Micah 2

Read Micah 2

“Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds!” The Lord used His servant Micah to bring an indictment against the rich who took advantage of the poor. How serious were their offenses? “They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away.” Because of the way that powerful individuals were exercising brutality toward the weak, God warned them that He was “devising disaster” that would soon draw near to them.

The Lord would bring ungodly rulers into the territory of His own beloved children. As they had stolen from others, they themselves would soon lose their land and homes to invaders from afar.

Micah brought this solemn warning from Yahweh to the privileged families among the Jews, but God's word was not readily received. Their response was to attack the messenger. “One should not preach such things.” If they had been willing to walk “uprightly” they would have been eager to hear what God's ambassador was saying. Instead they would have preferred a more entertaining sermon series. Something about “wine and strong drink” would have delighted their ears.

How would God ever save His chosen ones when they closed their minds to the true voice of correction? The Lord God would have to come in person. Even then He would be rejected by the rulers and authorities of His day, yet in His suffering and death Jesus would accomplish the holy obedience that they were morally unable to give. The Lord of Hosts would become the eternal King over all of His saints. He would win a battle for hard hearts that no earlier prophet could have won. By His life-giving Spirit He would grant them ears to hear, so that they might be “cut to the heart” and truly “repent.” (Acts 2:37-38)

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Great God and King, we turn away from our private schemes of wickedness. We cannot fool You. The lesson of Your ancient people should be powerfully obvious to us. There is no wisdom in resisting Your true Word as Your nation did so long ago. Even their shepherds did not follow in the way of godliness. They destroyed whole families and pursued covetousness and malice against the weak. Come soon, Lord God! Save us from all iniquity!