seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Micah 2:1 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.
3 Therefore, the Lord says:
“I am planning disaster against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;
my people’s possession is divided up.
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’”
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;
my people’s possession is divided up.
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’”
5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land by lot.
to divide the land by lot.
6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become[a] impatient?
Does he do such things?”
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become[a] impatient?
Does he do such things?”
“Do not my words do good
to the one whose ways are upright?
8 Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,
because it is defiled,
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’
that would be just the prophet for this people!
to the one whose ways are upright?
8 Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,
because it is defiled,
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’
that would be just the prophet for this people!
12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before them;
they will break through the gate and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”
I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before them;
they will break through the gate and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”
a. Micah 2:7 Or Is the Spirit of the Lord
This is from the easy English site.
Thieves usually come at night, when it is dark. These rich people made their evil plans at night. In the morning, they did the bad things that they had planned. They had all the power over the poorer people. The rich people owned most of the land. They could do whatever they wanted. Nobody could stop them. They made plans against ordinary people. These ordinary people owned fields and houses. Maybe they had just one field and one house. It was all that they could pass on to their children. The evil people wanted fields. So they took them. They wanted houses. So they took them. That was not a good, honest occupation. Rich people were cheating the poor people. The rich people became richer. The poor people had nothing. But both God and Micah knew the rich people’s plans.
The rulers are thieves. They are as cruel as enemies. God accuses the rulers. Micah mentions 3 things of which the rulers are guilty:
- They steal the fine clothing from people’s backs. Fine clothing gives people a sense of importance. It makes them feel happy. Micah gives an example. The people feel like soldiers. They have fought for their country. They have won the battle. They have returned to their homes. But then the rulers take their clothes from them. That behaviour is wicked.
- The rulers force the nation’s women to leave their own pleasant houses. The ‘good things’ in verse 9 refer to a feeling that one is well and happy. They refer to the wealth that God gave to Israel’s people. He had given good things to the women. He had given fine clothing to them. He had given expensive precious stones to them. He had given to them good food. And he had given them plenty to drink. Look at Ezekiel 16:9-14. Those verses show how rich Israel was at that time. God had given every good thing to them to enjoy.
- God gave his blessings (good things) to the children too. He intended the children to be well and happy. He intended that they should enjoy plenty of good things. He intended that they should live happily. God had given all those good things to the children. But the rulers had robbed them. The rulers had taken the children’s happiness from them. And they had ruined the future for the children.
This is a terribly evil situation. The rulers are attacking the way in which families live. The result is this. Husbands are losing their jobs. Wives have to leave their lovely houses. Children lose their safe and happy homes. God was doing good things for the parents’ children, but the rulers stopped him. The children had lost God’s good things. They would not be able to pass God’s good things on to their children and grandchildren.
This is Micah’s message. If he prophesies any more, he will be wasting time. The evil rulers, traders and employers listen to the false prophets. But they do not ask whether those prophets are real prophets or false ones. The employers do not ask who gave those prophets authority to be prophets. The employers only want to listen to prophets who promise future happiness.
Prophets should speak God’s message. But these people have refused to listen to Micah’s message. They do not want to know what God has said. They do not want to hear what they need to hear. These people want to hear things that please them. They want to hear about things that they really enjoy. The people want a God like this. They want God to give to them anything that they ask for. This includes things like wine and alcohol. So, this message from a false prophet would please these people. They have said to Micah, ‘Do not talk to us about God. And do not tell us about what he wants.’
There will always be some people that love God. But there will not be many people like that. The Bible calls these few people the remnant. God will gather these together. His people will be like sheep that are afraid. They will be in a strange, foreign country. He will be like a shepherd to them. He will gather his sheep (people). He will bring them to a safe place. There will be a large crowd of people. They will be noisy. They will be happy. They will all come home. This is a promise. They can be sure that it will happen.
The phrase ‘you all’ here is difficult to understand. God will cause the people in Israel to scatter to other countries. He will then gather together the few people that remain. ‘You all’ refers to the *remnant. These are the few people that have kept their belief in God. And God will rescue the whole remnant.
The Assyrians will rule God’s people. God’s people will be in a foreign country. They will need a strong leader to rescue them. Only the LORD can do that. Their escape happens in three parts:
- The people try to escape from the city where they are. But they cannot get through its gate. It is as if there is a wall in front of the gate. God is like Israel’s Shepherd. And he is their King. He goes forward. He breaks through the gate.
- The crowds break out. They pass through the opening in the gate.
- Their King takes the position that is his right. It is at their head.
Israel’s kings from the Earth failed. Their King from heaven will succeed.
Alrighty then.... this is from the bibletrack.org site.What do you think about when you can't sleep at night? Verse 1 indicates that the inhabitants of Israel and Judah thought about the evil they could do. Then...the next day they'd get up and do that evil they had schemed in their beds the night before. The influential people of Israel and Judah were wicked and determined to practice their wickedness. Now...that's baaaad! However, their "evil" will be chastised by "the LORD" (Jehovah aka Yahweh) "in that day." The reference to "that day" points to the fall of Israel and Judah to the Assyrians in this passage.
God's true prophets understood the sin of God's people to be their heathen worship. They warned of destruction for their lack of repentance toward God. The false prophets prophesied prosperity regardless of the people's spiritual condition; they were simply people pleasers. Notice verse 11, "If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people." Let's face it; the people didn't want doom and gloom prophecies; their favorite prophets were those who prophesied good times ahead.
Verses 12-13 indicate a return to the land by a remnant after the fall prophesied in chapter 1. Here's the big question. Is this the return of the exiles to Israel from Babylon in 535 B.C., or is this a reference to the millennium when the Messiah shall reign over the earth. Judging from the balance of Micah's prophecy, the millennium must be in view here. Micah clearly prophesies the presence of the Messiah who did not appear in 535 B.C., but will during the millennium. So, here's the prophecy of these two verses: One day after they have fallen, Israel and Judah will be restored again under their king. Here's the Messianic promise in these two verses when Micah says in verse 12, "I will surely gather the remnant of Israel." As indicated, however, this does not happen until the yet-future millennium.
To many students of Bible prophecy, verse 12 ties in nicely with Matthew 24:16-20. Here's the deal: If Micah 2:12-13 addresses the movement of God's remnant leading up to the millennium, then we have a geographic location with which to deal. Notice the wording of verse 12, "I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men."
In Jesus' Olivet discourse, he refers to Daniel's "abomination of desolation" in Matthew 24:15. We know from Daniel 9:24-27 that this event takes place at the 3 1/2 year mark in the seven-year tribulation. Assuming Matthew 24 to be in chronological order, Matthew 24:16-20 is addressed to the people who see the "abomination of desolation" in verse 15. They are commanded in verse 16, "Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains." So...to which mountains do they flee? How about to the mountainous region of (old) Edom on the east side of the Dead Sea - to a place called Bozrah as indicated here in Micah 2:12?
You can see how that it is not difficult to speculate that the place where the remnant will flee the Beast (aka Antichrist) for the last 3 1/2 years of the tribulation will be to Bozrah of Micah 2:12. This flight into the wilderness is also described in Revelation 12:6, "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." This period of 3 1/2 years described here fits nicely into the second half of the tribulation - framed between the "abomination of desolation" and the second coming of Jesus Christ in Revelation 19:11-21. Another support for this premise is Daniel 11:41 where we are told that the reach of the Beast will not include this area.
I have to admit. I still don't understand all the commentary. I think it's best that I leave the prophecy about Christ rescuing the remnant at Bozrah to the experts. I can see clearly that God is really really really angry at the rich and the preachers they chose to listen too. I can see clearly that God is really really angry that these people, who spend their nights dreaming up schemes to take what little the poor have for their own, are not being told the truth. The truth is.... it's not their land.... It's God's land.... He created it and He is the real leader. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. God wants those who have to take care of those who don't have. Anyone who preaches otherwise is lying.
The question this morning is..... is my preacher lying to me?
