Commentary - Micah 2:6-11

Bird's-eye view

In this section of Micah, the prophet is in the thick of it. He has just pronounced a blistering woe upon the rapacious land-grabbers who devise wickedness on their beds and carry it out at first light simply because it is in the power of their hand (Micah 2:1-2). God promises to devise a disaster in return (Micah 2:3). Now, in our text, we get the response from the targets of this prophetic word. And what is their response? It is to tell the prophet of God to shut up. This is a classic confrontation between the true word of God, which is always sharp and disruptive, and the false prophets who are more than willing to provide the soothing lies the people want to hear. The people have an itch, and they want it scratched by preachers who will prophesy of wine and strong drink. Micah here lays bare the corrupt heart of a people who love darkness rather than light, precisely because their deeds are evil.

The passage is a heated dialogue. We hear the voice of the people and their pet prophets telling Micah to stop "dripping out words." Then we hear Micah, speaking for Yahweh, responding with a series of sharp, rhetorical questions that expose their foolishness and their rebellion. He points out their violent hypocrisy, how they have turned on their own countrymen, stripping them bare and casting out the vulnerable. The section concludes with a bitter, sarcastic description of the kind of preacher this people would actually welcome, a man full of wind and lies, promising them carnal delights. This is a covenant lawsuit in miniature, where the prosecuting attorney, Micah, presents the evidence of Israel's breach of covenant, and their contempt for the court itself.

Outline

Context In Micah

This passage, Micah 2:6-11, sits within the first major cycle of Micah's prophecy, which runs from chapter 1 through chapter 2. This first cycle follows a pattern we see throughout the book: warning, judgment, and then a promise of hope. Chapter 1 was a thunderous announcement of God's judgment against both Samaria (the northern kingdom) and Jerusalem (the southern kingdom) for their idolatry. The beginning of chapter 2 narrows the focus to the specific social sins that were rotting Judah from the inside out, namely the greed and oppression of the wealthy landowners.

Our text is the direct reaction to Micah's preaching in verses 1-5. He has just told them that because they seize fields and houses, God is going to seize their land and give it to others. They will be "utterly ruined." It is in response to this hard, unyielding word of judgment that the false prophets and the people rise up to tell Micah to stop it. They don't want to hear it. This section therefore functions as a crucial diagnostic tool. It reveals not just the sin of the people, but their hardened refusal to repent of that sin. Their desire for ear-tickling prophets (v. 11) is the spiritual symptom of their moral disease. This confrontation sets the stage for the brief but glorious promise of restoration that follows in verses 12-13, showing that God's grace is not thwarted by man's rebellion.

Verse by Verse Commentary

v. 6 ‘Do not speak, dripping out words,’ they say while dripping out words. But if they do not drip out words concerning these things, Dishonor will not be turned back.

Here we have the raw nerve. The word for "speak" or "prophesy" here is literally "to drip," like water from a leaky faucet. The false prophets and the people are mocking Micah's preaching. "Stop your dripping, your sputtering, your incessant nagging." It is a contemptuous dismissal. But notice the beautiful irony Micah employs. They tell him not to drip, "while dripping out words" themselves. Their very prohibition is a form of prophecy, a false prophecy. They are laying down the law, telling God's man what he is and is not allowed to say. This is the essence of rebellion, trying to manage God, to put Him on a leash. They want to control the prophetic drip. But Micah points out the consequence. If the true prophets are silenced, if they do not "drip out words concerning these things", the sins of the people and the coming judgment, then the "dishonor" or "shame" will not be turned back. The only way to avert the coming disgrace is to heed the dripping word of warning. By trying to shut it off, they are ensuring their own ruin. They think the prophet is the source of their trouble, when he is in fact their only hope of escape.

v. 7 Is it being said, O house of Jacob: ‘Is the Spirit of Yahweh impatient? Are these His deeds?’ Do not My words do good To the one walking uprightly?

Micah now turns from the words of the people to the words of Yahweh. He poses a series of rhetorical questions that cut to the heart of their complaint. First, "Is the Spirit of Yahweh impatient?" The word can mean shortened, or constricted. They are acting as if God's Spirit has a short fuse, as if He is being unreasonable and harsh. They are maligning the character of God, painting Him as some irritable deity. Their theology is rotten. They have forgotten the long-suffering of God, and so they mistake His righteous judgment for mere divine crankiness. Second, "Are these His deeds?" They look at the coming judgment and they cannot believe that a good God would do such things. This is the perennial cry of the sinner who wants a God fashioned in his own image, a God who is always nice and never severe. They have separated God's character from His actions. But God's judgments are just as much a part of His character as His mercies. Then comes the clincher: "Do not My words do good to the one walking uprightly?" The problem is not with the words of God. The problem is with the spiritual posture of the listener. To the man whose walk is upright, God's word is a lamp, a comfort, a source of life. But to the crooked man, that same word is a hammer, a fire, an offense. The fault is not in the sun that it melts the wax and hardens the clay. The fault is in the substance being shone upon.

v. 8 And recently My people have arisen as an enemy, You strip the robe off the garment From unsuspecting passers-by, From those returned from war.

Here the indictment gets specific. God says, "My people have arisen as an enemy." They are in covenant with Him, they bear His name, but their actions are those of an adversary. This is civil war. This is treachery within the camp. And what is the evidence? They are predators. They "strip the robe off the garment." This is not just taking an outer coat, but stripping a man bare, taking his dignity along with his possessions. They do this to "unsuspecting passers-by," to those who are going about their business peaceably. There is a predatory ruthlessness here. And even more heinously, they do it to "those returned from war." These are men who have risked their lives for the nation, and they come home, not to a hero's welcome, but to be fleeced by their own countrymen. This is the complete breakdown of covenant solidarity. When a people begin to prey on their own, especially the vulnerable and the honorable, the end is near. They have become cannibals.

v. 9 The women of My people you drive out, Each one from her pleasant house. From her infants you take My splendor forever.

The indictment continues, moving from the men to the women and children. "The women of My people you drive out." Through their greedy and illegal foreclosure practices, which Micah condemned in the opening verses, they are evicting widows from their homes. A "pleasant house" is not just a structure, it is a place of security, of memory, of belonging. They are turning these women into refugees in their own land. And the sin extends to the next generation. "From her infants you take My splendor forever." What is God's splendor? It is the inheritance. It is the land, the covenant promises, the place within the people of God. By seizing the family land, they are robbing these children of their birthright. They are cutting them off from the heritage God had given them. This is not just a financial crime; it is a theological crime. They are destroying the future of God's people for their own short-term gain. They are taking what belongs to God and claiming it for themselves.

v. 10 Arise and go, For this is no place of rest Because of the uncleanness that wreaks destruction, A painful destruction.

Because they have driven others from their rest, God will now drive them from theirs. The sentence fits the crime perfectly. "Arise and go." This is the command of exile. The land was meant to be their "place of rest," the fulfillment of the promise God made to them when He brought them out of Egypt. But they have defiled it. Their sin has made it unclean. And because of this "uncleanness," the land itself is turning on them. It "wreaks destruction, a painful destruction." The land is vomiting them out, as Leviticus warned it would (Lev. 18:28). They wanted to possess the land on their own terms, apart from the covenant Lord of the land. And the result is that they will lose the land altogether. There can be no true rest where there is no righteousness. A people polluted by sin will always be a people who are restless, anxious, and ultimately, homeless.

v. 11 If a man walking after wind and lying Had acted falsely and said, ‘I will speak, dripping out words to you concerning wine and liquor,’ He would be one who drips out words as a spokesman to this people.

Micah concludes with this sharp piece of sarcasm. He paints a picture of the ideal prophet, the kind of preacher this people would flock to hear. What are his qualifications? He is a man "walking after wind and lying." He is empty, a fraud, full of hot air. His message is a fabrication. And what is the content of his sermon? "I will speak, dripping out words to you concerning wine and liquor." He preaches a gospel of indulgence. He promises prosperity, pleasure, and endless partying. His message is entirely horizontal, entirely carnal. He affirms them in their appetites. And Micah's punchline is devastating: such a man "would be one who drips out words as a spokesman to this people." This, he says, is the preacher you deserve. A people who love sin will always find teachers who will justify that sin. The theological marketplace is a mirror. You can tell the spiritual condition of a people by the preachers they celebrate. These people rejected the hard words of Micah, but they would roll out the red carpet for a charlatan who told them that God just wants them to be happy and drunk.

Application

The principles Micah lays down here are as sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, and they cut right into the heart of the modern church. We too live in an age that despises the "dripping" of hard prophetic truth. We want our preachers to be motivational speakers, life coaches, and therapists. We want to hear about our best life now, not about sin, righteousness, and judgment to come. We tell the faithful preachers to stop being so negative, so divisive, so unloving. And all the while, we are busily seeking out our own prophets of wine and liquor, men who will tell us that our materialism is a sign of God's blessing, that our sexual confusion is just a different kind of love, and that our rebellion is actually brave authenticity.

We must ask ourselves the questions Yahweh poses here. Do we think the Spirit of the Lord is "impatient" when we hear a sermon that convicts us of our sin? Do we look at the warnings of Scripture and say, "Surely God wouldn't do that"? We must remember that God's words only do good to the one who is walking uprightly. If the Bible makes you uncomfortable, the problem is not with the Bible. The problem is with your walk. We must also take heed of the warning against preying on our own. The church should be a place of refuge, a place where the weak are protected and the vulnerable are cared for. When we allow a culture of predation, whether it is financial, spiritual, or sexual, we have become an enemy to the God we claim to serve.

Ultimately, this passage forces us to choose our prophet. Will we listen to the Micahs of the world, the men who love us enough to tell us the truth, even when it hurts? Or will we hire the smooth-talking prophets of booze, the men of wind and lies who will scratch our itching ears all the way to destruction? The kind of preaching a people will tolerate is the truest indicator of their spiritual health. May God grant us a love for the truth, a stomach for the hard words, and a deep repentance that leads to life.