Micah chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Mic 2:1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon
their beds! when the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the
power of their hand.
There are some things in the bible that apply to Israel, some things apply to
religious leaders and some to leaders of nations but there also is some things
that can apply to any individual who may be guilty of the same type of sins that
God judges Israel for. Verse one is one example of a sin that all of us can be
guilty of.
This sin is caused by a heart full of covetousness. "Thou shalt not covet" is
one of the ten commandments. The new testament words of Hebrews speaks of this
sin.
Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with
such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee.
Heb 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not
fear what man shall do unto me.
This is something, not only Israel but all of us especially those of us who
claim Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives, need to take heed that we avoid all
covetousness. God is sufficient. He is all in all and to desire a closer walk
with Him will cause us not to desire the things in this life which can't even
begin to compare with the things we think are so important.
Mic 2:2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and
take them away: so they oppress a man and his house even a man and his heritage.
The Roman church in the middle ages had the power of church and state and in the
guise of punishing heretics they took away lands of so-called heretics as well
as condemned many to die. This is covetousness done by those who claim to be
doing it in the name of Jesus. They were making merchandise of their fellow
servants instead of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and showing compassion.
When we become angry at someone that we think are not teaching the bible
correctly, we must remember that Jesus wants to save not destroy. We are
not to judge men's consciences. God will do the judging at His own time.
We must not try to judge ahead of time except where law and order is necessary
to have peace. We can't allow someone to kill, steal and harm the
innocent. That is why we have civil law. In the matter of religious
faith, we are not to judge as far as condemning someone to death or taking away
his rights. Only God can judge righteously and we must leave that to Him.
We can teach, correct, preach, admonish, instruct etc. but the sentencing must
be done by the Lord Himself. When we leave off the preaching of the gospel
and the teaching of God's word and start to use force to gain converts into our
own religious system or church, we have left Jesus far behind and are not doing
what He instructed us to do. Only God can make a sinner, saved from sin.
Only God can save a soul from eternal death and bring Him into eternal
life.
This reminds me of the verse, "Joh 16:2 They shall put you out of the
synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he
doeth God service.
Dearly beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, persecution is never God's way
of dealing with heretics. There is never any justification to harming the
property or person of those who disagree with our particular doctrine.
This was condemned by God in the Old Testament. I don't think God has changed
His mind about covetousness. Some things were part of the old covenant with
Israel which was fulfilled and done away with in Christ but the moral laws of
love and worship of God is still the same. If we love one another and love even
our enemies, we would never covet their lands, homes, possessions or desire
their wives (husbands). All the commandments in the Old Testament can be kept if
we walk in the law of love that is taught in the New Testament. I'm talking
about true love, not the counterfeit that the world calls love. The world's love
depends upon circumstances. God's love never changes.
Mic 2:3 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I
devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go
haughtily: for this time is evil.
When we get to the place that we do evil and do not have any remorse or guilt
but instead we are lifted up with a haughty spirit that says, "We have done
nothing wrong. I'm only human. No one's perfect. God will forgive." If we have
that attitude with no thought of repentance, it is a dangerous position to be
in. We could lose our souls eternally. Yet, we don't have to. Through faith in
Jesus Christ as savior from sin, God has given us His Holy Spirit so that we
have the power over sin including the sin of covetousness. He has much better
things for us, why do we settle for things that pass away. Before we allow
ourselves to be carried away with some material possession we desire, think for
one moment where that possession will be 100 years from now. Our covetousness is
for nothing. Our souls will be present somewhere 100 years from now but our
possessions will belong to another or have decayed away. These things that
God dealt with Israel over can be our undoing also. The bible was written
for our benefit too. We can learn from Israel's mistakes (never gloat over
them). I like to read the Old Testament just so I can make sure I'm not
committing the same sins they did that brought God's judgment.
Mic 2:4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with
a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the
portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath
divided our fields.
Since they did this to their own people, God allows other wicked nations to do
the same thing to Israel and Judah. The law of sowing and reaping was in effect.
If we eat junk food, what happens to our bodies? If our soul ignores God's
word and does its own thing, what happens to that soul? God makes laws for our
good not our destruction. He sent Jesus to save, not destroy.
Mic 2:5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the
congregation of the LORD.
Being the congregation of the Lord is removed from those that forsake Him.
Israel was removed because of disobedience. This was only temporary for after
the Babylonian captivity, they returned to their land. After the captivity to
the Roman government they were scattered again but returned in 1948.
We ourselves live by the law of sowing and reaping today. What we do to others
will return upon us if we fail to repent and be led by the Holy Spirit instead
of our own desires.
Mic 2:6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not
prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
The more we get away from God, the less we will hear the word of God. Israel got
to the place where they did not want to hear the prophets that prophesied the
truth. They wanted to hear smooth words of the false prophets instead. So they
were given a famine of the word of God. I can't think of anything worse than a
famine of God's word. We sometimes make fun of the doomsday speakers. I know the
devil sends in false ones so that we think all those that speak warning words
will be esteemed as false but true prophets will always warn as well as comfort.
If someone speaks smooth ear tickling words to a congregation that is living in
sin, we can assume they do not speak truth. I don't want to hear words of
comfort if I need to repent, neither do we need words of doom and gloom when
we've done nothing wrong but are going through a trial. That is why it is
so important to seek to be led by the Holy Spirit when we speak. Always seek
truth and not just what makes us feel good at the time.
Mic 2:7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD
straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh
uprightly?
There is good promised to the obedient and faithful. The faithful
will love the truth and desire to walk uprightly.
Mic 2:8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye
pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse
from war.
Mic 2:9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from
their children have ye taken away my glory forever.
Robbing widows, orphans, women and children is an abomination in the sight
of God. Devouring widows houses and in pretense offer up long prayers is also an
abomination. All nations have a duty to care for women and children.
Although this warning is to Israel and Judah of that day, it can apply to any
religious body or nation that robs women and children of a decent place to live.
Even in America where large corporations buy up land and build expensive homes
with high prices to buy or charge high rent to live in where the poor cannot
afford, it forces them into the slums and in poverty. Has money become our god?
The sin of covetousness robs the innocent. This is not a license to rebel
against government and force the rich to give to the poor. This is a call
to repentance so that they themselves desire to be free from covetousness and
help the poor on their own. We have to get away from trying to
enforce God's word by the use of church and state power. The power of
preaching backed up with prayer is the way to go.
Mic 2:10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is
polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
Mic 2:11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will
prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of
this people.
People wanted to hear prophets that told them they can live how they want and do
not need to repent, God loves them anyway. This sounds very familiar.
Mic 2:12 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.
Mic 2:13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have
passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass
before them, and the LORD on the head of them.
Repentance then and now is the only way to get right with God. Repent means to
turn from sin and turn to God. We can love God enough to want to change our ways
so that our ways become His ways. It is a much better way to live. Israel could
have avoided so much suffering if they had of heeded God's word and repented at
the times when they failed. This applies to us. We must repent and believe in
Jesus to be saved the first time. If we fail after our conversion to Jesus, we
must repent and do the first works. We must not fail in this. Without repentance
our lives become unfruitful. We can be washed daily from the water of the word
of God. We can be continually cleansed through the word. We can walk in the Holy
Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. God didn't make commandments for
us to be destroyed. He made commandments for our good. He gave us the gift of
salvation, sanctification and the baptism of the Holy Spirit so that the "want
to" do evil is removed from our hearts. We now can serve God because our "want
to's" have changed.