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.