Micah 2:12

The Bible says in Micah 2:12-13, “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.[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.” In the previous verses God said that He was going to cast the Israelites out of their land. But now God reassures them that He will bring them back. Grace is greater than all of our sin. Even for those under the law, grace was greater than their sin. How much more we are blessed who live under the grace of God. Jesus died for all of our sins. He paid the penalty, and so there no penalty for us to pay. That is the basis for the eternal security of the believer.

God could not utterly destroy His people because the Lord made a promise to Abraham, and God always keeps His promises. Even though God allowed the Assyrians and the Babylonians to conquer Israel, God kept a remnant alive whom God would lead back to the land when the time was right. They are still not all the way back, but it will happen. If you want to know the future of the world, here is an important part of it. God said, “I will surely gather the remnant of Israel.” Woe to those who are the enemies of Israel. The nations who oppose Israel have made themselves the enemies of God. Guess who is going to win that contest? The outcome is described in detail in the book of Revelation.

The Bible says in Micah 3:1-3, “And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?[2] Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;[3] Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.” One of the problems of the nation of Israel was their leaders. God addressed the leaders in verse 1, and God said to them, “Is it not for you to know judgment?” They should have been able to make the right decisions. Leaders should be the best people from a moral and spiritual standpoint. That was true in Israel when David and Solomon were kings. But God described the current leaders of Israel by saying that they “hate the good, and love the evil.” That is a very good measure by which to evaluate anyone. What do you love and what do you hate? Evil and good both exist in the world. Which do you love? Everyone who loves the good will eventually come to Christ. Everyone who loves the evil will stay away from Christ. It says in John 3:19-21, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.[20] For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.[21] But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

In regards to the Israelites, what kind of evil are we talking about? They resorted to cannibalism. That is described very vividly in Micah 3:3, “Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.”

The Bible says in Micah 3:4, “Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.” Here is a circumstance when God will not answer the cries of those who call out to Him. What circumstance would that be? That would be when someone calls out to God to deliver them from their predicament, but they do not have true repentance of sin. They plan to go on in their sins, but they just want help for the moment. It says in Psalms 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Jesus also warned about prayers that were not real prayers to God. Jesus said in Matthew 6:5-7, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.[6] But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.[7] But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” Christians are also warned about having the wrong motive in prayer. It says in James 4:3, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” James also gave another reason that Christians do not see answers to their prayers. It says in James 1:6-7, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.[7] For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” Jesus gave the same spiritual principle when He said in Matthew 21:21-22, “Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.[22] And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

Notice the little phrase in Micah 3:4, “he will even hide his face from them at that time.” God is a God who hides Himself. He is invisible. It says in John 1:18, “No man hath seen God at any time; The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” It says in Isaiah 45:15, “Verily thou art a God that hideth thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior.” One of the benefits of being a Christian is that even though we do not see Jesus, we know from our spiritual experience with Him that He is alive. The poor un-regenerated souls of the earth have no such knowledge.

The Bible says in Micah 3:5, “Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.” This is a verse about false teachers. It is a good thing to have a good teacher. God prepares a good teacher for the benefit of the hearers. The best teachers even have a gift from God to be able to teach. It says in Ephesians 4:8, “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” And then describing the gifts that Jesus gave, it says in Ephesians 4:11-12, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;[12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” The word “perfecting” means “completing,” and the word “edifying“ means “building up.” When a person is first saved, he or she becomes a babe in Christ. From that point spiritual growth takes place through reading and studying the Word of God. If possible, having good God-gifted teachers helps that process. But notice that Micah 3:5 says that false teachers “bite with their teeth.” False teachers and their teachings will harm Christians. Beware of man. Notice also that the false teachings were described simply as the word “peace.” The false teachers were teaching the exact opposite of the truth. The truth was that war was coming to Israel because of the sins of the people and their refusal to turn back to God. But the people wanted to hear the message of peace instead of the message of war. False teachers are good at determining what people want to hear, and then telling them exactly that. Do not try to be popular. Make it your goal to be faithful to the truth if you want to be a preacher from God.

The false teachers are also described in Micah 3:5 as being against God. It says, “they even prepare war against him.” If someone is against the truth, then that means that they will also be against the author of truth: Jesus. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

The Bible says in Micah 3:6-7, “Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.[7] Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.” These two verses refer to the fact that every human being needs to be enlightened by God. This is not just a physical and material universe. Spiritual realities are also part of our existence. God wants to enlighten us. It says about Jesus in John 1:9, “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” If you do not have the light of Christ to guide your life, then you will have a very dark life indeed and you will stumble and fall, and great will be the fall. It says in Psalms 119:105, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”

The Bible says in Micah 3:8, “But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.” In these verses Micah contrasts himself with the false prophets. What a contrast between false teachers and a teacher that is sent from God. In Micah 3:7 false teachers were described with the words “ashamed” and “confounded.” Micah described himself as being “full of power by the spirit of the LORD.” It’s not bragging if it’s true. What was the power of God that Amos had and how was it manifested? It was power that affected his “judgment.” Judgment refers to discernment: knowing the right and wrong of a matter. Of course, it refers to spiritual discernment: knowing the spiritual realities of a given situation. The Israelites had a spiritual need and a spiritual problem. That need is common to the human race: it has to do with the sin problem. Because of the Spirit of God, Micah became an expert at what people really needed. They needed to recognize their sins, turn from their sins, and find the forgiveness of sins. Like the other prophets and the other men of God, Micah’ ministry was “to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.”

The Bible says in Micah 3:9-12, “Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.[10] They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.[11] The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.[12] Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.” These verses are an emphasis on the sinfulness of the leaders of Israel. Leaders must have good judgment, or else they will not be good leaders. If they do not have good judgment, they will not make the right decisions. One of the failures of this type of sinful leaders is that they “pervert all equity.” You are going to have a very bad country if the leaders do not treat all citizens the same. If there are individuals that they favor over others for any reasons, this is a perversion of justice. Verse 10 implies that these leaders gained their power at the expense of citizens: “They build up Zion with blood.” Not only are these leaders corrupted by their hunger for power, they are also corrupted by their hunger for money. It says in Micah 3:11, “The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money.” The ideal leaders of any country and any organization will take on their responsibilities for love of country, and will not be doing what they do for money. Money often corrupts because “the love of money is the root of all evil.” That is true at all levels of society. And it is especially true in Christianity. The most important things of Christianity are free to all mankind. Jesus paid it all. Jesus paid the price that no one can pay. Jesus said in Revelation 21:6, “It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” The Bible also says in Romans 3:24, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

In spite of the fact that they were very evil and had not repented of their sins, they still made statements such as in Micah 3:11, “yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.” Their society was much different then our secular society. They were religious, but lost. They talked about God all the time, but their hearts were not right with Him. If your heart is not right with Christ, you can turn to Him today and find “the water of life freely.”

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