Shabbat Shalom. We are going to continue in this ministry meeting to speak about the Prophet Mikha and I would like you please to open your Bibles to the third chapter of the Prophet Mikha. Shabbat Shalom. And this is a very sad chapter that the Lord is really charging his beloved nation Israel in this third chapter. He develops. In addition to what he already said in chapter one, we had a case against the nation Israel, the northern tribe, Judah, the southern tribes. In the second chapter, he continues to speak against the wealthy and powerful. And he charged them in the way that they were treating his own people, the people of Israel and Judah.

And in chapter three, he continues and he's now speaking more or less to two additional groups that we find here in this chapter. Number one, he's speaking to the heads, to the princes, to the political rulers. And secondly, he's speaking to the prophets and to the seers, the one who's supposed to lead the nation spiritually. And so follow me as I'm reading these 12 verses of the third chapter of the Prophet Mikha. And I said, And I said, Here I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel, Is it not for you to know judgment, who hate the good and love the evil, Who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones, Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the cauldron.

Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them. He will even hide his face from them at the time as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets, that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry peace. And he that putteth not into their mouth, they even prepare war against him. Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision, and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine. And the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded.

Yet they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer of God. But truly, I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money. Yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us?

None evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. This is verse 12 of Micah chapter 3. I read the whole chapter, very sad chapter, beloved brothers and sisters, that the prophet Michah is speaking for the Lord against the northern tribes and the southern tribes. Not too long from that point of the northern tribes of Israel will be taken captive by the Assyrians. And a bit later, the southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, will be taken to Babylon by the Babylonians. Assyria was preaching and speaking to the nations.

And we have already covered in the first two chapters, how he spoke against the nations at large. And then he became more specific in the second chapter, how he spoke specifically against those who are well-to-do and powerful, and they abuse their position because of their wealth and power. But now he is zeroing in to additional two groups of people, and they are the heads, the princes, the political leaders, and then later on the prophets. The Nevi'im, as we call them in Hebrew. And so you can see now in these 12 verses, very sad chapter really to deal with, but we cannot avoid it because it is indeed the word of God.

Any application that we can learn from this chapter about the present day church of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. The same warnings the apostles in the epistle give to the spiritual leaders of the body of Messiah, the body of Christ. And so there are three points here that we are going to speak about in this third chapter. The first one is the charge that God has again the officials, the political rulers, the political leaders of that nation. If you remember, when God had called Israel, our own nation, to come out of Egypt and establish as a nation, he set upon them kings, but he also set rulers such as spiritual leaders.

The kings will run the political affairs, but the prophets and the priests, they are to lead the nation spiritually. And among our people Israel, the kings were to be godly, the political rulers are to be godly and submit to God just the same like we have the priests and the prophets. Of course, in this day in which we live in, in the church age, we are called out of this world. The church is a heavenly company. And in a sense, the church and the state do not mix because the state in general is a nation that do not accept God, the Messiah. And we have been chosen out of this world to be separated from this world.

But when it comes to our nation, Israel of all, to God's earthly people, the state were connected with the spiritual element. In other words, you cannot be a godless king in Israel. God will judge you. He will discipline you. And therefore, there is always a link between the political heads, the political rulers, and the religious leaders of Israel. So he began here, beloved brothers and sisters, he charging in this third chapter, the officials, those that are the heads and the princes of Israel. You notice he says, first of all, in verse one, he called. You remember that we said that when we studied the book of Micah, it's divided itself into three sections.

Chapter one and two, he's calling. He said, hear all ye people. And then in chapter three, again, he used the word hear, shimau, listen. And he began by telling the political leaders of Israel to hear what he has to say. And so he began in verse one, and he said to them, hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob and ye princes of the house of Israel. You notice the word heads, it means in Hebrew, the word rosh means head. Rashi Yaakov, the heads of Israel, those who are the political leaders of Israel. And secondly, he said, hear ye the princes of the house of Israel.

The word for prince comes from the Hebrew word katzin, or ktsinei Beit Yisrael. And katzin is like a person in the military who has a certain position in the military. Here we have those who had position in leadership among the nation of Israel. And notice what he tells them. Is it not for you to know judgment? He's telling the leaders, don't you know how to justly judge and evaluate things? Don't you, in a leadership responsibility, know how to judge justly? He says, you need to know that. And you know that. And apparently, they did not treat the rest of the nation in the right way.

They used their elevated position to abuse that which they have had. And it is happening today, in the political world today, a person that has a political position. If he is not careful, he can use this position to abuse that which had been given unto him. And so, he says, is it not for you to know judgment? The word for judgment is in the Hebrew mishpat, justice, to judge rightly. Don't you know how to judge rightly? And then he tells them in verse 2a, he says, look what you are doing. Look what's happening with you. You hate good, and you love evil. In other words, you hate that which is good, that which is tov, in Hebrew, good and wholesome.

And instead of hating the evil, you hate the good. And then the opposite, he says, you love evil. Instead of loving good and hating evil, they have ended up to hate the good and love the evil. This is exactly the reverse of what God expected from leadership. He expected from the leadership of Israel and the leadership of the church of the assembly today to love that which is good and to hate that which is evil. Years ago, the prophet Isaiah, God said in chapter 5 and verse 20, he gave a woe to the nation. He said, woe unto them that call evil good and good evil. That put darkness for light and light for darkness.

That put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. You see, they have arrived to a point of time in the history where they were twisting the truth. And they were calling evil good and good evil. In fact, not only that they were calling that, they actually hate the good and love the evil. That was not a condition that God wanted the nation of Israel to be. I want to read a verse through the prophet Amos chapter 5 and verse 14. We read these verses. Seek good and not evil, that ye may live. And so the Lord, the God of hosts shall be with you as ye have spoken.

Hate the evil and love the good and establish judgment in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. This is Amos chapter 5 and verse 14 and 15. You see, God want not only his own people, but the leadership of his people to seek good and not evil. To hate the evil and love that which is good. But apparently, when Michah was ministering in 730 or so BC. When he was ministering the word, apparently at that time, the leadership of Israel hated the good and loved the evil. When you have such a leadership like this political leaders who hate good and love evil, you are in the road to destruction.

Whether it is nationally among the people of Israel or the whole nations of the world today, when a nation hates that which is good and loved that which is evil, this nation is heading in the direction of destruction. And God appealed to the nation of Israel to love that which is good and hate that which is evil. You remember what Yeshua said in the gospels? Even with his relationship, you remember to the disciples in the sermon of the mountain, chapter 5 of the gospel of Matthew, that we are to seek good. And if somebody does evil to us, not to give them evil for evil, but good for evil.

That is the standard that God gives for the people of God and the leadership here, the political leaders, the officials, the heads and the princes should have had this type of attitude, but apparently they didn't. And now notice in verse 2b and verse 3, God described before us, there is a description of their activity, how they have treated those they were over them. And it says here, there are five things. You notice what it says here about them. It says in verse 2b and verse 3, who pluck of their skin from of them and their flesh from of their bones. Verse 3, who also eat the flesh of my people.

Then verse 3b and they flay their skin from of them and they break their bones and they chop them in pieces as for the pots and as flesh within the cauldron. Notice that their activity was so negative and so bad that we have here a description of somebody preparing an animal for a meal. You notice that? They pluck of their skin, they eat the flesh, they flay their skin and then they break their bones and then they chop the meat into pieces and they put it into a pot ready to be boiled and to be eaten. Now what we have here in this description here, the word is simply, obviously they were not literally doing this to the people, but their behavior was so terrible because the description here is as if they were totally not recognizing the value of the rest of the nation.

Their leadership, their leadership, their position was more important to them and this order, these five words that you have there here, they pluck, they eat, they flay, they break, they chop. In Hebrew, in Hebrew, gazlu, achlu, hefshitu, pitzchu, parsu. In other words, what they have done literally is like a person in the kitchen preparing a meal and taking an animal, flaying the skin, breaking the bone, chopping the meat, putting it in a pot and getting it ready to be burnt on the fire for a meal. Now, of course, this is only a physical description of the behavior that they behave towards the people that they were dear to the Lord.

You notice he said to them in verse three, who also eat the flesh of my people. God always called the nation of Israel. His people are me. They are my people. And that's how you in this political position, in the headship position. That's how you treat my people like an animals in a wrong way. This is, by the way, was a warning that was given throughout scripture as well to the leadership of the people of God in the present day dispensation. How they are to treat those whom God has placed us as responsible over. We read first Peter chapter five, and we can reread this again.

How the apostle Petros, Shimon Petros, gave the responsibility to the leaders. And he tells them, listen, that is the way that you are to treat the people, the heritage of God, that which belong unto God. And so in verse one, two and three, we can see the call of God to the heads and the princess of the people of Israel. And now he's telling them, look at the result of your behavior. In verse four, there will be a judgment. And God is going to deal with the political rulers of the nation of Israel. And look what he's saying to them. In verse four, he says, then shall they cry unto the Lord.

This is the heads and the princess. But he will not hear them. He will even hide his face from them at the time as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. What God is saying to the heads, to the princess, says you watch it and you will see that your day also will come. When you are going to come one day and you will need to cry to me for mercy and for help. I tell you that when you're going to cry to me, I'm not going to hear you. When you're going to need help and assistance, I will hide my face from you.

It is an incredible principle, beloved brothers and sisters. This is amazing because when we deal with people in a wrong way, there will be a time that we will need the Lord's help. And we will need mercy to be extended unto us. And God says to them, you know what, you're going to cry to the Lord, to Jehovah, but he will not hear you. Oh yes, he heard your cry, but he will not respond to your cry. He will turn his face, he will hide his face from you and he will not help you in your need. You know, one of the things that we have, the Aaronic blessing, when we close a meeting together, we say, In other words, what God is saying, the Lord bless you and keep you.

May his face shine upon you. This is the Aaronic blessing. This is the blessing that God blessed Israel through the priest that may his face shine upon you. But here, the face of the Lord going to be hidden from those heads of Israel, from those princes of Israel, because the way they have treated the people of God, the nation of Israel. If you turn with me to a verse in the book of Proverbs, chapter 1, verse 22, Solomon, Shlomo, the king of Israel, gave a real appeal to people at large. And he said in Proverbs chapter 1 and verse 22, he says, How long, ye simple one, will ye love simplicity, and scorners delight in their scorning, fools hate knowledge, turn you at my reproof.

Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. And then notice what he says, but they didn't obey, they didn't respond. So Shlomo, the king, continues speaking for the Lord in the Proverbs. And he says, Because I have called, and ye refused. I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded. But ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as a desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind. When distress and anguish cometh upon you, then they shall call upon me, but I will not answer.

They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. You see what that tells us? The responsibility that we have in our behavior towards others. Because sooner or later, there will be a time that we will need to cry to the Lord. And ask for help. And then, because of the discipline of God, he says, When they shall call upon me, I will not answer. When they shall seek me early, they shall not find me. There is a warning here that we need to heed it for ourselves. The importance of when the Lord gives us a place of responsibility. So we will take it from the hand of the Lord.

And we will use it in a way that is honoring to him. And that we will treat others in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Because when there is day coming, if we have done it in the wrong way. Then when we're going to cry to the Lord, he will simply not hear our cry. And he will turn his face from these leaders of that time. And it's applying for us today, beloved brothers and sisters. God is gracious. God is loving. But he is also holy and just. And he will deal with his people as well. The same way he has dealt with our nation Israel historically.

So, verses 1, 2, 3 and 4. The charge of God against Israel officials. The political leaders of Israel. The heads and the princes. Verse 5 now. To verse 7. Here is a second charge. But this time, not to the political leaders. But this time it is a charge against the false prophets. A prophet in Hebrew Navi. His responsibility is to prophesy. To speak forth the word of God. In order to edify the nation of Israel. To rebuke them. To correct them. To instruct them. To help them to be corrected and instructed. To give them the truth of the word of God. Sincerely. As unto the Lord. And to help them to get closer to the Lord.

And to be edified and built up. But look what happened here. In verses 5 to 7. Look what the prophets. The false prophets. We call them in Hebrew. Nevi'e Sheker. False prophets. We read here that they caused the people to err. They actually caused the people to go astray. Verse 5. Say. Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets. The Nevi'im. That make my people err. That bite with their teeth. Cries peace. Shalom. And he that putteth not into their mouths. They even prepare a war against him. Now he's telling us here a few things about the false prophets. Nevi'e Sheker. Nevi'e Sheker. The first thing he's telling here in this verse 5.

They are making my people to err. To go astray. The Hebrew word mat'im. Simply means to give them wrong information. Imagine. If you will ask me to get to somewhere. To a certain street. And I will tell you to go the exactly opposite direction. To give you a false information of how to get to a certain destination. Same thing with spiritual things. There is a responsibility to give a clear message from the word of God. Not to give a false information. And therefore he's saying look what the prophets are doing. They make my people to err. Mat'im. In other words to receive a false information.

So when you get a false information you cannot get in the right direction. False information. And then the second thing. They bite with their teeth. What does that mean bite with their teeth? You know. When you don't speak rightly. When you try to mumble and to say something. And you know that you are going to lead astray someone. You kind of bite with your teeth. You don't clearly and freely present the message. And he continues here with the next thing in verse 5. He says also. And they cry peace. They cry shalom. In other words they say shalom. Oh everything is fine. There is shalom. There is nothing to worry.

Everything is correct. Everything is fine. They cry aloud. Hey shalom. Shalom. Peace. Peace. While it is really not peaceful. Things are not right. They don't give the right sound. The right message. To those they proclaim. The message. Those are those prophets who are responsible to give a clear message. And notice the last point that he mentioned here in verse 5. In total there are four points. They cause the people to err. They bite their teeth. They cry shalom falsely. And then the fourth one is. They prepare war against the one who do not feed them. Now notice at the end of verse 5. It says. And he that put us not into their mouth.

In other words. Somebody doesn't feed them and take care of them. He says. They even prepare a war against him. In other words. I'm the prophet. And you need to take care of me. They say. And if somebody does not take care of the prophets. Of the leaders. They actually prepare a war against that particular individual. What a shame. Where is the spiritual standard required by the Lord? It is totally activity of the flesh. And brothers and sisters. What we read here today. About Israel. Our nation. Is applied very well to the present day church age. In which you and I live in today. And those kind of behavior and conduct.

Is happen in our own midst. In our own life. And we ourselves. Often times find ourselves guilty. With this kind of activity. Leading the people into falsehood. Biting our teeth. Not speaking clearly. Cry. Everything is fine. We just finished 1st Corinthians chapter 5 and chapter 6. In our Bible classes. How the friction and the problems among the people of God. In the church of Corinth. And how the apostle Paul had to correct them. And to challenge them. And all these things are happening. Even today. In the church of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And the prophets were challenged. Challenged. By Michah. By God. Through the prophet Micah.

Now turn with me for a moment. To 2nd Peter. In the Brit HaChadasha. 2nd Peter chapter 2. We talked about Israel's prophets. Israel's spiritual leaders. Let's see what we read about. The spiritual leaders of the body of Messiah. 2nd Peter chapter 2. Verse 1. And Peter speaking and he said. But. There were false prophets also among the people. Even if there shall be false teachers among you. Who privately shall bring in damnable heresies. false teaching. Falsehood. Even denying the law that bought them. And bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious way. Notice that. Many shall follow their ways. By reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

And through covetousness. Shall they with. Fain words. Here is what they are speaking. Make merchandise of you. Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not. And their damnation slumbereth not. Peter. Warned the early believers in the body of Messiah. Messiah. Of a coming time. In which false teachers will rise. Just the same. Like false prophets were among our nation Israel. False teachers will rise among the body of Messiah. And the warnings are the same. The activities are the same. They have followers like then. They have followers today. The same thing. Beloved brothers and sisters. Just go back to. First Timothy. In chapter four. Just for a moment.

Just to connect this as well with it. In verse one. Now the spirit. Speakers expressly. That in the latter time. Some shall depart. From the faith. Giving heed to seducing spirits. And doctrines of demons. And he gives us a list. Of what kind of teaching will prevail. Among the professing Christians. The body of Messiah. In Christendom. Like among our people. Historically. Our people Israel. Same today. Among the believers. Throughout the church history. Things having changed. And we need to discern. What is of the Lord. What is not of the Lord. The apostle John. I'm going to just read one more verse. First John. Chapter four.

And verse one. He also gave warning. In first John. Chapter four. And verse one. He says. Believe not every spirit. Believe not every spirit. But try the spirits. Whether they are of God. Why John. Why should I test the spirits. He said. Because many false prophets. Are gone out into the world. John is speaking about it. Peter is speaking about it. Paul Shaul is speaking about it. All our Hebrew believers. Of first century. He spoke to believers. In the church age. Just like. Micah. Another Hebrew believer. Spoke to his own brethren. And gave them. This warning. And he's speaking to the prophets. And he says.

Listen. You make my people ill. You bite. With your teeth. You cry. Shalom. Shalom. When there is no shalom. And then. The one that doesn't give you. And feed you. You prepare a war. Against him. You fight him. You demand. Your way. And your will. And that is not. The right. Way. To treat. The people. Of God. How different it is. When Yeshua came. Who was the true. Shepherd of Israel. Who said. In John. Chapter 10. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd. Laid down. His life. For the sheep. He was the one. Who ministered. To his own nation. To the people of Israel. To the Jewish people.

When he came. At his first coming. He was the good shepherd. Who led. The people. Right. Who was willing. To lay down. His life. And ultimately. Gave. His life. A ransom. For many. Gave. I am going to read. Just one. More verse. In the prophet. Jeremiah. Chapter 6. And verse 14. Those are the words. That God said. To Israel. Jeremiah. Chapter 6. And verse 14. And he said. To them. They have. Healed. Also. The hurt. Of the daughters. Of my people. Slightly. They said. Peace. Peace. When there is no peace. They say. Shalom. Shalom. Everything is okay. But actually. There was no shalom. There was no peace. And that.

Is not. Right. The. Responsibility. Of the prophet. Is to give. Warning. And to lead the people. Right. Not. To err. And to go in a. Wrong. Direction. So. He is. Now. Challenging. The prophets. In Micah. Chapter. Who. Made. The nation. To err. And then. Notice. Now. In verse. Six. And seven. Of Micah. Chapter. Three. Therefore. Night. Shall come unto you. That ye shall not have a vision. And. It shall be dark unto you. That ye shall not divine. And the sun shall go down over the prophets. And the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the seers be ashamed. And the divine is confounded.

Yet they shall all cover their lips. For there is no answer of God. But now he said. Okay. Just the same. Like with the heads of Jacob. And the princes of Israel. They will cry one day. And they will not receive response from God. Now the prophets. Now because of their conduct. And behavior. Towards my people. God is saying. Therefore. He says. Night. Will be upon you. In other words. When a person is a prophet. He receives. As if it were spiritually speaking. A light. From God. In order to give a message. To God's people. But now you notice. In verse six and seven. Instead of light.

Darkness will come. Upon the false prophets. Darkness. And you notice. How many times. The word mentioned. In night. And darkness. In this verse. Six. He says. Therefore night shall come. And then he says. And it shall be dark. Thirdly. The sun shall go down. Again dark. And fourthly. He said. The day shall be dark over them. You know. The prophet. Supposed to receive light. From God. And to give a message. Of light. To the nation. A clear message. But they will not be able. To receive any message. Any more from the Lord. The sun will go down. The light will turn into darkness. They will have night.

Over them. They shall have no vision. To give. A person. A person. Who teach. Falsehood. God will not give him. A message. In other words. There is an element. Of responsibility. For the. Prophets of the Lord. To give. A clear. Message. For edification. And you know. Brothers and sisters. You can. Pretend. A message. Is a message. That come from the Lord. It's got to come. Straight from. The word of God. Of God. And if the spirit of God. Is in the message. The spirit of God. Is guiding. The speaker. It is the spirit of God. Who will convict. The hearer. It is the same. Ruach Hakodesh.

The same Holy Spirit. Who take. The word of God. And appropriate. To the heart. It is the same. Holy Spirit. Who give a message. To the messenger. To speak. To the people. You can't. Pretend. You can't make it. Make it. It's got to fit. The word of God. It's got to be. From the Lord. You cannot take it. Out of your sleeves. It's not. Hocus Pocus. It's not that. Which is like. The false. Prophets. Or like. The diviners. Who tell you. Certain things. Today. People go. To all these magicians. And all these. Witchcraft. And all these people. Who read your poems. And tell you all kinds of things.

And people. Instead of being. To realize. The word of God. And they go. And they try. To find something. About. Their future. From those. Who read. Their poem. They have no message. From God. They have nothing. To give. To build. A person. If it's not. From God. And that's why. God said. They will have. Night. Upon them. They shall have. No vision. It shall be dark. To you. When ye shall divine. The sun shall go down. Over the prophets. And the day. Shall be dark. Over them. That's why. You know. When you go to those places. And you hear at least. About those places. And those people.

Everything. It seems to be so creepy. And dark. I mean. I don't know why. You would even want to go there. Just to think about it. Everything looks to me. Kind of. You know. When you. When you watch it on. Let's say on television. Everything looks so creepy. Why would you want to go there? I see. Something coming up. And so on. It's so creepy. You know. That's why. They are diviners. That's why God. Is not pleased with them. But the messenger. Of the Lord. Give a message. Of comfort. Sometime. Correction. Sometime. Instruction. Sometime. Tell us. You're going in the wrong direction. Change it. Because you will be dealt with.

But it is a message. For help. A message. To restore. The people of God. Not only this. Look at this. What it says in verse 7. They will be ashamed. And they will be confounded. And confused. It says in verse 7. Then shall the seers. Be ashamed. And the diviners. Confounded. The word for seers. Is chosim. The one that look. To the future. Jose. He speaks. About the coming future. And the diviners. It's interesting. When God. Is speaking. About false prophet. He used the word. Diviners. And it's like. In Hebrew. We call it. Kosmim. Kosem. Is magician. It's not real. He's having a trick. That he does.

It's not genuine. It's not real. And he called them. Diviners. Kosmim. In Hebrew. And he says. Look at it. They will be ashamed. They will be confounded. And look at the third expression. Here in verse 7. Yet they shall all cover their lips. For there is no answer of God. Now. That thought. Covering your lips. It's remind me. Of the lepers. Of Leviticus. Chapter 13. And chapter 14. When the lepers. Were recognized. That they were lepers. They couldn't be among the people. And they had to stay away. From the rest of the nation. And they had to. Cover their lips. And to say. Unclean. Unclean. Like lepers. Unclean.

Not only. They will cover their lips. They will have nothing to say. But a thought. Also. Seem to be. From that passage. They will cover their lips. As if it were. To pronounce. The fact. That they are unclean. By the. Way. That they. Divine. And they. Speak. Things. As if it were. To pronounce. The fact. That they are. Unclean. By the. Way. That they. Divine. They. Speak. Things. That were. Not right. God. Will. Put. Them. And. They. Will. Not. The. The. The. Charge. Against. The. Officials. Verses. One. Two. Three. And. The. Five. Six. And. Seven. Sixers. The. Chapter. Conclude. In. Verses. Eight. To. Twelve. With.

The. Contrast. Now. Between. The. True. Prophet. And. The. False. Prophets. Here. God. Through. Michah. Hanavi. Michah. The. Prophet. Showing. To. Us. The. Contrast. Between. The. True. Prophet. And. The. False. Prophets. The. True. Prophet. Is. None. Else. In. Verse. Eight. There. Are. Four. Things. That. Michah. Speaks. About. Himself. And. Notice. What. He says. This. This. Michah. I. Am. Full. Of. Power. And. Of. Judgment. And. Of. Might. To. Declare. Unto. Jacob. His. Transgression. And. To. Israel. His. Sin. Here. Micah. Says. This. The. True. Prophet. I. Am. Full. Of. Power. By. The. Spirit. Of. The. Lord. Now. You. See. Beloved. Brothers. And. Sisters. This. Is. It. Doesn't. Matter.

What. Dispensation. We. Is. The. Nation. Before. The. Messiah. Came. Or. Whether. It. Is. And. I. Find. In. Every. Dispensation. In. Every. Period. Of. Time. In. The. History. Of. Mankind. It. Is. The. Holy. Spirit. Of. The. The. Holy. Spirit. Ruach. HaKodesh. That. Gives. Power. Enable. Men. First. To. Speak. For. God. It. Is. Only. The. Spirit. Of. God. That. Enable. The. Child. To. Do. So. Whether. It. Is. In. The. Present. Day. Dispensation. Of. The. Ecclesia. So. You. Notice. That. The. True. Of. Power. By. By. By. The. Spirit. Of. Jehovah. By. The. Holy. Spirit. Of. God. Is. Coming. For. Us. Today. In. Addition. To. The. Fact. That. We.

Are. Indwelt. By. The. Holy. Spirit. Of. God. Every. True. Believer. In. The. Holy. Spirit. Indwelling. Us. But. It's. Not. The. Holy. Spirit. Of. God. It. Is. The. Holy. Spirit. That. Have. To. Empower. Us. You. Remember. Galatians. 5. And. Verse 16. Walk. In. The. Spirit. And. You. Remember. Book. Of. Ephesians. Chapter. 5. And. Verse 18. Be. Not. Drunk. With. Wine. Wherein. There. Is. Excess. But. Be. Filled. With. Ruach. Hakodesh. And. He. Speaking. To. Believers. Who. Already. Have. The. Holy. Spirit. Of. God. Indwelling. Them. So. Really. What. We. Learn. It. Who. Live. In. A. Submissive. Way. To. The. God. Of. God. To. Enable. Him. To. Testify. Right. Before. Men. Walk. In.

The. Ways. Of. The. Lord. To. Please. Him. And. It. Is. The. Word. Here. To. is not that we can just get a little bit funny, and we can just say all kind of things. No, a person that is filled with the Spirit of God is a person who is under the control of the Spirit of God. You see, when it says in Ephesians 5, be not overtaken with wine, be not controlled by wine, where is there is excess. In other words, when a person is drinking alcohol, and the alcohol control him, he is saying in the opposite, don't be controlled with wine, but be controlled, be filled by the Ruach HaKodesh, by the Holy Spirit of God.

Let the Spirit of God control your life. And Micha is saying to us here, he is speaking to the nation, he says, as for I, I am full by the Spirit of the Lord. He does not say it in pride. He does not say it because he wanted to elevate himself above the rest of the people of Israel, but he said, in reality, tell us truth. Israel, here it is the way. A prophet that speaks to you has to be controlled by the Ruach HaKodesh, Israel, Judah. He must be the one who is controlled by by the Holy Spirit of God. You know, we read of Yeshua, when he went to the wilderness for those 40 days and 40 nights when Satan tempted him.

We read that he was full of the Spirit. The Spirit of God controlled him as a man. He was subject. He subjected himself to the leadership of the Ruach HaKodesh. What a man he was. We read of him in Luke. Chapter 2 and verse 40 that he grew and he was filled with the Holy Spirit of God. What a beautiful example. And you know, historically, even among our people in the book of Exodus, we find out how when God gave one of our people in the book of Israel to have certain responsibility among the people of Israel, this person had to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

In chapter 31 and verse 3 of the book of Exodus, it says, And I have filled him with the Holy Spirit of God, and in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship. Talal El was one of those who actually built some of the articles of the Tabernacle, and he was filled with the Spirit of God. This is so challenging to us, and we have to ask ourselves the question, Am I allowing the Ruach HaKodesh to control my life? And if I don't allow the Holy Spirit to control my life, I am not acting on his behalf. I am often acting in the flesh.

This is a challenging statement for us. Now, back to chapter 3 and verse 8, the other three things that we find out with Michah, because he was filled with the Holy Spirit of God, it says in verse 8, not only that I am full by the Spirit of God, I am full of judgment. This is the word mishpat. In other words, he was just, he presented justly what he presented to the nation of Israel. Then, the third one, in might, this is power, spiritual power. And fourthly, listen to this, he says, Fourthly, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. In other words, here is a true prophet.

A true prophet presents the truth to the nation, to the people of God. He presents the truth. He doesn't teach falsely. He teaches the word of God in a sincere way. This is verse 8. So now, he's concluding here with the last four verses. He's talking about the difference. Here is the false prophets. Here is the difference. Those who are the prophets and the leaders of Israel. God's calling them the second time to charge. And he said to them in verse 9, Hear this, I pray ye, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment and pervert equity. And then look what he's saying to them in verse 10.

You are building, look at this, verse 10, they build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. What does that mean? They build up the city, Zion in Hebrew, Jerusalem, is the city, the capital city of Israel. They build it up on the expense of the life of others. We're speaking about with blood and with iniquity. They have the religious system, not in a sound way, not in a right way. And it's become like a mere religious system. You have the temple, you have the system carrying on, you even have the sacrificial system continue on, but there is no reality there. So they build it with blood.

They build it with iniquity. In verse 11, he's giving us additional things about the heads and the priests and the prophets. Notice, three things we find out about those leaders at that time. The heads thereof, they judge for reward. The priests thereof, they teach for hire. The prophets thereof, they divine for money. In other words, they say to the people, Do you want me to judge you? Well, you give me a reward. And then the priests, do you want me to teach you something? Well, there got to be some payment in order for you to do so. Thirdly, the prophets, you want me to tell you something from God?

It's got to be for money. You give me the money. In other words, what they are really doing, they are doing it for gain and not as a ministry unto the Lord. Now, let's be clear that God gave instruction to the nation of Israel to support the Levites, the priests. There was the tithing that they will get the benefit. In other words, they were to be taken care of. But that's not the reason why the heads, the priests and the prophets should judge, teach and prophesy. Not merely for gain. They are to do it as unto the Lord and God will take care of them through the people of God.

It is similar today in the body of Messiah. The believers are to take care of the spiritual servants of the Lord, but the servants are not to do it only for filthy lookers. That's what we read today in 1 Peter chapter 5. To take care of the flock, but not only for filthy lookers, not only for this financial gain or for power, but to do it as a service. And God will take care of His people, the servants of the Lord. But apparently, the heads were judging for rewards, the priests were teaching for hire, and the prophets were divining for money. And you know what they say in verse 11 at the end?

Yet they will lean upon the Lord and they will say, Is not the Lord among us? No evil can come upon us. See, the Lord is here. The temple is here. The destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the temple will happen later on. It will happen in 586 BC, a hundred years later. But in the meanwhile, the temple is here. The religious system is there. Like today, brothers and sisters, there's a lot of religiosity in the professing church. There's a lot of form. There's a lot of religiosity, but there's no power. Very little power. Much weakness. That's the condition that prevailed among our own nation, Israel.

It's not that we point to them. There's a lesson to apply to us. What happened in the history of nation Israel definitely can be seen throughout church history in a very same way. And he concludes this chapter, beloved brothers and sisters, here it's still very, very sad to see at the end, ultimately, the destruction of Jerusalem and the house of God will come to pass. While Micha was speaking, prophesying, there was a time of revival and Jerusalem hadn't been taken like the northern kingdom had been taken by the Assyrians. But then later on, about hundred or something years later, in 586 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar came and took our Jewish people to Babylon where they say, by the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remember Zion.

Then they said, those that took us captive said unto us, sing unto us one of Zion's song. And they said, how shall we sing the Lord's song? In a strange land. If I forget thee, O Yerushalayim, let my right hand forget her cunning. Many years later, after the Temple Mount had been destroyed, the city had been burnt, the captives had been taken away. Like it says here, in the end of chapter 3, in verse 12, therefore shall Zion for your sake, leaders, political leaders, spiritual leaders, for your sake, because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field. And Yerushalayim shall become heaps. and the mountain and the mountain of the house, this is what we call today Har Habait, the mountain of the house of the Lord, the mountain of the temple, Mount Moriah, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

There is coming a day, God said through Micah, when Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the Har Habait, the mountain of the house, shall be as the forest. Just about hundred years later, Judah had been taken to Babylon and there they spent for seventy years. I'm going to conclude with Psalm 79, in verse 1 and the psalmist said this, this is Asaph, one of the singers of Israel, O God, the heathen are coming to thine inheritance. Thy holy temple have they defiled. They have laid Jerusalem on heaps. Asaph is crying to the Lord, the heathen have come unto thine inheritance. Psalm 79, in verse 1.

What a conclusion, what a sad, sad condition prevailed at that time when Israel, Judah, needed to be corrected by the Lord and the same thing is applying to us today. We also need to take heed to these warnings and ask the Lord to help us to be governed by the Ruach HaKodesh, by the Holy Spirit of God.