Mic 3:1-4 Then I said,
"Listen, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of the house of Israel.
Should you not know justice,
2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;
3 who eat my people's flesh,
strip off their skin
and break their bones in pieces;
who chop them up like meat for the pan,
like flesh for the pot?"
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.
At that time he will hide his face from them
because of the evil they have done. NIV
- Micah, in this chapter, addresses two groups of Israel's leaders. What is the first group?
- Judges, rulers, or we could say civil leaders
- Obviously the second group will be the religious leaders
- Why does Micah ask a rhetorical question in verse 1?
- Because what is obvious, ie, the job description is not being practiced
- What have they done? Now, this is one of those places where the use of poetry, and the fact that the sentence make no sense literally, allows us to interpret it metaphorically, or symbolically. What is the image telling us they have done?
- What is the image? Hunter
- Why the use of the hunter imagery? People are game to be used for the personal satisfaction and use of the hunter
- The leaders use their position for themselves and not to help the people
- APPLICATION: Many, when given positions of authority, start out well but are corrupted by the position and authority, and later misuse it. How do you stay on the right track? Only a new birth truly gives you a chance (although, there are many stories of unbelieving persons who were just all their lives), but then you need to continually be refreshed by the Holy Spirit. The key is an on-going and growing relationship with God
- What is the judgment upon the leaders?
- God would treat them as they treated others
- God would not hear their prayers. This is an anthropomorphism of God turning his back. God hears everyone's prayers, but God would not answer them
Mic 3:5-7 This is what the Lord says:
"As for the prophets
who lead my people astray,
if one feeds them,
they proclaim 'peace';
if he does not,
they prepare to wage war against him.
6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
and darkness, without divination.
The sun will set for the prophets,
and the day will go dark for them.
7 The seers will be ashamed
and the diviners disgraced.
They will all cover their faces
because there is no answer from God." NIV
- Now, God shifts to the religious leaders, and specifically, the prophets. What is God's primary complaint?
- They tell the people what they want to hear
- They adjust their message depending on the audience
- In the last days, which I believe we are living in, Paul said that it would happen again
- 2 Tim 4:3-4 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. NIV
- What does Jesus say?
- Luke 10:7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. NIV
- There is a fine line between "deserving your wages" and "trying to obtain wages." The distinction is that we serve God. Once again, I think the key is an on-going and growing relationship with God, otherwise, it is very easy to slip into a mode of telling people what they want to hear -- because we want people to like us
- What is the judgment against the leaders?
- No visions, humiliation
- I wondered why the leaders would not continue to lie. I think that the calamities will be so overwhelming (and all but Jerusalem were conquered) that even the prophets would be compelled to cease pretending to see divine revelation
- It is interesting that he doesn't call them false ...
- What do you see in the terms God uses, especially diviner?
- Diviner is a derogatory term, seer less so (used to describe prophets)
- Diviners were outlawed in Israel (God uses a detestable term to describe them)
- Deut 18:10-12 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. NIV
- "To cover the lip" or "beard" in the Hebrew. The beard, in oriental culture, is something of pride, suggesting that to cover it was shame, mourning, or sorrow. It is also an action enjoined on lepers
- Lev 13:45-46 "The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean!' 46 As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp. NIV
- APPLICATION: In the past, God brought shame on religious leaders for compromising the truth. That continues to happen today. Unfortunately, it also brings shame on Christ, but it would be worst if God didn't judge his supposed spokespersons for their sin. Am I compromising truth? How close am I to bringing shame to the name of Jesus Christ?
Mic 3:8-12 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,
to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob,
you rulers of the house of Israel,
who despise justice
and distort all that is right;
10 who build Zion with bloodshed,
and Jerusalem with wickedness.
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,
her priests teach for a price,
and her prophets tell fortunes for money.
Yet they lean upon the Lord and say,
"Is not the Lord among us?
No disaster will come upon us."
12 Therefore because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets. NIV
- What protect Micah from the fate of the leaders mentioned previously?
- Full of the Spirit of the Lord.
- What does that mean, how do we apply?
- I believe it is accomplished through on-going and growing relationship with God
- It is not compromising with sin, but calling sin, sin, no matter how it might be taken
- Micah gives a little more insight into the sins of the leaders, what is it?
- Distorted all that is right
- Used bloodshed and wickedness to build their fortunes and the country they now live in
- Bribery
- Teaching for pay
- Fortunes for money
- Arrogance to believe that God was on their side
- What is the judgment?
- Zion plowed like a field (mostly occurs in Assyrian invasion)
- Jerusalem will be a heap of rubble (occurs during the Babylonian invasion)
- APPLICATION: Our position as Christians means that our salvation is assured. I also believe it guarantees our rapture from the tribulation. But it does not guarantee that God will not judge our un-repented sins in this life, nor does it guarantee our reward in eternity. We may not be civil and religious leaders, but we all have a responsibility to live as a witness for Jesus Christ in this world. It should affect our behavior, how we treat people, how we expect to be treated, etc -- we are God's representatives, his ambassadors
- 2 Cor 5:20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. NIV
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