Micah 3
January 6
Reading: Micah 3
1 And I said:
Hear, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
Is it not for you to know justice?—
2 you who hate the good and love the evil,
who tear the skin from off my people
and their flesh from off their bones,
3 who eat the flesh of my people,
and flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones in pieces
and chop them up like meat in a pot,
like flesh in a cauldron.
4 Then they will cry to the LORD,
but he will not answer them;
he will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have made their deeds evil.
5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray,
who cry "Peace" when they have something to eat,
but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths.
6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision,
and darkness to you, without divination.
The sun shall go down on the prophets,
and the day shall be black over them;
7 the seers shall be disgraced,
and the diviners put to shame;
they shall all cover their lips,
for there is no answer from God.
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the LORD,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel,
who detest justice
and make crooked all that is straight,
10 who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe;
its priests teach for a price;
its prophets practice divination for money;
yet they lean on the LORD and say,
"Is not the LORD in the midst of us?
No disaster shall come upon us."
12 Therefore because of you
Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.
In Micah 3:1-3, the prophet addresses and describes the people to whom he is speaking. The description is horrible. They do not know justice. They “hate good and love evil.” They cook and eat one another. This latter part of the description must be metaphorical. And still, it describes a people who are viciously cruel to each other.
What will be the result of this horrendous behavior? Verse 4 tells us that the Lord will not hear their prayers. I can think of few things as bad as my God saying to me that He will not listen to my prayers. Then I am truly alone in life, just me with my sin.
Then, in verses 5-8 Micah has words for the false prophets. These imposters tell people that all is well when they are comfortable, but when they are in need they cry for war. (vs. 5) They are obsessed with themselves. They are not speaking what God says. Therefore, the Lord is going to humiliate them. They claim to be visionaries, but they will go blind and dark. In contrast to the false prophets, Micah will continue to tell the people the truth about their sin. (vs. 8)
Then the prophet speaks to the rulers of Judah and Israel. (vss. 9-12) These so-called leaders promote injustice, corruption, murder, bribery, and fraud. Does this sound familiar? At the end of verse 11 we learn that they think nothing will come of their bad behavior because the Lord is with them. They could not be more wrong. It is because the Lord is with them, and that He sees them clearly, that calamity will come upon them, and they will be ruined.
Who are our prophets and leaders? What are they saying? What are they doing? What do you think is going to happen to them? A society that listens to prophets and follows leaders who live in rebellion against God is destined for destruction. How do you need to set yourself apart from this corruption and the illusion of righteousness around us?