In the midst of the corruption at Shiloh, Samuel continued 'serving the LORD under the direction of Eli' (v. 1). The same verse also says that 'there were very few messages from the LORD, and visions from him were quite rare', indicating that the sanctuary lacked those who were in a relationship with God which allowed them to hear his voice. The story of how Samuel heard the voice of God is described superbly and a number of important points about his call to be the prophet of God arise from it; but before looking at these we shall return to Eli. After Samuel had listened to what the voice of God said to him, he found that he had a terrible responsibility to undertake. He was to go to Eli and tell him of the punishment to come on his family, and he was afraid to do this. Eli knew that God had spoken to Samuel and commanded him to reveal what he had heard. When Eli heard from Samuel what has already been referred to in the previous chapter, he said, 'He is the Load; he will do whatever seems best to him.'

In these words of Eli we see the acceptance of the clear Pentateuch teaching that the way of sin is the way of death: 'Today I am giving you a choice between good and evil, between life and death. If you obey the commands of the LORD your God, which I give you today, if you love him, obey him, and keep all his laws, then you will prosper and become a nation of many people. The Loan your God will bless you in the land that you are about to occupy. But if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods, you will be destroyed ... ' (Deuteronomy 30: 15-18).

The Biblical writers' profound understanding of the nature of sin is brought out in the presentation of the consequences of the sin of Eli's sons. Sin is not just 'breaking the rules'; it is very much worse than that because ultimately it is rejection of the Lordship of God over what he has created. On the part of God there can be no compromise with sin because of the rejection of him and the rebellion against him that all sinful acts involve. Ultimately Eli could not be responsible for his sons' choice of the way of death, but it is not until much later in the Old Testament that we see the explicit understanding that each individual has to make a choice (Jeremiah 31 : 29-30 and Ezekiel 18 : 20).

In the earlier period of Israel's history and religious understanding, the Israelites as a community and then as a nation, had to learn about the choice between life and death. This emphasis on the communal and national choice between good and evil is repeated continually in the books of Samuel and Kings. The damaging consequences of the leaders' choice of evil fell upon the whole community or the whole nation. In the case of the sons of Eli, they chose to corrupt the sanctuary of God and to pervert the faith and way of life which held the Israelites together. To wipe out this corruption from Israel meant the destruction not only of the men themselves but of all those connected with them. Divine punishment against such evil was inevitable, and the words of Eli show this understanding. Eli emerges from the account as the tragic figure of a man destroyed by the sin of his sons.