Hosea 4:9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
Amazingly the book of Hosea is just like today! As the people got wicked the priest followed them and did the same. Those that should have warned them of their sin wandered in the same sins. Those that should have sought God to know what would please Him instead sought to please the people!
Apparently it is a Biblical truth that you get the kind of preacher or man of God that you deserve! That is a harsh statement because I think that many laypeople or common church people would be quick to criticize their pastor. However it appears that these preachers just went along to get along!
There was no example set, no holiness exampled! The priest weren’t calling the people to repentance. The priests themselves needed to repent!
The phrase will work either way I think! The people will be like the priest and the priest will be like the people.
The question then comes to each man of God to answer! Are you living, teaching, and being what they, the people that God has put under your care, should be? Do you seek God to get His will and to please Him or do you first seek to please yourself, then the people and if there is time left you check on what God might have said about it?
For the people I question, do you seek out preachers that will leave you comfortable in what you like? Do you want a pastor who will preach the message you choose or are you seeking to know what God said in His Word?
Either way they are both going to be punished. The priest will be punished with the people and the people with the priest! Neither can blame the other!
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