Micah · chapter 2 of 7
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Micah 2 pronounces woe on the powerful who plan evil at night and carry it out by day, coveting fields and houses and taking them from their owners. The Lord announces disaster they will not escape, rejects the false prophets who ask Micah to be silent, and ends with the promise to gather the remnant of Jacob like sheep, with the Lord at their head.
After the lament over Samaria and Judah in chapter 1, Micah turns to concrete sins, and the center of his denunciation is economic injustice. The landowners of Judah used their power to seize family inheritances, a serious matter in a land divided by God among the families. At the end of the chapter a short oracle of hope breaks in.
Micah pronounces woe on those who devise wickedness and plan evil on their beds. At morning light they carry it out, because it is in their power. They covet fields and seize them, houses and take them; they oppress a man and his house, a person and his inheritance.
Therefore the Lord is devising disaster against this family, from which they cannot remove their necks, nor will they walk haughtily, for it will be an evil time. On that day a taunt song will be raised against them: we are utterly ruined, he changes the portion of my people, how he removes it from me! He allots our fields to others. Therefore they will have none to cast the line by lot in the assembly of the Lord.
Those who oppose tell Micah not to preach, one should not preach of such things, disgrace will not overtake us. The prophet asks whether this is said of the house of Jacob and whether the Lord is impatient. His words do good to the one who walks uprightly. But his people have risen up as an enemy: they strip the robe from those who pass by trustingly, drive the women of his people from their pleasant houses and take away the glory of their children forever. So let them arise and go, for this is no place of rest. If a man walking in falsehood were to lie, saying he will preach of wine and strong drink, he would be the preacher for this people.
The chapter ends with a promise: the Lord will surely assemble all of Jacob and gather the remnant of Israel. He will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture, and they will be noisy with the multitude of people. He who opens the breach goes up before them, they break through the gate and go out, and their king passes on before them with the Lord at their head.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The woe falls on those who plan evil on their beds and carry it out at dawn, because they have the power to do so. Micah denounces injustice planned coldly and carried out with impunity.
They covet fields and houses and take them, oppressing a man and his inheritance. In Israel land was an inheritance given by God to each family, so stripping it away was an attack on the divine allotment.
The listeners tell Micah not to preach, as if the truth could be silenced. That reaction belongs to those who prefer not to hear what God says about their sins.
The Lord promises to gather Jacob and the remnant of Israel like sheep in a fold. In the middle of judgment a shepherd's promise appears: God does not abandon his people but brings them together again.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: They plan it on their beds and carry it out at morning light, because it is in their power. — Micah 2:1
Answer: Fields and houses, which they seize and take from their owners. — Micah 2:2
Answer: Disaster from which they cannot remove their necks, and an evil time. — Micah 2:3
Answer: Not to preach about these things. — Micah 2:6
Answer: One who would preach of wine and strong drink. — Micah 2:11
Answer: To sheep in a fold and a flock in its pasture. — Micah 2:12
Micah 2 denounces injustices that could look legal because those who committed them had the power to do so. Today too there are abuses disguised as business. In a Sunday school class you can ask whether our work or our income depends on practices that harm others, and what we would do if God asked us to change them.
The chapter also warns against wanting a spiritual message that only makes us feel good. The people preferred a prophet who promised wine and strong drink. Let us ask God for ears to hear what is uncomfortable when it is true, and remember that even amid correction the Lord presents himself as a shepherd who gathers and guides his own.
Micah 2 ends with a light of hope in the middle of the accusation: the Lord will gather his own and lead them. In chapter 3 the prophet will address the rulers, priests and prophets who betray the people.
In Israel the land had been divided among the families as an inheritance from God and was not to be lost forever. Powerful people who piled up fields by pressure or fraud left families without a livelihood, which contradicted the order of justice God had given.
The text says the one who opens the breach goes up before them, and their king passes on before with the Lord at their head. It is the image of a leader who clears the way. Many Christians see in that promise an anticipation of Christ, the shepherd and king, though the text does not say so.
It is satire. If a prophet promised abundance and comfort, the people would accept him at once. The passage shows how an unjust society looks for voices that will not rebuke it, and contrasts with Micah's courage.