Book of Micah Continued

Chapter Two: Social Ethics, Divine Judgment, and Hope

2:1-5...Woe unto those that devise iniquity and fabricate evil upon their beds! When the morning is light, they put it into effect because they have power in their hands…they coveted fields and stole them, and houses and took them away; so they oppressed the man and his house, even the man and his heritage...The LORD says; Behold, I devise an evil against this family, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye walk haughtily; for the time shall be evil. In that time shall one take up a saying against you and lament with a doleful lamentation and say, We have been utterly destroyed; he has changed the portion of my people; how has he taken our fields! He has given and divided our fields unto others…you shall have no one to cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD.

Historically, in Micah’s time, we see how the leaders of the nation plot and devise evil. They steal property and trample upon the rights of the citizens. The Lord warns the leaders that He is devising an evil against them for their wicked deeds. These leaders should have been following the instructions in the Torah but are only interested in their personal gain.

This is so true of what is happening in our nation politically and financially today! We are slowly losing our freedoms because we prefer to surround ourselves in pleasure and sin. Look at the music and entertainment business today. So much demonic and witchcraft type music and movies. We love violence in our movies and video games. We kick God out of our schools and government and glorify that which was at one time considered wrong. Isaiah 5.20

When evil comes and tragedy strikes the people cry out and wonder why God would allow this to happen. They were the ones who told God to get out of their lives, schools, government, and ethics! Doesn’t anyone understand? God was only doing what was demanded of Him--to leave! Micah is speaking to this issue in a strong voice.

2:6-11...Do not prophesy, they say to those that prophesy: Do not prophesy unto them that they are to understand shame. O thou that calls thyself the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD shortened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walks uprightly? He who yesterday was my people is risen up as an enemy…Ye have cast the women of my people out from their pleasant houses; from their children ye have taken away my continual praise…Arise and depart, for this is not your rest because it is polluted; it has become corrupted and with a great corruption. If there is one walking in the spirit of falsehood, he shall lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.

In the Hebrew, these evil doers represent the apostate nation, the Lord’s people. The Lord is speaking to His people. In this context the Lord will not refrain from acting against them. In our day He is speaking to the church and nation at large and exhorting us to seek the truth of His word and walk therein.

God’s people are telling His prophets not to prophesy! They don’t want to hear anything that will make them uncomfortable. They are not interested in letting the Bible interpret itself--they take verses out of context and devise doctrines that suit them and their agenda. It is about the Laodicean and Philadelphia churches (Rev 3:7-22). It seems God’s own church has become His enemy! Beware the secular human institutions (Laodiceans) that call themselves God’s church. Strive to be like the Philadelphia church.

2:12-13...I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah as the flock in the midst of their fold; they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. The breaker shall go up before them; they shall break through and pass through the gate and go out by it; and their king shall pass before them, the LORD at the head of them.

Suddenly Micah speaks of the remnant of Israel. He has been speaking about judgment on God’s people and now apeaks with a reassuring message of hope. We see God gathering a remnant together in the sheepfold (Bozrah). We see the Lord as the “Good Shepherd” breaking out with His people and passing through the gate.

God always warns His people of coming judgment for their sins. He demands purity and a sanctified people. He wants His people to practice righteousness. This means we obey His commandments or instruction. Torah means “instruction” and it is our “code of conduct”. The majority in the church say, “We are not under the law, we have Jesus.” This is true, Jesus has saved us from the “curse of the law”, but we are still to practice law. By this I mean we are to walk according to a code of conduct and that is what the law is. We are to practice righteousness.

If we say we love Him we obey His commands (instructions) and walk accordingly (1 John 2.1-5). If we were a soldier in the military we would have to abide by a Code of Conduct. This is not legalism--this is practicing righteousness as instructed in the law (Torah=instruction).

The Lord has a place of safety amidst tribulation and chaos. It is His sheepfold. Those who know him know His voice. The breaker, Yeshua, will go before us! You can’t be a part of an apostate human secular rebellious nation and expect to find safety in the sheepfold! He who has ears to hear will hear. Our shepherd has a sheepfold for His sheep.

Next: Chapter Three: Do We Follow the Lord or Traditions of Men?

Chapter Three: Do We Follow the Lord or Traditions of Men?

3.1-4...I said, Hear, I pray you, O princes of Jacob, and ye heads of the house of Israel. Did it not pertain to you to know that which is right? Who hate the good, and love the evil, who steal their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; and eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones and chop them in pieces as for the pot and as flesh within the caldron. Then they shall cry unto the LORD, but he will not respond to them: he will even hide his face from them at that time because of their evil doings.

Historically the destruction of Jerusalem is explained by Micah as due to the failures of leadership. In the Torah the king is told he must read and copy the law in order that he wouldn’t stray (Deut 17.18). Micah is talking to the nation--God’s people. In our day we must be able to discern the truth. We are moving towards a new or one world order. That means there will be a “harlot” world church. We are to come out from that beast system.

God’s people were given the truth and then led away from it. Today many are allowing themselves to be led astray. Everyone talks about a remnant. The remnant are those who formerly were rebellious but have repented and returned to the Lord. They walk in obedience and often seem peculiar to those who are lukewarm in the faith. God wants us to hunger for the truth and walk in a close personal relationship with Him. Nobody can do that for us. No institution can do it for us. We need to hunger and thirst for God Himself.

3:5-8...Thus hath the LORD said concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that does not give them something to eat, they even prepare war against him…the vision shall be made night unto you, and darkness unto those that divine, and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them…Then the prophets shall be ashamed, and the diviners confounded; and they shall all cover their lips because they shall have no answer from God. But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his rebellion, and to Israel his sin.

The prophets of Micah’s day spoke to please their clients in order to increase the gifts and payments from them. They were perverting their office for gain. Micah was stating that he was prophesying by the power of the Lord--he was speaking a message of judgment and exposing sin.

Many in the nation were practicing sin rather than righteousness. Many couples live together refusing to marry. Many find no harm in abortion. Others do not understand that gay marriage is an attack on God’s family values. Many have been seduced by human secularism. Many follow astrology, witchcraft, and other pagan beliefs--in the church! The Lord is crying out to the leaders and the people to turn away from these things and return to Him.

In Micah’s time children were sacrificed by fire unto idols! This is the same as the sin of abortion today. An abortion can be had for any reason. We are sacrificing our future to the idol of our selfish desires. More than 60 million abortions have been done in this country alone. There is blood on many hands. God is not pleased. He is crying out to His people. Micah was full of the Spirit of the Lord and declared the sin and rebellion to the nation.

3:9-12...Now hear this, ye heads of the house of Jacob and captains of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment and pervert all equity; that build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity; the heads thereof judge for bribes, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they come near unto the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? No evil can come upon us…Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

Micah is speaking to Zion and Jerusalem, the house of God. They are sacrificing their children’s blood to idols, they

Are perverting justice and equity. They are comfortable in their sin. Is not the LORD among us? No evil can come upon us they say.

This is our nation today. We export our culture overseas--tie it to financial aid. We export abortion, homosexuality, porn, sexual music and videos. We mistake immorality for righteousness. Many churches go along with this. God’s people are at ease. They find teachers that will tickle their ears. It is the same in our day as in Micah’s day. This is an end time book. The world is racing towards wrath and judgment--nuclear destruction. We will do it to ourselves because we refuse to obey God’s commandments. He will leave us to our own imaginations. Only those who repent and turn to Him will find salvation. As the West decays, the East is rising!

Next: Chapter Four: The Good News of the Future Millennial Kingdom