“You’ll have plenty of wine and beer!”
Scripture reading for September 18: Micah 1-2
“If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’ he would be just the prophet for this people.” Micah 2:11
Micah lived in a day of fallen moral values, when God’s people lived for materialism and pleasure. Micah was called to warn God’s people of the coming retribution if they continued on their merry sinful way. This statement about a prophet who would tell them what they wanted to hear was meant to be funny and yet shocking to their senses. A man of God telling them about plenty of alcohol to cure their sin would be like a doctor prescribing poison to cure a fatal illness!
As Micah exposed the sins of this people, he mentioned those who plotted to take the land and property of their brothers and sisters through fraud and deceit. (Micah 2:1-3) The land was a promised inheritance for each family. The promised land was divided by Joshua according to God’s plans by lot to each family. (Joshua 13 and following) It was to be a perpetual inheritance. When people have their own property and are responsible for it, they most often use their gifts and work hard to build a home and keep it beautiful. God is for personal responsibility and ownership under His authority. If we can learn to be faithful with the little here, He can give us much in the coming millennial kingdom!
We are a people who have always valued the right to ownership. When any nation denied ownership to people and made the government the owner, the results have been disastrous! Look at the countries where communism has tried to make the government owner and provider for all! Sins of greed and desire for dominance soon take over. This is possible in our nation, too, as it happened to God’s people in Micah’s day. God uses our stewardship as a test of faithfulness and to shape our character.
“In that day men will ridicule you: they will taunt you with this mournful song: ‘We are utterly ruined: my people’s possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our fields to traitors.'” “Therefore, you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord to divide the land by lot.” Micah 2:4-5
The loss of their land would bring about the ruin of God’s people! This people would receive a false prophet who would prophesy plenty of wine and beer. Their delusion would lead to their destruction and captivity. Oh that God’s people would listen to truth and be responsible stewards of God’s promises!
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