Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I am planning against this race an evil from which you shall not withdraw your necks. Nor shall you walk with head high, for it will be a time of evil. On that day a satire shall be sung over you, and there shall be a plaintive chant: “Our ruin is complete, our fields are portioned out among our captors. The fields of my people are measured out, and no one can get them back!” Thus you shall have no one to mark out boundaries by lot in the assembly of the LORD. (Micah 2:1-5)
Micah is quite the prophet, and he speaks to us today even though he lived in the 8th century before Christ. According to the New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Micah’s Chapter 2 is concerned with social justice. The Commentary reads:
“With the introduction of monarchic rule, the 12 tribes gradually lost their sense of equality. More and more, a separation was worked out between the rich and the poor, between the leaders and ordinary folk. Exploitation and oppression, and possessions acquired through illegal means became the objects of denunciation by the prophets. [There are] examples of those who are ‘planning’ iniquity: taking fields, houses, and even their owners with their inheritance.
Their schemes work because they have power to realize them. The night gives them time to finalize their plan. They monopolize properties and even sell as slaves persons who cannot repay their debts…the sin consists in having been unfaithful to God when robbing the poor. Hence the expulsion from the religious assembly."
Our country tends to resemble the conditions Micah described and condemned. We are tribes vying against each for power, influence, and control. We are supposed to be part of the “assembly of the LORD;” therefore, we should not mark out boundaries. But, of course we do, including boundaries regarding race and measures of wealth.
Woe to those of us who plan social justice iniquities and work out evil on our couches.
Deacon David Pierce
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