Simply teaching the Bible, simply

Micah chapters 3 to 5 form the second section in this short book. In chapter 3 Micah expresses God’s displeasure at Israel’s leaders: The judges and princes of the nation, who should have acted with justice and integrity, but instead continued to oppress their countrymen and turned their ears away from their cries. In response God says He will turn His ear away from their cries when judgment comes (see Psalm 66:18). The prophets should have spoken only the words of the Lord, yet that was not popular. The people wanted a ‘feel-good’ message (itching ears – see 2 Tim 4:3). So, the prophets proclaimed a message of peace, in effect condoning the people’s idolatry and implying that God would not bring judgment upon them. In response, God says that these self-appointed prophets will lose even the little spiritual light they thought themselves to have; instead, darkness would come upon them and they would be exposed and ashamed. God detests ‘dishonest scales’ (Leviticus 19:36 / Proverbs 11:1). Yet the leaders of the nation were gladly accepting bribes and could easily be bought for the right price – “The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money”. Yet they had the audacity to sit back comfortably and say “Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us”. Their boast was in the false notion that God would never bring judgment on Jerusalem. They seemed to think that could act as they wanted and have some sort of ‘diplomatic immunity’! Yet God is not mocked! Jeremiah would later say: “4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these… 8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. 9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; 10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? 11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord.” (Jeremiah 7:4, 8-11) In chapter 4-5 we have some of the most incredible prophetic verses in the Bible! Micah, in the midst of speaking of the judgment that will come upon Judah at the hand of the Babylonians, reminds the nation that God is a God who delights in keeping His promises. The covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob concerning the Land; the covenant He made with David concerning an everlasting throne, all these will come to pass.