# Micah 02 📖: Woe to Those Who Scheme [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Micah Overview]] | [[Micah 01]] | [[Micah 03]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Land Robbers Will Lose Their Land [[#Verse 01.]] Beware wicked schemers, those who devise calamity as they lie in bed. As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, because they have the power to do so. [[#Verse 02.]] They confiscate the fields they desire and seize the houses they want. They defraud people of their homes and deprive people of the land they have inherited. [[#Verse 03.]] Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of catastrophe. [[#Verse 04.]] In that day people will sing this taunt song to you— they will mock you with this lament: ‘We are completely destroyed; they sell off the property of my people. How they remove it from me! They assign our fields to the conqueror.’” [[#Verse 05.]] Therefore no one will assign you land in the Lord’s community. [[#Verse 06.]] “Don’t preach with such impassioned rhetoric,” they say excitedly. “These prophets should not preach of such things; we will not be overtaken by humiliation.” [[#Verse 07.]] Does the family of Jacob say, “The Lord’s patience can’t be exhausted— he would never do such things”? To be sure, my commands bring a reward for those who obey them, [[#Verse 08.]] but you rise up as an enemy against my people. You steal a robe from a friend, from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war. [[#Verse 09.]] You wrongly evict widows among my people from their cherished homes. You defraud their children of their prized inheritance. [[#Verse 10.]] But you are the ones who will be forced to leave! For this land is not secure; sin will thoroughly destroy it! [[#Verse 11.]] If a lying windbag should come and say, ‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ he would be just the right preacher for these people! ### The Lord Will Restore His People [[#Verse 12.]] “I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob, I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain. I will bring them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in the middle of a pasture; they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise. [[#Verse 13.]] The one who can break through barriers will lead them out; they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. Their king will advance before them; the Lord himself will lead them.” ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Coveting fields and houses (2:2) breaks the tenth commandment (Exodus 20:17). 2. Land in Israel was meant to stay within each family as an inheritance from God (Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 36:7). 3. Ahab's seizing of Naboth's vineyard (1 Kings 21) is a famous example of the sin Micah describes. 4. Isaiah, Micah's contemporary, gives a similar warning against adding house to house and field to field (Isaiah 5:8). 5. 2:4 pictures a mocking song sung over those who lose their land. 6. Land was divided by lot among Israel's tribes (Joshua 14:2), and Micah says the greedy will have no one to cast the lot for them (2:5). 7. False prophets told Micah not to preach of disgrace (2:6). 8. The powerful stripped robes from peaceful travelers and evicted women and children from their homes (2:8-9). 9. The "breaker" (2:13) is pictured as the one who breaks through a wall or gate so the flock can go out. 10. Bozrah (2:12) was a region known for sheep, used as a picture of a full fold. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Breaker who opens the way and the King who goes before His flock (2:13). Jesus is the Good Shepherd who goes ahead of His sheep (John 10:4) and the way to the Father (John 14:6). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. The powerful lay awake planning to take others' fields and homes (2:1-2). How can greed lead people to misuse power? 2. The people wanted prophets who would preach about wine and beer instead of truth (2:6, 11). Why do people prefer comfortable messages? 3. God promises to gather His remnant like sheep in a fold (2:12). How does this promise comfort those who feel scattered? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 1: Woe to those who plan evil on their beds and carry it out at dawn. - 📖 verse 2: They covet fields and seize them, cheating people of their inheritance. - 📖 verse 13: The One who breaks open the way goes before them, with the Lord at their head. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[John 10#Verse 04.|John 10:4]] - The shepherd goes ahead of his sheep. - 🔗 [[John 14#Verse 06.|John 14:6]] - Jesus is the way. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 05#Verse 08.|Isaiah 5:8]] - Woe to those who add field to field. - 🔗 [[1 Kings 21#Verse 01.|1 Kings 21:1-16]] - Ahab seizes Naboth's vineyard. - 🔗 [[2 Timothy 04#Verse 03.|2 Timothy 4:3-4]] - People will want teachers who tell them what they want to hear. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Micah 02 - SOAP|With Power Comes Responsibility]] ## 📂 Internal Notes