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Commentary on Micah 3 verses 1–7
Princes and prophets, when they faithfully discharge the duty of their office, are to be highly honoured above other men; but when they betray their trust, and act contrary to it, they should hear of their faults as well as others, and shall be made to know that there is a God above them, to whom they are accountable; at his bar the prophet here, in his name, arraigns them.
I. Let the princes hear their charge and their doom. The heads of Jacob, and the princes of the house of Israel, are called upon to hear what the prophet has to say to them, Mic 3:1. The word of God has reproofs for the greatest of men, which the ministers of that word ought to apply as there is occasion. The prophet here has comfort in the reflection upon it, that, whatever the success was, he had faithfully discharged his trust: And I said, Hear, O princes! He had the testimony of his conscience for him that he had not shrunk from his duty for fear of the face of men. He tells them,
1.What was expected from them: Is it not for you to know judgment? He means to do judgment, for otherwise the knowledge of it is of no avail. "Is it not your business to administer justice impartially, and not to know faces" (as the Hebrew phrase for partiality and respect of persons is), "but to know judgment, and the merits of every cause?" Or it may be taken for granted that the heads and rulers are well acquainted with the rules of justice, whatever others are; for they have those means of knowledge, and have not those excuses for ignorance, which some others have, that are poor and foolish (Jer 5:4); and, if so, their transgression of the laws of justice is the more provoking to God, for they sin against knowledge. "Is it not for you to know judgment? Yes, it is; therefore stand still, and hear your own judgment, and judge if it be not right, whether any thing can be objected against it."
2.How wretchedly they had transgressed the rules of judgment, though they knew what they were. Their principle and disposition are bad: They hate the good and love the evil; they hate good in others, and hate it should have any influence on themselves; they hate to do good, hate to have any good done, and hate those that are good and do good; and they love the evil, delight in mischief. This being their principle, their practice is according to it; they are very cruel and severe towards those that are under their power, and whoever lies at their mercy will find that they have none. They barbarously devour those whom they should protect, and, as unfaithful shepherds, fleece the flock they should feed; nay, instead of feeding it, they feed upon it, Eze 34:2. It is fit indeed that he who feeds a flock should eat of the milk of the flock (Co1 9:7), but that will not content them: They eat the flesh of my people. It is fit that they should be clothed with the wool, but that will not serve: They flay the skin from off them, Mic 3:3. By imposing heavier taxes upon them than they can bear, and exacting them with rigour, by mulcts, and fines, and corporal punishments, for pretended crimes, they ruined the estates and families of their subjects, took away from some their lives, from others their livelihoods, and were to their subjects as beasts of prey, rather than shepherds. "They break their bones to come at the marrow, and chop the flesh in pieces as for the pot." This intimates that they were, (1.) Very ravenous and greedy for themselves, indulging themselves in luxury and sensuality. (2.) Very barbarous and cruel to those that were under them, not caring whom they beggared, so they could but enrich themselves; such evil is the love of money the root of.
3.How they might expect that God should deal with them, since they had been thus cruel to his subjects. The rule is fixed, Those shall have judgment without mercy that have shown no mercy (Mic 3:4): "They shall cry to the Lord, but he will not hear them, in the day of their distress, as the poor cried to them in the day of their prosperity and they would not hear them." There will come a time when the most proud and scornful sinners will cry to the Lord, and sue for that mercy which they once neither valued nor copied out. But it will then be in vain; God will even hide his face from them at that time, that time when they need his favour, and see themselves undone without it. At another time they would have turned their back upon him; but at that time he will turn his back upon them, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. Note, Men cannot expect to do ill and fare well, but may expect to find, as Adoni-bezek did, that done to them which they did to others; for he is righteous who takes vengeance. With the froward God will show himself froward, and he often gives up cruel and unmerciful men into the hands of those who are cruel and unmerciful to them, as they themselves have formerly been to others. This agrees with Pro 21:13, Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he shall cry himself and shall not be heard; but the merciful have reason to hope that they shall obtain mercy.
II. Let the prophets hear their charge too, and their doom; they were such as prophesied falsely, and the princes bore rule by their means. Observe,
1.What was their sin. (1.) They made it their business to flatter and deceive the people: They make my people err, lead them into mistakes, both concerning what they should do and concerning what God would do with them. It is ill with a people when their leaders cause them to err, and those draw them out of the way that should guide them and go before them in it. "They make them to err by crying peace, by telling them that they do well, and that all shall be well with them; whereas they are in the paths of sin, and within a step of ruin. They cry peace, but they bite with their teeth," which perhaps is meant of their biting their own lips, as we are apt to do when we would suppress something which we are ready to speak. When they cried peace their own hearts gave them the lie, and they were just ready to eat their own words and to contradict themselves, but they bit with their teeth, and kept it in. They were not blind leaders of the blind, for they saw the ditch before them, and yet led their followers into it. (2.) They made it all their aim to glut themselves, and serve their own belly, as the seducers in St. Paul's time (Rom 16:18), for their god is their belly, Phi 3:19. They bite with their teeth, and cry peace; that is, they will flatter and compliment those that will feed them with good bits, will give them something to eat; but as for those that put not into their mouths, that are not continually cramming them, they look upon them as their enemies; to them they do not cry peace, as they do to those whom they look upon as their benefactors, but they even prepare war against them; against them they denounce the judgments of God, but as they are to them, as the crafty priests of the church of Rome, in some places, make their image either to smile or frown upon the offerer according as his offering is. Justly is it insisted on as a necessary qualification of a minister (Ti1 3:3, and again Tit 1:7) that he be not greedy of filthy lucre.
2.What is the sentence passed upon them for this sin, Mic 3:6, Mic 3:7. It is threatened, (1.) That they shall be involved in troubles and miseries with those to whom they had cried peace: Night shall be upon them, a dark cold night of calamity, such as they, in their flattery, led the people to hope would never come. It shall be dark unto you, darker to you than to others; the sun shall go down over the prophets, shall go down at noon; all comfort shall depart from them, and they shall be deprived of all hope of it. The day shall be dark over them, in which they promised themselves light. Nor shall they be surrounded with outward troubles only, but their mind shall be full of confusion, and they shall be brought to their wits' end; their heads shall be clouded, and their own thoughts shall trouble them; and that is trouble enough. They kept others in the dark, and now God will bring them into the dark. (2.) That thereby they shall be silenced, and all their pretensions to prophecy for ever shamed. They never had any true vision; and now, the event disproving their predictions of peace, it shall be made to appear that they never had any, that there never was an answer of God to them, but it was all a sham, and they were cheats and impostors. Their reputation being thus quite sunk, their confidence would of course fail them. And, their spirits being ruffled and confused, their invention would fail them too; and by reason of this darkness, both without and within too, they shall not divine, they shall not have so much as a counterfeit vision to produce, they shall be ashamed, and confounded, and cover their lips, as men that are quite baffled and have nothing to say for themselves. Note, Those who deceive others are but preparing confusion for their own faces.
“The sun will go down” upon those prophets who lead my people astray, dwelling in darkness. “It will be night for you, without vision, and it will be dark for you, without dawn.” “For, when [the spirit] goes out of a man, it goes about wandering.” It does this quite by nature. [The Lord] rendered this judgment with regard to [the people]: “Thus will it be for this generation.” That is, in the days of the prophets the evil spirit had gone out from them, [that spirit] that was sin itself.
(V. 5 seq.) This is what the Lord says about the prophets who deceive my people: they bite with their teeth and proclaim peace. But if someone does not give them something to eat, they declare war against him. Therefore, night will be for you instead of a vision and darkness instead of divination. The sun will go down on the prophets and the day will be darkened for them. Those who see visions will be put to shame, and the diviners will be confounded. They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God. However, I am filled with the power of the spirit of the Lord, with justice and strength, to proclaim Jacob's wickedness and Israel's sin. LXX: Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who deceive my people, who bite with their teeth and proclaim peace, but there is no word from their mouths. They have sanctified a battle against him. Therefore, night shall be to you instead of vision, and darkness instead of divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be dark for them. Those who see dreams shall be confused, and the soothsayers shall be mocked. All these will speak against them because there is no one who listens to them. Only I will fill them with the power of the spirit of the Lord, with justice and strength, to proclaim Jacob's wickedness and Israel's sins. We read that there were false prophets in Israel, who, because they lacked the gift of peace, which was not given to them, preached, and if someone did not give gifts, even if he was holy, they would announce that the wrath of God would come upon him. Therefore, it is now said to them that they speak falsehoods, and their words are not prophecy, but false divination: they do not have light, but darkness and error. And when the opposite of what they promised is fulfilled, then they will be covered in confusion, because, it is said, there was no answer from God.
Now neither can the power of demons deceive, to deceive them by their own deceit. The oracles will be silent, the unclean spirit will be silent, and it will not dare to mock. This is about false prophets. Again, a speech is introduced about the prophet speaking of himself, while they falsely predict, and with confusion and disgrace hidden, I, who speak, speak from the Holy Spirit, and I speak the judgment of the Lord and the power of truth. And when false prophets bite with their teeth and proclaim peace, I fearlessly proclaim the wickedness of Jacob and the sin of Israel; for they have worshipped either idols or crucified the Son of God. But if we wish to follow the Septuagint, which is said concerning heretics who are truly false prophets and say, 'Thus says the Lord,' and the Lord did not send them, we will not be led astray. For they deceive the people of God by their former error, and they do this in order to consume them, either simply by accepting gifts or mystically in the slaughter of their souls, and they promise them peace and heavenly kingdoms and say, 'You do not need to live constantly and holy, have faith in what we teach and you will attain all the promises of the Lord.' Those who speak these things, rather than appeasing the wrath of the Lord, actually provoke it and sanctify the battle against them. Therefore, O heretics, who think you have prophecy, and you imitate the Church of God, where you deem there to be vision, there it will harm you; and where you boast of prophetic prediction, there the unclean spirit will speak. For the sun of justice will kill such prophets, and they will see their darkness and be confounded. And when they are shown to be more divine than prophets, they will laugh at their dreams, and the people who were previously deceived by them will speak against them. Then even the teachers themselves will repent, and no one will listen to them except me whom they have offended. And because I am merciful and do not desire the death of the sinner (Ezek. XVIII), but rather want them to turn back and live, when I hear them, I will give them the power of my spirit, and I will fill them with my judgment and strength, so that those who previously deceived the people with flattery will later deter them by proclaiming the truth and lead them back to the right path, and those who were the cause of error will begin to heal the wounds they have inflicted and become a source of healing. Take note, in the present place, that someone can be taught after sin, if indeed they have washed away their previous sins with worthy penance. Hence, even David speaks after adultery and murder in the psalm: You will sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be cleansed; You will wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. He is not satisfied with his own purity alone, but adds: Restore to me the joy of your salvation and strengthen me with a generous spirit. And when you have done this, he says, I will teach the wicked your ways, and the impious will be converted to you (Psalm 50).
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SUMMARY
Micah 3:5 delivers a scathing divine indictment against the false prophets in Judah who exploited God's people for personal gain. These deceitful individuals proclaimed a superficial "peace" to those who paid them, but declared "war" against anyone who withheld their desired remuneration, thus revealing their mercenary motives and a profound perversion of true prophetic ministry. The verse underscores the LORD's abhorrence for spiritual deception that leads His covenant people astray, highlighting the stark contrast between authentic divine communication and self-serving manipulation.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Micah 3:5 is rich in Imagery and Metaphor, vividly portraying the character and actions of the false prophets. The phrase "bite with their teeth" is a powerful Metaphor, likening the prophets to predatory animals or, as suggested by the Hebrew nâshak, to serpents or usurers. This imagery immediately conveys their exploitative and harmful nature, emphasizing that they consume and drain the people rather than nourishing them spiritually. There is also stark Contrast and Irony in the juxtaposition of "cry, Peace" and "prepare war against him." The very individuals who claim to bring shalom (peace, wholeness) are quick to declare milchâmâh (war, conflict) when their selfish demands are not met. This highlights their hypocrisy and the conditional, self-serving nature of their proclaimed "peace." The direct address, "Thus saith the LORD," serves as a powerful Authoritative Declaration, lending immense weight and solemnity to the condemnation that follows, underscoring the gravity of their offense against God and His people.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Micah 3:5 profoundly underscores the theological truth that true prophecy originates solely from God and is communicated without compromise or personal agenda, standing in stark contrast to the self-serving pronouncements of false prophets. This verse reveals God's righteous anger against those who pervert His word for gain, leading His people astray and undermining the very foundation of His covenant relationship with them. It highlights the critical importance of discernment in spiritual matters, reminding believers that the authenticity of a message is not determined by its comfort or popularity, but by its faithfulness to divine truth and its fruit in the lives of those who deliver it. The passage also foreshadows the ultimate judgment that awaits those who exploit God's flock, emphasizing divine justice as an inherent attribute of the LORD.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Micah 3:5 serves as a timeless warning and a call to profound spiritual discernment for believers today. It challenges us to critically evaluate the messages we receive and the motives of those who deliver them, especially in an age saturated with various forms of spiritual communication. True spiritual leadership is characterized by selflessness, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to God's truth, even when that truth is challenging or unpopular. We are called to be wary of any message that prioritizes personal gain, financial incentive, or conditional blessings, as these are often hallmarks of the mercenary spirit condemned by Micah. Instead, we should seek out and embrace teaching that faithfully proclaims the whole counsel of God, calls for genuine repentance, and fosters a deeper relationship with Christ, regardless of the personal cost to the messenger or the recipient. This verse compels us to cultivate a robust biblical literacy and a discerning spirit, ensuring that our spiritual nourishment comes from the pure wellspring of God's Word, not from polluted streams of self-interest.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does "bite with their teeth" mean in this context?
Answer: The phrase "bite with their teeth" (Hebrew nâshak) is a powerful metaphor that conveys the predatory and exploitative nature of the false prophets. It can be understood in two primary ways: first, like a wild animal preying on its victim, consuming and draining them for personal sustenance; second, in a legal sense, it can refer to charging usury or excessive interest, implying that these prophets were financially exploiting the people. In either interpretation, it highlights their avarice and the harm they inflicted upon God's people, contrasting sharply with the nurturing role of a true shepherd. This imagery underscores the depth of their corruption and the destructive impact of their self-serving ministry.
Why did the false prophets "cry, Peace" but then "prepare war"?
Answer: The false prophets would "cry, Peace" (Hebrew shalom) to those who paid them or otherwise met their demands, offering superficial assurances of well-being and prosperity. This was a manipulative tactic to maintain their influence and income. However, the moment their financial or personal expectations were not met ("he that putteth not into their mouths"), their message immediately shifted from "peace" to hostility. They would "prepare war against him," meaning they would pronounce curses, threats, or condemnations. This stark contrast reveals that their pronouncements were not from God but were entirely conditional upon their own selfish interests, exposing their hypocrisy and the mercenary nature of their "prophecy." This is similar to the condemnation found in Jeremiah 6:14 where prophets cry "Peace, peace; when there is no peace."
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Micah 3:5 finds its ultimate Christ-centered fulfillment in the person and ministry of Jesus, who stands as the antithesis of the false prophets condemned by Micah. Jesus is the true Prophet, not motivated by personal gain or the approval of men, but by radical obedience to the Father and sacrificial love for humanity. Unlike the false prophets who offered a conditional "peace" based on payment, Jesus freely offered true and lasting peace, a shalom that transcends worldly circumstances and is rooted in reconciliation with God through His atoning work on the cross (as seen in John 14:27 and Ephesians 2:14). While the false prophets "bit with their teeth" and exploited the people, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, laid down His life for His sheep, nurturing and protecting them (as declared in John 10:11). Furthermore, Jesus Himself faced and condemned the religious leaders of His day who, much like Micah's prophets, were more concerned with their own status and traditions than with leading the people to God (e.g., Matthew 23:1-36). He did not "prepare war" against those who withheld from Him, but rather, He willingly suffered rejection and death at their hands, ultimately bringing salvation to all who believe. Thus, Jesus perfectly embodies the true prophetic ministry, fulfilling the righteous demands of God and exposing the emptiness of all self-serving spiritual deception.