Read Micah 3:1–4
Questions from the Scripture text: Who are called to hear in Micah 3:1b? And who, in verse 1c? What rhetorical question does verse 1d ask? What is the implied answer? What does He say about their character in Micah 3:2a? What does He say about their conduct in Micah 3:2-3f? How does the imagery convey the ruthlessness? How does it convey the self-interest? What will these rulers do, when the judgment comes (Micah 3:4a)? With what result (verse 4b–c)? For what reason (verse 4d)?
Why wouldn’t the Lord listen to Israel’s prayers? Micah 3:1–4 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord closed His ears to Israel, because their magistrates had closed their ears to the oppressed.
Back in Micah 2:1–2, we read about those who devised elaborate schemes to divest others of their lands and homes, particularly women and children who had apparently lost the help of a husband/father (cf. Micah 2:9).
This brief section goes after the civil magistrates (heads, Micah 3:1b; rulers, verse 1c) who have made such schemes possible.
The Lord attacks their competence (verse 1d). Their job was to know justice, and they either completely disregarded it or spectacularly failed at it. They have rejected a calling that comes from God.
The Lord attacks their character (Micah 3:2a). Rather than loving good and hating evil, as God does, they are exactly the opposite. They aren’t just assaulting His image in others; they are defacing His image in themselves.
The Lord attacks their conduct (Micah 3:2-3f). Those who have little regard for the Lord Himself have ultimately little regard for those made in His image. Whatever fellow-feeling they have that permits some measure of civility, or seeming compassion, for others will ultimately evaporate against a pressure that is high enough. For some, that pressure may be as little as their own desires for power or property.
That was the case with these magistrates. Their love of power is implied by the organization and ruthlessness of the literal butchering that makes up the bulk of the imagery in Micah 3:2-3. Their love of property is implied by the time the imagery makes to the pot and cauldron, where the food is cooked and ready to serve.
There is a harmonious justice to the Lord’s response. Since the widows and orphans of Israel find themselves with no one to cry out to in the courts of the magistrates, these magistrates will find themselves with no one to cry out to in the courts of the Lord. It will not be only that their requests are denied (“He will not hear them,” Micah 3:4b), but that their requests are not even heard (“He will even hide His face from them at that time,” verse 4c).
Ultimately, this little section confronts us with how offensive to God a lack of compassion is. It exposes a disregard for the Lord Himself—doubly so, when we are in an office of care for others; trebly so, when those who are disregarded are lowly such as widows and orphans; quadruply so, when they are among His covenant people. God refuses the prayers of a husband who does not live in an understanding way with his wife (cf. 1 Peter 3:7). He refuses the prayers of the professing believer who is unforgiving toward other believers (cf. Matthew 18:35). How important a thing, dear reader, is a Christ-like compassion toward others!
Toward whom have you had difficulty having compassion? Who, if any, are entrusted to your overseeing and defending? For what are you covetous, and whom are you in danger of disregarding in your covetousness? Whose plight is often invisible to you?
Sample prayer: Lord, forgive us for when we participate in the plots of the wicked because our desire for wealth and ease makes us negligent. We confess that carelessness of others exposes a lack of love for You and for Your image in men. By Your Spirit, make us sensitive to the cries of those whom You have assigned to us, and grant that, for the Lord Jesus’s sake, You would be sensitive to our own cries, AMEN!
Suggested Songs: ARP14 “Within His Heart the Fool Speaks” or TPH400 “Gracious Spirit, Dwell with Me”
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