Sons of Belial

1 Samuel 2

12Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.
13And the priest's custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand;
14And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.
15Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.
16And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.
17Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

In 1 Samuel 2:12 the son’s of Eli the High Priest were called sons of Belial… The word Belial in the Old Testament means, “Worthless, without value, a lawless person, wicked”, In the New Testament it is used as a name of Satan. These two men Hophni and Phinehas were officiating priests at the sanctuary in Shiloh. They served God in a religious way yet the scriptures say they knew not God. It’s amazing how people can just do religion, I mean preacher’s can preach, scholars can study, congregants can assemble, musicians can play, and singers can sing for God, but to truly know God, that is a different story. It seems now a day all you need to have is the correct lingo, a few hallelujah’s, some amen’s and some Christian clichés and the church embraces you as ‘saved’. Although those outward expressions may fool men, be sure of this… The Lord knows the heart and you will never fool Him.

Hophni and Phinehas were wicked in the sight of the Lord. They would take whatever they wanted from the offerings people brought to the Lord. (1 Samuel 2:13-16) God had commanded how He wanted the priests to be fed by the sacrifice (Deuteronomy 18:3) and these two Priests held no regard for the law of God, and if a anyone objected, if a righteous man wanting to follow the law dared to speak against them, they would use force to get their way. These men did not fear God. They would sleep with the woman who served at the sanctuary; they were disobedient, adulterous and rebellious men.

1 Samuel 2:17 says that they made men abhor the offering of the Lord. Their behavior turned people away from God!!! It says men abhorred the offering of the Lord. This verse makes me think about the condition of the church today. How many times when witnessing on the streets has someone told you, “Christians are hypocrites, that’s why I don’t go to church”? The church has made men abhor the offering of the Lord, by not living Christ like. We cannot be effective ministers of the Gospel, if we are not living up to what we preach.

These television evangelist that preach a watered down, God can make you rich, name it and claim it gospel turn a lot people off to God and they will have to give an account to the Lord one day for it, but what about you??? The Pastor of a small church in a big city, the mother of school aged children, the street minister, the Sunday school teacher?? Have you examined yourself lately? It’s very easy to get caught up in doing things for God, the religious acts, but what about the inside? Do you know the Lord? Does the Lord know you? The word of God says to examine yourself (2 Corinthians 13:5) Judgment came upon the house of Hophni and Phinehas … let’s learn from scripture…repent…and practice what you preach that you may be known as a son/daughter of God and not Belial.