The “heads of Jacob”
and the “princes of Israel” who “hate the good”
and “love the evil” among their people were perniciously
and wickedly treating the people whom they had been given charge.
Rather than blessing and watching over the people, they took
advantage of them by robbing and pillaging them as though they were
preparing them “as for the pot, and as flesh within the
caldron”. In chapter three and verse four of Micah's prophecy
concerning these leaders, he describes how they will cry out to the
Lord, but the Lord will not hear them where we read:
Then shall they cry
unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face
from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their
doings.
The
verse begins, “Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he
will not hear them:” Let us
employ our imaginations for a moment and think about these leaders
who thought themselves to be fully in charge. They took advantage of
people, and without any retribution in site, they supposed themselves
fully safe in their wicked activities. However, Micah knew that
judgment was to fall upon them, and when it does, “Then
shall they cry” or “call or
call out for help” “unto the LORD”
or “Yehovah or Jehovah”, “but he will not hear them”
which means “to answer, respond, testify, speak, or shout”
unto them. When judgment falls, they will appeal to the One who is
ultimately in charge of everything, but He will not answer their
pleas.
The
verse goes on to say, “ he will even hide his face from them at
that time,” Not only will the LORD not answer them, but Micah
adds, “he will even hide” which means “conceal or
carefully hide” “his face” or “presence or person”
“from them at that time” which means “experience,
fortune, occurrence or occasion”. In other words, the LORD will
conceal Himself so that no one will know His presence during this
time.
Finally
the verse says, “as they have behaved themselves ill in their
doings.” To be clear concerning the reason the LORD will not
answer and will “hide his face” from them, Micah wrote
again concerning these leaders' activities: “as they have
behaved themselves ill” which means “bad, evil, wicked,
displeasing and broken in pieces” “in their doings” or
“deeds, practices and acts”. Though they may have thought
themselves getting away with their evil deeds, the LORD was watching
and judgment was to fall upon them because of their acts. When this
judgment fell, none of them would be heard by the LORD, and none of
them would know His presence.
When we
meditate upon these ominous words of Micah, it might help us if we
imagine ourselves being these leaders who would cry out to the LORD,
but He would not hear. We might think about what it would be like to
have the LORD “hide his face” from us, and not allow us to
know His presence in our time of need. They key to understanding this
verse is to realize the reason these two actions were taken by the
LORD. The leadership of Judah and Israel were practicing evil, and
their wickedness was not going unnoticed by the LORD. While we think
upon these things, perhaps there are areas within our lives where we
think ourselves to be unseen and without observance. We must always
remember what we read in Hebrews chapter four and verse thirteen:
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight:
but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him
with whom we have to do.
May the
LORD Jesus always be ready to answer us, never hide His face from us,
and help to remember that everything we do is within His site, and
nothing is hidden from Him.
Next
time Micah begins to prophecy concerning the judgment of the false
prophets who were among the people,
so read ahead, and
we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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