Is the LORD Among Corrupt Leaders? Micah 3:11

Micah the prophet addressed the leadership within Jacob and Israel. Their ways were pernicious and wicked, and although they had authority over the people within Samaria and Jerusalem, they abused their powers and took bribes which persuaded their judgment and favor. Through their wicked ways they built “up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity”, and in chapter three and verse eleven of his prophesy, Micah continued with his indictments against these wicked leaders where he wrote:

The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.

The verse begins, “The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money:” Micah mentions three groups within this portion of the verse. The first were the “heads” which were the “top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, and front” of the people, “thereof judge” which means “govern, vindicate, or punish” “for reward” or “presents or bribes”. They chose to vindicate or discriminate based upon whether the people would bribe them. In addressing the second group, Micah said, “and the priests” which were “the principal officer or chief ruler within spiritual matters” “thereof teach” which literally means “to shoot, throw out, cast or pour” “for hire” or “price, reward and gain”. In other words, if they were paid or remunerated for their instruction, they would pour out to their students. If they were not paid, they would withhold their teaching. Finally, the third group mentioned by Micah were “the prophets” or “false and heathen prophets” who would “thereof divine” or “practice divination, surmise, speculate and make conjecture” “for money” or “silver, shekels or talents”. All three of these leadership groups were persuaded by whether someone “rewarded” them for their judgments.

The verse continues, “yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.” In the midst of their wicked ways, these leaders according to the prophet Micah would “lean upon” which means “trust in and support” “upon the LORD” which is “Yehovah or Jehovah – the existing one”. Though they were being wicked by allowing bribes and rewards influence their rulings and judgments, they still declared their dependence upon the LORD. Micah proclaimed they would “say, Is not the LORD among us?” which means “in our midst, within the middle and inner part of us”. Then these wicked leaders would pronounce, “none evil” or “bad, disagreeable, malignant or displeasing thing” “can come upon us” or “go in, enter or come in against us”. Though these leaders and prophets were practicing evil and were influenced in their judgments and rulings by whether people bribed and reward them or not, they still believed the LORD was with them and would protect them from any harm.

As we meditate upon these words of Micah, perhaps we should think about the deception that was present with these evil leaders. They believed they could act wickedly and still have the presence of the LORD with them. It was as though they were oblivious to the fact that their wickedness would have consequences and repercussions. As we ponder the ways of these leaders, we should be certain that we are not behaving as they did and that we are not deceived into believing wicked behavior is somehow unobserved or unseen. The LORD knows when perverted justice flows from leadership, and though for a while it may appear they are escaping His judgment, we can be certain that their evil will not go unrewarded. May the LORD Jesus help us to trust in Him with all the wickedness in leaders that He openly sees.

Next time Micah writes of the results of these wicked leaders' ways, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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