Why are morals collapsing in this world?
There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.
There’s murder, adultery, stealing, cursing, lying.
All bounds are being broken. Bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Does this sound familiar?
Hosea wrote about all this nearly 2700 years ago.
It’s amazing how little things have changed.
And as God condemned the Israelites of that time, he put the blame on the priests.
These priests were probably the same ones who claimed to be following Yahweh but were doing so through the calf idols set up by Jeroboam.
It’s also possible they were starting to follow Baal as well.
It says in verse 7,
The more the priests increased, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their Glory for something disgraceful. (Hosea 4:7)
Because of this, the true knowledge of God became lost, or at least greatly distorted.
And so God told the priests,
My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests. (Hosea 4:6)
He then said,
It will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways. (Hosea 4:9)
I think much the same could be said today.
I’m not talking about the fallen pastors and priests of today. I’m talking about us as Christians. We are the priests of God in the world today. (1 Peter 2:9)
And when we prostitute ourselves to the gods of self, materialism, and the other things of this world, we lose our effectiveness as priests.
When we fail to bring the true knowledge of God to this world, and instead compromise our Lord’s teaching, is it any wonder that the world is in as bad shape as it is today?
But while this world may be going to hell, we will also be held responsible if we are unfaithful in our role as God’s priests.
What kind of priest are you?
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 