2:1,2Micah spoke out against those who planned evil deeds at night and rose at dawn to do them. A person's thoughts and plans reflect his or her character. What do you think about as you lie down to sleep? Do your desires involve greed or stepping on others to achieve your goals? Evil thoughts lead to evil deeds.
Life Application Study BibleMicahChapter 2
Micah 2
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1466, 1467, 1468
2Micah 2
1simply because you have the power to do so.
2When you want a piece of land,you find a way to seize it.When you want someone’s house,you take it by fraud and violence.You cheat a man of his property,stealing his family’s inheritance.
3But this is what the LORD says:“T will reward your evil with evil;you won't be able to puil your neck out of the noose.You will no longer walk around proudly,for it will be a terrible time.”
4In that day your enemies will make fun of youby singing this song of despair about you:“Weare finished,completely ruined!God has confiscated our land,taking it from us.He has given our fieldsto those who betrayed us.*”
5Others will set your boundaries then,and the LORD’s people will have no sayin how the land is divided.
True and False Prophets
66 “Don't say such things,”the people respond.*“Don’t prophesy like that.Such disasters will never come our way!”
7Should you talk that way, O family of Israel?*Will the LORD’s Spirit have patience with such behavior?If you would do what is right,you would find my words comforting.
8Yet to this very hourmy people rise against me like an enemy!You steal the shirts right off the backsof those who trusted you,making them as ragged as menreturning from battle.
9You have evicted women from their pleasant homesand forever stripped their children of all that God would give them.
10Up! Begone!This is no longer your land and home,for you have filled it with sinand ruined it completely.
11Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you,“T'll preach to you the joys of wine and alcohol!”That's just the kind of prophet you would like!
Hope for Restoration
12“Someday, O Israel, I will gather you;I will gather the remnant who are left.Iwill bring you together again like sheep in a pen,like a flock in its pasture.Yes, your land will againbe filled with noisy crowds!
13Your leader will break outand lead you out of exile,out through the gates of the enemy cities,back to your own land.Your king will lead you;the LORD himself will guide you.”
2. The trial of the leaders
Judgment against Israel's Leaders
3 1I said, “Listen, you leaders of Israel!You are supposed to know right from wrong,2 but you are the very oneswho hate good and love evil.You skin my people alive
Textual footnotes
- sounds like the Hebrew term for “bitter.” 1:13a Lachish sounds like the Hebrew term for “team of horses.”
- means “deception.” 1:15a Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew term for “conqueror.” 1:15b Hebrew the glory.
- O house of Jacob? See note on 1:5a.
- 2:4 Or to those who took us captive.
- 2:6 Or the prophets respond; Hebrew reads they prophesy.
Life Application Notes 6 notes
2:2Micah warned against those who use their position to take advantage of others. Less than a century earlier, King Ahab of Israel had pouted because he couldn’t get Naboth’s vineyard. So his wife, Jezebel, had Naboth killed in order to give the garden to Ahab (1 Kings 21:1-16}. This kind of injustice had spread throughout the nation and, tike a disease, was destroying the people from the inside out.
2:5Those who have been oppressing others will find the tables turned. They will end up not having any share in the decisions to divide the land because they won't have any surviving relatives.
2:6,7If these messages seem harsh, remember that God did not want to take revenge on Israel; he wanted to get them back on the right path. The people had rejected what was true and right, and they needed stern discipline. Children may think discipline is harsh, but it helps keep them going in the right direction. If we only want God’s comforting messages, we may miss what he has for us. Listen whenever God speaks, even when the message is hard to take.
2:11The people liked the false prophets who told them only what they wanted to hear. Micah spoke against prophets who encouraged the people to feel comfortable in their sin. Preachers are popular when they don’t ask too much of us and when they tell us our greed or lust might even be good for us. But a true teacher of God speaks the truth, regardless of what the listeners want to hear.
2:12,13Micah’s prophecy telescopes two great events— Judah’s return from captivity in Babylon, and the great gathering of all believers when the Messiah returns. Gad gave his prophets visions of various future events, but not necessarily the ability to discern when these events would happen. For example, they could not see the long period of time between the Babylonian captivity and the coming of the Messiah, but they could clearly see that the Messiah was coming. The purpose of this prophecy was not to predict exactly how this would occur but that it would. This gave the people hope and helped them turn from sin.
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Study feature · page 1467
2:7 Hebrew
MICAH’S CHARGES OF INJUSTICE Micah charged the people with injustice of many kinds.
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