SCRIPTURE BIOGRAPHY.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume I, Issue 7, 1 September 1855, Page 23

SCRIPTURE BIOGRAPHY.

ELI. Eli was one of the judges appointed by Jehovah to govern the Israelitish nation; he was also the high priest. This dignity was transferred to the family of Ithamar of which Eli was a member During the administration of this Jewish ruler. Samson expoused the cause of the people, and •delivered them 'out of the hands of the Philistines' who were permitted,by God to harass them on account of their sins. The rule of Eli was memorable on account of another deeply interesting event, namely, the dedication of the child Samuel to the Lord. How singularly affecting was the conduct of the pious Hannah on this painful and yet joyous occasion, and how worthy of imitation ! Nothing is recorded of the youthful days of Eli, but from what we can gather, he seems to have been, in after life at least, strangely deficient in energy. There was an indifference relative to sacred requirements which the most charitable will scarcely venture to extenuate. When apprised of the calamities that were to come upon his household, instead of flying to prayer, in order to avert the justly merited punishment, he merely observed, "It is tke Lord let him do what seemeth Him good." The great sin of Eli was his foolish indulgence of his sons, —an evil, alas ! too prevalent in our own day, und which is palliated by the soft phrase of "overfondness." The word of truth, however, makes no apology for the delinquency of Eli, it simply states, that "his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not." The duty of the parent and judge in this case, was too plain; he

should have removed the ungodly Hophni and Phinehas from the sacred Office. We must understand, however, that no such painful necessity would have existed, had the young men been properly educated in earlier life, for the declaration is, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." The brief record of Eli and his sons, also places before the mind the deep responsibility of ministers of religion. Unless the sacerdotal functions be discharged by holy and zealous men, the Church becomes corrupt, and the ordinances cease to refresh the soul. How indeed should it be otherwise, when "the glory is departed ?'' This was exemplified in the- Jewish Church during the ministration of Eli, through whose want of holy zeal in the cause of God, those terrible evils were brought about which we find recorded in the Book of Samuel. The execution of the Divine wrath was deferred for upwards of twenty years, but at length the punishment came, Hophni and Phineas were skin, and the "ark of the Lord" fell into the hands oi the Philistines who carried it to Ashdod. The melancholy intelligence so affected the nged Eli, that he "fell backward from his seat" and ex pired. He died A. M. 2888, in the ninetyeighth year of his age. I