Micah 3:11

God himself was the real king (ruler) of *Israel. He chose to teach his words (his law) by means of the leaders. These were in three groups.

1) The rulers. They were the judges. They used the law in practice. It was their responsibility to give fair decisions in the courts.

2) The *priests. They taught the law (Deuteronomy 17:8-10).

3) The *prophets. They brought messages from God.

Together these groups were responsible for the people’s safety and security. But all the leaders loved money. That was their main problem. Paul mentions this problem in his letter to Timothy. ‘When people love money, that love causes all kinds of evil things’ (1 Timothy 6:10). The judges made decisions in the courts. They demanded money from anyone who came to them. The person would pay. Then the judge would give a favourable decision. The *priests taught, but only for money. The *prophets told about the future. And they would demand money for that service.

It seemed that everything was well in Jerusalem. Its people had wonderful buildings. They were rich. Trade was good. The *Temple (God’s house) was in the centre of everything. It was on the mountain called Zion, which was also called the holy hill. That is why the people often gave to Jerusalem the name Zion. The *Temple was the most holy place. The leaders prayed there. They sang *psalms. The leaders made sacrifices. (They burnt animals that they had killed.) They offered those animals to God. The leaders tried to control God. They performed *religious duties. So they thought that God would help them.

However, they did crimes against the people. They praised God when they were in the *Temple. But they did evil things in their daily actions elsewhere. They lived in two different ways. They could not see the difference between those two ways. ‘The heart is more wicked than anything. It is very evil. Nobody can understand it’ (Jeremiah 17:9). They could not understand these things.

So all is not right. The rulers do all those evil things. Then they expect God to help them. They say, ‘God is our help, so nothing bad will happen to us.’ They live in an evil way. But they still believe that God will help them. They believe that he will protect their nation. They have forgotten that God made rules. And his protection depends on right behaviour. (Look at Deuteronomy chapter 28.)

In this message, Micah warns God’s people in every age. On Sundays we go to church. We praise God and we sing songs. Most days we are at work or we are at home. But it makes no difference where we are. Our behaviour should always be the same. We should live the same way on Monday as we do on Sunday.

There is a right way to trust God. We trust him because of his kindness and *forgiveness. We trust him for strength. We trust him to guide us. (Look at Psalms 71:5-6.) But Micah is speaking about something different. These people said that they were trusting God. But they were not obeying God. They said that they had security. But God would not protect them. They said that God was with them. But in fact, they were wicked and God was opposing them. Because of their wicked deeds, God would destroy Jerusalem.

v12 People will plough Zion (Jerusalem) like a field. Jerusalem will become a heap of rubbish. Weeds and bushes will cover the mountain where the *Temple now stands. You rulers will be responsible for this. It will happen because of you.