Why Our Civilization Is Collapsing

Micah 3:1-12

I have to say that Micah and the rest of these minor prophets are some of my favorite portions of the Scripture...I love to preach from them, because the minor prophets were not only prophets but they were patriots. They were concerned about the direction of their country and their society. And they were also revivalists. They were continually calling for the people to come back to God. Anyone who says that the Bible is not relevant to our day just hasn't spent much time in the Word of God. Micah's message is just as relevant as the newspaper today and he is, as I said, not only a prophet, but he is a patriot and he is a revivalist and in Micah 3 he is dealing with a very important section of that society, but I want us to read just the 12th verse...

"Therefore, because of you Zion will be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill

a mound overgrown with thickets."

Now, notice the first words of that verse... "Therefore, because of you, Zion will plowed like a field," and the rest of that verse is a word of judgment.

Now ever since college days, I have been a student of history and civilization...I majored in history and discovered a great love for it and even to this day I am always reading some book about history or the history of some nation or civilization. It's very, very fascinating and enlightening. One thing, one fact that I have noticed in all of my studies is this...that no nation in history, no civilization in history, however pure its conception has ever remained pure. Eventually it has gone sour and become corrupt. No civilization, no nation in history, no matter how pure its conception has ever remained pure.

Israel, of course, is I think the great illustration of that. Israel had a miraculous origin. There could have been no purer conception than that of Israel, because it was originated by God Himself. It was of miraculous origin. And no other nation, no other society has ever given us a religion and a code of ethics and a code of morality as high and as lofty as that of the Hebrew religion. Of all the religions of the world...the ancient religions...the Hebrews had the highest moral and ethical code of any other nation, and yet, in spite of that, it fell farther than any other nation. You think about! Miraculous in its origin...chosen by God...created by God Himself...produced a religion that had the highest moral and ethical code in history and yet fell farther than any other nation and was scattered abroad until it existed no more.

There's another thing that I have discovered in my study of history and it's this...there is an alarming similarity of the characteristics of every nation that disintegrates. First of all, as I've said, regardless of how pure its origins, every nation always goes corrupt. That's one characteristic, every nation, every civilization, ever society has always gone corrupt. The second characteristic is that the majority of the people have either been unaware of it going corrupt or they have been indifferent or complacent to it.

Now, Micah is addressing his society, his nation, and it was the nation Israel of course. As I said, Israel was miraculous in its origin, pure in its morality and yet deep in its fall. And Micah is bringing in this little prophecy a message of divine judgment upon the people. While this God that you and I worship and serve is a God of grace and a God of mercy, He is also a God of holiness. There is a wrath of the Lamb...how contradictory those two terms are. You would never put together those two words...Lamb and wrath. But, there is something about man and his sinfulness that can even make a Lamb get angry...and become wrathful. So, now having discussed that possibility of judgment, Micah in chapter 3 is telling why this judgment is coming upon the people.

In chapter 3 he's discussing all of this and he says, "Therefore, because of you this judgment is going to fall upon the nation..." so our task tonight is to find out who is that "you" he's talking about. Who is that "you"? The judgment of God is coming because of "you", he says, because of certain groups of people. See, we have to understand that the moral disintegration that's going on in our society is not by accident. It is the result of influences that are constantly poisoning and perverting our society. Now, Micah is saying, "here is who they are...here's what they are..." and there are three groups of people that Micah mentions in this third chapter and I hope that as we go through it you'll see tonight how relevant it is and how contemporary it is. "Therefore, because of you"...who is the "you?"

First, of all Micah is saying God's judgment comes upon a nation or a society because of corrupt leaders...

BECAUSE OF CORRUPT POLITICIANS. Look at Micah 3:1...

"And I said, 'Hear now, heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know justice?"

Now, the phrase "heads of Jacob" refers to civil leaders, not necessarily elected leaders, but civil leaders...those leaders in the community...those who are the head of the Chamber of Commerce or the Kiwanis or those people in the community that because of their position they are looked up to and they are looked at for advice and leadership. Then he speaks of "rulers of the house of Israel." And these refer to governmental leaders. These are those who have been placed by the people in position of authority. He says, "Listen, you leaders of Jacob and you rulers of the house of Israel, is it not for you to know justice? You who hate good and love evil, who tear off their skin from them and their flesh from their bones, and who eat the flesh of my people, strip off their skin from them, break their bones, and chop them up as for the pot and as meat in a kettle. Then they will cry out to the Lord, but He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time, because they have practiced evil deeds."

Now, Micah is one preacher that was never invited to the White House, I'm certain of that. He says, "because of you...you leaders of Jacob and you rulers of the house of Israel...those of you who are in positions of authority and leadership...it is because of you..." Now he starts off and he acts like he pays them a compliment...he says, "those of you who know justice"...now the NIV says "should you not know justice?" And it means, "those of you above all else who know what is right from wrong..." Now, as he began his message, and most scholars believe that this was a public sermon preached before a gathering of prominent people...and Micah starts off and he addresses them, and he says, "you are the ones above everybody else who know what justice, who know what is right and wrong," and I imagine they sort of lifted their chins at that, and maybe their chests kind of puffed out just a little bit... "sure, that's right, above everybody else we know what's right, we know what's good for the people...yessir."

But, then he came back with this word, "those of you who hate good and love evil..." and then like a novelist, he goes into great detail of how they treat the people... "you tear off their skin from them and their flesh from their bones, and eat the flesh of my people, and strip off their skin from them, and break their bones and chop them up as for the pot and as meat in a kettle." That is his description of the corrupt leaders of the nation.

Now, last night we looked in chapter 1 and let's go back there for just a moment. Here again he's talking about the promise of judgment that God is sending upon both the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom...and remember we learned that Jerusalem was the capital of the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. And he deals with both Jerusalem and Samaria. But look at Micah 1:5...

"All of this is for the rebellion of Jacob and for the sins

of the house of Israel. What is the rebellion of Jacob?

is it not Samaria? What is the high place of Judah? Is

it not Jerusalem?"

Remember we talked about how that God seemed to center in on the capitals of those nations, so that you could say, "What is the sin of America? Is it not Washington?" Basically, that's what he's saying...that God's judgment comes upon a society, number one because of corrupt politicians...because of corrupt leaders, and you don't have to go very far and studying your history to find out that what always precedes the decline and fall of a great nation or empire is the corruption of its leaders. If you read RISE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, this becomes very, very obvious. And it's true in every civilization.

Now, there are three things the leaders do that Micah points out.

1) They sin against knowledge...they sin against what is supposedly superior light and knowledge on their part. He says, "Those of you who should know justice...I mean of anybody else in the country...of all people in this country, you ought to know what is right and what is wrong."

Usually when we elect our leaders, we elect them because we feel like they know what is best for the country, or they know what is best for the state or they know what is best for the city and I'll tell you this, when they campaign, what do they campaign on? The foundation of their campaign is "I know what's best...I have the answer to the problems...if you'll put me in office, I will solve all these problems because I know better than my opponent and I'm a better person, he's corrupt and I'm not." And so, when a man or woman runs for public office, the basis of their campaign is superior knowledge...superior light. "You should vote for me, instead of my opponent because I know what's best for the country." But, the way Micah says this when he says "is it not for you to know justice...sure you do...but instead you hate the good and you love evil..." What an indictment! They sin against knowledge! They sin against light!

And oh, it's true both in secular ways and in spiritual ways. Leaders always have a greater judgment than followers. You know, I used to think God was very unfair in the way He treated Moses. You know, Moses, bless his heart, after spending 40 years in the backside of a desert with a bunch of dumb sheep, he then spent 40 years leading a bunch of dumb Israelites. And there were 80 years he'd given to doing all that, and yet at the last minute God said, "You're not going to enter in" and took him up on the mountain and he looked across and he saw the Promised Land, but Moses never entered into the Promised Land, and why was that? Because on one occasion, he lost his temper. That's all he did! He lost his temper! And I used to read that and I'd say, "That's not right...that's not fair." But, do you know why God judged him that way? Because Moses, above everybody else in that nation knew better! He knew better! Why? Because he talked to God face to face as a man talks to a friend. That's why James says, "Do not be anxious to be teachers..." Why? "...knowing they will receive the greater condemnation."

You see, God doesn't punish us because of the amount of sin we commit. He judges us for the amount of light we have received. Remember on that occasion when Jesus was in Capernaum, and they were rejecting His word and He said, "I tell you something, it's going to be easier on Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than it will be for you..." Why? Well, if the things that have been said and done in Capernaum had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have repented a long time ago. "They didn't have the light that you have...they didn't get to hear what you've heard...therefore judgment for them is going to be more tolerable than for you."

And you know, I think about our country...is there any country in the world that has been blessed like our country? Blessed spiritually and blessed materially. I haven't been to every nation in the world but I've been to quite a few of them and I want to tell you something...I haven't been to any place yet that would make me want to live there instead of here. There are a lot of things wrong with this country, a lot of things I don't like about this country, but I tell you...I'm a patriot from the word "go". When the TV goes off and they start showing those jet planes flying by the flag and they start playing the "Star Spangled Banner", I get the urge to enlist every time. I'm just that way. There are a lot of things wrong about this country, but I want to tell you something, I'd rather live here than any place on the face of the earth. There's a responsibility that goes with that. I believe we of all nations will receive a greater judgment. See, we have the money to send many missionaries to every place in the world, but we're not doing it.

2) They sin against public trust. Notice how Micah puts it. "These people that you're supposed to be protecting...these people that you're supposed to be taking care of...instead of doing that, what do you do...you tear off their skin and their flesh from their bones and you eat my people's flesh and you strip off their skin and you break their bones and you chop them up like meat for the kettle." They sin against the public trust. We elect them because we think they love good and hate evil, and when it turns around that they hate the good and love the evil they have sinned against our public trust, you see.

Now, we're always grieved when somebody murders somebody else, but it's a more grievous and hateful sin when policemen do it...right? Sure! Why? Because they have sinned not only against humanity and morality and the laws, but they have sinned against the public trust! The same thing with preachers...same thing with all leaders. The reason you have your pastor and your staff members is because you put your trust in them. Therefore, they have the greater responsibility to honor that trust.

3) They sin against all humanity and human rights...

In other words, they are so intent on greed and gain that they'll be cruel and deny the rights of others to satisfy their greed. And that's why he is talking about how they treat folks.

Now the judgment that's going to come upon these leaders is that they're not going to have the answers...that they're not going to be able to solve the problems. Well, now this is really relevant, isn't it? Look at verse 4...

"Then they will cry out to the Lord, but He will not

answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from

them at that time, because they have practiced evil

deeds."

See, you cannot expect for leaders to have the answers to solve the problems of a country if those leaders themselves are corrupt. Why? Because God will not give them the answers. That's a part of the judgment. And that's why I said last night that it is important for us to understand as Micah points out that judgment is not something that is reserved for the end times, it is something that is in progress right now, you see. We are being judged right now! And one of the ways we are being judged right now is because nobody has the answers to all the problems that are in our country.

I remember in 1954, Brown vs the Board of Education, and it was the bellwether case as far as the Civil Rights were concerned and the racial issue was concerned and everybody touted that as the case that would solve the problem...but there's more racial hatred right now than there's ever been in our country. There is a greater division between blacks and whites than there has ever been in our country. And we thought that all of these things we had done thirty or forty years ago and continue to do were going to solve this, see? I can remember everybody saying, "This is the answer...we're going to have peace...we're all going to live together as one in unity and brotherhood..." but I tell you today that there's more hatred and violence than there's ever been. Why is that? Corrupt leaders will not receive light from God and therefore, God does not show them the way even though they were to cry out to Him, He would not answer them.

Well, not only does God's judgment come because of corrupt politicians, it also comes because of

COMPROMISING PREACHERS.

Having paid his respects to the politicians, he now addresses the preachers in the crowd. Look in verse 5...

"Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead

My people astray; when they have something to bite

with their teeth, they cry 'Peace,' but against him who

puts nothing in their mouths, they declare holy war.

Therefore it will be night for you...without vision,

and darkness for you...without divination. The sun

will go down on the prophets and the day will become

dark over them. The seers will be ashamed and the

diviners will be embarrassed, indeed, there is no answer

from God."

Compromising preachers... "the prophets who lead My people astray..."

Now, here is one of those portions where there are variant readings in the translations. Most of the translations will have these words in them, "who bite with their teeth." The NIV translates this, "if one feeds them they proclaim peace." But literally it has in it "they bite with their teeth" and the Hebrew word "bite" is used in the Bible only as the bite of a serpent. "And they cry 'peace'"...

Now what's wrong with these compromising preachers? Micah says the reason God is going to judge them is because

4) they are mercenary

Notice he says, "if one feeds them they proclaim 'peace'" and if he does not, they prepare to wage war against them. Look at verse 11..

"Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, and her priests

instruct for a price, and her prophets divine for money..."

In other words, these are men who were in it for personal gain. They want power, privilege, position and profit. And they manipulate with words for the wrong personal gain. They are mercenary in their ministry. That's why they're there! "Now, as long as you take good care of me and feed me and everything, then I'm going to preach what you want to hear...PEACE...but if you don't feed me and give me what I want and if you cannot somehow contribute to my rise in position and privilege and prestige, then you're my enemy." God judges them because they are mercenary.

I think that's a great temptation for preachers...to become mercenary. Is it alright for me to make a confession? You know, confession's good for the soul, and it is but it's bad for the reputation. But, I'm assuming we're all forgiving people and of course, this is something that was years ago in my ministry...about 20 years ago...when I first realized this. You know what I realized? I realized that I was beginning to look at my people in terms of what they could do for me instead of what I could do for them. I was always happier when a "professional man" joined the church than when a "working man" joined the church, which is not to imply that professional people don't work, but you know what I mean. There are "white collars" and there are "blue collars". And our church was a "blue collar" church. We had a few "white collars", but they all had rings around them. And there were two or three people that were, you know, well off and I found myself more interested in them. Well, it came to me as a grievous and burdensome revelation one day. I remember it just as clear as if it happened to me this morning. I was in my office and God began to show me that I was looking at people in terms of what they could do for me. A minister ought to be looking at people in terms of what they can do for them. It's very easy for you to become mercenary in your ministry.

But there's another cause for God's judgment on them

5) They were deceptive in their teaching...

Notice, he said that they lead the people astray.

Now folks, it's bad enough to be governed by godless leaders, but it's worse to be guided by godless teachers. And it's good for us and easy for us to sit back today and blame all the politicians and the leaders for all the problems in the country, but I want to tell you something, a great burden of that blame must lie at the feet of preachers who have compromised the message of God and compromised their own personal lives.

They are deceptive in their teaching. Now, this is why I wanted you to understand that there in that verse in the Hebrew "they bite with their teeth" and it's like biting with the teeth of a serpent. In other words, I think what Micah is saying is this...that when they open their mouth to speak and give you a message, it's as deadly as a serpent's bite.

You better run as far as you can from the teachings of a false prophet. They are deceptive in their teaching. How is that? Well, it's because they promise peace...because they promise prosperity. Look at what he says,

(NIV) "...if one feeds them, they proclaim 'peace'"

Now, go through the Old Testament...Ezekiel is a good place to go, and some of the other prophets, and false prophets are always characterized and described by saying "peace when there is no peace". In the Old Testament the word "peace" always referred to a state of well-being. It meant that in your life there was a security and satisfaction...no enemies...no misfortunes...there was peace. But, that word "peace" took on a bad connotation because in the prophets it became the technical term for the content of a false prophet.

In other words, the way you could tell a false prophet was if he promised prosperity. I won't say anything about the "prosperity preachers" we have today except that that's a false teaching. Any preacher that tells you that if you will have faith and if you'll walk in the Spirit and if you'll send in an offering that God is going to heal you of all of your troubles and deliver you from all of your misfortunes and you'll rise above all of these things and the enemy cannot touch you and the enemy cannot touch your money and you'll be free from all kinds of enemies and misfortunes and your life will be nothing but health and wealth and prosperity...that is a false teacher!

Now, I'm not saying that it is wrong to preach that God will bless those things in many ways, but you have to balance that with the other truth of the message that life is tough and that life isn't fair and that God has never promised us an immunity from problems, and that salvation is not a vaccination against hardships and difficulties and disasters. I never hear that from the false teachers. I never hear that.

The latest thing now is the "laughing revival." I watched one of those on television the other night. I'd been reading all about it and so I watched one the other night. Well, you say, "Don't you think the Holy Spirit can make you laugh?" Yes, I do, but don't call that revival. Revival starts with brokenness and tears and weeping and repentance of sin. And I watched on the television that night as those people rolled in the aisles and hilariously laughed while this man was preaching the word of God and one man stood up and acted like he was he was drunk and stumbled around and everything like that and I said, "My soul, that cannot be of God."

False teachers. They deceive in their teaching. They deceive when they promise there is peace when there is no peace.

6) They're going to be judged.

Notice verses 6 and 7...

They're going to be judged in these ways...first of all they're going to be darkened in their minds.

"Therefore it will be night for you...without vision,

and darkness for you...with divination. The sun

will go down on the prophets, and the day will become

dark over them."

What descriptive language that is! The sun is going to set. What he's saying is there's not going to be anything but night for them...darkness for them...in other words, they will lose the capacity to discern the will and the word of God. And that happens! I've seen it happen! You preach a false message for so long and you preach for the wrong purpose for so long, being mercenary and greedy and preaching for gain and for prosperity and after awhile you lose the capacity to discern the will and the word of God.

Not only does he say that they'll be darkened in their mind, but he says that they'll be discredited in their message. Notice he says in the latter part of verse 7...

"...they will cover their mouths because there is no answer

from God."

I mean, what they promise doesn't come to pass. I've been interested in all the lawsuits that have been filed against all the prosperity preachers lately because what they promised have not come to pass...and some of them so much to the point that they have been forced off the air. Discredited in their ministry.

And then he says they'll be disgraced by their failure. They will cover their mouths...this is a sign of great shame. While we're in the neighborhood, we need to stop in on verse 8...

All of a sudden Micah jumps in here and he gives the characteristics of a true prophet. Look at verse 8...

"On the other hand I am filled with power â€“ with the

Spirit of the LORD â€“ and with justice and courage to

make known to Jacob his rebellious act, even to Israel

his sin."

Now, let me just quickly give you the three marks here of a true prophet...

1) It is a ministry of power. It is a powerful ministry. A ministry of power! But notice it is not the power of influence...not the power of manipulation...oh, dear God, the thing that I have feared in my ministry more than anything else is that I might try to manipulate people with words or manipulate people with guilt. I hate it when preachers use guilt to try to get people to do what they want them to do. I hate getting these letters from these people, you know, the kind of letters that are computerized but they've got it worked out where your name is there and then they have certain sentences underlined twice...I got one letter where he talked about how many people had been saved in his ministry in the past so many years and now they're in such desperate need of funds that they're going to have to close down the ministry and his appeal was this, "Do you want to see all those people go to hell? If not, then send me money." Boy, I hated that. Why? Because he is trying to manipulate people by guilt. Micah says, "My power is spiritual power...not the power of gimmicks...not the power of influence...not the power of manipulation...not the power of mass hysteria...it's the power of the Spirit."

2) It is the ministry of enlightenment. That's what he means when he says "I am filled with justice...I know what's right." See, he himself is enlightened and his preaching enlightens others.

3) It is the ministry of courage. Why is he filled with courage? To declare to Jacob his rebellious acts and to Israel his sin. That's courage, folks.

I told your preacher that I have a greater appreciation for Nathan than I ever had. Have you ever thought about that? I want to tell you something, folks. If the president of the United States were to invite me to come to visit him in the Oval Office...it would be one thing for me in personal, private conversation with my wife to say everything I think is wrong, but I wonder if I'd have the courage to say those things to him face to face.

Nathan goes there and sits down with the king and points his finger at the king and he says, "It's you!" And who was it...Elijah?...who said to King Ahab... "It is you who are the one troubling Israel...not me!"

Okay, first of all we have corrupt politicians. We have compromising preachers and there is one more we want to touch on...and that is that God is sending His judgment because of a complacent people.

I said at the beginning that one of the characteristics of these nations that go corrupt is that the majority of the people are unaware of it or being aware of it are indifferent to it. You see, more tragic than the corruption is the complacency of the people concerning that corruption. Notice how he puts it... He says in verse 11...

"Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, her priests

instruct for a price, and her prophets divine for money,

yet they lean on the LORD saying, 'is not the LORD in

our midst? Calamity will not come upon us.'"

Well, isn't the Lord in our midst? This was the word used of the inner parts of the human body. In other words they are saying, "Well, God and we are one, I mean...you know, God is just in us, He's just right with us...I mean, how can you say that we're up for judgment...isn't the Lord among us? No evil can come to us!" Complacent and presumptious people...presuming upon the presence of the Lord and presuming upon His protection from evil.

So Micah closes that message with these words,

"Therefore, on account of you, Zion will be plowed as

a field...Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and

the mountain of the temple will become high places

of a forest."