Micah 3

 

Micah 03 1 I said, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel! You ought to know what is just, 

 

The leaders of Israel knew the Mosaic Law. They knew what was just, so they were responsible for teaching and leading the people.

 

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. 

 

Even though the leaders knew the Mosaic Law, they hated it. Instead, they loved what was evil. They were skinning their people alive.

 

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. 

 

The leaders were not treating their people very well. Instead, they were devouring their people, stripping off their skins, crushing their bones, chopping up their bodies, and cooking their flesh in boiling pots. These metaphors were used to show Jehovah’s contempt for the evil leaders of Judah.

 

4 Someday these sinners 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.”  

 

These evil leaders did not listen to the cries of their people, so Jehovah will give them a kind-for-kind judgment. When the Babylonians attack the leaders, then Jehovah will not listen to their cries. He will hide His face from them.

 

5 This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people are as good as dead. 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. 

 

Since Israel was not executing false prophets according to the Mosaic Law, then Jehovah will execute him. The false prophets were teaching for profit. They told the people what they wanted to hear so that they could receive more money.

 

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. 

 

Since the false prophets were leading the people into darkness, Jehovah will lead the false prophets into darkness. The false prophets will receive no more visions from demons. They will not be able to read their omens. They will receive no demonic information with the demonic world. 

 

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.” 

 

The false prophets will continue to make up their own prophecies, but their own words will prove to the people that they are false prophets.

 

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. 

 

A true prophet has the Spirit of God within him. He is not afraid to tell people of their sin. The false prophets who tickled the ears of Judah are very similar to that of the seeker-friendly pastors today. The seeker-friendly pastors do no want to make any anyone in their congregation angry, so they teach only positive messages. The true pastor-teacher will study the Word of God and warn his congregation against compromising with their sin nature, even if this kind of teaching causes their membership to reduce.

 

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. 

 

Micah condemned the ruling class for perverting justice for their own benefit.

 

10 You build Zion through bloody crimes, Jerusalem through unjust violence. 

 

The Jewish leaders built up the city of Jerusalem with blood and murder of innocent people from the poverty classes.

 

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!” 

 

The judges were guilty of taking bribes. The priests were teaching for profit. The false prophets were prophesying for profit. They were teaching the people that God would never allow Jerusalem to be destroyed. They reminded the people that Assyria was not able to take Jerusalem, so the Babylonians will fail as well. 

 

The real prophets of God taught that Jerusalem would be completely destroyed. Basically, the Jewish temple had become a good luck charm to Judah. As long as the temple was standing in Jerusalem, the inhabitants could sin as often as they wanted. They falsely taught that God would never allow any Gentile nation to destroy His holy temple. This is similar to Catholics who go to confession. A man in the mafia can steal, kill, and destroy all he wants, as long as he goes to confession on Sunday and pays his priest.

 

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! 

 

Micah told Judah that the false prophets were wrong. Jerusalem will be destroyed. The temple will be torn down. The mountain of the temple will become overgrown with grass and bushes.

 

Micah and Jesus preached the same message. Israel lacked knowledge, because their leaders were deceiving them. The same is true in modern Israel today. Rabbis are deceiving the Jewish people. The same is true in the modern church today. Pastors are deceiving their people. The motive for all of these groups is money. All of these groups tickle the ears of their congregation so that they can keep their cushy job of teaching the people false doctrine.  

 

In conclusion, congregations will pay their pastor well to teach them false doctrine which is positive. They do not want to be warned about judgment.