027. III. The Flagrant Crimes Of Judah’s Leaders (2:1-12; 3:1-12)
III THE FLAGRANT CRIMES OF JUDAH’S LEADERS (Micah 2:1-12;Micah 3:1-12) 1. The Sins of the Wealthy and Powerful (Micah 2:1-12) The greed of the landed proprietors (Micah 2:1-2). Woe to those men of wealth so covetous of great estates that even in the hours devoted to sleep they are planning evil measures against the hapless peasantry, which at daybreak they carry out with a merciless exercise of force. Whatever they desire they seize, whether land or houses. No scruples restrain them, but, by fraud and violence, they crush and ruin the freeholders of Judah. Their punishment will be in kind (Micah 2:3-5). The message of Jehovah to a nation which permits such brutal tyranny is clear. He promises that he too will plan an evil, the issue of which you shall not control. It will be a distressing captivity, preceded by the loss of all this property which you have wrongfully acquired. In the day of your humiliation, your own lamentation will be echoed in mockery by your brutal captors:
“ My people’s property one measureth off with the surveyor’s line, And none giveth it back; To our captors one divideth our fields, We be utterly spoiled.”[28] [28]
Moreover, the land you thus lose will never be restored to you in the year of general redistribution. By bringing on the nation’s destruction, you have made this impossible. Their protest against such charges (Micah 2:6-7). Do I hear you exclaiming, in angry repudiation of my charge: “Cease this constant prating about us and our affairs. You utter nothing but reproaches. What is the justification[29] for pronouncing such a sentence? Are we not sons of Jacob? Has Jehovah become unable to fulfil his promises? Are we not doing our duty by him as upright citizens?”
[29] An uncertain interpretation. Some expositors take verse 7 with what follows. The prophet’s rejoinder (Micah 2:8-10). Ah, hypocrites, what sort of uprightness do you show? You[30] are the foes of God’s people, committing all manner of outrage upon the peaceful and defenseless, regarding them as prey, even separating mothers from their children, and selling each into hopeless slavery in a foreign land. Begone to your justly deserved exile! Such outrageous deeds defile the land, which should be holy. It is no resting-place for such as you. Your iniquity invites only God’s destructive judgment.
[30] Adopting a reliable emendation, which reads, “But ye to my people are,” etc. The secret of their obtuseness (Micah 2:11). It is easy to understand your moral obtuseness. You accept as divine only what you wish to hear. One who predicts for you fleshly gratifications you welcome with enthusiasm as Jehovah’s prophet; one who utters warnings for repentance and reform you ignore.
2. The Sins of the Magistrates and Leaders (Micah 3:1-12) The magistrates plunder the people (Micah 3:1-4). O ye that rule this people of Judah, who have the power to promote their highest interests, to whom they look for just judgment, how utterly you misuse your authority! Far from being defenders of the right, you exult in oppressive and unjust deeds. You flay your helpless victims as cruel conquerors treat their captives; you devour them like cannibals. You are entirely forgetful of your duties; you think only of yourselves. But in the day when Jehovah manifests himself to give to every one his just deserts, he will be deaf to your agonized appeal for mercy. The prophets are mercenary (Micah 3:5-7). The true prophet contrasted (Micah 3:8). Jehovah has a message too for the prophets who abet such wrong-doing. As long as their mouths are kept full they predict prosperity and happiness for their patrons; against those who refuse to bribe them they encourage all manner of opposition. They are utterly selfish and mercenary. “Such insincerity will destroy your moral vision. God’s messages you will be unable to read. That great day shall be for you a day of humiliation and mourning, for every one will know that Jehovah repudiates you as his representatives.” To me, however, his true servant, he will give power from on high, and wisdom and courage, that I may be able to declare to my people their unfaithfulness to God, and to demand repentance and reform. The leaders are so hopelessly corrupt that judgment seems sure (Micah 3:9-12). O rulers of Judah, among whom justice is divided, and that which is straightforward made crooked, who use your legal authority to commit judicial murders in order that you may acquire the means for building stately palaces, you magistrates and priests and prophets, who do your duty only when bribed, and lend yourselves to any injustice, do you now dare to claim Jehovah’s sanction and protecting presence? Can you not see that no city, however sacred in name, can stand on such foundations? This is Jehovah’s message to you: “If you do not amend your evil-doings,[31] so sweeping a destruction shall come upon Jerusalem that all signs of habitation will disappear. A part may be cleared for cultivation, a part will lie in ruins. The temple mountain will be as forsaken as a hill in the midst of a forest.”