Scripture References – Micah 7:1-9, 18-20
Looking back on the last lesson we see that Micah may have overestimated his situation, but his conclusions were not drawn in haste. There was ample evidence all around that evil was winning over good and in Israel and in all the world. He looked at it from this standpoint. “Where good and godly people ought to be there are evil, murderous ones.” As he wrote, “They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.” – Micah 7:2.
To lie in wait for blood is to be willing to commit murder if need be to get what one wants. This was the common law of the city. Everybody was capable of it. There was no such thing as trust and loyalty. Greed and lust were such that people would trap and ensnare their own siblings if the price was right.
Wait a minute! Is this Micah or a daily newspaper? What about all these spying charges in recent years? People have sold out the safety and security of the rest of us to those who might do us harm by making available highly classified information for a price; and not just a little slipup in many instances but by making careers of spying.
What about that company a couple of years back who knowingly manufactured defective pacemakers and acted, quite consciously with intent, to cover up the problem? People’s lives were on the line when those faulty devices simply stopped functioning. It wasn’t just a season’s worth of products; the intentional bad production had gone on for five years before the word leaked out. In other words, if the price is right, let our sisters and brothers in the human family die to keep the profits up. We’ve seen this recently with the COVID-19 situation and some of the same people responsible are actively admitting to gearing up for something in 2025!
What do you say about those who know, as all of us now do, that drinking alcohol and driving kills people, the majority of them innocent. People know this and still continue to drive on our streets and in our neighborhoods without any regard or forethought.
Micah then zooms in, on the power people, the rulers and the upper-class types.
That they may successfully do evil with both hands— The prince asks for gifts, The judge seeks a bribe, And the great man utters his evil desire; So they scheme together. The best of them is like a brier; The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. – Micah 7:3-4.
The leaders of the people of Israel weren’t even casual in their evil deeds; they sought diligently, with eagerness and preparation, to do wrong, such as selling justice and doing it openly, without shame. They were so willing to do wrong that they went public with the news that they could be bought. As a group, they planned together and then wove their evil into society. The best of them would hurt persons as would a brier on the stem of a lovely flower or thorns in a row of hedges. How much like what is going on in our governments today!
Now Micah didn’t think this could go on and on, but rather than thinking his people, their whole society, would finally self-destruct, he saw some light, it was only a small ray, but it was some light. He doesn’t elaborate at this point in his oracle. He only mentions it: “The day of your watchman and your punishment comes; Now shall be their perplexity.” – Micah 7:4. Micah believed that in a state of evil, people and nations would ultimately fail. The prophet believed with all his heart that those sold out to evil and not to God would be plundered by others who lived for evil. After such a confrontation, there would be “perplexity” some versions call it “confusion,” a total disorganization of life. When this came, it would mean light for the nation as a whole because evil would have been defeated.
As it is now, there was little to no righteousness among the leaders; that was clear. Micah also knew that there was little to no righteousness among families and friends. He warned:
Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion; Guard the doors of your mouth From her who lies in your bosom. For son dishonors father, Daughter rises against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own household. – Micah 7:5-6.
As he looked around he saw that even normal family relationships and friendships had disintegrated; there was no absolutely no respect and no trust that he could see.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 