For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Misleading guides who turn the people aside from the right way bring ruin upon those who are led by them. The warning was spoken concerning Israel, whose church had once been highly favored of the Lord. Through neglect to improve the blessings granted to them, that favored church became an astonishment and a reproach, with pride and unbelief leading on to ruin.
The same principle applies to the Pharisees, who turned people away from truth. Nor is it confined to ancient Israel alone, for it portrays the character and condition of many nominally Christian churches. Those churches are in possession of far greater blessings than were granted to the Jews, yet they are following in the steps of that people. The greater the light and privileges bestowed, the greater the guilt of those who permit them to pass unimproved. Both the leaders who mislead and the followers who are led astray stand under judgment.
Misleading guides who turn the people aside from the right way bring ruin upon those who are led by them. The warning was spoken concerning Israel, whose church had once been highly favored of the Lord. Through neglect to improve the blessings granted to them, that favored church became an astonishment and a reproach, with pride and unbelief leading on to ruin.
The same principle applies to the Pharisees, who turned people away from truth. Nor is it confined to ancient Israel alone, for it portrays the character and condition of many nominally Christian churches. Those churches are in possession of far greater blessings than were granted to the Jews, yet they are following in the steps of that people. The greater the light and privileges bestowed, the greater the guilt of those who permit them to pass unimproved. Both the leaders who mislead and the followers who are led astray stand under judgment.