Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord. 1 Samuel 2:12
I remember a young man who was hired to work at a hardware warehouse where I was employed many years ago. This young man was as lazy as anyone I have ever encountered. He preferred to sit on a bench rather than wait on customers, stock shelves, or run errands. One of the women in the retail department declared of him that she had to sight him by a post to see if he was moving. He was so lazy that he didn’t even bother to make up excuses as to why he got nothing done. Not surprising, he didn’t stay with us long. He was too much a son of Belial. If anybody ever calls you a son or daughter of Belial, you can rightfully feel deeply insulted. This term, in several forms, is used 27 times in our Bible, and it almost always means a useless or worthless person. What does it take to be qualified as worthless? You and I might have our definition, and I have given you an example. Our text gives us God’s definition: a son of Belial is someone who doesn’t know the Lord. So there is no scarcity of sons of Belial around.
Why would somebody who did not know the Lord be considered worthless? We all know people who don’t know the Lord who do many good things. Some are very diligent. Some are kind and generous. Some have aimed for and achieved lofty goals. The last description that most people would give them would be worthless. Many would see them as good examples to follow. Others would comment them for their great achievements and for the help they have been to society. But if we consider the good that these people do, we find it is of benefit only to this world. If they don’t know the Lord, all of their righteousnesses are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). The good they do serves only for time, and not for eternity. Most of us can recite the refrain from C.T. Studd’s poem that goes like this: Only one life, ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last. So the lives of those who know not the Lord are wasted lives.
There is something extra sad about those in our text who are identified as sons of Belial: they were also the sons of Eli. They knew about the Lord. Their father was the acting high priest and he would have taught them the Scriptures and showed them the worship of God. He even put them to work in the tabernacle. But they used their positions for their own pleasure and profit, with no regard for the God Why they were supposed to be serving. Many families have children who reject the teachings of their parents, whose lives make it obvious that they have never come to know the Lord. Tears are shed over their waywardness, and hearts are broken. But parents, even godly parents, can do only so much to introduce their children to the Lord and point them in the right way. Some never come to know the Lord.
Uselessness for God is defined as not knowing God. Usefulness for God is possible only to those who know the Lord. -Jim MacIntosh