Micah: Corrupt Leaders

God expects more from his religious leaders and by extension, those who follow them. He is more concerned about a relationship than rituals. A nation is doomed to fail when it is spiritually blind. The same must be said of individuals and churches. The Book of Micah depicts a very sad time in the life of God’s people – Israel’s leaders were compromised, leaving God no choice but to call them into account. We must ask ourselves the question…”How am I doing in my spiritual walk?” For the right price, the sages (ruling class), the priests (with the law) and the prophets (with messages from God) were compromised because of a love for money and power. For the right price, they could be bought. What of the contemporary church? Is it caught up in a culture of money-loving, titles, positions, fancy churches and houses, feel-good theology, false doctrine of no pain and suffering? This kind of culture is antithetical to the picture of God’s people painted by the prophet Micah. They conveniently forgot that God’s presence was contingent upon ethical behavior (Exod. 33:3,5; Num.14:14).[1] The reader should take note that these past few weeks of lessons are pointing to both personal and corporate purging that God is asking of us (read Matthew 21).

Micah chapter 3 is a denunciation of false leaders. God’s indictment was addressed to the rulers (v.1), the prophets (v.5) and the prophets (v.11). All three groups were accused of justifying their ungodly behavior using God’s Word. Consider the moral devolution of Israel’s leaders:

·         “who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones” (3:2) – the highest form of robbery inflicted upon the people. The imagery of cannibalism is used here to describe escalating injustice, robbery, and abuse. In 2:2 greedy landowners were accused of robbing people of their houses, and in 2:8 the ruling class was accused of ripping the shirts of people’s backs. How wicked can you get? You won’t even allow the man to keep his shirt!

·         “break their bones, and chop them in pieces, and as flesh within the caldron” (v.3) -  a metaphorical rendering of the people being devoured by greedy officials.

·         Build up Zion with blood (v.10) – prosperity at the expense of the less fortunate. “The city walls, the palaces, the stones used to make opulent buildings have been erected at great human cost”[2] (2 Chron. 32:1-6).

·         Judges taking bribes, priests for hire and prophets making prophecies for money while declaring “God is with us, therefore no evil will befall us” (v.11) – Wrong theology. It is this type of thinking that requires God to act justly and bring disaster upon the nation.

·         Judgment - Therefore, on account of you Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the temple will become high places of a forest” (NASB 3:12).  Their pride and joy, the city, all their efforts, would be reduced to overgrown land overrun by wild animals. Can you picture all of Paradise Island being reduced to a wasteland?

“Despite the fact that the nation had adopted a culture of cheating, lying, stealing and marginalizing the poor, they profess that their “growth and success” is due to their dependence on and protection by God”[3]

Consider the state of affairs described above, what is the response you would expect from a holy and righteous God? Considering the state of my life…what response should I expect from a holy and righteous God? A couple weeks ago, Amos called the people to accountability; Micah’s message was the same. What to do with leaders who are motivated by greed, who prophesy peace when their appetites are appeased and destruction when they do not get their way?

                        God’s Call (Micah 6:6-8)

Micah proposes a rhetorical question – In light of God’s faithfulness to them all this time, how could they continue in their hypocrisy? What benefit is there to being outwardly religious and inwardly sinful?

Micah describes the ritualistic approach of the believer (notice the escalation in approach to worship):

ü  Go before God

ü  Bow before him

ü  Offer sacrifices (promises, vows, empty words)…”Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil…?” (6:7)

NO, GOD IS NOT PLEASED WITH ALL THIS POMP AND CEREMONY...HE HAS ALREADY INDICATED HIS DESIRE

“He has told you, O man: What is good? And what does the Lord require of you?

1.       To do justice,

2.       To love kindness,

3.       To walk humbly with your God?” (NASB 6:8)

Micah proclaims that God’s call to his people is to show love to one’s neighbor and cultivate integrity over religiosity. “God requires that his people would once again be a just society that loves mercy, protects the oppressed and the poor, and that we continue to walk in covenant relationship with HIM.”[4]

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[1] Stephen Dempster, Micah (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2017), 37

[2] Ibid., 95.

[3] Apostolic Light, (PAW), 21.

[4] Ibid.

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Written by Kevin A. Hall