Gluttony

The Sin of Eli

In the old testament, in 1 Samuel chapters 1-4 (please read), we can find the story of Eli. Eli was the high priest in Shiloh, the second-to-last Israelite judge. Eli is mostly remembered for blessing Hannah (ch 1), who was barren, with a son she named Samuel. He would become Eli’s successor. Eli had two evil sons, who served with him as priests in the Tabernacle, named Hophni and Phineas. His sons would take by force, that which was not permitted, from those who were sacrificing to God. They took the choicest meats and fat for themselves and “the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord” (ch 2:12-17). They were also laying with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (ch 2:22). Eli confronted his sons verbally in vs. 23-24, but was that enough? In the latter part of ch. 2 a man of God came and announced judgement on Eli and his house, and he was told that his sons would die on the same day as a sign of this judgement. Could he have done more? His sons did not heed their father (ch. 2:25). Surely as high priest he could have stripped them from their positions. Why did he not do more? Many ask the question why was Eli punished for his son’s actions. I believe that Eli’s sin was that of gluttony. A major clue is what the bible records for us at Eli’s death. In ch 4:18 it reads “As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy”. Notice the bible makes mention that Eli was heavy and it directly contributed to his death. This fact coupled with his sons wrongfully taking from the sacrifices of the people, as mentioned earlier, paints a pretty clear picture. If you think I am making a big leap lets consider one more passage. In 1 Samuel 2, when the man of God confronted Eli, he told him in vs. 29 “Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?” Eli is condemned by God for partaking in the spoils of his evil sons, and by doing so he honored his sons above the almighty God. Even though he chided his sons, by eating the choicest parts he was actually condoning their actions. A more modern day example would be; my son comes home and gives me a brand new motorcycle. I then ask him how he got it. He tells me that he robbed a bank and thought he would get me a gift with part of his take. I then proceed to tell him that he should not have robbed the bank. It is not good that you robbed a bank, I am very disappointed in you. Yet I keep the motorcycle, I mean after all it was a gift. By keeping it I would condone his robbing the bank. My actions actually nullify my words in this case. Also notice that God said that Eli and his sons “fattened themselves”. This is where gluttony comes into play. I believe that the love of the food that his sons brought to him kept him from doing what he should have, thus condoning and even emboldening his sons to continue in this behavior. Lets read some passages pertaining to gluttony. 

Proverbs 25:16 ESV
If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.

Psalm 78:18 ESV
They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.

Proverbs 23:19-21 ESV
Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way. Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.

Ecclesiastes 6:9 ESV
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ezekiel 16:49-50 ESV
Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.

Also let us not forget that in Exodus 16, when Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years and were fed manna by God, they were commanded to only gather enough for that day. When they gathered more it would spoil by morning. Yet on the sixth day they were to gather enough for two days because the seventh day was the sabbath. They were not permitted to gather on the sabbath. The manna would then keep for two days. Here God is teaching His people to trust in his sufficiency.

There are many other passages on gluttony and as a side note many of them pair gluttony with drunkenness.

So now lets look for a moment at what the sin of gluttony brought to Eli and his family. Eli’s sin brought punishment from God that would affect his house forever (1 Samuel ch 3:12-14), Eli’s sons were both killed in battle together as told by God, and the ark of the covenant was captured by the philistines and upon hearing this news caused Eli to fall backwards to his death.

So what applications can we make from this to our lives today. Gluttony is a word that is not widely used in our culture today. It is almost wholly forgotten. Are we in danger of this sin today? Are we suffering punishment for this sin today? Are there grave consequences for the sin of gluttony today? One needn't look any farther than our healthcare system and the growing lists of ailments and diseases that plague our society today. We are told that genetics play a large role but do they really. The truth is that most of our diseases are caused by our diets and are rather deficiencies, but that is the topic of another article.

1 Corinthians 15:32 ESV What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

In 1 Cor 15 Paul is making the case for the resurrection of Christ. But notice in vs 32 he says “if the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink”. So if the dead are raised, how should we thus live?

Let us close this article with some passages to aid us in keeping from this very real and dangerous sin of gluttony.

John 4:34 ESV
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

Matthew 4:4 ESV
But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 6:25-34 ESV
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Proverbs 30:8-9 ESV
Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.