PERSONAL EMPOWERMENT
Lesson from the
Leader Who
Was Asleep
by Eturuvie Erebor
E
li was a priest and one of the judges
of the nation of Israel, as a matter
of fact, he was next to the last judge
that Israel had. After his death, Sam-
uel became judge and was the last judge as
the nation moved from being led by judges
to being led by kings.
Eli was without any doubt a very weak
leader; the Bible described him as an old
man who was overweight and the three
times he is mentioned, he is in a position of
ease, either lying down, a position which
connotes inactivity or sitting down, a posi-
tion which connotes rest.
There are three instances in which his
posture is referenced. In the first, Hannah
was in the temple praying, the Bible records,
concerning Eli, “Now Eli the priest was sitting
on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of
the Lord.” In the second, the night the Lord
called the young Samuel, the Bible records,
“And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was
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lying down in his place.” In the third, a man
of Benjamin returned with evil tidings that
the ark of God had been captured, the Bible
records, “Now when he came, there was Eli,
sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his
heart trembled for the ark of God.”
So, in all three scenes, we see this man,
who was the spiritual leader of the nation,
either in a state of rest or a state of inactivity.
It is interesting to note that Eli as spiritual
leader of the nation could sit down and lie
down when the nation he led was in chaos
as was his household. We know this for a
fact because the Bible records concerning
the nation of Israel, “The word of the Lord
was rare in those days; there was no widespread
revelation.” Then concerning the household
of Eli, the Bible has this to say, “Now the sons
of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.”
While Eli was not a bad man, he was
not a firm man either, and this is seen in his
failure to call his sons to order even after