RELIGIOUS LEADERS TELL PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR IN EXCHANGE FOR MONEY
Micah 3:1-11 1 And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice? — 2 you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people, and their flesh from off their bones; 3 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 kettle, like flesh in a caldron. 4 Then they will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil. 5 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. 6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; 7 the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. 8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. 9 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 Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wrong. 11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe, its priests teach for hire, its prophets divine for money; yet they lean upon the LORD and say, “Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No evil shall come upon us.”
COMMENTARY: This is another scathing indictment against spiritual leaders who tell people what they want to hear (i.e. they proclaim peace) when they are paid in advance (i.e. food or money). To God, this is the equivalent of tearing the flesh off the people and breaking their bones. Leaders profit but the people pay the price because they willingly participate in these evil transactions. Furthermore, God will not hear the cries of the people when they are in trouble.
God says these leaders despise justice, distort what is right, judge people according to the bribes they have received, teach for money and prophesy for money. And they do all these things while giving the appearance that they trust the Lord and convince the people that all is well (i.e. “Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No evil shall come upon us.”). In other words, if the leaders do not tell the people about their sins, the people will think that everything is OK between them and God. Because a leader they have trusted has told them “all is well” they think they are in good shape spiritually. Because a leader has told them “God’s presence is here” even when it is not, they believe it. And that is all what the people want to hear, so they are willing to pay the leaders to say what they want to hear. They surely would not pay leaders to tell them things they do not want to hear about sin in their lives. The people want to feel comfortable, and they are willing to pay someone to make them feel comfortable.
This prophecy was given to Israel and its leaders but it applies to Christian leaders as well. There is an appearance of religious truth while receiving payments for religious services. And through it all the leaders act as though everything is OK. And of course that is what we should expect them to do because that is what they get paid to do.
The warnings are clear enough: Darkness, blindness, disgrace, shame, inability to hear from God. How can leaders who have been to Bible schools and seminaries miss the meaning and application of these scriptures? But it is not only the leaders who are deceived. People who have not been to Bible schools and seminaries have no excuse. They have the Bible.
Deuteronomy 8:16: “In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.
COMMENTARY: This says that learning to trust in God’s faithfulness to provide spiritual food is a test. Those who need material rewards for ministry fail the test. They think that the material rewards are their due payments for being in ministry. God will be faithful to provide whatever is necessary in terms of material needs, but connecting ministry with satisfaction of those needs is man’s idea — not God’s idea.
It is important to keep in mind that God’s daily provision of manna ended when Israel entered into the promised land. This signifies the fact that the wilderness is where people physically work for their spiritual food. This is Old/First Covenant religion. When they enter the Promised Land, however, they do not work anymore for spiritual food because God feeds them by his spirit.