Chapter 15

The Consequences of the Sinfulness & Shallow Teaching of American Christianity

Contents

A) The idolatry & sinfulness of American Christians

B) What God is willing for even His godly people to suffer because of bad leaders and teachers

Primary Points

• If you want to measure the sinfulness of American Christians, then measure the amount of anger, anxiety, and unhappiness in their life. All of these demonstrate the opposite or absence of God’s Spirit controlling them.
• It should not surprise us if God would allow a whole generation of angry, apathetic, discontent, depressed, unhappy, anxious, defeated, and Coping Christians to be wiped out in His destruction of America because such people will not be able to glorify Him in the great challenges of the Endtimes.
• 68% of church-going men and over 50% of pastors view pornography on a regular basis. More American Christians are committing adultery than any other Christians in the history of the Church!
• How much sinful idolatry is among American Christians? We can ask one surprising question that reveals the answer: How many of them struggle with WORRY.
• Throughout the OT we see God allowing His people to unfairly suffer greatly under sinful kings and leaders.
• God warned: “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hos 4:6) because the priests were not correctly teaching God’s word. As a result, God said, I will punish both priests and people (v. 9).
• Christian, even the physical well-being of you and your family may depend on how accurately your Pastor teaches Revelation 17-18. God’s word warns that He is willing to allow His people to even be killed in a horrible way because of the bad teaching of their Pastors.
• Those wrongly interpreting the command could be guilty of the horrible deaths of those who would believe them. Accordingly, God warned: “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6 NIV).

A) The idolatry & sinfulness of American Christians

This is the question we are attempting to answer in this chapter: Is there biblical support for the claim that God would destroy America even if many of His people are living there? We have seen that God’s Word warns of possible earthly discipline for sin in the lives of even people He loves and eternally forgives.

According to Scripture, what kinds of divine discipline could God’s own people experience for their sin? In the OT it included disease, destruction, and death. Even the fury of their enemies to burn them with fire (Jer 11:16). According to the NT it could include ending the existence of a local church (cf. Rev 2:5), causing Christ to make war against them, making them suffer intensely, and even to strike them dead (Rev 2:16, 22, 23).

What kinds of sins would cause such severe discipline? The biblical examples in the previous chapter included: discontentment against God, lacking love for fellow Christians, allowing false teaching, sexual immorality, and idolatry. Therefore, if God viewed American Christians of being especially guilty of these things, then there is biblical support for the claim that God would destroy America even if many of His people are living there. He may even have them experience the fury of their enemies to burn them with fire (Jer 11:16), exactly as predicted in Revelation 17:16 if they do not obey Revelation 18:4.

Of course, only God can judge such things and it would be difficult to accurately measure the amount of sin in American Christianity. It would be even harder to know God’s limits for tolerating such sin. The churches in Ephesus, Thyatira, and Pergamum reached a point that Christ would severely discipline them if they did not repent. Does He view American churches in the same way? One thing is for sure: As Christ searches hearts and minds (Rev 2:23) among American Christians, He thinks they are much, much, more sinful than we probably think they are.

So, in the following we are attempting to answer another question. Is the sin among American Christians great enough for God to severely discipline them, including allowing them to be killed in His destruction of America? We have already noted sins above that have led to death among His people. How prevalent are these sins in American Christianity?

A.1) False teaching

We can first address false teaching. In the churches of Revelation 2 Jesus warned of very severe discipline for just this reason. Therefore, American Christians should take this very seriously.

For example, this author has written five books detailing the unbiblical teaching and practices of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movements. ^[1] There it is demonstrated that those who spoke with the gift of tongues in the NT, miraculously spoke real foreign human languages. The multitude of Christians faking this gift today never do.

NT prophets such as Agabus perfectly predicted the future to authenticate themselves as speaking for God. False prophets in many churches today never accurately predict the future, and yet claim revelation from God. Instead, some of these false prophets tell people about their past because the demons that inspire them know such things. In the OT you could be stoned to death for falsely claiming to be a prophet of God.

Those with the biblical gifts of miracle working healed people on demand regardless of the faith of the healed. The fake healers celebrated in the many churches today do not miraculously heal anyone, and when they fail, they conveniently blame their victims for a lack of faith.

Accordingly, Jesus warned that specifically many of those who emphasize exorcisms, prophesying, and miracle working in their churches will be exposed as false Christians (Matt 7:22-23).

As noted above, the church in Thyatira … tolerated Jezebel who falsely called herself a prophet. Pentecostal and Charismatic churches commit the same great sin today. What did Jesus warn the Thyatira Christians He would do if they did not repent? Make the Christians who tolerated and followed the false prophetess suffer intensely and possibly even strike them dead. Do Pentecostal/Charismatic churches in America think there will be no severe consequences for practicing the same things? They are wrong. No unnecessary offense is intended, but the prevalence of the unbiblical teaching and practices in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches in America seems to be one possible reason God would severely discipline the American Church.

There is another grievous sin committed by many of these same churches, but even by other “evangelical” churches as well. The word of God says:

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. (1 Tim 2:11-14 NIV)

Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church…

Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored. (1 Cor 14:34-38 NIV)

Satan has worked hard to make these biblical commands seem unacceptable to worldly Christians. How many American churches rebel against God on this matter for the idolatrous reason of being culturally acceptable? Of course many liberal denominations led and filled with false Christians are ordaining many women Pastors. But this is a growing sin that is being promoted even by influential “evangelical” leaders. Contrary to much false teaching on this topic, the reasons for these commands are embedded in unchanging Creation (Adam was formed first), not ever-changing culture.

Female “prophets” in Pentecostal/Charismatic churches are often allowed to violate this command as well. Therefore, according to the Apostle, such people who think they are a prophet, but ignore this is the Lord’s command should themselves be ignored. But these congregations do not ignore female preachers and prophetesses, but rather sinfully allow them to exercise a spiritual authority among God’s people that He condemns.

The Apostle could not have been clearer. No Christians should permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man in their churches. This is the Lord’s command and the Apostle said to disobey it is disgraceful. Again, do these churches believe there will be no divine consequences for such outright rebellion against their Lord? The churches in Revelation 2 tell us there will be.

These are just two examples of the rampant false teaching being widely practiced and accepted by American Christians. Scripture warns us it is one reason God may severely discipline the American Church.

A.2) Living in the power of the sinful nature

There are only two natures in a Christian. The old sinful nature of the flesh, or the new nature of the Spirit. How do we know that many American Christians are living in the power of their sinful nature? They do not regularly experience or demonstrate the powers of God’s Spirit living through them. These include supernatural and unconditional love, joy, peace … and self-control (Gal 2:22-23).

Instead, many American Christians rather constantly experience their sinful opposites including anger, apathy, discontentment, depression, worry, and sinful habits. Many American Christians do not even recognize the opposites or absence of love, joy, and peace is sin. For example, we are commanded: Always be full of joy in the Lord (Phil 4:4 NLT). The Greek word here (chairete) means, “to be in a state of happiness.” Because of all our blessing in the Lord, God expects and commands His people to always have such joy.

In the same passage God commands, Don’t worry about anything (Phil 4:4, 6 NLT). Unfortunately, many American Christians interpret this command as merely a suggestion. Do American Christians know that worry is a sin against God? This is why the most repeated command in Scripture is do not be afraid. ^[2] Worry reveals that a person is not trusting or loving God.

Therefore, if you want to measure the sinfulness of American Christians, then measure the amount of anger, anxiety, and unhappiness in their life. All of these demonstrate the opposite or absence of God’s Spirit controlling them.

The Ephesian church was warned about their lack of love (Rev 2:4). We can measure this in American Christianity by asking: How many feel lonely even in a church full of people? How many can say they truly have a best friend in their church? How many talk negatively about others behind their back and practice gossip and slander with no remorse of conscience at all? How much division, judging, partiality, criticism, arguing, apathy, and broken relationships are experienced by American Christians in their churches!? All of this reveals a serious lack of love in these churches.

The author has written a book describing what can be called Coping Christianity. ^[3] It refers to Christians who are not consistently empowered by God’s Spirit, and pursue Christianity in their own will power like the Pharisees, motivated by guilt, shame, and the desire to look good in the eyes of others. Such Coping Christianity is an epidemic in American Christianity, but accepted because it can look so productive and spiritual.

The widespread acceptance of Coping Christianity is why many American Christians are greatly deceived about their true sinful state. Others sense they are struggling to experience being controlled by God’s love, joy, peace, and self-control, but they are in denial because admitting their true spiritual state would be too painful.

But Coping Christians are exposed by the lack of the Spirit’s supernatural and unconditional powers controlling their lives. As a result they are constantly experiencing sinful emotions like anger, anxiety, and discontentment and even their good deeds done in their own will power do nothing to glorify God. And if they are not glorifying God, then they are not fulfilling their primary purpose for being on this Earth.

Living such a life is essentially wasting their life. As the Apostle warned: the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives (1 Tim 5:6). Many Christians likewise live for pleasure and entertainment to suppress the emotional pain of their unresolved sinful strongholds and hurts. Again, none of this serves or glorifies God.

God loves and eternally forgives Coping Christians. However, it should not surprise us if God would allow a whole generation of angry, apathetic, discontent, depressed, unhappy, anxious, defeated, and Coping Christians to be wiped out in His destruction of America because such people will not be able to glorify Him in the great challenges of the Endtimes.

A.3) Sexual immorality

In the book of Judges it says of God’s people:

They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the LORD. They abandoned the LORD to serve … the images of Ashtoreth. (2:12-13 NLT)

Regarding the images of Ashtoreth it was explained in the previous chapter:

A common false god worshipped in ancient pagan nations and Israel was Asherah. She was the love-goddess. Which is why ancient idols crafted for her worship displayed human genitals and pornographic images (cf. Isa 57:8-9)… Again, we can view such things with disgust. But the idolatrous worship of Asherah is thriving in America through pornography. Do you think God sees a difference between worshipping a pornographic statue and viewing pornographic images of Ashtoreth on a screen? (sec. A)

In the previous chapter, the great prevalence of pornography in America was described. But what about American Christians? Recent studies claim the following:

• “50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women say they are addicted to pornography.” ^[4]
• 68% of church-going men and over 50% of pastors view porn on a regular basis.
• Of young Christian adults 18-24 years old, 76% actively search for porn. ^[5]

If these studies are even close to being accurate, they reveal an epidemic of sexual immorality and adultery among God’s own people. One writer notes:

Several years ago, a seminary professor told me, “We no longer ask our entering students if they are struggling with pornography; we assume every student is struggling. The question we ask is, ‘How serious is the struggle?’” One missions agency told me that 80% of their applicants voluntarily indicate a struggle with pornography, resulting in staff shortages on the field. ^[6]

Pornography is a sinful epidemic in American Christianity. We are reminded of its seriousness when we read from the Lord:

You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matt 5:27-28 NLT)

Therefore, what does God think of all the Christians who are viewing pornography in America? It is not an exaggeration to say that because of the Internet and cell phones, more American Christians are committing adultery than any other Christians in the history of the Church!

The prevalence of pornography among American Christians and Pastors has fueled the unacceptable level of sexual immorality, adultery, and sexual abuse of minors in the American Church. How many know a church member or even a Pastor who has committed such sins? As an article in Christianity Today noted: “Not a few women have made accusations about sexual misconduct by prominent leaders in large mega-churches. ^[7]

It seems on a regular basis we hear of prominent church leaders being exposed for sexual immorality. If this is happening at the most public leadership level of the Church, what is happening among Church members? As noted above, 68% of church-going men view porn on a regular basis. 50% of Pastors do so. And this is only the percentage of Christians who are willing to confess it in a survey!

Jesus wanted the 1st century churches of Asia Minor to “know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds” in a rather immediate way. As Jesus monitors and evaluates American churches, what is He seeing in the sexually immoral actions and viewing habits of His people? What is He seeing in their hearts and minds?

What did Jesus warn He would do to Christians in the church of Thyatira who did not repent of their sexual immorality and adultery? Make them suffer intensely and possibly even strike them dead (Rev 2:18, 20-23). Paul even reminded the Christians in Corinth that we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day (1 Cor 10:8 NLT).

The epidemic of sexual immorality among American Christians may justify severe divine discipline occurring in the form of destroying America as seems to be predicted in Revelation 17-18.

A.4) Spiritual idolatry

Many Christians do not even understand what idolatry is, or what it would look like in their lives. Sinful idolatry occurs whenever Christians seek to have their needs met by anything or anyone other than God. ^[8] When Christians seek their need for love primarily through a boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse, it is idolatry. When Christians seek their need for significance by pleasing people, it is idolatry. When Christians seek pornography, the root is idolatry. When people seek their need for security in money, it is idolatry.

How much sinful idolatry is among American Christians? We can ask one surprising question that reveals the answer: How many American Christians struggle with WORRY. As noted above, anxiety is a sin against God (cf. Phil 4:6). It is the sure sign of an idolatrous heart. When American Christians worry about money, or are afraid of what people think of them, they are guilty of sinful idolatry. So, like the sins discussed above, there is reason for grave concern that idolatry is another sinful epidemic in American Christianity.

American Christians do not understand how much God HATES idolatry. But the Scriptures studied above remind us of this. For example, God told the OT people He loved:

“I have sent the fury of their enemies to burn them with fire, leaving them charred and broken. I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, who planted this olive tree, have ordered it destroyed” (Jer 11:16-17 NLT).

Again, why did God decide to do that to His chosen people in the nation of Israel? “Because the people of Israel and Judah have done evil … by burning incense to Baal” (v. 17). They were guilty of idolatry. As a result, God sent the fury of their enemies to burn them with fire, leaving them charred and broken. Sound familiar? One day:

God will put a desire in the hearts of the ten kings [the 10-nation Endtime Coalition] to accomplish His purpose. They will agree to give the beast [Antichrist] their power until God’s prophecies for the Prostitute are fulfilled (Rev 17:17).

What will happen then?

The ten horns that you saw [the 10-nation Endtime Coalition], and the beast [Antichrist] will hate the Prostitute, and these will permanently remove all people from her and strip her naked and they will devour her body and will burn her down with fire … in one hour [such that no one ever lives there again] (Rev 17:16; 18:10; cf. 18:21-23).

Why will God do this? Part of the reason may be the widespread idolatry among His own people. Accordingly, the following unfulfilled prophecy will certainly apply to Endtime Babylon (America): “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish Babylon’s [America’s] idols. The groans of her fatally wounded people will be heard throughout the land” (Jer 51:52 ^[9]). Unfortunately, this may include the groans of fatally wounded Christians who worshipped their idols.

American Christians have been influenced by the idolatrous wealth and luxury, cultural worldliness, and sexual immorality of Endtime Babylon much, much, more than they are able to recognize or willing to admit. Therefore, if we enter the Endtimes, then the Christians in America need to heed the Apostle Paul’s warning to the Colossian Christians:

Put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. (3:5-6 NLT)

Or as the Apostle Peter’s warned: The time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household (1 Pet 4:17 NLT).

B) What God is willing for even His godly people to suffer under bad leaders & teachers Hos 4:6

The above study suggests God may allow the destruction of America partly because of His desire to severely discipline the false teaching, lack of spirituality, sexual immorality, and idolatry among His people. But again, such sins do not describe all American Christians. Why would God allow the destruction of even godly Christians if they are living in America when Revelation 17:16 is fulfilled?

First, we noted above the biblical examples of the suffering of many godly people in Scripture when God was punishing ungodly people.

Second, it is sobering what God is willing for even godly people to suffer under bad leaders and teachers. Throughout the OT we see God allowing even godly people to unfairly suffer greatly under sinful kings and leaders. For example, in Daniel we read: King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah (1:1-2 NLT). What was one result? Godly young men like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (v. 6) were taken prisoners and ripped from their families and homes and forced to live in an oppressive foreign land.

Why did God allow this? Because King Jehoiakim of Judah and the Jewish kings before him were sinful. ^[10] Elsewhere the same event is described when we read, He [God] kindled a fire [from the Babylonian army] in Zion that consumed her foundations… It happened because of the sins of her [false] prophets and the iniquities of her priests (Lam 4:11, 13 NIV). Accordingly, God was willing to have godly Daniel and his friends suffer because of bad leaders over God’s people.

Likewise, we read in Isaiah:

The leaders of the people have misled them. They have led them down the path of destruction. That is why the Lord takes no pleasure in the young men and shows no mercy even to the widows and orphans. (Isa 9:15-17 NLT)

God even withheld blessing from the needy among them because of bad leaders. God allowed the leaders of His people to lead them into painful destruction. God’s people suffered because of their bad leaders.

Accordingly, God warned: “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6 NIV). OT scholar Thomas McComiskey comments that knowledge in Hosea specifically referred to, “comprehension of God’s requirements for blessings and knowledge of his ways and nature.” ^[11] In other words, it referred to knowledge of God’s word.

Why did God’s people … lack knowledge of God’s word? Because their priests were not teaching them correctly. They had forgotten the laws of … God (v. 6 NLT), and therefore, were not teaching the word of God. As a result, God said, “What the priests do, the people also do. So now I will punish both priests and people (v. 9 NLT).

What would be the result of the bad teaching God’s people were receiving? God said My people will be physically destroyed. Indeed, the context of God’s warning was the impending invasion of Assyria in which many of God’s people were killed. ^[12] Accordingly, the Hebrew word translated destroyed here (dāmā), “means to come to an end, but it is always a violent end that is indicated.” ^[13] God said His people would be violently killed because the priests were not correctly teaching them knowledge of God’s word! ^[14]

Notice that God was not going to protect His people from the painful consequences of bad teachers and leaders. Christian, even the physical well-being of you and your family may depend on how accurately your Pastor teaches Revelation 17-18. God’s word warns that He is willing to allow His people to suffer greatly because of the bad teaching and leadership of their Pastors.

It is sobering and alarming that most Bible scholars claim that Revelation 17-18 is to be interpreted in only or primarily a merely metaphorical or spiritual way. This includes the command to physically leave Endtime Babylon in 18:4. Examples will be given in the next chapter.

Do you see the catastrophic consequences if such dogmatic claims are wrong? These teachers and pastors are in grave danger of condemning any Christian who would believe them, to a horrible death in a nuclear holocaust. These men would have God’s people disobey God and actually be physically killed in a horrible way in a place God wanted them to escape from. As a result, if these Bible teachers are wrong, they will be responsible for the deaths of anyone who believes them.

Why might even good Christians be ignorant of the command in Revelation 18:4 or disobey it? Because their Pastors fail them in this regard. It is sobering to consider the possibility this could occur in America in light of the prophecy in Revelation 17-18. If the conclusions of this book, Endtime Babylon, are correct, then God has prophesied that America will be destroyed by nuclear weapons (cf. Rev 17:16) and has commanded His people to physically leave America at the appropriate time (cf. Rev 18:4). But there is widespread ignorance of the meaning of Revelation 17-18 for the American Church today. And the reason is the neglect of teachers in American Christianity.

As pointed out elsewhere, only 4% of American Protestant Pastors even agree that the Pre-wrath Rescue position correctly interprets Christ’s Endtimes sermon. The book, Christ’s Endtimes Teaching clearly demonstrated this to be so. Therefore, if 96% of American teachers have not even correctly interpreted the rather simple sermon of Christ on the Endtimes, it reflects how bad the teaching is on this topic. How will such Pastors and Teachers correctly understand the much more complicated prophecy in Revelation 17-18? The amount of deception, confusion, and controversy on the doctrine of the Endtimes is condemning evidence of the failure of teachers in American Christianity.

Because of how bad teaching is in American Christianity, a great number of God’s people do not understand the warning and command in Revelation 17-18. As a result, those that God calls My people in Hosea, may be violently destroyed from lack of knowledge. These will be the same people God addressed in Revelation when He says: “Move out from Babylon the Great My people; so that you will not be connected to her sins and so that you will not experience her being struck hard with a sudden and severe disaster (Rev 18:4).

As warned previously in Christ’s Endtimes Teaching, there is an epidemic in American Christianity of people who, to suit their own desires … gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear so they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2 Tim 4:3-4 NIV). Far too many Pastors are willing to be the kind of teachers that worldly, self-centered American Christians desire.

Revelation 17-18 was intended by God to be a test for American Pastors because its correct interpretation is some very hard truths, but those truths may be vital to even the physical well-being of American Christians. But American Pastors have largely failed the test and the people under their care and teaching may suffer in horrible ways because of it.

Instead of correctly teaching and warning God’s people about the meaning of Revelation 17-18, it is feared that many will be like false prophets telling American Christians there is nothing to fear from this prophecy. What we read about false prophets in Jeremiah’s day unfortunately may apply to many of these Pastors when the Endtimes begin in regard to Revelation 17-18. We read:

Then I said, “O Sovereign LORD, their prophets are telling them, ‘All is well—no war or famine will come [to America]. The LORD will surely send you peace.’”

Then the LORD said, “These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages… They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts.

Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I will punish these lying prophets, for they have spoken in my name even though I never sent them. They say that no war or famine will come [to America in spite of Revelation 17-18], but they themselves will die by war and famine!

As for the people to whom they prophesy—their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem [America], victims of famine and war. There will be no one left to bury them [because it would be depopulated just as predicted for Endtime Babylon]. Husbands, wives, sons, and daughters—all will be gone. (Jer 14:13-16 NLT)

Contrary to the failure of many American Pastors, in the next and final chapters of Endtime Babylon, we will seek to understand better the vital Endtime command in Revelation 18:4.

1. For the author’s books biblically critiquing the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement see the “Scholar’s Section” of his website at www.trainingtimothys.com. ↑

2. NT scholar N. T. Wright confirms: “The most frequent command in the Bible is ‘Don’t be afraid’” (Following Jesus [Eerdmans, 2014], 65). ↑

3. For more on Coping Christianity see the FRUIT study in the “Christian Essentials” section of the website at www.trainingtimothys.com ↑

4. Covenant Eyes study online at: https://ministryoftech.com.au/covenanteyes/#:~:text=from%20Covenant%20Eyes&text=Today%2C%2068%25%20of%20young%20adult,at%20least%20a%20monthly%20activity. ↑

5. “15 Mind-Blowing Statistics About Pornography And The Church”; online at https://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/15-mind-blowing-statistics-about-pornography-and-the-church

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6. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/sexual-sin-in-the-ministry. ↑

7. https://www.christianitytoday.com/scot-mcknight/2020/december/biblical-leadership-and-spiritual-abuse.html ↑

8. For more on understanding the sin of spiritual idolatry, see the FAITH study in the “Christian Essentials” section of the website, www.trainingtimothys.com. ↑

9. Fatally wounded translates the Hebrew word challal which means to “be pierced” and can be translated as “fatally wounded” (BDB). ↑

10. Wiersbe explains the historical context of the exile portrayed in Daniel:

    For decades, the prophets had warned the rulers of Judah that their idolatry, immorality, and injustice toward the poor and needy would lead to the nation’s ruin. The prophets saw the day coming when God would bring the Babylonian army to destroy Jerusalem and the temple and take the people captive to Babylon. A century before the fall of Jerusalem, the prophet Isaiah had proclaimed this message (Isa. 39), and Micah his contemporary shared the burden (Mic. 4:10). The prophet Habakkuk couldn’t understand how Jehovah could use the godless Babylonians to chasten His own people (Hab. 1). (Dan 1:1) ↑

11. McComiskey, Hosea, 61. ↑

12. Ibid., 2. ↑

13. TWOT, 192. ↑

14. Accordingly, Wiersbe comments here:

    Worldly and ignorant spiritual leaders produce worldly and ignorant people, and this brings [physical] destruction to the land… As goes spiritual leadership, so goes the church; as goes the church, so goes morality; and as goes morality, so goes the nation [and a church]. (Hos 4:4) ↑