Year 3, Day 243: Micah 3

A Fun Set of Verses

Well, aren’t the first four verses in Micah rather pleasant?  As a pastor, sometimes I worry that I am being too blunt or direct.  I don’t think Micah ever had that concern.  And since these words are from God, it doesn’t look like God had that concern, either.  Truth is what it is.

So what is Micah saying here?  Micah is chastising the leadership of the Hebrew people.  He is saying that the people who are charged by God with being just have grown to hate good and love evil.  They are leading – if you can call it that – in such a way that the focus is upon themselves.  They are treating the people of their kingdom as though it is their duty to support the luxurious lifestyle of the leader.  The people are literally working their fingers to the bone – a modern analogy for the last two-third of Micah 3:2.  And for what?  The people work insanely hard so that the leaders can have a comfortable life.

Yeah.  God has an issue with this.  God did not create leaders to live in the lap of luxury.  God created leaders to lead … wait for it … by example.  Remember Moses in the wilderness?  He was so swamped with being busy that he needed help.  Moses wasn’t living in the lap of luxury, he was out slaving around with all the other people trying to eke out some kind of lifestyle with everyone else.  It was hard work!  Or maybe you’ve heard of this guy named Elijah who wore camel’s hair and ate locusts while the kings sat in their posh surroundings.  Perhaps you’ve heard of a guy named Jesus who was born into a simple carpenter’s family, who lived a simple life, and who died on a cross for the sake of the people!  God doesn’t call leaders to sit in luxury while everyone else slaves through life.  God calls leaders to get in the trenches with people and work themselves just as much to the bone as everyone else.

Leaders are supposed to care about the people they are leading.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that leaders are supposed to do everything for the people.  But they are supposed to care for them.  They are supposed to set up a society that makes sense and is beneficial to the people.  They are supposed to set up a society that enables people to be productive.  But so often this is not the case.  Often leaders assume that power and privilege makes them superior and different.  Often leaders begin to feel entitled and better than everyone else.  They began to see other people as pawns, not people.

I’m reminded of a famous quote.  “Power corrupts.  Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  This quote is often attributed to Lord Acton.  But have you ever heard the other half of that quote?  “Power corrupts.  Absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Great men are almost always bad men.”  Wow.  That’s powerful.  And I daresay not only powerful, but true.   It is what Micah finds so irritatingly irreprehensible. 

These people who are blessed at the very hand of God are turning and using that blessing as an advantage and an opportunity to oppress people.  No wonder God is angry.  Talk about talking good and turning it around for evil!

False Prophets

The rest of this chapter deals with proclamations of judgment upon the leaders.  The judgment is divided up into two sections.  First comes the judgment upon the prophets – the spiritual leaders of the community.

Micah forecasts that they will experience a darkness – a night.  They will be without divination.  I cannot imagine what a prophet feels like when their vision has been taken away from them.  Imagine a writer in perpetual writer’s block.  Imagine an army sharpshooter who suddenly wakes up blind.  Imagine a professional musician with a quick onset case of rheumatoid arthritis.  Imagine going through life unable to accomplish what you feel absolutely called to do.  That is the judgment upon those who use their gifts in ways unintended by God.  That is the judgment of those who take their incredible giftedness and turn it into a means to oppress others.

Ungodly Kings

The second group to be judged is the kings.  These are the political leaders.  Here are the policy makers and the figurehead role models.  It is their turn to see what the Lord will bring upon them.

God says that Zion shall be plowed like a field.  That which they have forced others to work hard for their own enjoyment shall be taken away.  Imagine an investor the day after a stock market crash.  Imagine a business owner who wakes up to find their employees on strike and nobody is willing to cross the picket line.  Imagine a singer who suddenly finds their audience is no longer interested in listening to them and buying their records.  This is what God promises to the kings.  Their pride and joy and luxurious life – build upon the effort of the hard work of others – is taken from them.  They are cast down from the mountain they built upon others.  That is the judgment of those who take their incredible giftedness and turn it into a means to oppress others.

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