Micah 2

The men’s study on 09/16/2021 was focused on Micah 2:1-5 which reads:

1 Woe to those who devise iniquity, and work out evil on their beds! At morning light they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.  2 They covet fields and take them by violence, also houses, and seize them.  So they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.  3 Therefore thus says the Lord: “Behold, against this family I am devising disaster, from which you cannot remove your necks; nor shall you walk haughtily, for this is an evil time.  4 In that day one shall take up a proverb against you, and lament with a bitter lamentation, saying: ‘We are utterly destroyed! He has changed the heritage of my people; How He has removed it from me! To a turncoat He has divided our fields.’”  5 Therefore you will have no one to determine boundaries by lot in the assembly of the Lord.

A little background:

1:3-5, For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place; He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. The mountains will melt under Him, and the valleys will split like wax before the fire like waters poured down a steep place. All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel.

God has declared His coming to stomp on the places of pagan worship and bring devastating fires of destruction because the north, Samaria, was boldly enmeshed in sin.

1:8, Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals and a mourning like the ostriches,

Micah’s response was great grief shown by the garb of mourning and repentance and wailing and screeching for what was coming in the north (Samaria). [He might have in fact moved about with only a loincloth declaring his grief.]

1:9, For her wounds are incurable. For it has come to Judah;  It has come to the gate of My people—to Jerusalem.

The apostasy, idolatry and selfishness of the north was like a plague and moving south and was now encompassing the city of David, the city of the great God – Jerusalem.

The rest of the chapter talks to the surrounding area as how it too will be impacted by the plague and with the fall of Jerusalem for her persistent sinning.

Now some thoughts from 2:1-5,

2:1-2 There are those who plot and plan ways to grab wealth and power and have the where-with-all to pull it off.

2:3 But God knows fully all their thoughts and deeds and is not indifferent.  He comes to deal with them and they will be bowed down under His wrath.

2:4 Those around will speak of the destruction of such powerful people with some grief as they were benefactors of the coveting and evil grabs.

2:4 What will be noted is the destruction and the changing of heritage.  No longer will it be the rich heritage of Samuel, David, and Jehoshaphat.  No longer will it be the heritage of the Framers and Founders or “heroes proved in liberating strife.”

2:4 What will be talked about is that the “turncoats”, outsiders, will get the windfall of those destroyed.

2:5 The prior means of wealth distribution and management will be eliminated.

Reading such words from God to the people and land of His blessing hold certain ominous warnings for we of the United States.  Those plotting in basements, at Davos, or in conferences are known and their devious and evil exploits will come under God’s wrath.