“His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.” 1 Samuel 8:3
We’re introduced to our Reading Today with this sentence “And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel.” Normally, this would be a logical conclusion. I do X for a living; I’m good at it, know the ropes, and have a clientele, etc. I’ll just train my children to take over when I retire. Right? Not so fast. This Role of “Judge of Israel” was not something Samuel decided to do one day. God had Hand Picked him with a Special Birth and Divine Calling! Also, one of the Prerequisites of the Job was Honesty. We’re told that “His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.” Not exactly the type of Individual you want making decisions impacting people’s lives! Maybe Samuel did not know this…but he should have, especially to install them into this Position.
Like Eli, Samuel’s sons did not follow the Lord. Why is that? Godly men, committed to doing Right, have children that do not follow their example, or God’s? We know very little about Samuel’s domestic life, his wife, his life in the home, his instruction to his sons. We can only speculate. But what we do know is this; he exercised his office as Prophet blamelessly before Israel, and God did not change the hearts of his children.
May God give us both Grace for ourselves, and for our children, as we seek Him more earnestly in Prayer!