Hos 4:4 | KingComments | STEP | There they are in the dock, all of them. It is quite a queue: people, princes, priests, prophets. You see them looking at each other. But they really do not have to. Nobody has to lift an accusing finger at someone else. They are all guilty, no one goes free. Accusing each other would only make things worse. Sometimes an accusation results in people realizing that the accusation is justified. But in that respect, too, indictment no longer makes sense because there is no hope of restoration. The priests do have to be accused, an accusation that God Himself does. They are primarily responsible for the decay because they have gone ahead in it. These are not priests of the LORD, but those who serve in the idolatry sanctuaries at Bethel and Dan and other places. That whole, false priesthood that deceives the people will be exterminated by God. We live at the end of the Christian dispensation. We may wonder how we can get the ears open for the message of God. If from lots of pulpits it is preached that you should not take the Bible seriously in everything, the logical consequence is that people do not take what the preachers preach seriously anymore. It is therefore not surprising that the churches are emptying. Because of the false preaching ‘blood guilt’ sticks to the hands of the pastors. The same goes for evangelical and charismatic circles where a ‘prosperity preaching’ addresses feelings and not consciences and where the fallacy of general reconciliation is taken at face value. Whatever the content of the sermon, however, the one who listens to a sermon has the responsibility to test, on the basis of the Word of God, whether what is said is true. Everyone who calls himself a Christian is personally responsible for what he believes or does not believe. The observation that the churches are emptying has led some people to seize popular means to fill the churches again. It must be made attractive to come and listen. They use PR as if the church is a business. An advertising film with celebrities should persuade people to go to church. The message has to be adapted, or at least the packaging. Pop groups have to ‘cheer up’ the church services. This means that the message is literally overpowered by the packaging. God does not get through with His Word anymore. In some cases, it even does not make sense to point it out anymore. Leave the indictment then.

‏ Hosea 4:4

No One Can Accuse the Other

There they are in the dock, all of them. It is quite a queue: people, princes, priests, prophets. You see them looking at each other. But they really do not have to. Nobody has to lift an accusing finger at someone else. They are all guilty, no one goes free. Accusing each other would only make things worse. Sometimes an accusation results in people realizing that the accusation is justified. But in that respect, too, indictment no longer makes sense because there is no hope of restoration.

The priests do have to be accused, an accusation that God Himself does. They are primarily responsible for the decay because they have gone ahead in it. These are not priests of the LORD, but those who serve in the idolatry sanctuaries at Bethel and Dan and other places. That whole, false priesthood that deceives the people will be exterminated by God.

We live at the end of the Christian dispensation. We may wonder how we can get the ears open for the message of God. If from lots of pulpits it is preached that you should not take the Bible seriously in everything, the logical consequence is that people do not take what the preachers preach seriously anymore. It is therefore not surprising that the churches are emptying. Because of the false preaching ‘blood guilt’ sticks to the hands of the pastors. The same goes for evangelical and charismatic circles where a ‘prosperity preaching’ addresses feelings and not consciences and where the fallacy of general reconciliation is taken at face value.

Whatever the content of the sermon, however, the one who listens to a sermon has the responsibility to test, on the basis of the Word of God, whether what is said is true. Everyone who calls himself a Christian is personally responsible for what he believes or does not believe.

The observation that the churches are emptying has led some people to seize popular means to fill the churches again. It must be made attractive to come and listen. They use PR as if the church is a business. An advertising film with celebrities should persuade people to go to church.

The message has to be adapted, or at least the packaging. Pop groups have to ‘cheer up’ the church services. This means that the message is literally overpowered by the packaging. God does not get through with His Word anymore. In some cases, it even does not make sense to point it out anymore. Leave the indictment then.