Similarities between God of the Bible and Eli in 1 Samuel - Essay Example

10 February The God of the Bible is Very Much like Old Eli in Samuel-Always Nagging His Children but not really controlling them Introduction God in the Bible has similar characteristics to Eli, an Old Testament priest. They both constantly insist on certain ways of life for their children, but none of the two forces these children into living according to their ways. Rather, they let them freely decide on their paths. Some of the children took heed of what they were expected to do but others sinned greatly without the intervention of their fathers. My goal in this paper is to foreground the similarities in God of the Bible and Eli in 1 Samuel. God in Genesis, Exodus, 2 Samuel, Kings, Psalms, Isaiah and Jonah In Genesis, God creates Adam and Eve and puts them in the Garden of Eden. He allows them to eat all fruits of the trees in the garden with exception to the tree in the middle of the garden; The Tree of Knowledge, “And the Lord commanded the man ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil for when you eat it you will surely die.’ [Sic]” (Genesis 2:16-17). Despite this, man eats the fruit after being persuaded to do so by the serpent: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat[Sic]. (Genesis 3: 4-6). God being Omni-conscious knew that Eve would be tempted by the serpent and did not take control of Eve to stop her from eating the apple, but rather let her choose her path even after emphasising on the importance of avoiding the apple. In Exodus, God calls Moses up into Mount Sinai to deliver to him The Ten Commandments. God then commands Moses to tell people of Israel that they are not to worship idols or build altars in the name of these idols, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.” [Sic] (Exodus 20:22-23). During his stay in the mountain, the Israelites soon lost hope in Moses and thought he died up there. Their faith in God soon weakened and they asked Aaron, who was left in charge, to make them a god that they could see as they have lost faith in Moses and his God. Aaron complies and asks them to strip themselves of the jewellery they have and give it to him so that he may make a god for them. “And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which [are] in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring [them] unto me. And he received [them] at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. [Sic]” (Exodus 32:2-4). God was well aware of what the Israelites were doing but did nothing to stop them, but rather told Moses what they had done: And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted [themselves: ] They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. [Sic] (Exodus 32:7-8). Thus again God is seen to insist on a certain way of life for his children but does not force them to live by this rule. In 2 Samuel, David the King over Israel, coveted the wife of Uriah, he made a plan to make sure that Uriah dies at war so that he, David, may have Uriah’s wife. “...David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, ‘Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw him so that he will be struck down and die. [Sic]” (2 Samuel 11:14-15) Uriah died and David took his wife as he intended. God sent Nathan to David to make him know that God was aware of his sin “I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you...Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with your sword and took his wife to be your own.” (2 Samuel 12:7-9). Once again God proves to insist on a certain kind of way of living but does not force his children to stick to it but lets them choose what they want to do. In 1 Kings, Solomon is seen to associate himself with many women, many of which were foreigners; this was against God’s instructions to the Israelites. “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter – Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.’ Nevertheless Moses held fast to them in love. [Sic]” (1 Kings 11:1-2) Solomon soon started worshipping idols and God was aware of Solomon’s ways, he confronted him about this ways, “So the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom from you and give it to one of your subordinates’ ” (1 Kings 11:11). Again God puts emphasis in certain ways of conduct but lets his children freely choose their path without his interference. In Isaiah, God spoke to the Israelites through Isaiah after they chose a path of sin even after he had instructed them what they are to do and not to do. “...the Lord has spoken: ‘I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me...They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him’ ” (Isaiah 1:2-4). God had once again emphasised on a certain way of life but took no initiative to forcefully make his children follow his instructions and they chose their path. In Jonah, God speaks to Jonah instructing him to go to Nineveh and preach repentance, Jonah instead ran from the Lord. “‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’ But Jonah ran away from the Lord...” (Jonah 1:2-3) God knew what Jonah had done and sent a whale to swallow him. “But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17) God gave Jonah clear instructions and gave Jonah the freedom to choose whether to do as he was told or not without being controlled, Jonah chose his path and suffered the consequences. I have shown that God in the Bible showed the tendency to giving commands but not controlling how the person being commanded will respond to the commands given. This is a trait that Eli from 1 Samuel also portrays. Eli in 1 Samuel In 1 Samuel, a man named Eli is seen. He had two sons; Hophni and Phinehas, who were priests at Shiloh. His sons were wicked and often knowingly sinned against the commands of God and Eli was aware of this. He did nothing to take control of his sons and stop them from committing these sins but rather condemned their deeds and left the Lord to judge them for their deeds: Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no concern for the Lord... This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt...Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything that his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. So he said to them ‘Why do you do such things?...if a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?’ His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death . (1 Samuel 2:12-25) Conclusion In conclusion, it is seen that Eli portrays the same trait as God in the Bible; they both constantly emphasise on certain laws, commandments or morals for their children but do not take control of their children to ensure that this is heeded but would rather give their children the freedom to make their choices and thus face the consequences of their decisions. Notes 1. Some of the text directly quoted is in the older versions of English which may contain grammar mistakes according to twenty-first century grammar rules. 2. Some of the names of people or places in this paper may not be recognised in English. Works Cited International Bible Society. The Holy Bible, New International Version. England: St Ives plc, 2006. Print. Cogliano, Dan. The King James Version of the Holy Bible with Apocrypha. 2004. PDF file. Read More