A Tale of Two Hearts: Eli's Silence and Josiah's Repentance

The Lord declared a sobering prophecy over Eli’s life, after years of unfaithfulness and choosing to honor his sons over the Lord: “Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained” (1 Samuel 2:30).  He assured Eli that because he refused to repent and worship the Lord rightly, the priesthood would be forever removed from his family. Instead of the blessing that was originally promised, all his male offspring would live short lives and would be cut off from serving him (1 Samuel 2:30-33).  

Later, God gave Samuel a similar message concerning the judgment that was coming upon Eli and his sons. When Eli heard the message, his only response was, “He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes” (1 Samuel 3:18). On the surface, this seemed to reflect humble submission to God’s decision. But there was a noticeable absence of evidence that Eli had a contrite heart that was responsive to the Lord’s rebuke -- something we see clearly in King Josiah when he was confronted with a prophecy of the Lord’s impending judgment for Israel’s sin and rebellion. 

In contrast, when King Josiah received God's warning of destruction, he responded with humility and true repentance—and, as a result, God honored him. Josiah, who had become king when he was 8, was in his 20’s when Hilkiah the high priest discovered the Book of the Law as they were repairing the temple (2 Kings 22:8). It had been neglected and possibly hidden within the temple complex for about 57 years during the reign of King Manasseh, who the Bible says was the most wicked of all kings. 

When the priest read God’s Word in the presence of Josiah, he was so convicted, he wept and tore his robe and asked Hilkiah to inquire of the Lord about what they should do. He knew they had been disobedient to God and that “great is the Lord’s wrath that burns against us because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book” (2 Kings 22:13). 

God responded to his heart attitude of grief and humility by sending the prophet Huldah with a two-fold message – one of both judgment and blessing.  He warned that while disaster was certainly coming on the people of Israel because they had forsaken God and his Word, Josiah would be spared. 

Because his heart was “responsive and [he] humbled [himself] before the Lord” when he heard of the impending judgment, God determined to pour out his blessings on him (2 Kings 22:19). What should have been judgment for Josiah, as it was for Eli, became a blessing because he turned back to trust the Lord. Just as God declared, he honors those who honor him and is willing to relent when we repent. 

A responsive vs a non-responsive heart

In looking at Eli’s and Josiah’s different reactions to God’s rebuke, we see evidence of different heart conditions. Josiah's response reflects a tender heart that God delights in, as described in Isaiah 66:2 – one that is “humble, contrite, and trembles at God’s Word.” This heart honors God and his instruction, acknowledging him as sovereign Lord. It grieves over sins, not just with emotions, but with actions, as seen in the reforms Josiah enacted to bring the people to repentance and restoration with the Lord. 

On the other hand, an unresponsive heart – as seen in Eli’s life and the lives of most of the kings of Israel – is hardened and insensitive to the Lord’s correction, rejecting his guidance and warning.  Rather than honoring God, previous kings like Manasseh and Amon encouraged idolatry, shed innocent blood, and reversed many of God’s Laws. Like Eli, they failed to uphold God’s holiness and chose to fear and honor man over God. And though for a season they appeared to get away with this hard-hearted response, God’s judgment burned against them. Since they chose to despise him, God declared that they, too, would be disdained. 

How can we get this kind of heart?

Because God favors and honors those who respond humbly to him, it’s important to consider how we can attain this kind of heart. Josiah’s heart was transformed by trust in God and his promises, as he looked forward to the coming Messiah. As those in the New Covenant, our hearts are transformed as we look back at the finished work of Christ on the cross, trusting him to save us from our sins and make our hearts new. 

We see in Romans 8 that all who are in Christ Jesus, who have repented of their sins and trusted in Christ’s redeeming blood, are given a new, responsive heart by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  As Paul writes, if we are in Christ we are a new creation – “the old is gone and the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Once we are in Christ, we are no longer in the flesh with a heart of stone but are now in the Spirit with a soft heart that longs to please God (Romans 8:5–9). This is a gift of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Daily turning back to trust

Yet even those who have been eternally joined to Christ through faith in his atoning blood can begin practicing sin in areas that bring God’s severe discipline, though never judgment, into their lives. Paul gives an example of this in 1 Corinthians 11:27-30, warning that if someone takes of the Lord’s supper in an unworthy way, they are not only practicing sin but will experience the Lord’s discipline. He goes on to explain that this is the reason many are “weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” 

In 1 Thessalonians 4:6, he warned the church about practicing sexual immorality and wronging others, saying that the Lord will chastise those who commit these sins.  The implication was if they were sinning in these areas, they needed to turn back to trust the Lord that he might relent from sending his severe discipline. 

To guard against an unbelieving heart, God wants us to moment-by-moment present ourselves to him as a living sacrifice as those who are alive from the dead (Romans 6:12-13; 12:1-2), remembering we have been adopted, forgiven, raised up and seated with him in the heavenly places (Colossians 3:1-4). As we stand in our new identity in union with Christ, knowing that we have been given a new heart that longs to please him, we’re able to trust and obey his promises, living for him in a way that brings him glory.

Two different hearts, two different outcomes

At the end of his life, Eli received all the judgment God said would come upon him and his descendants (1 Samuel 4:12-22). He and his sons died tragic deaths, and the priesthood was transferred to the line of Zadok after Ahimelech’s murder by Saul. Josiah’s life, on the other hand, was filled with peace as he trusted the Lord and implemented the reforms he promised, leading Israel back to worship the one true God. Both men sinned against the Lord, and yet both experienced different outcomes. 

Josiah humbled himself before the Lord, while Eli refused to honor the Lord higher than his sons. He could have turned and repented, weeping and tearing his tunic, and ended his days at peace with the sovereign Lord. Perhaps God would have refrained from sending such a terrible judgment. But even if he didn’t, Eli’s story could have ended with worship, bringing glory to God.

I don’t know about you, but I greatly desire to live daily with a responsive heart that’s been given to me by the Lord, turning back to repent when he reveals my sins and humbly submitting to his rightful Lordship over my life. God has promised that he desires to honor and bless those who honor him – not only in this life but in the one to come. 

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

When Everything and Nothing Changes

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is found in John 21, when Jesus returns in His resurrected body to where Peter and the disciples have been fishing all night in the Sea of Galilee, and have caught nothing. He’s come to call them to discipleship and to reveal that He’s the living, miracle working God – just as He promised. A few years earlier, something similar happened. After fishing all night with no results, Peter and the disciples followed Jesus’ instruction to cast the nets again—and caught an abundance of fish along with an understanding of Jesus’ identity as Lord and God. It was also here that Jesus first called Peter to discipleship.

These two stories form an inclusio over Peter’s life and are connected by the truth that our position and calling in Christ are based on His righteousness and sovereign plans – not our own. Though Peter’s sin threatened to block him from a relationship with the sinless Savior and his failure in denying Christ seemed to disqualify him from his new identity in union with the Lord, he remained who God declared him to be – His forgiven, beloved, chosen son who was called to be much more than a fisherman.

The first catch

Fresh on the boat and in a new relationship with the disciples, Jesus encouraged them in Luke 5 to cast their nets even lower after a very long night of catching nothing. They respond that they’ve already tried everything, but that because it’s Him asking they will do it. As they trust and obey His command that goes against human reason, they not only catch a few fish, but the catch is so enormous that both boats almost sink.

While they were all amazed at the power God displayed in this miracle, we get a glimpse of Peter’s awestruck vision in seeing Jesus as Lord. He realizes that Jesus is completely different from himself, even though they both have human bodies and look very similar on the outside. And his response is one of shame and the need for separation as he says, “Get away from me. I’m an unclean man.”

Interestingly, Jesus does not respond in agreement, which He could have justifiably done since what Peter said was completely right — he was an unclean man, a sinner who deserved to die. But Jesus wanted him to see beyond his identity in union with Adam to his new identity in union with Christ that would come with regeneration. Peter, He said, “You’re going to be a fisher of men.” He calls that which is not yet as if it were, exactly like God did with Abraham, calling him the Father of many nations when he had not yet had a son. Jesus was pointing his gaze to the greater reality of redemption, where Peter would be transformed from a man who was dead in his sins and made alive in the very righteousness of Christ -- to live for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom (2 Corinthians 5:15).

The second catch

As we fast forward to John 21, it looks like everything has changed, since Peter has denied Christ three times. This fulfilled another solemn word the Lord had spoken over him, reminding him even more of his need for the cleansing, healing blood of his Savior. After his denial and Christ’s crucifixion, a great silence loomed over his life — one that left him feeling shamed and disgraced. After all, he had done the very thing he swore he would never do, opening his mind to the accusation that he was destined to be the man of unclean lips and hands who was unworthy of any service to the Lord.

Again, Jesus responded with hope -- though not denying his sin and failure. He saw Peter as one who now had a new identity, just as He had prophesied in John 5. He looked past the sinful patterns and the tendency to make impulsive decisions, past the unstable sin nature that had characterized this fisherman all his life and instead saw a shepherd -- one he entrusted to care for his flock.

In beautiful parallelism, Jesus arrives once again on the fishing scene — this time some distance from the boat where Peter and the disciples were fishing. Like before, they had fished all night and caught nothing. And just as He had done before, Jesus called out with instructions for them to try catching the fish on the other side. Once again, they listened, trusted and obeyed, which resulted in an overflow of catch from the net (John 21:6). And like before, but perhaps in the most climactic way imaginable, Peter’s spiritual eyes were opened to see that this was the same living Christ he had encountered on the boat years before. In a bold demonstration of hope, he threw himself into the water and rushed to meet the Lord – running toward His grace.

Restored to his true identity

In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful illustrations of our unshakable new identity in Christ in the New Testament. Though everything in Peter’s life was shifting, he learned that he was eternally joined to the living Lord so that nothing – even his worst failures – could tear him out of His love (Romans 8:28).

Like Peter, every believer in Christ heard His call to discipleship and has heeded the call to follow Him. At this moment of surrender and trust, our lives were transformed, and we were transferred from our union with Adam to union with Christ-- eternally joined to the Lord in His death and resurrection. We became a new creation by His life-giving, indwelling Holy Spirit. Then sadly, along the way, like Peter and all believers, we also sinned and experienced failures and disappointments. Some of us lost important battles that began to redefine us – not as victors in union with the Lord but as those who had failed and done the very things we said we would never do.

Thankfully, the Lord beckons us to remember who we truly are and to return to Him – running toward His grace. He reminds us through Peter’s life to leave behind defeat, disappointment, and the lies that we’ve been disqualified—and return to the One who promised: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). He assures us when we doubt this could be true: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to bear much fruit...” (John 15:16). And He guarantees: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). When Jesus declared us His sons and daughters, that promise was sealed by His blood (Hebrews 10:19–22), through His Spirit (Ephesians 1:13–14). Not only so, He vowed to finish the good work of redemption He began in us (Philippians 1:6), so that “those He…called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:30).

Even now, the risen Christ is making intercession for us and sustaining us by His power (Hebrews 7:25). Through every tangled thread of sin, discouragement and failure, He declares the greater reality that we are now, at this very moment, His beloved children who have been made fishers of men (1 John 3:2). And because of our vital, unmovable union with Christ He assures us that “Nothing will ever separate [us] from [His] love.” (Romans 8:38–39).

God Heals Through His Promises

Whether you believe miracles have ceased or you believe God continues to do them, whether you’ve been sick for a day or 10,000 days, and whether you have been healed or have not been healed, these three truths remain unmovable: 1. God is the ultimate source of our healing (Psalm 103:3) – not doctors, medicine, diet, exercise – though God uses these ordinary means to accomplish his purposes for healing and requires that we walk in wisdom to experience true healing. 2. God heals through prayers of faith (James 5:15) and warns us that to receive we must ask him in humility, trusting that he’s our good Father who both hears and answers our prayers (Matthew 7:7; Psalm 34:15). If we’ve prayed and not received healing, we trust in his timing and sovereign will, but his timing and will never negate his promise that he is the only One with power to heal and that he heals through our prayers of faith. We keep trusting, submitting, asking and seeking. 3. God sends his Word to heal us (Psalm 107:20). His Word is “living and active, sharper than a double-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). It “will not return to him void but will accomplish the purpose for which he sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

There are two erroneous approaches to seeking the Lord’s healing. Some have moved God’s power, authority and ability, along with his desire to heal us, to the lowest common denominator and instead of seeking healing by standing on God’s promises through prayers of faith they simply pray “your will be done.” While they get this part of their prayer right, they leave out all of Jesus’ other commands to ask for help, to pray for healing and to rely on him to do what seems impossible. On the other hand, some have taken these promises and used them as a weapon to declare God desires that every person be healed almost immediately, as the prayers of faith are offered. While they get this part of God’s command to pray expectantly in faith, they leave out all of Scripture’s teaching that God’s ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). 

The solution is not to abandon God’s promises or distort them but to allow them to direct our gaze to Christ, who beckons us to come confidently and humbly “before his throne of grace to receive mercy and grace in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). We are to daily present our requests to him in expectation that he is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20), trusting that his timing is perfect, and submitting to his sovereign wisdom and will – that he ultimately knows what is best and will do what is excellent, good, true and right! This position of expectation and submission allows us to stand confidently on his promises as we offer up prayers of faith asking for healing, all the while acknowledging that he is the one in charge and will do what he’s going to do, when he’s going to do it and how he’s going to do it — because he’s God and we’re not!

Testimony

When a myriad of doctors were left perplexed over my health situation and acknowledged they didn’t know what was wrong, they issued a kind of life sentence over me that I would have to stay in this pain and suffering and take medicine to manage it. This didn’t bring the kind of hope God brings into difficult situations, so my family and I decided we would keep asking the Lord for healing, along with asking him daily to show me if there was anything I needed to do – any steps I needed to take – to walk in greater wisdom so that I could experience greater healing. God’s promises began to overshadow the hopeless promises of the medical field, reminding me that he is the God of hope who “acts on behalf of those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4).

His promises speak to all of life and are powerful weapons – more powerful than anything else in this world. These are some of the promises he gave me and helped me to stand on each day. I spoke them out in the morning, throughout the day, and before bed, put them on my bedroom and bathroom walls and prayed them over and over, asking the Lord to bring to fruition what only he could do – to fulfill his word for my life (2 Corinthians 1:20). While he did use supplements, treatments and medicine, ultimately it is God who was, is and will heal me until the day appointed for me to be with him for eternity (Psalm 139:16). He alone is our true healer. 

What does God promise?

“He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases” (Psalm 103:3)

“The prayer of faith will heal the sick” (James 5:15)

“He sent his word and it healed them” (Psalm 107:20)

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper and be in health, as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2)

“I am the Lord, who heals you” (Exodus 15:26)

“By his wounds I have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24)

“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness (Jesus Christ) will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves” (Malachi 4:2)

“I will not die but live and declare what the Lord has done” (Psalm 118:17)

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13)

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” (Isaiah 43:2)