DCLM Daily Manna 12 June 2026 Devotional Message Written By Pastor W.F Kumuyi
Read DCLM Daily Manna 12 June 2026, Wednesday Devotional Message.
TOPIC: An Inglorious End
KEY VERSE
“And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them” (1 Samuel 2:29).
BIBLE READING: 1 Samuel 2:26-36KJV:
C S Lewis, a British writer and an Anglican lay theologian, once saw this epitaph on a tombstone: “Here lies an atheist, all dressed up but with nowhere to go.”
In today’s passage, a man of God prophesied of the inglorious deaths of Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, for acts of irreverence for God. This eventually came to pass shortly after. Hophni and Phinehas were all dressed up as priests, bearing the Ark of the Covenant on their shoulders. They summarily died in battle, with no hope of eternal life awaiting them. Eli was the chief priest over the Tabernacle, as well as a judge in Israel. His sons (Hophni and Phinehas), as children of the high priest, also joined in the holy service. These sons of Eli compelled the priest’s servants to take the meat of Israel’s sacrifices in the tabernacle by force, before burning the fat as instituted in God’s law. In addition to extortion, the sons of Eli were also guilty of sexual immorality with the women who gathered at the entrance to the tabernacle. Naturally, the Lord was very displeased with this sinful behaviour and sent a man of God to deliver a damning message to Eli. The Lord said that Eli and his house would be cut off from His favour, and that, as a sign of the truth of this prophecy, both sons would die on the same day.
Death is certain. It is a necessary end. But those who die while in active rebellion against God’s commands will face a grim eternity. These two sons of the high priest of Israel should have known better. They should have known that a holy calling cannot save an unholy man unless he repents. However, instead of amending their ways, they became so selfish and rebellious that Eli, their father, could no longer control them. Although Eli cautioned Hophni and Phinehas, he had not done everything he could to decisively correct their bad behaviour. Eli was guilty of neglecting his parental duties towards his sons because “he restrained them not”. Eli should have excluded his children from the service in the sanctuary of God altogether. This is a warning to Christian parents who indulge their children and allow them to occupy positions in the church despite their manifest misdemeanours.
God is jealous over His house. He is no respecter of persons. Though He is patient and expects the penitent to return to him, there is a limit to His patience. Those who are encouraged by delusional ideologists to resist God and disdain his word, thinking there are no consequences, should have a rethink after seeing how quickly those illusions were dispelled by the swift judgement handed down to Hophni and Phinehas.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
It is a horrible venture to dare God or tempt Him
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 18-21
About Author – Pastor W.F. Kumuyi
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread.