©Michael Player
Chapter 2:11-13 (ESV) - If a man should go about and utter wind and lies,
saying, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,”
he would be the preacher for this people!
I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;
I will gather the remnant of Israel;
I will set them together
like sheep in a fold,
like a flock in its pasture,
a noisy multitude of men.
He who opens the breach goes up before them;
they break through and pass the gate,
going out by it.
Their king passes on before them,
the Lord at their head.
Question to consider: Who was the king who led the remnant of Israel as sheep in a fold?
Admittedly, I probably should have included the first verse of today’s passage in yesterday’s study, for it was the oppressors who would be fitting to have preachers who preach of wine and strong drink and utter wind and lies.
The apostle Paul warned Timothy, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4) Even though Paul was speaking of the church, he based this warning on the words of prophets like Micah, Jeremiah, and Malachi. Those who gained unrighteous wealth, made sure the preachers of their day were well-funded so they would sanction the oppression of their fellow brothers and sisters. Rather than preaching the word of God, Micah calls out their worthlessness by calling their preaching wind and lies.
The translation should really put a break in between this statement and the next, for the rest of chapter 2 is a promise of Christ. The promise was that the LORD would gather His remnant like sheep, and the king who leads them is the Good Shepherd, Christ Jesus. He is the guard of the sheep gate, and instead of preaching wind and lies, He preaches the truth.
To the remnant of Micah’s time who heard this promise, it was an assurance that they would be protected by the LORD in Assyrian captivity, but every promise of God given to the prophets was verified by a near-term fulfillment so that future generations could have faith in its ultimate fulfillment in Christ. We live in a time in which Christians ignore the fulfillment in Christ and attribute these promises to some future fulfillment in modern-day Israel. I even get called antisemitic for pointing this out. This is ridiculous because the view that ties this to a future land promise diminishes the glory of Christ and preaches a false gospel to the Jews.
It is because of my love for all of my friends who are Jewish that I joyfully point them to Christ and desire that they be reconciled to the Father through Him.
Dear heavenly Father, please open our eyes to Christ in scripture as You did for the young men who walked with the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus. May all who read Micah see Your wonderful promises within its pages. Amen.