Micah 3:1-3
Then I said,
‘Listen, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;
3 who eat my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin
and break their bones in pieces;
who chop them up like meat for the pan,
like flesh for the pot.’
In chapters 1 and 2 we have seen the sin of God’s people, which is widespread in both the Northern and Southern kingdoms.They have failed to worship their covenant Lord and turned instead to idols. Their rejection of God leads them to care little for his people and so they steal from their fellow Israelites, taking away the land that God had given as an inheritance.
Here in chapter 3 we see a further consequence of this idolatry - the leaders who God had appointed to rule over the people have become the very opposite of what they should be. God loves what is good and hates what is evil, but they hate good and love evil. God tenderly gathers his people like a flock of sheep brought into a safe pasture where they can feed in peace. The leaders, far from feeding the people, feed on the people, exploiting their power to grab whatever they can get. Their role was to lead, teach and protect but all they care about is taking and destroying.
Micah’s language is particularly graphic but we recognise the problem, even if we wouldn’t use quite such stark terms. In every generation there have been those who have used their power for their own good, at others expense, instead of using it for the good of those that they lead. In fact, it’s so common that we might begin to think that it’s just not possible to lead without trampling on those beneath you.
How wonderful, then, that God doesn’t just lay out the job description of a good leader, and leave it at that. He actually stoops down to become the perfect leader in human form. Jesus shows us what it looks like to have all glory and yet to serve. To have all power and yet to care gently for the weak. So let’s thank God that we live under the rule of a just, loving, generous Lord. And let’s ask for his help to use whatever power we have - whether it is a little or a lot - in a way that is consistent with his character.
