ELL, things went on from bad to worse. One day a stranger came to Eli and stood before him as he sat on the bench by the church door. And the stranger said, “Hear what the Lord God says to you, Eli. I chose your father to be my priest, to minister at my altar, to burn incense before me, and to offer the sacrifices of my people. And now you honor your sons more than you honor me, and they are making themselves rich by stealing the offerings which the people bring. Therefore it shall come to pass that your two sons shall die both of them in one day, and your grandchildren shall be so poor that they shall stand begging at the church steps, saying, ‘Give me a little money and a bit of bread, for I am hungry.’ ” But it was too late. The time to teach people to be good is when they are young, and Eli had let that time go by. He had allowed his sons to do whatever they pleased when they were small boys, and now he could not stop them.
Then the Philistines, the neighbors and old enemies of Israel, began to be troublesome again. The Philistines lived in the long plain by the sea, and the Israelites lived among the hills, and a river ran from the hills into the plain, making a deep valley. Up this valley climbed the Philistines, till they came to a town of the Israelites called Beth-shemesh. And in a field beside the town was a great rock called Ebenezer. And there they had a battle, the Philistines against the Israelites, and the Israelites ran away. And that night the Israelites held a council and said, “What can we do? for the Philistines are mightier than we.” And they said, “Let us go to the church in Shiloh and get the Ark of God. If we have that among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.” For they remembered how when their fathers crossed the Jordan, at the beginning, the Ark was carried at the head of the host; and how it was borne by the priests, with blowing of trumpets, at the siege of Jericho. So they took the Ark out of the Shiloh church, and Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, carried it, one at one end and the other at the other. And when the Ark came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again with the echo of it. “Let God arise,” they cried, “and let his enemies be scattered. Let them also that hate Him flee before Him!” For that was the battle cry of Israel.
Now the Philistines in their camp heard the noise of the shout, and they said, “What is the meaning of the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” And they sent men to find out, and the men came back and said, “God is come into the camp! The God of Israel who smote the Egyptians with plagues, and who has won the men of Israel so many victories over their enemies, is in the camp. Woe unto us! Such a thing has never happened since the Philistines became a nation. Woe unto us! Who shall deliver us out of the hands of this mighty God?” And they held a council to determine what to do. It was plain that they must make a choice between two things: either they must run away as soon as they could and as fast as they could, or else they must fight harder than they had ever fought. Of these they chose the second, like brave men. They said one to another, “Be strong, O ye Philistines, and quit yourselves like men, that ye be not servants to the Hebrews as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men and fight.”
So the battle came on again, and the Philistines fought like heroes, and the Israelites were beaten worse than ever. They ran like sheep when the wolves are after them. And the Ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
Now Eli was almost a hundred years old, and blind. And that day, while the battle was raging afar off, he sat on his bench by the side of the road, at the church door, and waited for the news. And his heart trembled within him for fear. And by and by a man came running out of the army from the scene of battle. His clothes were torn, and there was dust upon his head; so that all who saw him knew at once that the army of Israel had been defeated. But Eli could not see him. And all who saw cried out with a great cry, “What is it? What has happened?” And the runner told them.
And Eli heard the noise of the crying, and he said, “What is the meaning of the noise of this tumult?” And the man from the battle hastened to Eli and said, “I am he that came out of the army, and I am fled to-day out of the army.”
And Eli said, “What is done there, my son?” And the messenger answered, “Israel is fled from before the Philistines; and there has been a great slaughter among the people; and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the Ark of God is taken!”
And it came to pass when the messenger made mention of the Ark of God that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck broke, and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. Thus the word of the Lord came true which He said to Samuel, that the wickedness of Eli’s sons should be punished in such a way that both the ears of all who heard of it should tingle.