So far in Micah we have seen some serious
corruption among the people who are supposed to bear Yahweh’s name. Yahweh’s people are not keeping covenant with
him. They are failing to love Him with
all and above all by their idolatry and they are failing to love their neighbor
as their self by their covetousness and their oppression of others. What we are going to learn today is that on
top of all this, the very people who should be speaking up and addressing this
situation are not only not doing so, they are actually helping facilitate the
corruption in order to pad their pockets.
So in Micah 3:1-12, Micah rebukes
the godless leaders of God’s people in order to call them to repentance. We learn here that godless leaders, whether
they be political or religious, must repent or face God’s judgment. Truly godly
leaders are people who point others to God with boldness and courage, even when
wickedness abounds in a culture.
Just in case you don’t think this applies to you,
let me remind you that while most of us won’t fit the categories that Micah
will use, the principles hold true for all people who lead in any
capacity. Most of us in this room do
lead others in some capacity. A pastor
is a leader. A deacon is a leader. A Sunday school teacher is a leader. A church committee member is a leader. A parent is a leader. An older sibling is a leader. A coach is a leader. A boss or supervisor at work is a
leader. An older student in the youth
group is a leader. We could keep going,
but the point is that many of us in this room lead in different capacities, so
we all need to pay close attention to what we read here, because God will hold
us accountable for our leadership. My
prayer today is that we would all look to God for grace to be godly leaders and
resolve to wait upon Him when we find themselves under godless leadership.
[3:1] And I said: Hear, you heads of
Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice? — [2] you
who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and
their flesh from off their bones, [3] who eat the flesh of my people, and
flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up
like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron. [4] Then they will cry to
the LORD, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that
time, because they have made their deeds evil.
[5] Thus
says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry
“Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts
nothing into their mouths. [6] Therefore it shall be night to you, without
vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the
prophets, and the day shall be black over them; [7] the seers shall be
disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for
there is no answer from God. [8] But as for me, I am filled with power, with
the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his
transgression and to Israel his sin.
[9] Hear
this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who
detest justice and make crooked all that is straight, [10] who build Zion
with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. [11] Its heads give judgment for a
bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for
money; yet they lean on the LORD and say, “Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No
disaster shall come upon us.” [12] Therefore because of you Zion shall be
plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of
the house a wooded height. (Micah 3:1-12 ESV) I want to show you two ways that this text points
us God as leaders and followers.
I.
God Calls All Leaders to Account for Their
Leadership
Notice first the
condition of these godless leaders (1-3, 5, 9-11). Micah 3:1-12 contains three
oracles that are each four verses long: 3:1-4, 3:5-8, 3:9-12. In Micah
3:1-4, Micah rebukes the “heads of
Jacob” and the “rulers of the house
of Israel.” These are government
leaders, from the King (Hezekiah) all the way down to local judges and
authorities. 3:11 describes this group as people who “give judgment.” God’s beef
with them is clearly seen in the question that He asks in verse 1: “Is it not for you to know justice?” Of all people in Israel, this group should
know better. Of all people, they should
know and love justice. However, they are
doing the opposite. They accused of hating the good and loving the evil (2). Then in
verses 2-3, the abuse of their leadership is graphically described as cannibalism: they are skinning,
deboning, cooking, and eating God’s people.
Rather than leading God’s people like loving shepherds, they are preying
upon them.
In Micah 3:5-8,
Micah rebukes “the prophets who lead my
people (Yahweh’s people) astray.” They are leading God’s people astray for
their own gain. Basically, these false
prophets are prostituting their gifts
by speaking a favorable message to people will pad their pockets and fill their
bellies. To people who do not give them
something, they are speaking a condemning message. As Leslie Allen aptly puts it, their basic
ministry philosophy is that “he who pays
the piper calls the tune.”[1]
Finally, in Micah
3:9-12, Micah initially returns to the government leaders, but then expands
his rebuke to accuse all of the corrupt leaders among God’s people: the government
leaders “give judgment for a bribe,”
the “priests teach for a price,” and the
“prophets practice divination for a price”
(11). They are all in love with
money and are presuming upon God’s grace, thinking that they will be exempt
from disaster by claiming Yahweh’s covenant name without keeping Yahweh’s
covenant stipulations.
As we said earlier, the big idea here is that the
leaders of God’s people, who should have been doing something about the
idolatry and the oppression in Judah, are not only doing nothing, but are
actually taking part in facilitating this corruption in order to pad their
pockets. Godly leaders are supposed to
be marked by JUSTICE. Notice how that
word ties each of these oracles together: the government leaders were expected
to know and love justice (1), Micah,
who is filled with “justice,” is the
contrast to the false prophets (8), and the problem in the third oracle is how
these leaders again “detest justice”
(9). Being marked by justice doesn’t
mean that a person is longing to dish out punishment; it means that a person
loves what is right and detests what is wrong and does what is in their power
to enforce that standard.
Micah is the example that this text gives us of
such a leader. Micah is the contrast to these godless leaders (3:8). Micah is a person of valor, who will not be influenced by fear or by favor. Unlike the godless leaders, he is full of
power, justice, might, and most
importantly, God’s Spirit. This is
the key to being a godly leader in the church, the home, or the workplace:
being filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
There is no lasting power, might, or passion for justice apart from
being filled with God’s Spirit. Notice
that the filling of God’s Spirit also enables a boldness and courage that is
supernatural: Micah is faithful “to
declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.”
Finally, we see the consequences of their godless leadership (4,6-7,12). These godless leaders, like the idolaters and
the oppressive in Judah, will reap what
they have sown (if they do not repent).
Since these leaders won’t do something, God is going to. He is going to bring disaster that will cause
them to cry out to Him, but when they do so, “He will not answer them” (4).
He will hide His face from them and turn a deaf ear to their cries just
as they have done to those who have been oppressed. They will see Proverbs 21:13 powerfully illustrated in their own lives: “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the
poor will himself call out and not be answered.” This disaster is describes in verse 12 as
Zion bring “plowed as a field” and
Jerusalem becoming “a heap of ruins.” As for the false prophets who have lied to
God’s people for their own gain, God is going to take away their spiritual
gifts. Since they have abused their
prophetic gifts, they will now be deprived of them and will be put to shame
when people seek them out for insight (6-7).
Again, the big idea here is that God always holds
leaders accountable for how they lead.
Some of the scariest words in the New Testament to me are found in Hebrews 13:17 and James 3:1. Hebrews 13:17 says that those who lead
God’s people will “give an account”
for their leadership. James 3:1 warns those who desire to be
teachers of God’s people that “they will
be judged with greater strictness.”
I guess on some level words like that should be
sobering to all of us. As we said
earlier, most of us are leaders in some capacity (and if we are not we will be
one day). This passage should call us to
be leaders who (1) repent of wickedness
when it is brought to our attention and (2) follow
the example of Micah here. He is a man
full of God’s Spirit and possesses a holy passion for justice. God’s people,
especially their leaders, should have enough integrity and courage to stand for what is right and against what it wrong. We cannot call evil good and good evil, no
matter how unpopular that makes us with the majority culture. We can’t make sin out to be something less
ugly than it is. This is what it means
to care about justice in our world and in the church. Right is right and wrong is wrong and we
cannot dress up what is wrong to make ourselves feel better about it, because
in the end it will not be the majority culture that we stand before in
judgment, but the Lord God Almighty.
II.
God Calls His People to Place Their Ultimate Hope
in Him, not Their Leaders
Here I just want to point out that this text that
explicitly addresses godless leaders also implicitly
addresses those under their leadership.
Imagine seeking to live as a godly person in such an environment. Someone has just swindled you out of your
home and land. You would appeal, but the
judge to whom you would appeal is in cahoots with the people who took your land
because they are padding his pockets. If
you try to seek religious advice from the priest, he will defend the wicked
oppressor and judge because he is also having his pockets padded. Perhaps you would then plead your case to a
prophet who could stand up and call out these wicked leaders on their sin. You would find a dead end there too, because
the prophet is also having his pockets padded.
As a matter of fact, if you don’t pay him something, he will stand up
and condemn you! Where can you turn in
such a situation? I think this passage
reminds such people that they can plead their case to Yahweh. He is hearing their cries and is keeping
score. He will judge these wicked rulers
and vindicate their suffering. So
essentially this passage is calling God’s people to look beyond their leaders
and to Him.
This is a crucial point whether your leaders or
godly or ungodly, right? See, the
temptation under godly leaders is to idolize
them and the temptation under godless leaders is to simply despair (which we express in our country
and in our churches by a lot of grumbling and complaining!). Looking to God as our ultimate Shepherd-King
saves us from doing either. This very
passage shows us that godly leaders are only godly leaders because they are
full of God’s Spirit (3:8). This
passage also reminds us that every godless leader will have their day before
God where they answer for their godless leadership. Don’t idolize godly leaders and don’t despair
over godless leaders. Instead, keep your
eyes upon Jesus.
Pondering godless leaders should both outrage and
humble us. It should outrage us if we
truly love justice but should also humble us because apart from the grace of
God we would be just as godless. It is a
battle to be a godly leader and a temptation to be discouraged when leaders
become ungodly. The only leader who will
truly never fail you is the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Jesus will never fall short. He is the only truly faithful Prophet,
Priest, & King in history. This is
important for both leaders and the people who follow them to remember. Godly leaders are merely blood bought men who
needed Jesus to bear their sins upon His cross and still need Him to lead them
and keep them by His grace. Jesus must
lead politicians, preachers, parents, and all other leaders to be the kind of
example that Micah is here (3:8). Will you surrender to Him as your Good
Shepherd today? If you have done so,
will you cry out to Him in desperation to help you be the kinds of leaders that
will love justice? And will you thank
Him for the cross, where He bore all the moments you will fail to?
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