Micah 2:1-7

Micah 2:1

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.

 

Chapter two begins with a woe concerning the ways that the people devise or plan their iniquitous ways.  They plan to do something evil in the night and when the day comes around they put their evil plan into action.  The people spoken about here would probably be the leaders of Israel or those who were wealthy and had the means to put their plans into action.  This also refers to those who think they can make plans and hide it from the LORD and then work those plans with impunity.  Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.  (Jeremiah 23:24) 

 

Micah 2:2

And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

 

These rich people had coveted the fields of others which no doubt brought good harvests and increased the wealth of the owner but they forgot that to covet was a serious sin against the LORD.  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.  (Exodus 20:17)  If they could not strike a deal with the owner, they would then have them killed and take the field by illegal means while in league with those who could work out the details to their advantage.  One of the best examples of this is when King Ahab wanted the vineyard of Naboth but under the law they were not allowed to sell their inheritance.  The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.  (Leviticus 25:23)  So Jezebel concocted a plan to get the vineyard for Ahab by making a feast and hiring false accusers to claim that Naboth had blasphemed the LORD so they took him out and stoned him and Ahab took possession of the vineyard.  It would cause great oppression to a family if they had their lands stolen and were unable to hand them down to their posterity.

 

Micah 2:3

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.

 

The family which God had in view was the entire nation of Israel as materialism and greed had permeated the entire nation.  This type of oppression was wide spread which means the coming judgment of God would cover the entire nation.  Not being able to remove their necks meant that those who were being oppressed would not be able to get out from under the oppression by those who were orchestrating it.  Those who were doing the oppressing would do these things with great arrogance but God here states that these people will see their wealth and schemes vanish because the coming judgment was going to be a day of evil which no one would escape from.

 

Micah 2:4

In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.

 

The day in view is the day the Assyrians would invade Israel and remove them from the land.  The parable will be an excoriating parable about how the Assyrians would reign terror and shame upon Israel.  Micah makes this lamentation in the same way that Israel would lament when that day finally arrives.  The lamentation would be against Israel and the pitiful condition that she will find herself in.  The portion of the people of Israel was God himself.  Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.  (Psalm 119:57)  The portion which they will receive now will be from the judging hand of God.  The land of Canaan was the inheritance of Israel but now because of their idolatry their lands are now divided to the spoiler who has taken control of those lands.

 

Micah 2:5

Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD.

 

The loss of the land will be permanent as there will be none to cast a cord which would be used to divide and measure parcels of land.  This verse refers to the time when the priests had drawn up the boundaries in Canaan when the land was being parceled out by tribe.

 

{52} And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  {53} Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names.  {54} To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him.  {55} Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.  {56} According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few.  (Numbers 26:52-56)

 

Micah 2:6

Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.

 

Just like in the ministry of Jeremiah who faced false prophets like Hananiah who prophesied that Judah would only be in captivity for two years, Micah also faced those who were false prophets.  The false prophets were to stop prophesying lies to the people because they were causing confusion among the people.  The false prophets would not even be shamed into ceasing their false teaching but their final shame would be when the Assyrians would invade and then they would be proven as heretics.  We have the same situation today in Christianity.  You have an element of false Christianity preaching the false prosperity gospel instead of warning the people that if they are not saved they will be sent to eternal damnation on Judgment Day.  They may live in mansions now but they will be shamed when they too will stand with all those unbelievers who believed their message and followed them, into eternal damnation.

 

Micah 2:7

O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?

 

Jacob was preserved by God and whose name was changed to Israel.  These people were basking in the name “house of Jacob” but the problem is that the true house of Jacob would not have partaken of false religions and idolatry as they had.  They were counting on their relationship with God and their named ancestor to protect them from any and all judgment.  Just because they were descended from Jacob did not mean they were exempt from any judgment for their actions.  The spirit of the LORD will not be curtailed in any way by the actions of man.  If the LORD chooses he can raise up others to prophesy and eventually Israel lost their favored status with God as they became increasingly apostate to the point they would no longer be the people of God.  Their rejection of Grace in favor of law is one of the reasons God destroyed them in 70 A.D.  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.  (Matthew 21:43)  The true eternal church of the Lord Jesus Christ would take the Gospel to the world until the last day.

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