Verse 5
The Lord also had a message concerning the false prophets who were misleading His people. The false prophets gave benedictions to those who paid them, but people who did not give them anything received maledictions of doom and gloom (cf. Lamentations 2:14; Jeremiah 6:14). Self-interest motivated these prophets rather than the fear of the Lord (cf. 2 Timothy 4:3).
"It was an ancient and respectable practice for a prophet to accept payment for services rendered to his clients. After all, as Jesus affirmed, ’the worker is entitled to his wages’ (Luke 10:7). But with so apparently subjective a craft as prophecy there was ever a temptation. Why not make the message match the customer’s pocket?" [Note: Allen, p. 311.]
Even today some ministers favor those who treat them well and neglect, or worse, those who do not.
"Few men are as pitiable as those who claim to have a call from God yet tailor their sermons to please others. Their first rule is ’Don’t rock the boat’; their second is ’Give people what they want.’" [Note: Wiersbe, p. 394.]
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