Read Micah 2:1–5
Questions from the Scripture text: What does v1a pronounce upon whom (Micah 2:1a)? When do they devise it (versev1b)? When do they do it (verse 1c) Why (verse 1d)? What are some examples of the evil that they devise (Micah 2:2)? Who speaks in Micah 2:3a? Against whom is He devising what (verse 3b)? What will they be unable to do (verse 3c–d)? Why (verse 3e)? When will who speak what (Micah 2:4a)? What kind of Proverb (verse 4b)? Saying what (verse 4c)? What will they complain against God (verse 4d–e)? To whom will they say He has given what (verse 4f)? What else will the Lord take away (Micah 2:5)?
What is the lesson from God’s judgment on Jerusalem and Samaria? Micah 2:1–5 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God brought the judgment on Jerusalem and Samaria, in part, to warn us against the grief of committing similar sin ourselves.
Crime. We’ve seen that Israel and Judah’s sin centered in the capital cities (cf. Micah 1:5). Chief among these sins was idolatry (cf. Micah 1:7), but breaking the first great commandment goes hand in hand with breaking the second. The Lord now convicts them for their covetousness (Micah 2:2a). From covetous heart, to scheming head (Micah 2:1a–b), to the brutal (Micah 2:2a, c) execution (Micah 2:1c) of their plan, the upper class of these nations have been pressing households (Micah 2:2c) out of their God-given inheritance (verse 2d). The crime is premeditated (Micah 2:1a–b), proud (verse 1d), and pitiless (Micah 2:2c–d).
Punishment. They devised (Micah 2:2a) evil (verse 2b), and now YHWH is devising an evil (NKJ “disaster,” Micah 2:3b) against them. Whereas they thought they could get away with it (Micah 2:2d), their punishment will be inescapable (Micah 2:3c). Whereas they proudly employed their legal standing (Micah 2:2), He will humiliate them (Micah 2:3d). Whereas they target the means by which a family would be sustained (Micah 2:2c–d), He passes judgment upon their families (Micah 2:3b).
Lesson. The punishment serves not only justice but instruction. God’s just action becomes a proverb and lamentation (Micah 2:4). Rather than commit evil and have to lament over their own destruction, the Lord gives the singer/speaker to do so over that of the nobles of Samaria and Jerusalem. He had commanded lamentation (cf. Micah 1:10–16), and now He provides it (Micah 2:4). The assembly of YHWH will continue (Micah 2:5b), and there will again be those who lay the boundary lines (verse 5a), but the perpetrators of Micah’s day will not have access to them. Rather, the Lord is showing mercy to those who will come later, by providing them this lesson in His Word (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:6, 1 Corinthians 10:11).
That is to say, dear reader, that the Lord’s justice in Micah’s day was intended as a mercy to you! Beware the covetous heart, the scheming mind, the pride and arrogance that leverages your power to take advantage of others. The Lord sees, the Lord will repay, and His justice is perfect. There is no escape. There is only fullness of punishment, either upon your beloved Redeemer, or perhaps even upon your own soul forever in Hell—which is almost certainly your case if you can commit such sin with an untroubled conscience.
What are situations in which, in your flesh, you have felt like you could “get away with’ sinning? How has failure to properly regard the Lord Himself showed up in your disregarding those made in His image?
Sample prayer: Lord, forgive us. For, we have coveted with our hearts and devised schemes to get what we wanted. We have done what we thought was in the power of our hand. And we have not learned from the lamentation of Your people, when You have judged them in the past. So please, renew our hearts and minds. And make us to learn from judgments like those that You were bringing upon Jerusalem and Samaria in the time of Micah, we ask through Christ, AMEN!
Suggested Songs: ARP7B “God Is My Shield” or TPH178 “We Have Not Known Thee As We Ought”
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