Series in Micah - Hating Good and loving Evil

 

Hating Good and loving Evil

Micah 3:1-4

In our world today, corruption runs rampant through the majority of our world leaders, from the political, from the legal, and from those who are presiding over spirituality, morals, and truth. Lord Acton, an English historian, wrote this aphorism about the corruption he saw in the world. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”  He saw absolute corruption in his days in the English three legs of power and hierarchy: Religious, Political, and Legal,. This quote is as apt for our days as it would have been in the days of Micah the prophet. 

So let's begin with the reading of the first portion of the text. I said, “Listen, you leaders of Israel! You are supposed to know right from wrong, but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil.”

Micah’s second oracle was directed at the three branches of leadership in Israel, the political, the religious, and the legal. He is preaching not to the common people but to the hierarchy. For corruption was rampant amongst all parts of the leadership of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. He addressed both as Israel, and proclaimed God’s disdaining word of judgment against the three legs of leadership, and it was scathing. Of all the people, the leadership should have known what true justice was. For Moses had left them the commandments of God; to fear God and do justice. “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today.” (Deut. 10:12-15)

 And Micah in his rebuke to the leadership in this message from God left them the absolute truth, “The Lord God has told us what is right and what he demands: ‘See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God.’” (Micah 6:8)

But it fell on deaf ears, hearden hearts, and blind eyes. For the corruption of sin’s power had taken its toll on the hearts and minds of the leadership for many years and leadership changes. They were calling good evil and evil good, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isa 5:20) And Micah made the case that they loved evil and hated good, “…you are the very ones who hate good and love evil.” God is patient, much more so than man, but He has his limit.

Application - It would be too easy to bring out the finger of judgment in our present time on the corruption of leadership and the sinful concept of calling “good evil, and evil good.” For it seems that this sinful concept has been the stable for much of what we do and the manner in which the government is run and manipulated. And it isn’t just our country but the nations of the world. 

And if someone were to proclaim condemnation upon all those who are captive to this degeneration of all justice (right and wrong) they would be lambasted over every form of media and labeled as a hater and imprisoned. And many of those in leadership have shielded themselves with empowerment and given  themselves impunity and anonymity (It isn’t me). As God spoke through the prophet Micah, there is no excuse! The unraveling of our societies lie at the feet of those who lead by embracing and propagating hate as good and their love for evil. And what is even more deranged, is they are totally blinded to their debasement and transgression of the moral laws that God has instituted for mankind. As we shall see in the next portion of the text.

Second, Micah describes the heinous acts of the leadership in graphic detail. Let’s read the next portion of the text. “You skin my people alive and tear the flesh from their bones. Yes, you eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin, and break their bones. You chop them up like meat for the cooking pot.”

Micah used comparisons of sin with other sinful actions. Cannibalism had really happened in Samaria in the time of Elisha, the man of God. Because of Israel’s sins, they were facing severe famine and the sword of the army of the Assyrians coming down upon them, both judgments from God. (2 Kings 6:24-33), and king Jehoram of Israel tore his clothes because of the judgment and the degradation of the state of the country that he ruled and led in the sin of idolatry. He had killed his own brothers to secure the throne for himself, he was supported by the daughter of Jezebel, his wife from the alliance he had with king Ahab, and she led him into more idolatry and the building of more shrines on the high places in Israel causing prostitution to run rampant. God’s judgment upon the nation of Israel was to be the sword, plague, and famine, which inevitably ended in cannibalizing by the people. And His son Ahaziah, did the same despicable sins. One hundred or so years later, another king, king Jotham of Judah (Micah’s time) went substantially farther in leading Judah from God by worshiping the Baals, And his son Ahaz placed his own son into the fire to Moloch, a Canaanite deity, and he took pleasure in the prostitution on the high places and worshiping idols that were everywhere in Judah. “Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals. He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.”(2 Chr. 28:1-4 NIV)

Thus Micah calls out the leader's sins as the reason for the downfall of the nation and the abominable  treatment of the poor, the common, and the widow/orphans. The sin of the leadership was likened to skinning the flesh off the people while they were still alive, and tearing the meat of their body from their bones, chopping them up and cooking them in a pot. They were as guilty of these heinous sins as all those who may have actually performed the abominable acts of cannibalism.

Application - I cannot do justice to this short blog lesson with the sinful acts of leadership from around the world and in our nation particularly. So I will examine key atrocities of sin that are back and supported by leaders who should know right from wrong. First, the denial of God in a country leads them into the same immoral and atrocious acts that Israel and other nations had succumbed to because of their denial of God’s ways. When a nation denies God’s sovereign rule and His laws that govern morality, they enact idolatry and the same dark spiritual powers that ruled in the past become prevalent today. Ancient spiritual powers do not die, but wait to be welcomed in by those who refuse God’s laws and rule. “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” (Matt. 12:43-45) And the end game is anarchy and the ruin and demise of the country.

 Second, is the shameful sin of denying life to the innocent. In the story of Israel’s fall and judgment as well as many other substantial countries, the people ate their own family members, and the youngest were normally the first. We may not be cannibalizing our children today, but we have done a more heinous act of sin, by killing them before they have a chance to live and using their body parts for their stem cells in makeup and anti-aging creams as well as other things. This sin is practiced everywhere in our world today, especially in the advanced and educated countries. I can’t even imagine the millions if not billions of infants sacrificed for the rights of others, supported and delegated by leadership who should know right from wrong, but like Micah stated, “but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil.” 

We read the text and say to ourselves how could they do that, it is barbaric. Yet, sin knows no limits in its barbarism, we just give it a new name and a polished reason for happening.

Third, the disintegration of God’s statutes on family and genders. I will not go into the depth of this sin, but we and our leadership know what is right and what is wrong. For if we love evil and hate good, then what else should we expect, for what we sow so shall we reap.

Last, Micah castigates the leadership for their ignorance of God’s word and council, so let’s read the last portion of the text. “Then you beg the Lord for help in times of trouble! Do you really expect him to answer? After all the evil you have done, he won’t even look at you!”

Like king Jehoram, the leaders were only thinking of their own remorse and sorrow over the state of the nation, but it was too late, even though king Jehoram put on a sackcloth under his outerwear and tried to blame the prophet Elisha for the state of the nation. (2 Kings 6:30-31), the “chickens had come home to roost”.

The leadership like many before them and after them regretted their sins that they had sown and now reaped the consequences and the wrath of God. In their lameful sorrow, they sought God’s mercy and compassion, but God wasn’t listening to any of their pleas nor would he justify answering them other than through the proclaimed judgment and curses. God had told them it would come upon them from the times of Moses, and it happened just as God said. God’s warning in (Deut. 28:49-57) was now a fact and God had hidden His face from them. “The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you. Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.  Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.” (Deut. 28:49-57)

Application - God is not fickle or capricious. He is the absolute standard for truth, He doesn’t change his mind as man does, and what He says He will do. “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” “‘Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My plan will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’”(Num. 23:19; Isa. 46:9-10)

When God close up His ears and His face to us, we should know that He will act in His sovereignty and justice. And this is what leadership doesn’t understand. We can’t trifle with God, or think that God will tolerate sin, even worse that God doesn’t care. When mankind loves evil and hates good, it is a grievous sin, and when we grieve God with our malicious denial of knowing Him, the truth, and knowing right from wrong, we choose to love evil, and to hate good.

We sing a song called “Same God.” It is a wonderful song of God’s deliverances and protection, His provision and comfort. But He is also the “same God” who judged the nations for their harlotry, transgressions, and iniquity done in rebellion and hardheartedness. They too believed that the same God is compassionate, merciful, and patient. But neglected He is also righteous, holy, and just. He will send judgment and wrath on us because we love evil and hate good, as surely do the leaders that we elect. They truly know what is right and what is wrong. What we have sown we will reap, and we cannot blame anyone else for our deeds and chosen lifestyles, less we mock God. 

But there is hope, if we will humble ourselves, repent, and obey God’s Word by seeking Him. For it was God who said, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” (2 Chr. 7:14)

Salvation is a “one on one” with God, but the restoration of a nation takes all the people to be in consecrated unity towards God. Don’t think it can happen because of a few godly people, read Ezk. 14:19-20.

“Or, if I visit a deadly disease on that country, pouring out my lethal anger, killing both people and animals, and Noah, Daniel, and Job happened to be alive at the time, as sure as I am the living God, not a son, not a daughter, would be rescued. Only these three would be delivered because of their righteousness. (MSG)

I’m again including the ABC’s of salvation for all those who have not yet received Jesus Christ for salvation. For Jesus, God the Son, came to this world to save all who would believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He will answer you if you will truly believe. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

 First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third, 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis

I have revised my webpage on Spiritual warfare. Please give it a look. Thank you. http://uss-warfare3.webnode.com