Leadership That Fails a Nation

Micah 3 contains the prophet’s rebuke of Israel’s leaders. The case is made in all the prophetic books that a people’s leaders are responsible for the increased wickedness of a culture and they will be held responsible. 

Micah 3:1–2 (NLT) I said, “Listen, you leaders of Israel!  You are supposed to know right from wrong, 2 but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil. You skin my people alive and tear the flesh from their bones.

Notice the first line. Leaders are supposed to know right from wrong. They are leaders for that very reason. America is a democracy. Unfortunately, that means the leaders have to follow the cultural trends if they want to get elected. Today’s leaders show very little moral courage to buck popular opinion and do what’s right. 

Micah 3:3–4 (ESV) who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron. Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them;

The Lord declares the leader’s prayers will not be heard because they abuse God’s people. That should sound familiar to New Testament readers. Peter makes the same argument about men who mistreat their wives. In light of Micah 3, the passage in 1 Peter 3 becomes yet more evidence that men are called to lead the home. 

1 Peter 3:7 (ESV) Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

The leaders of Israel were bad, but so were the prophets. They were greedy charlatans who catered to the highest bidder.

Micah 3:5 (ESV) Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths.

God declares the voice of the prophets will be shut, as He will not reveal His word to them anymore.

Micah 3:6–7 (ESV) The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.

A nation’s leaders are shaped by the prophet’s voice. If the prophetic voice doesn’t speak up, the leaders will become corrupt, and the people will suffer under their influence. It’s a cascade that begins in the house of God. Another reminder from Peter fits:

1 Peter 4:17 (ESV) For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

The New Living Translation makes that connection clear in the last verse of Micah 3.

Micah 3:12 (NLT) Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins! A thicket will grow on the heights where the Temple now stands.

God brings judgment where? Not simply the city, but upon the Temple. The epicenter of Israel's worship will be gone! If a spiritual house lacks a prophetic voice, one that utters God's Word free from financial influence, it no longer serves a purpose and is cut off. 

We find in this chapter a solemn reminder of the necessity of a church in a community unafraid to say, "Thus saith the Lord," whether the people want to hear it or not.