Micah: Justice + MercySample

Sin Will . . .

By Pastor Dan Hickling

“’Do not prattle,’ you say to those who prophesy. So they shall not prophesy to you; they shall not return insult for insult. You who are named the house of Jacob: ‘Is the Spirit of the Lord restricted? Are these His doings? Do not My words do good to him who walks uprightly? Lately My people have risen up as an enemy—you pull off the robe with the garment from those who trust you, as they pass by, like men returned from war. The women of My people you cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children you have taken away My glory forever. Arise and depart, for this is not your rest; because it is defiled, it shall destroy, yes, with utter destruction. If a man should walk in a false spirit and speak a lie, saying, “I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,” even he would be the prattler of this people.’”  Micah 2:6–11 (NKJV)

In context, we’re looking at God’s pronouncement against His people for having unjustly exploiting others for the sake of personal gain. As God expresses His pronouncement through the prophet Micah, we come across some very valuable insights pertaining to the nature of sin. We’re going to highlight these because we need to understand sin will produce consequences we all need to be on guard against. 

The first consequence can be seen as God exposes the attitude of His sinning people. Notice they said, “do not prattle” to those who were sent to prophesy to them. God’s truth was painful, and they didn’t want to hear it. This is one of the effects of sin: It will turn our appetite away from God’s truth and towards what we want to hear. 

If our spiritual appetite for God’s Word isn’t progressively growing, then we need to stop and consider if this is due to the counteracting effect of sin that we may be hanging onto. Notice how the Lord affirms His people as those who are “named the house of Jacob.” He reminds them of who they are—sons and daughters of Israel; part of the covenantal lineage with God, Himself. He affirms their spiritual identity because their sin had produced the effect of distorting their sense of identity. They lost perspective of who they were, even to the point of them acting like “an enemy” rather than a holy people. 

Sin does that. It will worm its way into our soul and warp our sense of identity. Once our identity gets twisted, once we believe we’re something else, we will behave like something else . . . even act as an enemy towards those who we’ve been called to be at peace with. So, ask yourself, “Who am I?” If the answer doesn’t match God’s definition of your identity in Him, then sin is probably the culprit. 

This brings us to the next consequence of sin as we see women and children become casualties. This represents the reality that sin will have a profound impact on households. Sin doesn’t stop at the front door; it rushes in and fractures families. As the building block of society, the family is one of the most strategic targets, and sin is bound to set its sights on it. What’s following you into your home? 

There’s one more consequence of sin we need to see: destruction. When not dealt with, destruction is always the inevitable consequence of sin. God’s people had reached a point where their sin had produced irreversible consequences. Soon, they would be dispossessed and scattered in a foreign land. What a sobering conclusion and motivation to ask God’s Spirit to reveal and cleanse us of any sin that requires our repentance!

Pause: What will sin do if left unchecked and unrepented?

Practice: Take time today to invite God’s Spirit to reveal anything that needs specific confession and spiritual cleansing. 

Pray: Lord, may I see sin as You do. Please give me a heightened sensitivity to its presence and impact on my life and the lives of those I love. Amen.