Misrepresentations of God

Micah 3:11-12
Her heads judge for a bribe, her priests teach for pay, and her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us." Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, and the mountain of the temple like the bare hills of the forest.

'Her' refers to Jerusalem. (Jerusalem's heads judge for a bribe, Jerusalem's priests teach for pay, and Jerusalem's prophets divine for money).

Heads (princes in other translations), priests, and prophets. These are people who should be declaring the word of God! Truly and honestly. But they're only in it for the money.

In the Bible, God really cares about how His people present Him. And here, they're presenting Him as Someone who actually allows and wants His people to do this. Maybe they really did think this, maybe not, who really knows. The Bible doesn't tell us.

Just because these people said God would protect them, doesn't mean He would. This doesn't mean He didn't love them. He did. But they were misrepresenting God's name, and God had to show His people that He didn't condone that kind of behavior. He won't allow that kind of behavior in us, either. He sends things to humble us, to teach us to follow Him. Not all horrible things in life are because of this, but sometimes God has to go to extreme measures to get our attention.

In His Service,
Joyce