Micah 2:11
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If a man of wind were to come and say falsely, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be just the preacher for this people!
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Guilt and Punishment of Israel. Its Future Restoration - Mic 2:1-13 After having prophesied generally in ch. 1 of the judgment that would fall upon both kingdoms on account of their apostasy from the living God, Micah proceeds in Mic 2:1-13 to condemn, as the principal sins, the injustice and oppressions on the part of the great (Mic 2:1, Mic 2:2), for which the nation was to be driven away from its inheritance (Mic 2:3-5). He then vindicates this threat, as opposed to the prophecies of the false prophets, who confirmed the nation in its ungodliness by the lies that they told (Mic 2:6-11); and then closes with the brief but definite promise, that the Lord would one day gather together the remnant of His people, and would multiply it greatly, and make it His kingdom (Mic 2:12, Mic 2:13). As this promise applies to all Israel of the twelve tribes, the reproof and threat of punishment are also addressed to the house of Jacob as such (Mic 2:7), and apply to both kingdoms. There are no valid grounds for restricting them to Judah, even though Micah may have had the citizens of that kingdom more particularly in his mind.
Open source ↗In this chapter we have, I. The sins with which the people of Israel are charged - covetousness and oppression, fraudulent and violent practices (Mic 2:1, Mic 2:2), dealing barbarously, even with women and children, and other harmless people (Mic 2:8, Mic 2:9). Opposition of God's prophets and silencing them (Mic 2:6, Mic 2:7), and delighting in false prophets (Mic 2:11). II. The judgments with which they are threatened for those sins, that they should be humbled, and impoverished (Mic 2:3-5), and banished (Mic 2:10). III. Gracious promises of comfort, reserved for the good people among them, in the Messiah (Mic 2:12, Mic 2:13). And this is the sum and scope of most of the chapters of this and other prophecies.
Open source ↗2:11 a prophet full of lies: These evil people loved to hear deceptions from their favorite good-time prophets (cp. Jer 28:8-9). False prophets proclaimed assurance that Israel and Judah could escape from judgment. When judgment came, they had no comfort to give.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’
And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”
“Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.
Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, but you have persuaded this people to trust in a lie.
“I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’
“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
So the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?” “Go up,” they replied, “and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”