"...Like people, like priest, is the ancient version of the modern Western Saying: like father, like son or like mother, like daughter.  It is a very important piece here, because the priesthood are a subset of the corrupt people and vice versa. Both the priesthood and the people are estranged from God and both will incur the same judgment. And it is not as though the priests were more corrupt than the common man, they were the common man in a position of influence and authority!  It is not as though Israel was invaded by a sect of immoral priests and leaders.  These were those who had risen to the top, the cream of the crop so to speak. When the moral corruption of a nation reaches the pinnacles of power, it should not be surprising; the true values of the people are on display...Ungodly leadership is a natural consequence of rebellion against God.  The nation cannot reject God and his commandments and then hope that godly leadership will somehow rise to the top for their benefit.  The leaders will be a reflection of the people they govern and in turn the sin of the leaders will be reflected upon the population.  For Israel, this meant that the priest brought disaster to the land.  Where can we find a better priest?  Let me point you to Jesus. Like people, like priest is eternally good news for those whose High Priest is Christ our King."

“God will foil the plans and decisions of his wayward people. This doesn’t mean he takes away our ability to freely choose him, but he will keep his own from the disastrous direction they are headed in, and he will win his bride…How do I know that I belong to God? Not because I’m just such a great guy, not because I’m such a spiritually mature person. But because everytime I would fall away God says “No, you’re mine.” He disciplines me…The way I know I belong to God is that he brings me to repentance daily. He walls me in with stone and thorns…The sovereignty of God does no violence to the human will, only it is far more potent and will have its way.”

“By comparing Israel’s sinful behaviour with the vile behaviour of an immoral and adulterous wife, Hosea reminds his audience, then and now, of both the seriousness of sin and its effects, and of the amazing greatness of God’s mercy and love…Unfaithfulness to God in Israel and the church cannot be ignored. Either people are believers and are faithful to their covenant commitments to God, or they are not a part of the family of God… Unless we respond to these warnings of Hosea, we should have no certainty of our salvation.”