Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
Micah's second chapter opens with a woe. Men lie awake planning wrong, then carry it out at first light, because they have the power to do it. What does God do with plans like these?
This is not sudden temptation. It is design. And God answers plan with plan.
In Micah 2 the prophet points out the moral causes of God's judgment — violence and shameless oppression. They made plans of violence to satisfy their greed, and Jehovah also made plans of judgment on them (v. 1-5).
Their hands reached for fields and houses. Those with power to take were the ruling class, and this was not a new sin.
The prophets condemned abuses like Ahab's (Isa. 5:8)... The oppression of the ruling classes had grown in evil from the days of Solomon. Ezekiel found the princes of the land "like wolves tearing the prey to shed blood, to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain" (Ezek. 22:27)... these passages show how deep and vile the corruption was — religious, moral, and civic. It destroyed the life of both kingdoms, Israel and Judah, until there was no remedy left and the unsparing stroke of judgment had to fall. How good to know that this evil will not darken the day of restoration — "My princes shall no more oppress My people."
Notice who is warned. These are people with power, and power is what turns a night-time plan into a morning theft.
The same woe is spoken elsewhere, but not always over the same people. One writer sets this verse beside a woe aimed at the nations.
In some respects the words "Woe to him" remind us of those we find in Isaiah 5 and Micah 2:1-2. But those are directed to Israel, whereas these are meant for the nations and their heads.
That is the sting of Micah 2. The woe falls on the people who had the law, the altar and the land.
Greed like this does not start large. One writer traces it back to a first small turn away from God's grace.
Wrong with God, unrighteous toward men. The smallest seed of flesh that turns from God's grace grows until it bears widespread misery — and all the while you have an altar named El-elohe-Israel.
An altar in the background does not cancel the theft. Micah's hearers had both the altar and the greed.
Why does the New Testament never warn Christians like this? One writer answers by pointing to two different rules of life.
All this would sound strange if it were said to a Christian. We never find this style of warning in the New Testament. The reason is plain. The law was the rule for the Jew. The law demands natural righteousness, and it deals with the lack of it. So what they failed in was the practical answer to natural righteousness. But even if a Christian were as righteous as possible in natural duties, he would still fall far short of the standard that fits a Christian. We have to walk according to Christ in spiritual things as well as in natural. So we need the light as it shone in Him. We need the truth of the New Testament as the rule and guide of our walk — not just the moral law, which deals with man in the flesh.
So the verse is not old news. Leaving your neighbour's field alone is the floor, not the goal. Christ Himself is the standard now.
- Devised. The evil starts in private and ends in public. Greed shapes the plan at night; violence carries it out at dawn.
- Devised against. They planned violence on their beds. God planned judgment on them. Plan met plan.
- Fields and houses. Their hands took fields and houses. Rulers repeated the abuse of Ahab until the corruption of both kingdoms was past remedy.
- Their own people. This woe is not aimed at the nations and their rulers. It falls on Israel — the people with the altar and the law.
- The higher rule. The New Testament never warns Christians this way. Natural righteousness is not the measure. The walk is according to Christ, in spiritual things as well as natural.
And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away; and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
Micah's second chapter opens with a woe against men who lie awake planning how to enlarge their estates. Verse 2 names the crime: wanting turns into taking, and what they take is a family's home and God-given portion.
The verse begins with wanting, not with taking. One writer traces where that appetite leads and lists this verse among its fruits.
An insatiable sin, a sin that grows by what it feeds on, a sin that leads to all sorts of other sins, the one sin of the heart directly forbidden by the ten commandments, a hidden secret sin coming from the heart. "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed... covetousness" (Mark 7:21). Applied to money it is "the root of all evil" (1 Tim. 6:10); it is never satisfied. It leads to injustice and oppression (Micah 2:2)... Yet this sin is so deceitful that few people see how dangerous and awful it is. In the world it is hardly counted a sin at all. The fact is, it is only the standard of the Word of God that shows what sin is.
Another writer shows how small the start is next to the damage.
Wrong with God, unrighteous towards men. The smallest seed of flesh which turns from God's grace branches out until it bears fruit in widespread misery.
The verse does not say they took property. It says they took a man's inheritance. In Israel, no sale could hand land over for good.
An Israelite who feared God could not accept such a sale. When he sold his land, he only sold its harvests. His possession would come back to him in the year of jubilee. So its price was set by the number of years the buyer would gather its produce (Lev. 25:15)... In reality the land, the ground itself, did not belong to the people, but to the Lord: "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land" (Lev. 25:23-24).
Micah is not describing petty theft. The men who could covet a field and take it were the men who ran the country. Other prophets say the same of them.
Abuses such as Ahab's were condemned by the prophets (Isa. 5:8)... Hosea says, "The princes of Judah have become like those who move the landmark" (Hosea 5:10)... The oppression of the ruling classes had grown worse since the days of Solomon. Ezekiel found the princes of the land "like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain" (Ezek. 22:27)... These show how deep and vile the corruption was — religious, moral, and civic. It destroyed the life of both kingdoms until there was no remedy, and the stroke of judgment had to fall without sparing. How good to know that the day of restoration will not be darkened by this evil — "My princes shall no more oppress My people."
The ruin that followed was not bad luck. One writer puts their plans and God's plans side by side.
In Micah 2 the prophet points out the moral causes of the judgment of God — violence and shameless oppression. They formed plans of violence to gratify their covetousness, and Jehovah also formed plans of judgment upon them (v. 1-5)... Jehovah calls on all who have ears to hear, to arise and separate themselves from all this iniquity. A state of things like this could not be the rest of God's people. How could the saints of Jehovah rest amid pollution?
That judgment struck the very thing they had seized. Their fields would be divided, and the people would say, "we are utterly ruined; he changes the portion of my people" (Arno Clemens Gaebelein).
Does this warning apply to Christians in the same way? One commentator answers that the Christian standard is higher, not lower.
Surely all this would be strange if addressed to the Christian. We never find such a style of warning in the New Testament. The reason is plain. The law was the rule of the Jew. The law claims natural righteousness, and deals with the lack of it. So what they failed in was the practical answer to natural righteousness. But even if a Christian were as righteous as possible in natural duties, he would still fall far short of the standard that suits a Christian. We have to walk according to Christ in spiritual things as well as in natural.
- Heart — The chain starts with coveting, a hidden sin of the heart that grows on what it feeds on and is never satisfied.
- Hand — When desire gets the chance, it turns into violence. Injustice and oppression are covetousness with power.
- Inheritance — They took more than land. They took a family's God-given portion. The land itself belonged to the Lord, and He forbade any permanent sale of it.
- Verdict — They made plans of violence. God made plans of judgment, and the fields they grabbed were the fields He divided up.
- Walk — The New Testament never warns Christians in this style. Their rule is Christ Himself, and He asks far more than natural righteousness.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye walk haughtily for it is an evil time.
Micah has just cried woe on men who lie awake planning how to seize their neighbours' fields and houses. Verse 3 is Jehovah's reply. They devise evil; God devises a disaster they cannot lift off their necks.
One writer names the moral causes behind this sentence, and sets their plans beside God's.
In Micah 2 the prophet points out the moral causes of God's judgment: violence and shameless oppression. They formed plans of violence to satisfy their covetousness, and Jehovah also formed plans of judgment against them (v. 1-5).
God calls them a family, not one nation among many. One writer shows what that closeness brings with it.
"You only have I known of all the families of the earth." Clearly God has singled them out now; they are not mixed in with the other nations. But the conclusion is very solemn. They alone were set apart to know Jehovah, and they alone were known as His people. So He says, "therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." The measure of relationship is always the measure of responsibility.
"I am devising disaster" is a hard thing to hear from God. One writer explains what judging costs Him.
Grace belongs where He is; God is in His place when He is showing His own sovereign mercy. For judgment He comes out of His place. In His own nature God is not a judge, but One who gives and blesses. Judgment is "His strange work," as Scripture says elsewhere — so if it must be done, He will do it quickly... Man's wickedness forces this painful necessity on Him. If He refused to judge sin, He would have to abandon His own moral character.
These plans were formed in the heart first. One writer, treating the same charge elsewhere, points back to these verses.
They were not to imagine (that is, devise, see Micah 2:1-3) evil against their brothers in their hearts. All this shows how much God values our practical conduct — a walk toward others that His word forms and orders. He had called Israel back to these moral features, because their history shows this is exactly where they fell short. Unless therefore they listened to these divine warnings judgment awaited them.
Men who seized other people's fields would see their own fields divided.
The first two verses name Israel's special sins, the same ones as in Amos: idolatry, covetousness and oppression. So punishment is to fall on them. There would be a sorrowful lament... Their fields would be divided. Nor did they listen to the true prophets; they gave ear to the false prophets who flattered them.
The sins that drew this sentence were outward ones. One writer sets them beside the evil the New Testament warns about.
For the Jew the evil condemned is much more outward: oppression, covetousness, idolatry. These are the great iniquities with which they were charged. These are not our characteristic dangers, though of course we may fall into any of them. But in the New Testament we find another kind of evil: bad and false doctrine. It destroys communion, and it undermines and corrupts the walk.
God says what is coming before it comes. One writer shows what such a warning does for those who hear it.
A second effect: it separates them, heart and soul, from the things judgment is coming on. Herein lies the great value to us of the prophecies of the book of Revelation. We see there that God will judge certain things without sparing them: the great world system, and the professing church that has turned away from Him. The effect of that upon us is that we thankfully keep apart from both. We have no wish to be tied to anything God will soon overthrow in disaster.
- Devising met by devising. Men planned violence to feed their greed; Jehovah planned judgment on the planners.
- Devising begins in the heart. They imagined the evil before they ever did it. God weighs our conduct toward others by His word.
- Devised against His own family. Israel was the one household God had known. That closeness did not shield them: relationship is the measure of responsibility.
- Devised reluctantly. God is in His place when He shows mercy. Judgment is His strange work: if He refused to judge sin, He would deny His own character.
- Devised out loud. God names the disaster before the evil time comes, so those who hear can separate from what He will judge.
In that day shall they take up a proverb concerning you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, [and] say, We are utterly spoiled he hath changed the portion of my people how hath he removed it from me! He hath distributed our fields to the rebellious.
Micah describes a day when the grabbers become the grieved. The men who seized fields and houses will sing a mocking song about their own ruin — which raises two questions: how can a portion God Himself gave be changed, and why does the ruin fall on the men who did the grabbing?
The chapter opens with men planning how to take what is not theirs. Verse 4 is not random misfortune. It is God's reply to their planning.
In Micah 2 the prophet points out the moral causes of the judgment of God — violence and shameless oppression. They made plans of violence to satisfy their greed. Jehovah also made plans of judgment against them (v. 1-5).
The guilty sing this taunt-song themselves, and its subject is lost land. The sins that brought it on stand at the head of the chapter.
The first two verses name the special sins of Israel, the same as in Amos — idolatry, covetousness and oppression. Therefore punishment is to fall upon them. There would be a mournful lamentation: "We are utterly ruined; he changes the portion of my people; how he removes it from me!" Their fields would be divided.
The word "portion" points back to a gift. God measured out each family's share of the land, and the rulers kept helping themselves to their neighbours' share.
Those who ruled in Israel took for themselves what belonged to others, as in the case of Naboth's vineyard (1 Kings 21). God's care that each of His people should keep the inheritance allotted to him teaches us how unchangeable His giving is. Everything was settled by lot, and He arranged the lot. … The prophets condemned abuses such as Ahab's. … The oppression of the ruling classes had grown in evil from the days of Solomon. … How good to know that the day of restoration shall not be darkened by this evil — "my princes shall no more oppress my people."
Verse 5 spells out the sentence that verse 4 mourns. They lose the lot that once marked out their share of the land. The same rule reaches their prophets, who had flattered the people with smooth words.
The prophets had flattered the people, prophesying smooth things and deceits. Of course they were not really servants of God, but from the mere school of prophets. When prophesying became traditional, it soon became corrupt. … "Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot in the assembly of the LORD." … What they had misused they should lose.
Later in the chapter comes a call to get up and go. Losing the portion and losing the rest are one loss.
So we have a solemn call to them, to arise and depart, because this is not their rest; it is polluted. Here is a grave and precious principle. The people of God are never to rest in what does not suit Him. Jehovah decides that the only rest He can approve for them is the rest that is worthy of Himself.
A song about somebody else's ruin looks like a warning for the wicked alone. It also steadies people who watch evil go unpunished and wonder why God allows it.
A prophecy of this sort increases their confidence in God. Today, as in times past, people object and ask: why does God allow all the evil in the world to go on unchecked? And wicked men take courage because they seem to escape punishment. "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil" (Eccl. 8:11). … Those who love the truth and walk uprightly grow in confidence as they learn that God is not going to permit evil to go on unchecked. He will step in with judgment to secure the final triumph of good.
Verse 4 is not where the chapter stops. The people and their prophets stand condemned, and yet the closing verses look past the ruin.
The people and their prophets were alike wicked and rebellious. Chapter 1 sketches in advance the Assyrian enemy marching against Jerusalem. In the same way, the end of chapter 2 presents the One who will carry out Jehovah's purpose of deliverance and blessing for the remnant of Israel at the end.
- Portion given. Israel's fields were an inheritance handed to them by God, not property won by their own strength.
- Portion coveted. Rulers made plans of violence to satisfy their greed, taking for themselves what belonged to their neighbours.
- Portion changed. God answered their plans with plans of His own; the mourners of verse 4 are the seizers of verse 2.
- Portion forfeited. No lot would be cast for them again. What they had misused, they lost — prophets included.
- Portion restored. This chapter empties their hands. It also ends with the One who brings God's deliverance and blessing to the remnant.
Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast the measuring line upon a lot, in the congregation of Jehovah.
Micah 2 opens with men who plot violence to feed their greed. Verse 5 hands down the sentence that fits: when the land is next divided, no one will measure out a share for them.
Commentators read verses 1–5 as one unit: human scheming met by God's own scheming.
In Micah 2 the prophet points out the moral causes of the judgment of God — violence and shameless oppression. They made plans of violence to satisfy their greed, and Jehovah also made plans of judgment against them (v. 1-5).
The "line" in the verse was a measuring tool used on the ground.
The measuring line served to stake out an assigned plot of land (Micah 2:5; Ps. 16:5-6).
The lot decided where each tribe's share fell.
The first section gives the inheritance of the tribes by lot. Casting the lot was the mark of how the land was divided on the west side of the Jordan... The lot made the mind of God plain, more clearly than any other way: "its every decision is from the LORD," says the voice of inspiration itself (Prov. 16:33).
Commentators differ over who is in view. Some point to the greedy landowners of verses 1–2, who lose their own fields to others.
The first two verses name Israel's particular sins, the same ones as in Amos — idolatry, greed and oppression. So punishment will fall on them... Their fields would be divided.
Others link the threat to the false prophets in the verses that follow.
The prophets had flattered the people, prophesying pleasant things and lies. Of course they were not true servants of God, but only men from the school of prophets. Once prophesying became a mere tradition, it soon became corrupt... What they had misused they would lose.
God could cancel the share because the land itself was His. Israel held it as a tenant, not an owner.
The Land — "My Land," whatever its state or divisions. It is Jehovah's Land, and if the people fail in every way, it falls into His hands. It was only entrusted to Israel — the Gentile nations have a right to it only through Israel's sin, and no right at all against the Lord.
One writer sets this verse beside the call later in the chapter to leave the land. Both say the same thing: defilement costs a man his place.
If defilement is brought to Jacob, and he has zeal for God, his household must put away the foreign gods, wash, and change their clothes. But there is more: as a man responsible to God, he must also be swept off the land. "Arise and go, for this is no place to rest, because of uncleanness that destroys with a grievous destruction." "Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot in the assembly of the LORD."
The loss is real, but it is not God's last word to this people. The same chapter ends with a promise to gather them.
The prophet speaks of the moral state of the people that called for judgment. They devised schemes of violence to satisfy their greed... Still, God does not give up His purpose for Israel. He will gather them together for blessing in the last days. There shall be a "breaker" by whom He will remove all obstacles.
- Portion seized. They coveted fields and took them, so God matched their plan with a plan of judgment.
- Portion assigned. The cord staked out a family's plot, and the lot that placed it expressed the mind of God. Losing the cord means losing a share God Himself hands out.
- Portion forfeited. What they misused, they lost. Commentators differ over whether the grasping landowners or the flattering prophets are in view, but the principle covers both.
- Portion on loan. The land is God's own; Israel held it in trust, and defilement leaves no claim to a place in it.
- Portion kept. God keeps His purpose for this people. The same chapter promises a gathering, and One who breaks every obstacle away.
Prophesy ye not, they prophesy. If they do not prophesy to these, the ignominy will not depart.
Micah is speaking to people who do not want to hear him, and this verse records their reply: stop preaching. The wording is hard to translate, and the question underneath it is plain: what happens to people who tell God's messenger to stop?
The quotes below use older English Bibles. One reference work sets the verse in its chapter and gives a different rendering of it.
In Micah 2 the prophet speaks of the moral state of the people that called for judgment. They devised schemes of violence to satisfy their greed. They had turned away from the testimony, and it would be taken from them. Micah 2:6 can be translated: "Do not prophesy, they prophesy. If they do not prophesy to these, the disgrace will not depart."
The people say disgrace will not overtake them. On this rendering the opposite is true: silence the prophets, and the disgrace will not leave.
The word translated "preach" here is also a word for rain.
The word is used for "rain," as in Judges 5:4: "The clouds also dropped water"... From this, or something like it, the word is used for speech flowing out or dropping down: "My speech dropped upon them; and they waited for me as for the rain" (Job 29:22)... It is also translated "prophecy," as in Micah 2:6.
Another writer hears scorn in the same word, and reads the verse as false prophets shouting down the true ones.
Translated literally, the sentence "Do not prophesy, so they prophesy" reads, "Do not sputter, so they sputter." They did not give out the real message. They sputtered out their own words. These false prophets tried to stop the true prophets from announcing the Lord's judgment.
The demand to stop preaching had a reason. People already had preaching they liked better.
It was more popular to prophesy smooth things and deceits, and nothing is dearer to the human heart than to have God's approval on its own cravings. So people loved the prophets who said, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken. We should not think these prophets were always inventing lies. They corrupted the word of God and made it suit people's taste (2 Cor. 2:17). They had to copy many of the real prophets' phrases, yet in the end they produced only their own empty guesses.
God can quote words that were never said out loud. One writer explains this where Isaiah faces the same demand.
"Do not prophesy to us what is right" — that is, things that agree with God. We should not suppose that they actually said these words. In the Gospels we often read that Jesus answered when no one had asked Him a single question... Because He knew the thoughts of their hearts. He did not answer what they said, for they said nothing. He answered what He knew they would say if they dared — what He knew was at work inside them.
The punishment fits the crime. They asked for the prophets to be quiet, and God grants it — with something worse in its place.
They refused the word of testimony. It will be taken away from them, and with it comes this terrible judgment: a spirit of error and drunkenness will be their prophecy.
Another writer ties this loss to what prophesying had become in Israel.
When prophesying became traditional, it soon became corrupt... "Do not prophesy, they say to those who prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, so that shame will not come on them." What they had misused, they would lose.
- Refused. The people had already turned away from God's testimony. Here they tell His messengers to stop speaking. The word they refused named their greed and violence.
- Replaced. They did not go without preaching. They had prophets who spoke smooth things and lies. Those men copied the real prophets and produced only their own guesses. The appetite behind it: God's approval on their own cravings.
- Read two ways. Commentators differ on the wording. On one reading, refuse the message and the disgrace still will not leave. On another, the false prophets are "sputtering" their own words to drown out the true ones.
- Removed. God answers the demand by granting it. He takes the testimony away, and a spirit of error takes its place — what they had misused, they lost.
- Repeatable. One rule outlives Micah's day: a word people accept only while it flatters is a word they will lose.
O thou [that art] named the house of Jacob, Is Jehovah impatient? are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
But of late my people is risen up as an enemy ye strip off the mantle with the garment from them that pass by securely, that are averse from war.
Micah speaks to Judah and Jerusalem about people who still carry God's name but act like His enemies. They rob travellers who walk by in peace, expecting no attack. That raises a hard question. What happens when robber and victim are both God's people, and He still calls them "My people"?
The charge falls on a nation, not on outsiders. Micah names both kingdoms, and the guilt reaches the prophets too:
It opens with the coming fall of the northern kingdom because of its transgression, but goes on to the punishment of Judah and Jerusalem too. "But lately My people have risen up as an enemy." … The people and their prophets were alike wicked and rebellious.
They had asked whether the fault lay with God. The answer calls them enemies and still calls them His:
He still appeals to their consciences. The Spirit of God does not change, nor was it His doing, when the nation drifted into idolatry and judgment was hanging over them. Still, if they only walked uprightly His words would surely do them good. But they had risen as an enemy against Him; and yet the Lord, despite it all, called them "My people."
Stripping a man's outer robe was not petty theft. It was cruelty dressed up as normal business, carried on by people who kept their religious life running at the same time:
"I desired mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings"; but you not only strike those who are already hurt and fail to heal them, nor bring back those who have wandered off, but you also cut off from the blessings of the land those who hold them, who have God's covenant.
The robbery started as a plan. Greed drove it, and God answered with plans of His own:
In Micah 2 the prophet points out the moral causes of the judgment of God — violence and shameless oppression. They formed plans of violence to satisfy their covetousness, and the Lord also formed plans of judgment on them. … They rose up as an enemy: their wickedness spared neither women nor children (vv. 8-9).
The people had polluted their own land. God tells them to get up and leave it:
"Arise and depart, for this is not your rest; it is polluted." Here is a serious and precious principle. The people of God are never to rest in what does not suit Him. The Lord decides that the only rest He can approve for them is the rest that is worthy of Himself.
The sins Micah names are outward ones. That matters when we apply the verse to ourselves:
To the Jew the evil denounced is of a much more external kind — oppression, covetousness, idolatry. These are the great sins they were charged with. These are not our characteristic dangers, though of course we may fall into any of them.
Yet the chapter does not close on the charge:
As chapter 1 foretells the Assyrian enemy coming against Jerusalem, so the end of chapter 2 presents Him who will carry out the Lord's purpose of deliverance and blessing for the remnant of Israel at the end.
- My people, enemy. God's complaint is not against foreigners; the aggressor and the victim share one name. The people "risen up as an enemy" are the people He still calls His own.
- My people, still. Even while naming them enemies, He does not drop the title. The Lord "despite it all, called them 'My people'" — the appeal is still to their conscience.
- My people, robbed. The crime is robbing people who expect no trouble. They strike the hurt and leave them unhealed. They cut others off from the land, though those people hold God's covenant.
- My people, greedy. Behind the robbery lies greed. It turned into violence that "spared neither women nor children."
- My people, unsettled. A land its own people made filthy cannot be their rest. They are never to settle in what does not suit Him. The chapter ends not with their reform but with the Deliverer who comes for the remnant.
The women of my people do ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their young children do ye take away my magnificence for ever.
Micah names a crime the powerful committed against the weakest people in the nation. Behind the charge lies a harder question: what does God do when His own people prey on each other?
The chapter describes men who planned violence and then carried it out. One summary of it names the moral cause of the judgment, and who suffered:
In Micah 2 the prophet points out the moral causes of the judgment of God — violence and shameless oppression. They formed plans of violence to satisfy their greed, and Jehovah formed plans of judgment upon them (v. 1-5). They refused the word of testimony... They rose up as an enemy: their wickedness spared neither women nor children (v. 8-9).
God calls the victims His own. He says the same of the men doing the harm. One writer notes the tenderness inside the accusation:
He still appeals to their consciences. The Spirit of God does not change, nor was it His doing, when the nation drifted into idolatry and judgment was coming. Still, if they only walked uprightly His words would surely do them good. But they had risen as an enemy against Him; and yet the Lord, despite everything, called them "My people."
Losing a house in Israel was not only losing shelter. The land was held under God's covenant, so driving families out cut them off from a God-given portion. One writer reads the verse alongside the robbing of travellers in the previous line, and sets both against what God actually wanted:
"For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings;" but you not only strike those who are hurt and fail to heal them, nor bring back those who have wandered. You also cut off from the blessings of the land those in possession, who have God's covenant.
This was not one stray scandal. One writer traces how far back the evil went, how deep it ran, and where it finally ends:
The oppression of the ruling classes had grown in evil from the days of Solomon. Ezekiel found the princes of the land "like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain" (Ezek. 22:27)... These show how deep and vile the corruption was — religious, moral, and civic. It destroyed the life of both kingdoms (Israel and Judah) until there was no remedy, and the unsparing stroke of judgment had to fall. How good to know that the day of restoration will not be darkened by this evil — "My princes shall no more oppress My people."
Micah charges Israel with plain, outward sins. So how should a reader today take the warning? One writer answers by separating what changes from what never does:
For the Jew, the evil condemned is much more outward — oppression, greed, idolatry. These are the great sins with which they were charged. These are not our characteristic dangers, though of course we may fall into any of them. But in the New Testament we find another kind of evil: bad and false doctrine. It destroys fellowship. It undermines and corrupts the way we live... there are certain moral, unchanging principles, and they always remain.
Micah 2 does not stop at the crime. The same summary of the chapter shows what God asks of those who will hear Him, and what He still means to do with the nation:
Jehovah calls on all who have ears to hear to rise up and separate themselves from all this evil. A state of things like this could not be the rest of God's people... Yet Jehovah in no way gave up His settled purpose of blessing for Israel. He would gather them all together, the large flock under His protection.
- Root. Judgment came for a moral reason: violence and shameless oppression, planned to feed greed.
- Reach. The greed did not stop at property. Their wickedness spared neither women nor children.
- Cost. Turning families out of their homes cut God's own covenant people off from the blessings of the land.
- Verdict. The corruption of the ruling classes had grown until there was no remedy, and the stroke of judgment had to fall.
- Hope. Even while accusing them, He calls them "My people." His promise for the day of restoration: "My princes shall no more oppress My people."
Arise ye, and depart; for this is not the resting-place, because of defilement that bringeth destruction, even a grievous destruction.
Micah is speaking to people who planned violence to satisfy their greed, and God's reply is an eviction notice. Their own conduct has polluted the land, so the place meant to be their settled home is no longer a place to rest.
The call to get up and go does not stand alone. It closes a chapter that names specific sins, and calls anyone who will listen to get out.
In Micah 2 the prophet points out the moral causes of the judgment of God — violence and shameless oppression. They made plans of violence to satisfy their greed. Jehovah also made plans of judgment on them (v. 1-5). They refused the word of testimony... They rose up as an enemy: their wickedness spared neither women nor children (v. 8-9). Jehovah calls on all who have ears to hear, to arise and separate themselves from all this wickedness. A state of things like this could not be the rest of God's people. How could the saints of Jehovah rest in the middle of pollution?
What makes the command so severe is the history of this land. God had rescued it from the Amorites who held it, and lived there Himself.
That land had been redeemed out of the hand of the Amorites. It had been made the clean vessel among the nations, and the Lord's dwelling place. Now it has taken on a completely different character. And now, if there is any ear to hear, any circumcised heart among the people, these are the words they hear about this land: "arise, depart, for this is not your rest, it is polluted." Strange and humbling indeed! How has the fine gold become dim!
God could have pointed to how little the place satisfied them. He points instead to what it had become.
Arise, depart; for this is not your rest, says the Spirit through the Prophet. And why? Why is it not to be our rest? "It is polluted," he adds. He does not say it is sorrowful, it is disappointing, it is unsatisfying, but it is polluted. The awakened soul must find its reasons for holding on to the power of Christ's resurrection in the moral state of this scene. It must not find them in its circumstances. The dove outside the ark did not fear the trapper's snare, but she found no rest for the sole of her foot on ground that was still unclean.
The last clause ties the ruin to the uncleanness itself. Older translations call that uncleanness defilement, and the warning reached both the northern kingdom and Judah.
It opens with the coming fall of the northern kingdom because of its transgression, but it goes on to the punishment of Judah and Jerusalem too. "Arise you, and depart; for this is not the rest, because of defilement that destroys, even a grievous destruction" (Micah 2:8, 10). The people and their prophets were alike wicked and rebellious.
Believers face the same pull toward comfort, and God acts against it.
There is a constant tendency in the heart of the saints to take rest in prosperous circumstances. The flesh turns for rest to what is pleasant in the world, and the result is a decay of life within. But this will not do. So God says, "Arise and depart, for this is not your rest, it is polluted." Persecution is the natural portion of the church of God while it is down here, in a world of sin. And when the church began to take rest at the beginning, God very soon had to bring persecution in among them.
If this place is not the rest, where is it? God's own resting place sets the standard.
The thing we have not got is rest: There remains a rest for the people of God. The prophet says, "Arise you, and depart, for this is not your rest, for it is polluted." (Micah 2:10.) We are partakers of the divine nature, and we must rest where He rests.
The chapter does not end with the exile. The same God who sends them out plans to bring them back.
Because of sin, Israel and Judah were driven out of their land. It could not be their rest; they had to arise and depart. But the prophecy looks on to the future. Then Jehovah will assemble the remnant of Israel, and will gather them like the sheep of Bozrah. Here we get a beautiful picture of Christ, because Israel's restoration will be His work.
- Cause. Greed, violence and oppression that spared neither women nor children cost the people their rest. These are the moral causes of God's judgment.
- Reason. God does not call the land disappointing. He calls it polluted, and that is why it can be no rest.
- Risk. Clinging to rest in a defiled place destroys. The defilement itself brings a grievous destruction.
- Rescue. Settling down does not give rest. God even uses persecution to stop His people sinking roots into pleasant surroundings.
- Rest. A rest still remains for the people of God, where He Himself rests. Micah closes with Christ gathering the remnant back.
If a man walking in wind and falsehood do lie, [saying,] I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink, he shall be the prophet of this people.
Micah names the preacher a corrupt people will always welcome: the one who promises wine and strong drink. The words are bitter irony. Such a man deals in wind and lies, yet he is exactly the prophet this nation wants.
Chapter 2 traces the collapse to its moral roots. Losing true prophecy is part of the sentence, not just the setting.
These prophets won their audience by offering something no honest preacher could give.
It was more popular to prophesy smooth things and deceits, and nothing is so dear to the human heart as to have God's sanction to its own lusts. And so came the popularity of the prophets who would say, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken. We should not think that these prophets were always inventing lies. What they did was corrupt the word of God and make it suit man's taste.
The verse does not say the prophet corrupted the people. It says he would be exactly the prophet they deserved, and Micah tells them what such light finally becomes.
So these false prophets were the mere instruments of the people, and Micah predicts that night shall be to them instead of their pretended light.
The promise of drink is not only about alcohol. Isaiah uses the same picture for the drunkards of Ephraim, Israel's northern kingdom, and one writer reads it as a moral condition.
Do not think that drunkenness here is only literal. It stands for their state — wildly excited, stupefied and besotted, given up to their own pleasure and self-indulgence, to the shame of the true God. Drunkenness has frightful natural effects among men. In a large moral sense, that will be the condition of these proud, senseless men of Ephraim.
One mark of false prophecy holds good in every age.
It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promise prosperity. When the people of God have departed from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress and of the extension of the work and blessing of the Lord. The coming of great things and pleasant things is their invariable testimony. A true prophet, on the contrary, in the day of evil warns of the coming of the Lord to judge the ungodly.
A nation that wants a preacher of wind and lies will get one. That is itself the judgment. One writer answers the objection that this blames God for the drunkenness.
Rationalists may complain that this is a very simple sign. They question it because it seems to lay the blame for their drunkenness on the Lord. But such criticism only exposes their own ignorance of God's ways and judgments. When men depart from Him in any way He gives them up to something else, and unless they repent, their lusts get a stronger hold of them.
The same appetite shapes preaching today. One writer describes what sells and what does not:
The tendency nowadays is to gloss over the truth of God with man's philosophy, and to bring in a large spice of humour, to be what is called a popular preacher. Some men preach God's truth in a plain, unvarnished way. They tell man the whole truth about himself, as the word of God shows it. Such a preacher has often to be content with a very small audience.
- Appetite. Nothing is dearer to the human heart than God's approval on its own desires. That appetite creates the market for a prophet of wine.
- Supply. False prophets need not invent from nothing. They take the word of God and adjust it to man's taste.
- Ownership. He is the preacher for this people — their own instrument. The light they choose ends in darkness.
- Judgment. Refuse the true word and you lose it. God gives such people up to something else, and their desires tighten their grip.
- Test. In a day of evil the false message promises prosperity. The true one warns that the Lord is coming to judge.
I will surely assemble, O Jacob, the whole of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as sheep of Bozrah, as a flock in the midst of their pasture they shall make great noise by reason of [the multitude of] men.
Micah has just told a violent, greedy people that the land they hold cannot be their rest. Then the tone changes without warning, and God promises to gather them. Who does He gather, when does He do it, and why is He still willing?
The turn from judgment to blessing is sudden, and it needs explaining.
In Micah 2 the prophet points out the moral causes of God's judgment — violence and shameless oppression. A state of things like this could not be the rest of God's people. How could the saints of the Lord rest in the middle of such pollution? Even so, the Lord in no way gave up His settled purpose of blessing toward Israel. He would gather them all together, the large flock under His protection.
Two promises stand side by side here: God will assemble all of Jacob, and He will gather the remnant. The first phrase rules out a partial rescue.
To bring in this rest the breaker must come up — the One who brings to nothing every false rest. This is what Micah sees in prophetic vision. "The breaker has come up before them." There will be none of the people left out when it is a question of bringing in the rest of God. But the breaker must come before them. It will be the rest of God when He has swept away every substitute for it, plainly set aside every hindrance and repaired every breach, joining His people Himself and bringing them in, whether to the earthly or to the heavenly rest.
The ESV reads "like sheep in a fold." Older translations read "as the sheep of Bozrah," and one writer quoted below keeps that older wording. Bozrah was a real place.
Royal city of Edom, on which the prophets pronounced judgements.
The fold in the verse was a real structure with a real purpose.
The Eastern sheepfold was an enclosure made by a circular stone wall with a door for entrance. The sheep were driven in here at night, and at other times for safety. In the Old Testament the fold pictures the security and privilege of that people whose God was the Lord... "I will gather the remnant of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture" (Micah 2:12). These promises still wait to be fulfilled in full. Israel will not live in peace in her own land, safe from every invading enemy, until the millennial rest comes.
The verse is a chain of first-person verbs: I will assemble, I will gather, I will set them together. The gathering is not something Israel achieves for itself.
Because of sin, Israel and Judah were driven out of their land. It could not be their rest; they had to arise and depart. But the prophecy looks on to the future, when the Lord will assemble the remnant of Israel and will gather them like the sheep of Bozrah. In this connection we have a beautiful presentation of Christ, for Israel's restoration will be His work.
Israel did come home from Babylon. Does that return finish the prophecy? One writer gives it a place, yet points past it to the King.
This prophecy announces Christ as the Breaker, the One who goes before them, clears the way, and removes every obstacle. In verse 10 we read, "Arise and depart, for this is not your rest." The true rest for His people Israel comes when the King comes and brings with Him the promised blessing and glory... It is a great prophecy of the final restoration of Israel. "We must not rule out all reference to the deliverance of the Jewish nation from Babylon by Cyrus. Even so, that deliverance counts only for what it pictures — an early stage and a pledge of the redemption Christ would bring."
- Still — the chapter records violence, greed and false prophets. Even so, God keeps His settled purpose of blessing toward Israel.
- Gathered — God says "I will" three times over. Israel's restoration will be Christ's work, not Israel's achievement.
- All — "all of you, O Jacob" stands beside "the remnant of Israel." God leaves none of His people out when He brings in His rest.
- Folded — the sheepfold pictures security and privilege under the God who owns the flock.
- Not yet — the return from Babylon was only a first instalment and pledge. The full rest waits for the King.
One that breaketh through is gone up before them they have broken forth, and have passed on to the gate, and are gone out by it; and their king passeth on before them, and Jehovah at the head of them.
Micah has been announcing judgment on a violent, greedy people. Then the chapter turns to a promise. A flock is gathered, a gate is opened, and a leader called "the Breaker" goes out in front. Who is this figure, and where is He taking them?
Judgment is not the end of the story. The closing verses show what God still intends for this people. (The writers use "Jehovah", the older English form of the name many Bibles print as "the LORD".)
Even so, Jehovah in no way gave up His settled purpose of blessing towards Israel. He would gather them all together, the large flock under His protection. The breaker — the One who would clear the way and overthrow every obstacle — would go before them. They would go out from the place of their captivity. Their king would pass on before them, and Jehovah at their head.
Who is the Breaker? Commentators read this figure as Christ, at work to force a way out for a scattered people.
He is here viewed as the great Breaker of obstacles. He will break through all that hinders the recovery of His chosen people. He will make an outlet for them, wherever they are scattered, so that they may break out from their captivity. Then, as their King, He takes His place as Leader, with Jehovah Himself at their head.
Why must a Breaker come first? Because something stands in the place of true rest, and it has to go.
To bring in this rest the breaker must come up — the One who brings to nothing every false rest… None of the people will be left out when it is a question of bringing in the rest of God. But the breaker must come before them… It will be the rest of God when He has driven out all substitutes for it, plainly set aside every hindrance and repaired all breaches. He Himself will join His people and bring them in, whether to the earthly or to the heavenly rest. The long war against God will have ended, and all God's universe will rest, above and below. That is the bright millennial day the Scriptures describe.
The people who break out through the gate are pictured as a flock. What does that picture carry?
In the Old Testament the fold pictures the security and privilege of the people whose God was Jehovah… These scriptures still wait to be fulfilled in full. Not until the millennial rest will Israel live in peace in their own land, safe from the attacks of every foe.
Israel did come home from Babylon once. Writers here read that return as a first step towards something larger.
In this prophecy Christ is announced as the Breaker. He goes before them, clears the way, and removes every obstacle… The true rest for His people Israel comes when the King comes and brings with Him the promised blessing and glory. Then the remnant of Israel will be gathered… It is a great prophecy of the final restoration of Israel. "We must not rule out all reference to the deliverance of the Jewish nation out of the earthly Babylon by Cyrus. But that deliverance only counts here for what it pictures — a first stage and pledge of the redemption to be brought about by Christ."
The same writer pictures that day itself.
What a day that will be when Israel's King steps in for His people, and the chains with which the nations have bound them will be like dried-up cords in His hands! How deep their joy when the great Breaker of bondage leads them again into the land of their blessing!
Does this verse touch Christians now? One writer says it does.
He is our peace, who has made peace for us through the blood of His cross. For us the Breaker is gone up (Micah 2:13; Heb. 6:20); and the Spirit leads His people by faith in Him into the heavenly places, where their Forerunner has now entered. For in Christ they are accepted in lasting peace, and blessed already with every spiritual blessing.
- Breach — The chapter turns on one title: the Breaker. He clears the way and overthrows every obstacle between a scattered people and their blessing.
- Break-up — He first breaks what is false. No true rest comes until He sets aside every counterfeit rest and every hindrance.
- Break-out — He makes an outlet for a captive flock, wherever they are scattered. Then they break out through the gate.
- Breakthrough — Commentators see the return from Babylon as only a first step. The full deliverance is still ahead, with the King as Leader and Jehovah at their head.
- Before us — The same Breaker has already gone up into heaven as Forerunner. Christians follow a leader who has entered ahead of them.