"God’s Care and Judgement XV"
Generally, paying someone back for a wrong they have done to you is not considered a good response. It might be an understandable action - perhaps they have wronged you so severely that everyone would "get it" if you paid them back. Or maybe the offense is so grave that it's almost as if payback must happen - in a twisted sense of justice, it's as if you have to pay the malefactor back in order to right the wrong and start afresh. Most of us, however, still recognize that payback is counter to honorable or truly moral action. But what if I told you that when it looks like God is paying you back, it's actually meant as a blessing - in short, it's his attempt at rescuing you from your own evil plan?
Micah 2:3 says, "Therefore, thus says the LORD: 'Behold, against this family I am devising disaster, from which you cannot remove your necks; nor shall you walk haughtily, for this is an evil time'" (NKJV). God's words are actually a response to the words of Israel and Judah. In Micah 1, God tells the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah that he will visit judgment on them for sinning against God. But it's only in Micah 2:1-2 that God spells out the specific way in which they have sinned against God: they "devise iniquity," they spend all night "working out evil on their beds" so they can execute it in the morning, they take other peoples' fields "by violence," they confiscate other peoples' houses, and they "oppress" others by depriving them of their property, possessions, and inheritance. Basically, because Israel and Judah devise violent means to take what they want, God speaks to them in Micah 2:3 by telling them "against this family [Israel and Judah] I am devising disaster."
This isn't actually a punishment, though discipline is very much in view. God's reason for matching Israel and Judah's "devising iniquity" with his own "devising disaster" is the moral and spiritual state of Israel and Judah: they seek to evade responsibility for their actions ("which you cannot remove from your necks") and they are trapped in their own arrogance ("nor shall you walk haughtily"). Israel and Judah are not simply violating God's commandments, they are actively hurting people for their own self-entitlement. If there is any hope for God to arrest this behavior and rescue them from their evil, he will have to take drastic action and confront their violence with judgment.
Friends, when we are disciplined by the Lord, it can be tempting to think that we are being punished for an evil we have done or think we have done. But God's discipline is not punishment; rather, it is grace. Trust that when God speaks his "coh amar y'adonai" - "thus says the Lord" - to rebuke you, it is ultimately meant for your good and not your demise - because truly, "thus says the Lord."
God bless,
Pastor Nathaniel Gamble
