Micah chapter 2

Well, here in chapter 2 there is a warning to those who lie awake at night plotting and scheming, those who use their position to oppress others, and also the false prophets, who put their heads in the sand and say everything is all right.

To me, the false prophets sound like the church today, or at least many people in the church. They say what the people want to hear, telling them that the words in the bible are not relevant for today, that people in the Old Testament times were living in a different age, a different era and that we need to move with the times. Things were different then and God did not mean that we couldn't do x, y or z now, that only applied in the Old Testament days. There are even ministers in the church who do not believe Jesus rose from the dead, something which is at the very heart of Christianity.

But how can we pick and choose what to believe in the bible and what to ignore? God does not change, so why should His word change? Is it right to only pick out the bits of the bible that lets us live life the way we want to? To only listen to those prophets and preachers who tell us what we want to hear?

If you truly believe that God is omnipotent, omniscient, all seeing, all knowing, ever present, unchanging, slow to anger, quick to forgive, knowing the past, present and future, then surely He would have known when the bible was written, Spirit breathed, what was going to happen? That He would have made His word just as relevant for today as it was all those years ago?
I sit here and read these words in Micah, and really, what is so very different today? People still lie awake at night plotting and scheming evil deeds, people in positions of authority and power still oppress those underneath them and there are preachers and prophets who even today will tell people what they want to hear rather than the solid truths in the bible. It is easier to go with the flow, to try to keep everyone happy rather than stand out from the crowd. And yet what punishment awaits those who lead others astray, the false prophets and teachers who draw people away from God instead of pulling them towards Him. It is such an awesome responsibility, and yet such a privilege but it is abused by many.

Then in the final verses of this chapter, the promise of restoration, of hope, and the return of Jesus. Just as true now as it was then, and even nearer in this year of 2008.