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Tim Maas
What is the meaning of idolatrous priests?
How can we practically identify priests referred to on Zephaniah 1:4? The Lord clearly hates such "priests."
Zephaniah 1:1 - 18
ESV - 1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the Lord.
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Tim Maas
If I am interpreting the question correctly, my understanding is that the idolatry being spoken of on the part of the Israelite priests was not merely a matter of private beliefs that might have been subject to question or difficult to outwardly discern, but manifested itself in those priests actually publicly worshipping, as well as leading congregations in worshipping, any of the numerous pagan deities (such as Baal) that were venerated by the heathen nations surrounding Israel, with such worship involving a variety of manifestly sinful practices, even including human sacrifice. Such participation is how those priests would have been identified. While such blatant rituals might not be practiced today, I would say that the application to modern worship would be for believers (even today) to always remain vigilant to assure that the teachings and preaching of the church and its ministers remain firmly grounded in Scripture.
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