Today, I am reading and commenting on  Micah 3-7.

Usually when I read the prophets of the Old Testament condemning false prophets I think of people who use religion for their own benefit, but don’t actually believe in God.  I think that at the beginning of today’s passage Micah is referring to people who think they are preaching God’s message but have allowed their self-interest to distort what, and to whom, they preach.  Micah warns them that if they do not stop telling people what they reward them for saying rather than God’s message, God will stop speaking to them.  That would not be a punishment for those who do not believe in God.  Which causes me to think differently about a quote from an Old Testament prophet which I really love:
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.
All too often, those to whom God has given a message, or who think that God has given them a message, fail on that last line.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, those who seek to serve God all too often fail on the entire requirement, but it seems to me that it starts with a failure to walk humbly with God.  When we lose our humility it is not long until we stop loving mercy and acting justly.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.