2:1,2
God’s dealing with the people continues. The previous charges look as though they were primarily directed at the leaders, though everyone was effectively implicated. Here it is made clear that the priests are the target, and the priests are in big trouble. There primary responsibility is to honour God, but they were not doing so. There are many Christian leaders today who make the same mistake, and all of us need to watch ourselves. We can fail to honour God if we give more weight to the world’s “wisdom” than to the word of God. Consider what someone is doing if they do that. They are saying the world knows better than God, they are saying the Bible is not the word of God. We can also do this if we seek our own self-interest, whether that be seeking to make money, or seeking to receive the praise of men. If anyone persists in this line then their blessing will become a curse, God’s judgement will come upon them. Here it seems that the priests were far gone.
2:3
There is no beating about the bush here, no phrasing things in gentle language! First the disobedience of the priests would have serious effects on their offspring, their descendants. Then we get the stuff about dung being smeared on their faces. This is the dung from animals offered for sacrifice. The dung would, of course, be disposed of. Now the priests would be disposed of as well, for they had become worthless. If we do not honour God then we become worthless.
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