Evil Rulers and Lying Prophets
August 21, 2022
Commentary
In this chapter Micah denounces the leaders of Israel for their sins. First, it is the princes; second, the prophets, who were the spiritual leaders; and last, all the leaders of Jerusalem, including the princes, the prophets, and the priests. “Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob” (v. 1). He is speaking to the rulers of Israel. He says, “You have judged others for their misdeeds, but you are doing the same things." It is difficult for a judge who had been at a cocktail party the night before and had become a little tipsy himself to sentence a man the next day who has killed somebody because he was driving while drunk. In Micah’s day the leadership actually hated the good and loved the evil (vv. 2-4). Men like that are not fit to be in positions of leadership.
The false prophets were like vicious animals or like serpents with forked tongues and fangs that would poison (v. 5). Their messages were geared to the favors they received (v. 6). Micah prophesied that one day the false prophets would be shamed by their actions (v. 7). He attributed the power of his ministry to the Spirit of the Lord (v. 8).
Up to now Micah has been speaking to the northern kingdom of Israel but now he turns specifically to Jerusalem (v. 9). He accuses the leaders of making cruelty and murder a way of life in Jerusalem (v. 10). Micah severely condemned religious leaders who ministered only if they get paid for it (v. 11). The judges were judging for reward; the priests were teaching for hire; and the prophets were prophesying for money. This is Micah’s message to them and to us. This is a prediction that for their sins there will be a complete desolation of the city of Jerusalem (v. 12).
Application
It has been said that the only thing we learn from history is that we have not learned anything. Lord help me to not fall for the things the world has to offer but to follow you.
Micah 3:1– 12 (NET)
1 I said, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel! You ought to know what is just,
2 yet you hate what is good and love what is evil. You flay my people’s skin and rip the flesh from their bones.
3 You devour my people’s flesh, strip off their skin, and crush their bones. You chop them up like flesh in a pot — like meat in a kettle.
4 Someday these sinful leaders will cry to the Lord for help, but he will not answer them. He will hide his face from them at that time, because they have done such wicked deeds.”
5 This is what the Lord has said about the prophets who mislead my people, “If someone gives them enough to eat, they offer an oracle of peace. But if someone does not give them food, they are ready to declare war on him.
6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads.
7 The prophets will be ashamed; the omen readers will be humiliated. All of them will cover their mouths, for they will receive no divine oracles.”
8 But I am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives and have a strong commitment to justice. This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion and Israel with its sin.
9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel! You hate justice and pervert all that is right.
10 You build Zion through bloody crimes, Jerusalem through unjust violence.
11 Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the Lord and say, “The Lord is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!”
12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed up like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the Temple Mount will become a hill overgrown with brush!
Illustration: Easier to Pay The Bully Than to Learn to Defeat Him
In his book Fuzzy Memories, Jack Handey writes: There used to be this bully who would demand my lunch money every day. Since I was smaller, I would give it to him. Then I decided to fight back. I started taking karate lessons. But then the karate lesson guy said I had to start paying him five dollars a lesson. So I just went back to paying the bully. Too many people feel it is easier just to pay the bully than it is to learn how to defeat him. (Lou Nicholes – Author/Missionary).