Micah 02
Micah 1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, because they have the power to do so.
Micah pronounced a woe upon the wealthy landowners in Judah. They were using their wealth and power to devise premeditated evil.
2 They confiscate the fields they desire, and seize the houses they want. They defraud people of their homes, and deprive people of the land they have inherited.
If a Jewish person under the Mosaic law went into debt, then they could sell their land and themselves into slavery, but they would get the land back during the Year of Jubilee. However, the wealthy landowners changed the law so that they could keep the land permanently.
3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of catastrophe.
Just as the wealthy landowners devised disaster for the poor, so will Jehovah devise disaster for the wealthy landowners.
4 In that day people will sing this taunt song to you— they will mock you with this lament: ‘We are completely destroyed; they sell off the property of my people. How they remove it from me! They assign our fields to the conqueror.’
When God executes His divine wrath upon the wealthy landowners, the poor will mock the wealthy with a taunting song
5 Therefore no one will assign you land in the Lord’s community.
The wealthy are going to lose their inheritance to their enemies.
6 ‘Don’t preach with such impassioned rhetoric,’ they say excitedly. ‘These prophets should not preach of such things; we will not be overtaken by humiliation.’
The people of Judah will ask Micah not to prophesy such negative things. They claim that if Micah was a true prophet, he would prophesy only good things. This is very similar to the rhetoric of seeker-pastors and baby-Christians today.
7 Does the family of Jacob say, ‘The Lord’s patience can’t be exhausted— he would never do such things’? To be sure, my commands bring a reward for those who obey them,
Judah claimed that God was good and He would never judge Judah in the negative way in which Micah was prophesying. Skeptics repeat this same rhetoric today.
8 but you rise up as an enemy against my people. You steal a robe from a friend, from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war.
Judah has become an enemy to her own people by stealing a robe from the poor. Whenever a poor man used his robe for collateral, the robe was supposed to be returned back to him at night so that he could stay warm. Judah failed to keep this part of the Mosaic Law, so Jehovah became her enemy.
9 You wrongly evict widows among my people from their cherished homes. You defraud their children of their prized inheritance.
The wealthy were Jehovah’s enemy, because they oppressed the widow and orphan.
10 But you are the ones who will be forced to leave! For this land is not secure! Sin will thoroughly destroy it!
Since the wealthy were oppressing the poor, the widows, and the orphans, God will vomit Judah out of the land. This judgment was predicted in Leviticus 18. God must execute His Law, or He is a liar.
11 If a lying windbag should come and say, ‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ he would be just the right preacher for these people!
The “lying windbags” were the false prophets of Judah. Judah would rather listen to a prophet who promised them wine and beer than they would to a prophet of God who spoke the truth and warned them of danger. Like much of the modern church today, the congregation wanted their ears tickled.
12 I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob, I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain. I will bring them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in the middle of a pasture; they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise.
At the end of the Great Tribulation, all of Israel who survives will be saved. During the Millennial Kingdom, Jehovah will bring all of the Jews back into their physical land.
13 The one who can break through barriers will lead them out they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. Their king will advance before them, The Lord himself will lead them.
The one who can “break barriers” is the Messiah. Just as Moses led Israel into the Promised Land, Jesus will lead the messianic Jews into the Promised Land after His second coming.