From Micah 1-7
Micah distinguishes himself from the prophets around him. They give preferential treatment to the people around them and have abandoned the LORD. Micah is filled with the Spirit which gives him a strong sense of justice and power. This equips him to confront people over their sin.
This post is part of my bible in a year series.
Passage and Comments
In previous chapters Micah has been condemning the people of Israel. In today’s passage he specifically targets their rulers and false prophets.
3 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. (Micah 3.1-4)
The rulers should rule over their people with justice. Instead they practice injustice and oppress the people. They have a wrong appreciation of good and evil.
Micah’s graphic language accuses them of cannibalism.
The people of Israel will cry out to the LORD. But because of their sin, the LORD will leave them to be punished.
Micah turns on the prophets and seers.
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. (Micah 3.5-7)
The prophets give preferential treatment to those who treat them well, but curse those who ignore them.
God’s people should serve the LORD, no matter how they are treated by the people around them.
‘There is no answer from God’. The prophets and seers clearly at one time relied on the LORD for their ministry, but they abandoned him. Their will be darkened and have no more visions. They will be disgraced.
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. (Micah 3.8)
Micah compares himself to the false prophets saying the LORD has filled him with power and the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was given only to a select few who were specially used by the LORD for his purposes.
The Holy Spirit fills him with a strong sense of justice and might (boldness).
This has specially equipped him to denounce the sin of the people, the rulers and the false prophets around him.
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. (Micah 3.9-12)
Micah groups the rulers, the priests and the prophets together in a summary of his judgment on them. They falsely believe the LORD is with them and wont experience his judgment.
How do you know the LORD is with you?
Story of Israel
“Micah was an implacable opponent of what he regarded as the inhumane policies of the rulers of the Jerusalem of his day. He believed that they put the maintenance of their own interests above the needs of the people whom they governed, especially those in the provinces of Judah. He proclaimed that because of this, God would judge Jerusalem and cause its temple to be destroyed. This was a deeply unpopular message; but according to Jer 26:1–19 it produced results and was still remembered a century later.” (Rogerson, J.W., 2003. Micah. In J. D. G. Dunn & J. W. Rogerson, eds. Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, p. 703.)
Story of Jesus
The Holy Spirit specially empowered Micah for ministry. In the gospel Jesus is filled with the Spirit (Lk 4.1,14-15) and people can tell the difference in his authority and power.
31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. (Lk 4.31-37)
If you want to be used by the LORD in ministry. Ask him in your prayers to use you and seek to be filled with his Spirit.
Copyright © Joshua Washington and thescripturesays, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
