Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with hundreds of seminary students about the question of vocation. The motivations for entering into the ministry run the gamut, as do the students’ backgrounds. Some students come to us right out of college, while others have been working at their former careers for ten or twenty years or more. Some come with a clear sense of divine call and dive right in, while others are just putting a toe in the vocational waters. But for the most part, as far as I know, students come with good intentions, looking to discover and exercise their gifts for the glory of God and the benefit of his people.

But some will struggle and flounder as ministers. Congregations are incredibly complex organisms, and conflict is often only a conversation away. It’s easy to start making compromises in the service of keeping others happy and yourself safe from criticism. And every compromise is a potentially slippery slope.

In the previous post, we looked at Micah’s condemnation of the unjust judges who were probably being bribed by the rich to decide cases in their favor. The words were stark and angry, portraying these judges as ripping the innocent to pieces and eating them alive. And as we see at the beginning of verse 3, they were Micah’s words, not God’s. It’s as if, having seen the injustice and suffering firsthand, he vents his own outrage at the so-called leaders who should know better.

But the next oracle is from God, and rightly so, for this one will denounce the false prophets who claim to speak on God’s behalf. “This is what the LORD says,” begins Micah, as he delivers the fateful words:

As for the prophets
    who lead my people astray,
they proclaim ‘peace’
    if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
    who refuses to feed them.
Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
    and darkness, without divination.
The sun will set for the prophets,
    and the day will go dark for them.
The seers will be ashamed
    and the diviners disgraced.
They will all cover their faces
    because there is no answer from God. (Mic 3:5-7, NIV)

The prophets are “leading people astray,” like false shepherds who fail to protect the sheep or lead them on the right paths. When Micah says that they “proclaim ‘peace’ when they have something to eat,” he’s not talking about getting cranky when you’re hungry. He’s accusing them of making a living from saying what people want to hear. Conversely, they “wage war” against anyone who refuses to grease their prophetic palms.

Mind you, it wasn’t unheard of for prophets to be paid. But as I’ve suggested before, this easily becomes a conflict of interest and a temptation to compromise. Over time, apparently, they’ve made many such compromises and rationalized them away.

What will be their punishment? They have spoken falsely in God’s name. What will God do?

He will take away their ability to prophesy.

Notice the implications of all this, including the oracle itself. These false prophets aren’t just charlatans who pretend to be prophets and then make stuff up; they are actually seers. But because they have prostituted their gifts, they will no longer have prophetic sight. Like the unjust judges of the previous oracle, they will call out to God, but get no answer. There will be no more visions. The sun will set on their prophetic insight, and they will live in darkness.

Micah, as we’ve seen, is someone who feels injustice deeply but also loves his people. He grieves over the fate of Judah and comes to Jerusalem with a heavy heart. Yes, his words are filled with anger and accusation. But one can easily imagine the sadness, the mourning, that goes with it. He must preach disaster even if he wishes things could be different.

This oracle against the false prophets only deepens the tragedy. Imagine, for a moment, how Micah would feel if he suddenly found out that Isaiah was on the take. His reaction would go beyond mere disappointment. He wouldn’t just shake his head and say, “Oh, well.” More likely, he would feel betrayed and abandoned, even lonelier in an already lonely vocation.

Moreover, imagine that Isaiah goes further, contradicting Micah in public, telling people to ignore Micah’s preaching because he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. How much strength, how much courage would it take for Micah to continue in such a situation?

This may be the situation with the false prophets. They’re more than just pretenders; they’re Micah’s former colleagues who have sold themselves out. Perhaps they never intended to do that. Perhaps they began with the best of intentions. But one compromise at a time, they slid down the slope of self-delusion, to the point of publicly contradicting the one who actually brings a word straight from God.

Again, it would take enormous fortitude for Micah to continue his work in the face of such opposition and betrayal. But fortunately, as we’ll see, he has all the power he needs.