The preacher, whatever his character, stands as it were, at a crossroads and directs those who consult him on to the road that leads to heaven. If it is indeed the road to heaven, then what a tremendous impact for good such directions will have upon the one who heeds the instructions. If it is not the road to heaven, then the impact will be just as great in its dimensions but horrifyingly different in its eternal consequences. In this passage God lays the blame for the judgments which are about to overtake Israel firmly at the door of their spiritual leaders. He calls them dumb dogs that cannot bark, verse 10. The roll of the minister of the gospel is, in the eyes of the world, a lowly one. He is but as a shepherd's dog whose duty it is to bark when danger threatens. Such a creature depicts the lowliness of the office of a servant of Christ in the eyes of the world. "Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring (scrappings off a shoe) of all things unto this day," 1 Corinthians 4:13. Yet even the dog performed a most useful service to men. There is a picture there from which we may learn.