Desiring Truth
6/3/26 Bible Thought (Micah 2)
Main Idea: God’s Word should bring comfort to the obedient and conviction to the sinner.
A Look at the Text:
After disaster was predicted, in today’s text, we see one of the reasons for this coming judgment. The wealthy amongst God’s people were taking advantage of the poor. The powerful coveted the possessions of the weak and would then steal from them (Mic. 1:1-2).
So God promised through His prophet that exile would come. Yet, that wasn’t a message the people wanted to hear. Like Amos, Micah was told to stop:
“Do not preach”—thus they preach— “one should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us” (Mic. 2:6).
Yet God’s Word shouldn’t have been a concern to those who obeyed it (Mic. 2:7). Sadly, the only preacher Micah’s audience wanted was one who would tell them of the blessings of wine (Mic. 2:11).
They wanted to hear of prosperity, not disaster—regardless of what was actually true.
Bringing it Home:
One of the perennial problems of the human race is that we don’t want to be told our sin is sinful. Many don’t want to hear the truth simply because it can be upsetting. This was a problem in the Old Testament, and it was predicted to happen again in the future (2 Tim. 4:3). The word “sin” is even offensive to modern man.
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions (2 Tim. 4:3).
Let us always remember that while there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1), that does not mean conviction is no longer applicable to the people of God.
Sometimes the truth might hurt. If it does, we should rejoice that our hearts are still open to the truth! For, at the end of the day, if we claim to have no sin, we deceive ourselves (1 John 1:8). None of us will be sinless on this side of eternity.
That said, we should strive to obey God’s Word but likewise welcome it when it corrects us. The new covenant hope was that God’s law would be written on the human heart (Jer. 31:33) and that our hearts’ desires would be shaped to love and serve Him (see Phil. 2:13).
Conviction of sin is one marker of that healthy heart. Godly grief leads to true repentance and salvation (2 Cor. 7:10). Let us then humbly submit to God’s Word when it afflicts us. Even more, let us gratefully rejoice that God has softened our hearts to His Word that we might obey.
Challenge:
What is my response to conviction of sin? Do I humbly repent, blame my sin on others, or ignore the conviction altogether?