Micah 3 (Listen)
3:1 And I said:
Hear, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
Is it not for you to know justice?—
2 you who hate the good and love the evil,
who tear the skin from off my people
and their flesh from off their bones,
3 who eat the flesh of my people,
and flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones in pieces
and chop them up like meat in a pot,
like flesh in a cauldron.
4 Then they will cry to the LORD,
but he will not answer them;
he will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have made their deeds evil.
5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets
who lead my people astray,
who cry “Peace”
when they have something to eat,
but declare war against him
who puts nothing into their mouths.
6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision,
and darkness to you, without divination.
The sun shall go down on the prophets,
and the day shall be black over them;
7 the seers shall be disgraced,
and the diviners put to shame;
they shall all cover their lips,
for there is no answer from God.
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the LORD,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel,
who detest justice
and make crooked all that is straight,
10 who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe;
its priests teach for a price;
its prophets practice divination for money;
yet they lean on the LORD and say,
“Is not the LORD in the midst of us?
No disaster shall come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you
Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.
Devotional:
Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become ruins, and the temple’s mountain will be a high thicket (Micah 3:12 CSB).
Instead of being leaders and prophets who sought to feed and care for the people, the leaders in Micah’s time essentially feasted on the people and used their positions for their own gain. These leaders thought that God would never send judgment, but God promises here that they will receive their just reward as the tables will be turned on them, the nation will come to ruin, and they will be humiliated and ignored by God. It is easy to judge these wicked and arrogant leaders, but we need to remember that we, too, deserve nothing more than to become a heap of ruin before Him. The good news is that God’s mercy in Christ provides redemption for those who have loved themselves more than their neighbors and taken for granted God’s blessing. Thanks be to God for His amazing grace to us!
Pray it: Father, help me resist the tendency to seek my own good at the expense of others and fill me like Micah through the power by the Spirit of the Lord with justice and courage to speak and act in accordance with your truth.
Share it: Share a verse or thought from this passage with someone today.