Devotions

Woe to Those Who Plan Wickedness

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The Lord created a world of abundance with room for everyone and yet there are those that take from others and of them the Lord says in Micah 2:1 “Woe to those who plan wickedness and evil deeds upon their beds! In the light of the morning they did it, because they have power in their hands”. Those that have strength or wisdom, or simply God’s favor and come into a position of leadership are there, not for their own gain, but to ensure justice in Micah 3:1 And I said, “Listen, O heads of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?” There is though, a day coming when in Micah 4:2 And many nations will come and say, “Come! Let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, and to the temple of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths,” for the law will go out from Zion, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. 

Woe to Those Who Plan Wickedness

Micah 2:1–7
There are those that have power in their hands and use it for good. And then there are those that abuse their power, who “plan wickedness” as in

Micah 2:1 Woe to those who plan wickedness and evil deeds upon their beds! In the light of the morning they did it, because they have power in their hands.

These are the things they do in

Micah 2:2 They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and they take them away. They oppress a man and his house; a man and his inheritance.

We have seen this happen with the demise of the family farm in the name of corporate efficiency and the fading away of main street shops in favour of global enterprise. It isn’t that efficiency or economies of scale are bad in themselves, it is the greed that prospers a few at the expense of a family inheritance. In the early days of Israel as a nation, every tribe, every family had their portion of land and it was protected by the year of Jubilee. This was based on a concept we have long forgotten, a sabbatical year. Just as we work six days and enjoy the Sabbath rest, so the land was to be given one year of rest in seven and then the year of Jubilee “Celebrated in the fiftieth year as the culmination of seven sabbatical years. During this year the property was restored and Hebrew slaves were released. This year of liberation gave an opportunity for a new start, and is alluded to as a type of the Messianic age.”1 And because the land was an inheritance, there was no place for a process of dividing the land as had been done in their early years. So, he says in

Micah 2:5 Therefore you will have no one casting a line by lot in the assembly of Yahweh.

I Will Surely Gather All of You

Micah 2:8–13 

Is It Not For You To Know Justice?

Micah 3:1–6
There is a charge from the Lord through his prophet Micah, not to the people, but to the leaders, and these would be governmental leaders in

Micah 3:1 And I said, “Listen, O heads of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?

but instead of leading the people, they take advantage of the people as described in

Micah 3:2–3 Those of you who are haters of good and lovers of evil, who tear their skin from them and their flesh from their bones, 3 and who eat the flesh of my people, and strip their skin from them, and break their bones, and chop them like meat in the pot, and like flesh in the midst of a cooking pot.”

Then he turns to the prophets who should be leading the people to follow after God but are blessing those that give to them and curse those that don’t in

Micah 3:5 Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who are leading my people astray, who are biting with their teeth and proclaim, “Peace,” but whoever puts nothing into their mouths they declare war against.

this is why when Jesus began his ministry, he declared “good news” from

Isaiah 61:1–2 The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me, he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives and liberation to those who are bound, 2 to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor, and our God’s day of vengeance, to comfort all those in mourning,

Hear This, O Rulers

Micah 3:7–12 

Let Us Go Up To The Mountain of Yahweh

Micah 4:1–5
But after these times of judgement, the captivity and dispersion there will be another day and “at the end of those days the mountain of the house of Yahweh will be established as the highest of the mountains,” in Micah 4:1. And in

Micah 4:2 And many nations will come and say, “Come! Let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, and to the temple of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths,” for the law will go out from Zion, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.

and in this new day, the Lord will judge, and all nations will come to him in

Micah 4:3 And he will judge between many peoples and will arbitrate for strong nations far away; and they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up a sword against a nation, and they will no longer learn war.

Can you imagine how different our economy would be without any need for defense? What if there was never any mention of war again? What jobs could be created for peace? What good might be done if nations worked together without any fear or deception as in

Micah 4:4 But they will sit, each under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the mouth of Yahweh of hosts has spoken.

You Will Go To Babylon

Micah 4:6–13

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Micah 2:1-13
  • Micah 3:1-12
  • Micah 4:1-13

References

  • 1. Manser, M. H. (2009). Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies. London: Martin Manser.