Beschrijving

The Last Judge and the First King

Elkanah, together with his wives and children, is travelling to Shiloh. The children are happy. Soon they will be able to see how their sheep are being slaughtered near the altar. Then Father Elkanah will once again tell them stories from ages past, about the experiences of the children of Israel in the desert, and about Moses. He will speak to them again about sin, and about the forgiveness of sins, which can only come from the Lord. They will be allowed to eat of the sacrifice, and they will get more meat than they usually get at home. It should be a special day; the children still remember it from last year. Father Elkanah goes to Shiloh each year to sacrifice to the Lord. That’s what the Lord commands, and that’s what Elkanah gladly does. Yet he is not as happy as his children. He looks concerned, especially when he is thinking about the tabernacle. Eli the priest is old and can no longer do his work. He is still judge over the people of Israel, but he doesn’t do that work as he ought to do it. That’s why father Elkanah is concerned. Now that Eli no longer does the work of a priest, his two sons, Hophni and Phineas do it for him. When they were young, their father had given them Egyptian names, perhaps because he thought such foreign names were dignified. But now these sons live very sinful lives, just like the heathen in other countries. Elkanah is sad about the many sinful things that are happening in and around the tabernacle. Yet he goes up each year to bring his offerings, because he knows that this is what the Lord commands…

[Engelse uitgave van ‘Samuël en Saul’]