The Word Made Fresh
1Woe to those who plan sinful things,
and think of evil deeds on their beds.
They do these things at dawn, simply because they can.
2They covet fields and steal them.
They take houses simply out of a desire to own them.
They cheat others out of their homes,
and out of the wealth that is their inheritance.
3So, the LORD says,
Now I am repaying them evil for evil
from which they will not escape.
You will no longer walk around like you’re in charge
because it will be a time of punishment.
4And when those things happen, others will taunt you
with bitter songs of sorrow.
You will say, “We are ruined!
The LORD has taken away our inheritance,
ripping it out of our hands,
and has given our fields to our enemies!”
5That is why no one who belongs to the LORD
will come to your rescue.
6They preach that such things should not be preached,
saying, “We will never be disgraced.”
7Family of Jacob, should they be allowed to say this?
Is the patience of the LORD exhausted?
Are these calamities the LORD’s doings?
Don’t my words uphold those who do good
and walk the straight path?
8But you accuse the LORD of joining your enemies against you,
and you attack those who are peaceful,
who pass by trusting there will be no war.
9You drive the women from my people’s pleasant homes
and you take my blessings away from their children forever.
10Arise! Go out of this place, for it is not a place of rest.
Their sins have utterly destroyed it.
11Anybody can come along and make empty promises,
saying things like, “you should avoid wine and strong drinks,”
and you would acclaim them as the preacher for my people!
12I am going to bring all of you together, Jacob.
I will gather Israel’s survivors
like sheep to the sheepfold and flocks to pasturage,
and in that place they will gather.
13Then one will break away and go up before them.
They will follow and leave by the gate,
and their king will pass before them –
the LORD will be their leader.
Commentary
1-2: Micah describes the kinds of atrocities committed by the rich and powerful against the common people.
3-5: God, he says, will turn the tables on them, and the deeds they commit so wantonly against others will be committed against them.
6-11: But they do not wish to hear such things, and tell Micah that he should not prophesy. Micah counters that his words do good to those who are upright, but the rich and powerful are mistreating the common people and depriving their children of the blessings God would give them. They don’t want to listen to Micah, but they’ll listen, he says, to anybody who preaches prosperity to them.
12-13: In a sudden shift from the present to the future, Micah says that God promises that the survivors, the remnant left behind after the destruction, will be led by a king who is led by God.
Takeaway
It really is remarkable how much God will allow before stepping in to punish. And when we do forsake our sinful ways and strive to return to the right path and walk with the LORD, God is more than willing to accept us and help us live a new life in accordance with God’s will. All we have to do is ask, or, as John Sammis’ popular hymn puts it, “trust and obey.”