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Monday, July 22, 2013

Micah: Justice (Part 6)

File:Micah prophet.jpg
Then I said, "Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not embrace justice, you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones; who eat my people's flesh, strip off their skin and break their bones in pieces; who chop them up like meat for the pan, like flesh for the pot?" Then they will cry out to the LORD, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.
Micah 3:1-4

After reading through the book of Micah, I got the feeling that Micah had a very strong sense of justice. He is still defending Judah because he thinks it's not their fault. Micah says that they have been lead astray by their leaders and God agrees with him.

This is what the LORD says: "As for the prophets who lead my people astray, they proclaim 'peace' if they have something to eat, but prepare to wage war against anyone who refuses to feed them. Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the prophets, and the day will go dark for them. The seers will be ashamed and the diviners disgraced. They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God."
Micah 3:5-7

I can relate to Micah because I also have a strong sense of justice. God has a strong sense of justice too, but he loves us more than he loves justice. That is why he sets aside being fair and gives us something better that justice. He gives us mercy.
God has given the false prophets a chance for mercy, but he does have to have a sacrifice for sin, whether that's a lamb (old testament) or Jesus' death or, if you don't except these, you are the sacrifice. If you don't accept the savior, you must burn up in hell.
Here, God is thinking of ending the age of the prophets. Prophets were suppose to be God's way to communicate to his people, but even they were becoming corrupted and their corruptness was rubbing off on the Israelite. God knew he had to stop this, but first God gave a chance for repentance through Micah because Micah was one of the few people who still had faith in God.

But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin.
Micah 3:8

Micah is a righteous prophet. Even though people are against him, he stands strong because he longs to please God.
The false prophets are telling the people exactly what they want to hear. No one wants to believe that Micah is right. They don't want judgement, so they believe the false prophets and continue with their lives as if nothing's wrong.
The same is true of today. Their are false pastors and teachers who tell people what they want to hear and they usually have a huge audience because who doesn't want to be told what they want to hear? Everyone wants to be told that God is fine with their sin.
But then there are the pastor and teachers like Micah who tell you what God wants you to hear. They tell you what the bible says, not what the world says. Those are the people you should listen to.

Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the LORD's support and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us." Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
Micah 3:9-12


Photo Credit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Micah_prophet.jpg

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