The Fate of Misleaders – Micah 3

A text – Micah 3:5-12

3:5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against those who put nothing into their mouths.
3:6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without revelation. The sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them;
3:7 the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.
3:8 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 and to Israel his sin.
3:9 Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob and chiefs of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert all equity,
3:10 who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wrong!
3:11 Its rulers give judgment for a bribe, its priests teach for a price, its prophets give oracles for money; yet they lean upon the LORD and say, “Surely the LORD is with us! No harm shall come upon us.”
3:12 Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

A reflection:

This passage of Micah derides false prophets. It sounds much the same as Jesus does in Matthew when he makes clear God’s scorn for the misbehaving Pharisees who have set their attention and their grip on the wrong things.

When servants of the people say that they are sent from God, and yet they misbehave and lead the people in the wrong direction and advocate bad behavior, Micah scorns them. These false leaders claim to be acting in the people’s interest but are only feeding themselves, and the result is impoverishment of the Lord’s people. What is more, not only do the false leaders cause misery for their followers, they break trust in any future leadership. The loss of property and peace and food is bad enough, but the loss of trust because of liars in leadership is even more devastating, long term. The country and the culture fall apart.

Micah decries the false prophets, and Jesus decries the leaders and practices of the Jewish faith that add burdens to the poor and marginalized, when God wants only the best for the lowly and everyone else. What can we learn from this passage for our day? Who are the leaders who lie, deceive, and bring about destruction? Who tries to unmask their false ways? What kind of God do we follow – one who adores profiting at the expense of the poor, or one who opts to lift up the lowly every time? And how might we opt to lift up the lowly today and in the coming week?

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for revealing to us in scripture the times when your own people were led along the wrong paths and their nation suffered for it. Help us to be ever aware of the way you feel about those who lie and mislead, those who could care less about your most vulnerable people. Help us to do what we can each day to make forgotten lives a little better through your love and grace. Amen.