Micah 2

Micah 2:1

51

Micah speaks a message from God to all the nations An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Micah www.easyenglish.info Les Painter This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 2 2:1-11 Evil leaders and false *prophets will suffer

v1 Trouble will come to people that plot evil things. Those people make their evil plans while they lie on their beds. Then morning comes and they have the opportunity to do these things. So they do the bad things that they plotted. v2 They want fields, so they take them. They want houses, so they take them. They cheat a man and they take his house. They cheat a man and they take his land from him. Verses 1-2

These people plot evil things. God is against them. They will suffer a terrible punishment. Micah now gives real examples of these people’s *sins. He has referred to their *sins already in chapter 1 (Micah 1:5, 13). But Micah sees that it is necessary also to name particular *sins. Otherwise it is not clear what they are. These *sins begin as wrong ideas in the mind. Then the people carry out their plans. People’s wrong behaviour is against what God wants. Wrong actions affect our relationship with God. They affect our relationships with each other.

Thieves usually come at night, when it is dark. These rich people made their evil plans at night. In the morning, they did the bad things that they had planned. They had all the power over the poorer people. The rich people owned most of the land. They could do whatever they wanted. Nobody could stop them. They made plans against ordinary people. These ordinary people owned fields and houses. Maybe they had just one field and one house. It was all that they could pass on to their children. The evil people wanted fields. So they took them. They wanted houses. So they took them. That was not a good, honest occupation. Rich people were cheating the poor people. The rich people became richer. The poor people had nothing. But both God and Micah knew the rich people’s plans.

‘You must not be jealous of your neighbour’s house or land’ (Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21). This is the 10th Commandment (law that God gave). God gave the 10 Commandments (his laws) to Moses on the mountain called *Sinai. Jealous attitudes like this are wrong. Such attitudes are a main cause of the wrong character that is inside us. People say, ‘I want it and I intend to get it.’ These words clearly express the nature of this evil behaviour.

v3 That is why the *LORD says these things. I am planning trouble against this family. This trouble will be like a trap round your necks. And you will not be able to save yourselves. A time is coming when bad things will happen to you. You will not still be proud.

Verse 3

God is planning trouble for the ‘family’. That means all the people in *Israel. Some people *sin. But the whole family suffers. The leaders especially are guilty. The army from Assyria will bring trouble. The enemy will put the people’s necks in a trap. They will squeeze the people’s necks in a lock. They cannot remove their necks from it. They cannot save themselves. They will not be proud people any longer. Micah’s strong words will not help them. Only God can deal with them so that they will not be proud. These rich people have brought trouble to the poor people. So God will send the *Assyrians to do the same thing to the rich people. God will deal with these proud, rich people.

v4 Then people will sing songs about you. People will sing this sad song. ‘He has ruined us completely! He took away our land. He gave it to other people. Yes, he took my land away from me. The *LORD has divided our fields. He has divided them among our enemies.’

Verse 4

The strong, rich people in *Israel were thieves. They had taken the fields from the poor people. Now, people that are stronger than the rich people will take those rich people’s fields. The poor people had lost everything. God owns all land everywhere (Psalms 24:1). God gave land to each family in *Israel (Joshua chapters 12 to 22). God intended that they should enjoy the land. There, the people could produce the food that they needed. But God still owned the land.

God gave that land to the people in *Israel. It was a part of his *covenant with them. But he gave certain rules about how to use the land. (Look at Leviticus chapter 23.) God could take the land from the people. He would do that if they did not obey his rules. He would give the land to their enemies (Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:49-68).

The rulers will soon lose all their land. They do not recognise what God is doing. He is doing to them what they did to the poor people. Micah writes a sad song. He suggests that the *Assyrians might sing it. There is an example of a similar thing in Psalms 137:1-6. There, *Israel’s enemies would ask its people to sing a song from Zion (Jerusalem). This would be their reply. ‘We cannot sing the *LORD’s songs while we are in a foreign country!’ The *Assyrians would consider Micah’s idea to be funny. They would see it as a joke. This is the song that Micah wrote.

‘He has ruined us completely! He took away our land. He gave it to other people. Yes, he took my land away from me. The *LORD has divided our fields. He has divided them among our enemies.’

The rulers had taken land from the poor people. But the rulers did not realise that really the land belonged to the *LORD.

v5 And so you will never again own property. You will not be able to share the land with the *LORD’s people.

Verse 5

When Micah uses these words, he is talking about a future time. It is a time when God’s people will come back to their country. Several centuries before, God had told Moses to measure the country. Moses had divided its land among the 12 tribes (families) (Numbers 26:55-56; Joshua 19:51). Some time in the future, God will do good things for his people, the nation called *Israel. God will again divide the land among *Israel’s families. But these present rulers that Micah mentions will have no part of it. They will not be part of God’s family. God will not allow them to live on that land. They will not be God’s people any longer. That will be a very severe punishment.

Micah spoke those hard words to the leaders. He was very bold. It was a dangerous thing to do.

v6 The false *prophets say, ‘Do not preach (speak a message) to us. Do not say those bad things about us. Nothing bad will happen to us.’ v7 And the people from Jacob’s family say, ‘The *LORD is not angry. He will not do such things.’

But the *LORD replies, ‘My words are pleasant only for the person who does the right thing.’

Verse 6

God sent his *prophets to warn the people about their *sins. But these rich people did not want to listen to God’s message. Instead, they appointed their own *prophets (called the ‘false *prophets’) to advise them. But these false *prophets did not really speak God’s message. Instead they said whatever the rich people wanted them to say. And the false *prophets told the real *prophets not to declare God’s message. The false *prophets said that nothing bad would happen. They pretended that God was not really angry.

When people do bad things, they often try to find an excuse for their behaviour. They do not tell the truth. Micah, Hosea and Isaiah warn the rich people about their wicked deeds. So the rich people do not approve of these *prophets. But real *prophets must speak against lies.

But the rich people did not want the *prophets to talk about those bad activities. The rich people were traders and employers. Trade is about property, money and markets. The traders thought that the *prophets did not understand these things. The traders wanted their *prophets to speak about religion. The *prophet’s job should be to talk about religion, prayer and similar things. *Prophets understood such things. But they should not talk about people’s behaviour. Trade was not the responsibility of a *prophet. That is what the rich people said.

The rich people said that nothing bad would happen to them. They were confident about that. They were very proud people.

Verse 7

In Micah’s book, ‘Jacob’ refers to all *Israel. (Look at Micah 3:1.) The people were probably thinking about a verse from Exodus. ‘The *LORD is kind and gentle. He does not get angry quickly. He does not become impatient with us. He is full of great love’ (Exodus 34:6). But that is only part of the truth. The whole truth is this. God will do what he promised to the nation called *Israel. But he does good things only to those who do right things. It is true that God loves us. And he is kind to us. But the *prophets warn these people because they are not loyal to their *Lord. (See also Matthew 7:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.)

These rich people have cheated the poor people for a long time. The *prophet warns the rich people. It is not the first time that a *prophet has done this. If the rich people are sensible, they will listen to the *prophet’s words. They will stop their bad practices. They will not act unfairly towards the poor people any longer.

v8 But you attack my people like enemies. You steal the clothes straight off their backs. People think that they are safe. But you take things from them. It is as if you steal from soldiers. And they have just returned home from battle. v9 You have taken pleasant houses from the women among my people. I would have done good things for their children for always, but you have stopped me.

Verses 8-9

The rulers are thieves. They are as cruel as enemies. God accuses the rulers. Micah mentions 3 things of which the rulers are guilty:

 They steal the fine clothing from people’s backs. Fine clothing gives people a sense of importance. It makes them feel happy. Micah gives an example. The people feel like soldiers. They have fought for their country. They have won the battle. They have returned to their homes. But then the rulers take their clothes from them. That behaviour is wicked.

 The rulers force the nation’s women to leave their own pleasant houses. The ‘good things’ in verse 9 refer to a feeling that one is well and happy. They refer to the wealth that God gave to *Israel’s people. He had given good things to the women. He had given fine clothing to them. He had given expensive precious stones to them. He had given to them good food. And he had given them plenty to drink. Look at Ezekiel 16:9-14. Those verses show how rich *Israel was at that time. God had given every good thing to them to enjoy.

 God gave his blessings (good things) to the children too. He intended the children to be well and happy. He intended that they should enjoy plenty of good things. He intended that they should live happily. God had given all those good things to the children. But the rulers had robbed them. The rulers had taken the children’s happiness from them. And they had ruined the future for the children.

This is a terribly evil situation. The rulers are attacking the way in which families live. The result is this. Husbands are losing their jobs. Wives have to leave their lovely houses. Children lose their safe and happy homes. God was doing good things for the parents’ children, but the rulers stopped him. The children had lost God’s good things. They would not be able to pass God’s good things on to their children and grandchildren.

v10 This is not the place where you can rest. So get up and leave. You have ruined this place. You have made it *spiritually unclean (unholy). It is not fit that you belong to the *LORD’s people. You will die. It will be a terrible death.

Verse 10

‘Place where you can rest’ seems to refer to peace and safety. Ordinary people were happy and they were content with their situation. Then the evil rulers took away the place where they rested. God would now remove the rulers. He would take the rulers from the place where they rested. The rulers were *spiritually unclean (unholy). They had made the country *spiritually unclean. And they had made the people *spiritually unclean. The rulers were not good enough to be there. God would remove them.

v11 If these people do not want to listen to me, a man will come. That man will tell lies. They will believe him. They will believe a false *prophet. He will say, ‘There will be times in the future when the situation is good. There will be plenty of wine and alcohol.’

Verse 11

This is Micah’s message. If he *prophesies any more, he will be wasting time. The evil rulers, traders and employers listen to the false *prophets. But they do not ask whether those *prophets are real *prophets or false ones. The employers do not ask who gave those *prophets authority to be *prophets. The employers only want to listen to *prophets who promise future happiness.

*Prophets should speak God’s message. But these people have refused to listen to Micah’s message. They do not want to know what God has said. They do not want to hear what they need to hear. These people want to hear things that please them. They want to hear about things that they really enjoy. The people want a God like this. They want God to give to them anything that they ask for. This includes things like wine and alcohol. So, this message from a false *prophet would please these people. They have said to Micah, ‘Do not talk to us about God. And do not tell us about what he wants.’ 2:12-13 God preserves a *remnant in Zion (Jerusalem) Together, verses 12 and 13 both tell us about an event. However, they do not just refer to one event. That same passage actually refers to two events. The first event is when Judah’s people return from Babylon. Later there will be another event. God will gather together all people that believe in Jesus the King. That will be when Jesus returns. The *prophets did not see when these events would happen. There would be a long period between the two events. The *prophets did not know that. But they could clearly see that the *Messiah would come. That gave hope to the people. It helped them stop their *sin.

v12 Yes, people from Jacob’s family, I will bring you all together. I will certainly bring together the whole *remnant of *Israel. I will put those people together like sheep in the pen. They will be like sheep in their own field. And the sound of many people will be in that place.

Verse 12

Micah has spoken hard things to *Israel’s people. The army from Assyria will soon come to kill them. That army will even destroy the land. God has told the people to get up. He has told them to go far away. They must leave their *spiritually unclean (unholy) country. This seems to be the end. There seems to be no hope.

However, this first section of this book ends with a promise. *Israel’s God is a king. He is also like a *shepherd. In this special description, it is as if his people are his sheep. They are like his flock (group of sheep). There are other references to God as a *shepherd. Some references are in the *Old Testament (Psalms 23; Ezekiel 34:1-31). There are also some references in the *New Testament (John 10:1-30).

There will always be some people that love God. But there will not be many people like that. The Bible calls these few people the *remnant. God will gather these together. His people will be like sheep that are afraid. They will be in a strange, foreign country. He will be like a *shepherd to them. He will gather his sheep (people). He will bring them to a safe place. There will be a large crowd of people. They will be noisy. They will be happy. They will all come home. This is a promise. They can be sure that it will happen.

The phrase ‘you all’ here is difficult to understand. God will cause the people in *Israel to scatter to other countries. He will then gather together the few people that remain. ‘You all’ refers to the *remnant. These are the few people that have kept their belief in God. And God will rescue the whole *remnant.

v13 Then God will break open the way. He will go up ahead of those people. The people will break through the gate and they will go out. They will leave that city. They will leave with their king. He will march in front of them. Their king is the *LORD. He will lead them.

Verse 13

The *Assyrians will rule God’s people. God’s people will be in a foreign country. They will need a strong leader to rescue them. Only the *LORD can do that. Their escape happens in three parts:

1) The people try to escape from the city where they are. But they cannot get through its gate. It is as if there is a wall in front of the gate. God is like *Israel’s *Shepherd. And he is their King. He goes forward. He breaks through the gate.

2) The crowds break out. They pass through the opening in the gate.

3) Their King takes the position that is his right. It is at their head.

*Israel’s kings from the Earth failed. Their King from heaven will succeed.

© 2007, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

January 2007

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