My Employer is a Son of the Devil

                                                                33rd in a series on how men and women in the Bible deal with waiting, disappointment and unemployment

My Employer is a Son of the Devil

1 Samuel 2:12-36

The best definition of integrity is: “Who am I when no one is looking?” In one of my first jobs out of college I worked in a retail lumber store as the Night Manager.  When the General Manager had a day off the Assistant Manager would be in charge and his behavior was radically different when the boss wasn’t around.  He sat in his office much of the day and did little to move the company forward.  It was difficult to stay motivated as a twenty-four year old and I felt little compulsion to say anything to make things right.

The context of 1 Samuel 2 was a time when there was no king.  Israel was a theocracy and the center of Israel’s worship and government was the Temple.  Eli was the priest and his sons, Hophni and Phineas worked under him as assistants.  With Eli aging the sons gained more and more authority and despite Eli’s pleading they did more and more evil.  Verse 12 says, “Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.” The word scoundrel can be translated: wicked, despicable, evil, good for nothing, corrupt, worthless and the most descriptive - sons of the devil.

The Law of God as given through Moses was very prescriptive as to how to make an offering to the Lord.  From the offerings, excess meat was to feed the priests who neither owned land nor made a living in any other way.  But Hophni and Phineas didn’t think it was enough to get the leftovers.  They wanted the best of the sacrifice which God had demanded for himself, thus desecrating the altar.  They also had adulterous relationships with the women who served in the Temple.  The worst of it was that they not only sinned, but made the nation Israel sin as well.

Eli heard of these things and he scolded his boys but he never disciplined them in a way that made them stop.  One commentator states, “It is sometimes necessary that we put an edge upon the reproofs we give. There are those that must be saved with fear.”  i.e Unless we know that we have something to lose we will never change our behavior.  The Assistant manager at my store was able to hide his behavior from the manager as long as the other employees, including myself, didn’t turn him in.  Because of his character defect he had no incentive to change.

Meanwhile little Samuel stepped into the environment of 1 Samuel 2 to serve in any way that he could.  He didn’t know anything about serving in the Temple but he could light a candle, or hold a dish, or run on an errand, or shut a door.  Are we willing to do the slightest task in order to serve?  Entering a new job can be intimidating and it’s obvious that we will not know everything at once, but let us do what we know how to do in order to justify our hiring.  

Those that have been with a company for a long period of time may come to feel entitled.  Hophni and Phineas did not begin their misbehavior all at once.  A little bit at a time they slipped away from the standards of the Temple.  So subtly that the people of Israel did not object because they were ignorant of the Law.  They were dependent upon the priests to instruct them.  A time of reformation was at hand and in order for that to happen, a house cleaning was required.

“His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.”  Eli had the power and authority to change the destiny of his sons.  His sons could have repented and changed the fate of the future of their families.  Their repeated evil and abuse of power hardened their hearts to such an extent that repentance was all but impossible.

The prophet of the Lord came to Eli and told him, “I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always.”  But Eli’s family line will not continue because the egregious sins of his family.  “The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age.”

The Assistant Manager, like Hophni and Phineas may have gotten away with their behavior for a time, but nothing escapes the watchful eyes of God.  Whom are you trying to please today?  What secrets are you hiding? Yours and others.  For if we serve as an accomplice to another’s sin, we are just as guilty.  As a twenty-four year old I wish I had had the courage to speak to that Assistant Manager.  I hope I have compensated over the years by doing my job, no matter how menial at times, with strength and integrity.

Thoughts to Consider:

1. Have you ever covered up for someone who was slacking off?
2. Has someone ever covered for you?
3. Have you ever had someone confront you about being lazy or not sharing the load?  How did you respond?
4. Are you like Samuel?  Willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done?
5. What can you do in your situation today to expose deceit, encourage hard work and pursue integrity?

"Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.”

God

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Colossians 3:23,24