Micah 3:8–12

We mature as believers in Jesus Christ in the unity and in the power of Holy Spirit. We are privileged to live in the fullness of the New Covenant. He is our guide and lifeline here and now. The Church consists of the Body of Christ. He shows us that the  truth of His Son stands alone.

God’s  justice will be served. We fight, not against men, but against the powers of darkness that only want to kill, steal and destroy His children…stand strong…Jesus wins!

Jesus was born, died and rose again out of the  grace and love of God. He knew that we could never earn salvation but He so loved the world that He gave us Jesus that through Him we could be indwelled by the very Spirit of the Triune Godhead. He would guide us safely home. 

Christ within is the hope of glory.

Jesus told Peter and the other followers, “Wait here to receive the promise from the Father. John baptized people with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

During Jesus’ earthly ministry Jesus lived near the disciples. The Holy Spirit, however, would live in the disciples. Jesus taught. The Spirit teaches through us. Jesus comforted. The Spirit comforts through us. The Holy Spirit is a year-round resident in the hearts of God’s children. As God’s story becomes our story, his power becomes our power. Max Lucado 

On 9/11 FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge chose to suit up, and go where he was needed, into the upheaval. And to save a life, it cost him his life. Knowing his sacrifice, it is worth reading these excerpts from his Last Homily, delivered at a Mass for Firefighters on Sept. 10, 2001.  

"You do what God has called you to do. You get on that rig, you go out and do the job. No matter how big the call, no matter how small, you have no idea of what God is calling you to do, but God needs you. He needs me. He needs all of us. God needs us to keep supporting each other, to be kind to each other, to love each other...” 

Micah 3:8–12

8 But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,

And of justice and might,

To declare to Jacob his transgression

And to Israel his sin.

9 Now hear this,

You heads of the house of Jacob

And rulers of the house of Israel,

Who abhor justice

And pervert all equity,

10 Who build up Zion with bloodshed

And Jerusalem with iniquity:

11 Her heads judge for a bribe,

Her priests teach for pay,

And her prophets divine for money.

Yet they lean on the Lord, and say,

“Is not the Lord among us?

No harm can come upon us.”

12 Therefore because of you

Zion shall be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,

And the mountain of the temple

Like the bare hills of the forest.

Unlike the silenced false prophets, Micah was divinely empowered. Justice and might may be rephrased as “powerful justice,” a contrast to the ineffective leaders of Israel. The wicked leaders and prophets of Israel “worked” only when they could gain something from it. Needless to say, if justice had to be paid for, it would not be justice. 

Many people of Jerusalem believed that they would not be affected by God’s judgment because God Himself dwelled in the holy temple in Jerusalem. They reasoned that despite their evils, as long as God was in His temple, they were safe—even from divine judgment. What the people refused to believe was that God might leave His temple because of the sinfulness of the people. The Book of Ezekiel describes a vision of the glory of God leaving the temple as a prelude to His judgment on the city. While the false prophets and the wicked rulers believed that they were untouchable and that Mt. Zion was inviolable, the prophet Micah announced that Zion (Jerusalem) would be plowed like a field, indicating complete devastation of the city. NKJ Bible.

The leaders of Israel were chastised for their lack of justice. Micah’s power comes from the Spirit of Yahweh. Micah is filled with mighty justice while the leaders of Israel abhor justice. The wicked leaders pervert the way of righteousness. Making judgments based on money is the opposite of true justice.

The false prophets were saying that disaster would not come upon Israel because it was the home of Yahweh. The fate of Jerusalem is the same as that of Samaria. This prophecy was fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 bc at the hands of the Babylonians. If trees are growing on Mount Zion, then Jerusalem has been destroyed and left in ruins. Faithlife Bible.

Men cannot expect to do ill, and fare well; but to find that done to them which they did to others. How seldom do wholesome truths reach the ears of those in high stations or in authority! Those who deceive others are preparing confusion for their own faces. The prophet had ardent love to God and to the souls of men; deep concern for his glory and their salvation, and zeal against sin. The difficulties he met with did not drive him from his work. He had this strength; not from and of himself, but he was full of power by the Spirit of the Lord. Those who act honestly, may act boldly. And those who come to hear the word of God, must be willing to be told of their faults, must take it kindly, and be thankful. 

Zion’s walls owe no thanks to those that build them up with blood and iniquity. The sin of man works not the righteousness of God. Even when men do that which in itself is good, but do it for filthy lucre, it becomes abomination both to God and man. Faith rests in the Lord as the soul’s foundation: presumption only leans upon the Lord as a prop, and would use him to serve a turn. If men’s having the Lord among them will not keep them from doing evil, it never can secure them from suffering evil for so doing. See the doom of wicked Jacob; Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field. This was exactly fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and is so at this day. If sacred places are polluted by sin, they will be wasted and ruined by the judgments of God. Matthew Henry Commentary.

Isaiah 1:23 Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards.They do not defend the fatherless,nor does the cause of the widow come before them.

Isaiah 48:2 For they call themselves after the holy city, and lean on the God of Israel;The LORD of hosts is His name: 

Isaiah 58:1 “Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Jeremiah 6:13 “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.

Jeremiah 9:11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.”