Articles
No Answer from God: The False Prophets of Micah
When we often think of a prophet in the Old Testament, we often think of the men like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel: the men given the unenviable task of proclaiming the word of Yahweh to a people that had long since stopped heeding the commands and precepts of the Lord. Their words were recorded, either by themselves or their followers, as proof of their validity as prophets and as a testament to future generations of the faithfulness of Yahweh. The prophets who are recorded in the Old Testament are not limited to the written prophets, however, as we know that many others served the role. Moses is the chief prophet of Israel, and the Books of Samuel and Kings record men such as Samuel, Nathan, Ahijah, Elijah, and Elisha prophesying the word of the Lord to those in power in Israel. While we have no written oracles recorded by these men (it is unlikely Samuel wrote the book named after him seeing as he died midway through it), they are preserved for us as true spokesmen of Yahweh. Beyond the written and oral prophets, however, we also have a third group of prophets who appear in the Old Testament. These are the prophets that often served the kings of Israel and Judah as official “court prophets,” but they are more accurately called the false prophets. These were men who either had the gift of prophesy and used it for their own ends (such as the archetypical Balaam) or simply lied about their prophetic gifts. Moses himself had warned about the existence of these charlatans in his final address to Israel, and had commanded that, “the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die,” (Deuteronomy 18:20). The ultimate sign that these prophets were false, Moses said, would be when their words failed to pass. Unfortunately, Israel often failed to make the effort to distinguish what was truly God’s word or not. These false prophets frequently show up as opponents to the true prophets of God and their conflicting messages force the kings and ordinary people of God to choose whose word they will heed. In almost every case, however, Israel did not choose to listen to the true warnings of the prophets, but instead accepted the words from the false prophets that were pleasing to their ears. The prophet Micah and his contentions against the false prophets of Jerusalem serve as a good case study for this conflict.
Micah’s prophesies are certainly not happy ones; he made it clear that Samaria would be destroyed by the Assyrians for their idolatry and wickedness (Micah 1:6-7), but he also indicted Jerusalem for following the exact same path. If Samaria was destroyed for its covenant unfaithfulness, what other end but violence and exile should Jerusalem expect? Micah made it clear that if Judah did not change their ways, they would face the same terrible fate (Micah 1:8-9). A major problem with Judah was that they were committing terrible injustices against the poor and the oppressed yet refused to listen to any who cried out against these crimes (Micah 2:6). Instead, they only wished to hear of good things from their prophets even if it was clear that the prophet was a liar. Micah charged that, “If a man walking after wind and falsehood had told lies and said, ‘I will speak out to you concerning wine and liquor,’ he would be spokesman to this people,” (Micah 2:11). Judah had rejected truth in favor of lies that made them feel good. One is reminded of the story of Ahab and Micaiah in 1 Kings 22; four hundred prophets told Ahab that he would be victorious against Aram, but only Micaiah gave the true word of the Lord that Ahab would be destroyed.
Micah did not only indict the people but also brought the word of God against these false prophets themselves. He accused the prophets of determining their message based off the economic rewards for themselves; “when they have something to bite with their teeth, they cry, “Peace,” but against him who puts nothing in their mouths they declare holy way,” (Micah 3:5). These so-called prophets did not speak the word of God but instead prophesied whatever ensured that they were paid well for their words! Ironically this was the accusation that was brought against Amos by the priest Amaziah when he prophesied destruction on the northern kingdom of Israel, although Amos was vindicated when his prophesies came true (Amos 7:10-17). Worse yet, these prophets and other religious leaders allowed bribes and payments to influence their prophesies and teachings, but then claimed that the presence of the Lord and His temple ensured that there could never be a calamity that would fall on them! They perverted the will of Yahweh yet expected Him to provide protection and prosperity regardless. Micah makes it clear that this was not the case; judgment was coming upon Judah, and the so-called seers and prophets will be utterly helpless to stop it. When they turn to Yahweh for answers and guidance in the midst of their distress, there will only be silence from Him (Micah 3:7). Rather than listening to these false prophets, Micah encourages his readers to listen to him and repent; as a true prophet Micah is “filled with power – with the spirit of the Lord – and with justice and courage to make known to Jacob his rebellious act,” (Micah 3:8).
Despite Micah’s dire warnings, Judah did not heed his words. Just as he had prophesied, Jerusalem became “a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the temple [became] high places of a forest,” (Micah 3:12). By Moses’ test of prophesy, Micah was proven the true prophet over the false prophets who foresaw only peace and prosperity. The contrast between Micah and the false prophets should be one we as modern readers take to heart; often times we listen to the words that we want to hear rather than the truth. We want to have our “ears tickled” and “accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,” which is exactly what Paul warned Timothy would happen even to Christians (2 Timothy 4:3). As followers of the Truth and the Way, we need to be extremely cautious about trusting the word of teachers, preachers, political leaders, or anyone else just because we like what they’re saying. If we cannot be trusted to be discerning in little matters of truth, why would the world trust us to be discerning with the most important Truth?
