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Micah 2:11 (NIV)

¹¹If a liar and deceiver comes and says, 'I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,' he would be just the prophet for this people!

3:8,11

⁸But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin.

¹¹Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us."

Micah (Who is like Jehovah) is speaking to the tendency in man to welcome the predictions of blessing, even while injustice is rampant. Man would prefer to believe that things will continue as they are, and that God does not judge. If someone comes and predicts prosperity, we readily swallow the message. We have prosperity preachers in our day also. Jesus says, 窶弋ake up your cross and follow me!窶� His example was anything but a life of physical prosperity. The allure of the material draws our flesh to reason against the Spirit.

In contrast, Micah says that he is full of power and the Spirit of the LORD, full of justice and might, to declare the sin of the people. God had anointed and empowered him to preach the wrath of God upon injustice and greed. Yet, in each of the three sections of Micah, we see the mercy of God in a promise of restoration and reign of the coming Messiah. There is only one solution to the heart of man, the Messiah, our Savior. When we speak out against sin, we are often condemned as being critical, and legalistic. If we want the power of the LORD and His Spirit upon us, we must speak the truth.

The leaders no longer labored for the Lord, but for financial gain. Did they even know that the anointing had left their ministry and that they faced the impending judgments of God?

Consider: Speaking the truth will often cost us the world's favor, but the favor of God is incomparably more desirable.