Eli was a heavy fat-fleshy man, dim of sight, with two sons whose names meant Fist Fighter and Mouth of the Serpent (Phinehas and Hophni). He let the light of the candlestick burn out int he Tabernacle, and it was a day when the word of God was so rare it was precious, and there was no open vision.
This state represents the state of a carnal believer whose eyes of "understanding" are dim, and they do not let their light "so shine". Their offspring by way of what their lives portray are works of the flesh represented by Eli's boys, the fist fighter and mouth of the serpent. They say things to people that hurt and are devilish, and there is much fuss and fight in their lives.
All this occurs due to carnality and lack of spiritual understanding.
In
1 Sam 4, a man of Benjamin's tribe ran reporting the news that the ark of God was taken and Eli's two sons had died.
Like this man of Benjamin, Paul was a Benjamite. And his message in the Bible was an emphasis upon the work of the cross applied to the believer's life. It is a message about how Christ's cross dealt with OUR lives and carnality. And this message will recover believers from carnality.
When the Benjamite told the message to Eli, he fell back and broke his neck and died. We read he was AN OLD MAN and very heavy, or fleshly. This represents the OLD MAN whom Paul spoke about, and this old man is slain by the truths of the cross.
Paul's message needs to break through to the church and cause the OLD MAN TO DIE.
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