←Micah 2→BSB

In This Chapter 3 people 31 terms

People

Jacob (Patriarch) 4 Israel 2 Jeshurun (Israel)

Key Terms

Possession 3 Proverb 2 Safety 2 Woe (Future Suffering) Mischief To Cause to Possess Possession Lot (Object) Upright Straightness Straight Be Straight Safety (State) Safety (Trust) Safe Safety (Security) Safety (Confidence) Be Unclean Defilement (Act) Unclean (Ritually Contaminated) Uncleanness State of Impurity Impure Defile (Become Unclean) Impurity Unclean (Ritually Unacceptable) Defile (Ceremonial) To Soil Defilement (Stained) Desecrate Defilement (State)

Woe to Oppressors

ⓘ Power had corrupted the wealthy, who should have...
  • Power had corrupted the wealthy, who should have been ready to help their fellow Israelites (cp. Gen 4:9; Josh 1:14).
  • Thinking up evil plans . . . because you have the power to do so indicates a corrupt heart, mind, and character (Gen 6:5).
  • When you want: They possessed the property of others in a way that amounted to stealing and broke God’s law that forbids coveting (Exod 20:17). A family’s inheritance was a sacred gift from the Lord, intended as a permanent possession (Lev 25:8–55; cp. 1 Kgs 21; Isa 5:8). God looked for righteousness among his people, but instead he found oppression (1 Kgs 10:9; Isa 5:7; 2 Pet 2:13).
1Woe to those who devise iniquityand plot evil on their beds!At morning’s light they accomplish itbecause the power is in their hands.2They covet fields and seize them;they take away houses.They deprive a man of his home,a fellow man of his inheritance.
ⓘ The Lord, the Judge, reads out the sentence....

The Lord, the Judge, reads out the sentence. He would pay back his people’s evil hearts and actions with evil in kind. The prophet is engaging in wordplay here. The Hebrew word translated “evil” has a wide range of meaning. It can connote moral evil, as in the first instance; it can also connote calamity or disaster as in the second instance. The Lord would bring calamity on them in response to their wickedness.

3Therefore this is what the LORD says:

“I am planning against this nation a disasterfrom which you cannot free your necks.Then you will not walk so proudly,for it will be a time of calamity.4In that day they will take up a proverb against youand taunt you with this bitter lamentation:‘We are utterly ruined!He has changed the portion of my people.How He has removed it from me!He has allotted our fields to traitors.’”
5Therefore, you will have no one in the assembly of the LORDto divide the land by lot.

Reproof of False Prophets

(Ezekiel 13:1–16)

6“Do not preach,” they preach.“Do not preach these things;disgrace will not overtake us.”
ⓘ The maltreatment of their fellow Israelites was tantamount...

The maltreatment of their fellow Israelites was tantamount to an attack against the Lord and his prophet. The fault lay with the people, not with Micah’s inspired and righteous message.
7Should it be said, O house of Jacob,“Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient?Are these the things He does?”
Do not My words bring goodto him who walks uprightly?8But of late My people have risen uplike an enemy:You strip off the splendid robefrom unsuspecting passersbylike men returning from battle.9You drive the women of My peoplefrom their pleasant homes.You take away My blessingfrom their children forever.
10Arise and depart,for this is not your place of rest,because its defilement brings destruction—a grievous destruction!11If a man of wind were to comeand say falsely,“I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,”†he would be just the preacher for this people!

The Remnant of Israel

(Micah 5:7–15)

ⓘ God showed his love and care for his...

God showed his love and care for his rebellious people by giving them a promise of hope even as he spoke of exile and despair. Israel would be scattered, but they would be brought back (cp. Deut 4:26–29; 30:1–6).
12I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob;I will collect the remnant of Israel.I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,like a flock in the midst of its pasture—a noisy throng.13One who breaks open the waywill go up before them;they will break through the gate,and go out by it.Their King will pass through before them,the LORD as their leader.