Micah pronounced impending judgement on the rich barons who planned evil on their beds and do it the next day because they were backed up by legal and financial power. They coveted fields, lands and homes of the poor and defrauded the latter of their inheritance. They blatantly broke the principles of covenant life (Leviticus 19) and denied the Lord’s ownership of the land; they ignored the covenantal brotherhood and rejected the ten commandments, specifically the command not to covet what belonged to their neighbour.
The Lord pronounced disaster on them; they stole the fields of others but their fields will be stolen from them. Here again, there is wordplay and irony; the words translated “evil” and “disaster” in verse 3 are virtually identical in Hebrew. The words “save” and “takes” translate the same Hebrew “remove”. The sinners would not be able to “remove” themselves from the Lord’s judgement, but their enemies would be able to “remove” them from their property.
Micah then turned his attention to the false prophets and the people. They believed they were immune to punishment and that God would not do what He threatened through prophets like Micah.
The people practised social injustice against the vulnerable, including even children and women; they continued to have a sense of false security. We note the danger of presumption. They rejected God’s true prophets and their warnings; instead the people listened to false prophets who promised their blessings and who in fact prophesied for money and profit. The land was contaminated by evil and would no longer be a resting place. It was destined for destruction.
The ten commandments and God’s laws reflect the values of the Lord God and they are meant to lead HIs people to live a life that is best for them, giving them moral and spiritual direction. They are a love gift from God to His people, both those in the Old Testament and those in the new covenant in the New Testament. We have a problem keeping the Ten Commandments because man is born in bondage to sin and selfishness. We cannot help but break God’s holy law. Jesus came to do what we ourselves could not do. As our human representative, Jesus fulfilled the law of God by perfectly obeying God’s commands and by paying the penalty of death that all lawbreakers owe. When we are born again, God gives a new heart (Jeremiah 31) and He gives us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God who empowers us to obey God’s commands. The good news is that under the new covenant inaugurated by Jesus, God’s people are empowered to obey God’s law. Although we are not yet perfected, we can move increasingly towards keeping God’s laws more consistently. When we fail, there is the avenue of forgiveness in Christ when we repent (1 John 1:9).
We see how disaster comes about when God’s people rebel and forsake the Lord’s commands and laws, leading to broken and negative relationships horizontally. Micah pinpointed this to the people in Judah and pronounced evil and disaster on them. Loving God rightly and keeping His commands, not because of fear, but because of love and gratefulness, will cause us to love our neighbours sincerely. God’s love spills over in our lives to touch and love our neighbours.
From verses 12 to 13, the Lord suddenly looked ahead to a day beyond the judgement when He would restore the exiled people.Though the coming judgement would reduce the nation to a remnant, the Lord, like a shepherd, would lead them out of their captor’s city and bring them to HIs own fold, viewed as a second exodus. Here is an example of how Micah moved from the oracle of judgement to the oracle of hope suddenly. He would return to judgement from Chapter 3. God’s judgement on His people seeks to lead them to repentance because of His love for them.