Hearing hard words from God (Mic 2:6-11)

As a student in Hungary, I desperately wanted an overseas experience and was considering applying for a scholarship abroad. Seeking God, the story in Jer 42:1-22 spoke to me, where the Jews are in a tight spot and ask Jeremiah for God’s advice committing to do whatever he tells them. The Lord’s response is that if they flee from the land, then all the things they dread will overtake them, but if they remain, He will make things right and protect them. My situation was somewhat different, but I felt the Lord saying that I needed to stay too. Although I was quite shaken by the dire consequences of disobedience in the passage, I suddenly wondered if I was just making a big to-do about nothing. Yet, I could not ignore the similarity of my reaction to what the people replied to Jeremiah claiming that his prophecy was a lie and God did not send him (Jer 43:2). That did it for me and I decided to obey, but that incident reminds me how easy it is to dismiss God’s words when it says something we do not want to hear.[1]

This is Israel and Judah’s problem in our passage. Like many Christians today who focus on God’s love, grace and forgiveness exclusively and hear little about the need for discipleship, Israel too revelled in God’s covenant commitment, of being His chosen people who had His presence and protection. How could anyone like Micah claim that all that was nothing and disaster was on its way? Their response is to try and silence such prophets. Micah replies that unless these messages are given, the coming humiliation (reproaches) cannot be reversed (Mic 2:6).[2] It is only as God’s people hear and respond with repentance that there is a chance of averting disaster.

Behind Israel’s attitude is a false understanding of God. They cannot imagine that God’s Spirit could become impatient and angry with them and do such things as bring judgment (Mic 2:7). Micah acknowledges that God’s words are positive for those who are godly but points out that Israel has behaved like an enemy of God when they oppressed others (Mic 2:8-9).[3] Like the Canaanites whom God evicted because of their sins, so His own people will be driven out and find no resting place in the land (Mic 2:10; Lev 18:26-28; Deut 12:9-10). Sadly, the people’s attitude is to choose speakers according to their liking. It matters little that such prophets are full of hot air (‘walking after wind’) and deceive with self-serving lies, the important thing is that they speak something intoxicating that cheers the heart (like wine and liquor; Mic 2:11). Like alcohol, however, the downside is that such messages will tragically numb the mind and senses.

Even if our practices are not so blatant as Israel’s, there are subtle ways in which we may refuse to hear God’s admonishment or struggle to deliver such a message to others. When we share the gospel, do we skim over the unpleasant aspect of sin? It is hard not to in a secular context where sin has been erased from our vocabularies. Those in spiritual leadership (pastors, elders) may also need courage to speak a challenge into the lives of others. If our church practices charismatic gifts like prophecy, do these have a place for correction or only for encouragement? In our own Bible reading, do we focus and seek out the positive passages or are we willing to engage with ‘the full counsel of God’ even when the message is difficult to hear? Many today push away certain teachings in the Bible as unpalatable, most obviously to do with God’s judgement (a merciful God surely wouldn’t be so cruel as to condemn such-and-such?). Biblical sexuality is also a particularly contentious area (surely, a loving God would not deny fulfilment to so-and-so!). Since we have so much scope in choosing a church or what sermon we listen to, it becomes easy to pick preachers and Christian fellowship according to our tastes. May we have the honesty to recognise our deceptive hearts and seek to hear from the Lord no matter how hard His words are to hear.

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[1] As a postscript, a year after this when I had completed my degree, the Lord opened an extraordinary opportunity for me to go to Israel into a Christian context which became a life-changing experience – something I would have missed, had I not obeyed.

[2] Many translations amend the Hebrew issag (‘to be removed, withdrawn’) to ishshag to mean ‘overtake’ (the difference in Hebrew is one letter). Read this way, v.6 is said by the people entirely and stresses that prophets like Micah should not speak ‘such things’ (i.e. judgment) because disasters will not overtake the people.

[3] Hebrew doesn’t have quotation marks, so it is unclear whether v.7b is Micah affirming that God’s words are for the good of the godly, or whether it is the people who say that God’s message must mean something good for ‘those who walk uprightly’ (claiming godliness for themselves).

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