was going to judge Samuel or his sons, I can't help but think that God was waiting on Samuel to do something about them. Take their positions of authority from them, or something. But it was because of them that the people demanded a king:

^8:4 Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. ⁵ “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”

I know our children don't like it when we discipline them, but God expects it of us. Ultimately they are responsible for their own actions and are accountable to God for them, but we are accountable to God to discipline them.