Under the Mosaical Law, the priests were allowed to eat a portion of animal sacrifice of certain sacrifices. The animal would be boiled in water. The priest was allowed to put a three pronged fork into the pot. Whatever he was able to pull out with his fork was considered his to eat.
The prophet Hosea gave the Israelites the word of condemnation from God. In 4:8, God says that the priests “eat up the sin of my people.” The priests were setting their hearts on the iniquity of the people. The priests of the northern kingdom were so wicked they were encouraging the people to sin. The more the people sinned, the more animal sacrifices the people would bring to cover their sins. The more animal sacrifices brought, the more the priests would get to eat.
There are some religious organizations that have done similar things throughout time. Some would allow people to pay money to cover their sins. A person could even pay ahead of time to cover sins that were going to be committed. The religious leaders became very wealthy by doing this.
We should never encourage anyone to sin. We should only discourage sin. We should do all we can to help others avoid sinning.
Do not be like the evil priests and the evil people of Hosea’s time. Study your Bible. Learn what to do to obey God, and if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
