Morning Light – November 28th, 2017 – Micah 03: Are You Neglecting Those in Need?

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Today: [Micah 3] Are You Neglecting Those in Need? In Micah 3, the prophet continues to press the issue of neglect of the poor. The administrations of both the northern and southern kingdom were oppressive of the impoverished classes to the point of total and complete brutality. For Micah, this is the singular offense that would result in both kingdoms being brought to ruin. For ourselves, it is a caution, to look at our own attitudes toward the needy and consider whether we are doing enough to alleviate their suffering.
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[Mic 3:1-12 KJV] 1 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. 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. 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. 6 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. 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. 9 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.
Chapter 3 of Micah focuses upon social injustices and the failure of national leaders in both Samaria and Jerusalem to correct them. In v. 1 Micah reminds the leaders of the northern and southern kingdom that it is their responsibility to “know judgment” and the adjudicate in behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. Micah accuses them of being men who hate the good and love the evil. He describes the mistreatment of the impoverished in the most graphic brutality, which we can only assume that while it is descriptive language only, it accurately depicts the suffering of the people under leaders who care nothing for their plight.
Again, we see the continuation of the theme of Amos and the other chapters in Micah. God takes it personally when a government adopts policies that increase suffering in the lives of the impoverished. The behavior of these leaders and the policies of their administrations have incensed the Father in ways that move Him to action. In verse 4 Micah says that because the kings of the north and south have not heard the cry of the poor, that God will not hear their cries when calamity comes, in fact He will even hide His face from them. Why would God does this? Is He not a God of mercy? The conclusion of verse 4 tells us the reason – because they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. The word for “ill” there means that they were willfully “good for nothing” when it came for helping anyone but themselves.
This chapter is a total denunciation of those that live out their lives in self-interest. The late John Wimber consistently taught in his doctrine that we should seek to be “other’s oriented”. Throughout the precepts of Moses’ law the command was to relieve and bring justice to the widow, the fatherless and the stranger (foreigner). In Deut. 10:17-19 we read:
[Deu 10:17-19 KJV] 17 For the LORD your God [is] God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: 18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Why are we to love the underprivileged? In light of the fact that we have so much in common with them. In the kingdom of God, we were born alienated from the Father – an enemy only deserving of estrangement and eternal punishment. Yet God in His lovingkindness has accepted us in the person of His son Jesus Christ. As God has loved us so we are to love others, especially those who are the cast offs of society, that others have mistreated or maligned. In Israel and Judah these policies have been completely abandoned, not because there were no poor in their midst but because self-interest had come to fore, to the exclusion of every other consideration. Many times, the objection is that we don’t want to help the poor, only to see them squander our generosity. Remember this – many (but not all) who are impoverished are in that position because of lack of wisdom. That does not disqualify them from God’s mercy. If lack of wisdom or good character renders one ineligible for grace, then everyone of us would still be in our sins. Learn to show unearned clemency toward those around you that are less fortunate than yourself.
In verse 5, Micah’s fellow prophets are rebuked because they prophesied in ways that emboldened the transgression of the people. In other words, God always has those who are appointed and called to identify injustice and inequality in society. Because the prophets failed in this regard in Micah’s day, verse 7 says that God will confound their prophesying and cause them to be ashamed of their own failed influence among the people. By contrast, Micah declares himself to be full of the power of the Spirit of God, not only to speak blessing, but to declare the transgression of the people and to show them the depths of sin that they had lowered themselves to.
Because the heads of Samaria and Jerusalem have continued to abhor judgment and pervert equity, both the capital of the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom will be destroyed and turned into pastures for livestock. This in fact happened first to Samaria in the north when they fell to the Assyrians and eventually to Jerusalem in south when the Babylonians invaded. There were many reasons why these things befell the divided kingdom, but for Micah, the one singular reason was the absolute and total depravity by which these nations systemically and without mercy persecuted the poor in order to enrich themselves. We cannot accurately portray the message of Micah without emphasizing this glaring aspect of his message. Jesus made this a part of His teachings in very stark language:
[Mat 25:41-46 KJV] 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
What this tells us is there will be people condemned to everlasting punishment because they lived in indifference to the needs of the suffering. Again, the assertion must be made in light of these truths, that every one of us is responsible to see to it that thanks to God goes up from the lips of those in need because of our kindness and generosity toward them. To do otherwise is to put ourselves in an immeasurable jeopardy with consequences so dire as to be beyond exaggeration.