Israel
as a nation enjoyed a period of peace with Samuel’s leadership. It was so
different from the time when Eli was leading. With Samuel as the judge, they
would go to him to seek guidance or to settle any dispute. They felt secure
with him at the helm. So, they existed peacefully for many years. Now Samuel
was getting old and there was a sense of unsettled feeling among the
people. While having an old leader has its advantages, one cannot deny that
there will also be disadvantages. An older leader brings into the situation his
experience and wisdom, but he would be less agile and will come to the task
with less energy. Besides being slower, he could also suffer the banes of old
age such as a weakening body, pains and aches in certain areas of his body, and
etc.
Perhaps
to compensate for his old age, Samuel appointed his two sons to help him with
the task. The names of his two sons were Joel and Abijah. He made them judges
at Beersheba. They shared in the responsibilities of the father. Sadly, we see
in the situation what we saw in Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. But
unlike Eli’s situation, Samuel's two sons were leading in Beersheba in the
south and away from Samuel in Ramah. Hence they were away from his direct
supervision and scrutiny. Whereas Eli and his two sons were serving
together in Shiloh under the father’s direct supervision. Samuel probably
wanted to ensure that the people in the south could have justice. It was a case
of ensuring justice for the land. What’s uncomfortable to read is in verse
3 where it says, “His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside
after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.” Like the sons
of Eli, the sons of Samuel also perverted justice. The one thing that leaders are
constantly exposed to is bribery and abuse of position. Joel and Abijah seemed
to have committed those grievous mistakes. They did not walk in the same integrity
that saw Samuel their father became the great leader that he was.
Lesson
for us: we need to know that godly fathers do not necessarily mean that they
will have godly children. We saw this in the lives of Moses, Aaron, and Eli, and
now we see it in Samuel. But godly children can be cultivated. If there is an
important task that every parent must do is to ensure that their sons and
daughters are grounded in the foundation of walking in integrity before the
Lord. We cannot discount the fact that all of us will grow old one day. So, we
must leave for them a rich legacy that will help them to continue to walk in
godliness. We can do so by making sure that we ourselves are living rightly
before God, and is habitually loving His words and obediently walking in His
ways. Then
inculcate these values in the children from young and pray for them to love and
obey God all their days.
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