When Leaders Devour The People

Good morning. I want to talk to you today about a passage that makes us uncomfortable, that challenges us, but that speaks directly to the moment we're living in. Turn with me to Micah chapter 3, verses 1 through 8.

And I said:

Listen, you heads of Jacob

and rulers of the house of Israel!

Should you not know justice?—

2 you who hate the good and love the evil,

who tear the skin off my people

and the flesh off their bones,

3 who eat the flesh of my people,

flay their skin off them,

break their bones in pieces,

and chop them up like meat in a kettle,

like flesh in a caldron.

4 Then they will cry to the LORD,

but he will not answer them;

he will hide his face from them at that time

because they have acted wickedly.

5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets

who lead my people astray,

who cry “Peace”

when they have something to eat

but declare war against those

who put nothing into their mouths.

6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision,

and darkness to you, without revelation.

The sun shall go down upon the prophets,

and the day shall be black over them;

7 the seers shall be disgraced

and the diviners put to shame;

they shall all cover their lips,

for there is no answer from God.

8 But 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

and to Israel his sin.

The Prophet's Accusation (Verses 1-4)

Listen to how Micah starts: "And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?—you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones."

This is not polite criticism. This is a prophet who has seen enough. Micah is speaking to the leaders—the people who are supposed to know justice, who are supposed to protect the vulnerable, who are supposed to shepherd God's people. And what does he say about them? They hate good and love evil.

Think about that reversal. These aren't just people making mistakes or falling short. These are leaders who have fundamentally inverted their moral compass. What God calls good, they hate. What God calls evil, they love.

And then Micah uses this horrifying imagery—tearing skin, breaking bones, chopping people up like meat in a pot. Now, he's not saying they're literally cannibals. He's using metaphor to show us something deeper. When you exploit people economically until they have nothing left, when you crush them under systems of injustice, when you extract every ounce of dignity and resources from a community—that's what you're doing. You're consuming them. You're devouring them.

In our context, as African Americans, we know what this looks like. We've seen it in systems that were designed to break us down piece by piece. Mass incarceration that feeds off our communities. Predatory lending that strips away generational wealth. Food deserts that leave our neighborhoods malnourished while others profit. Educational inequity that robs our children of opportunity. These aren't accidents. These are the bones being broken in pieces.

When Prayer Becomes Meaningless (Verse 4)

And here's what God says through Micah: "Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil."

This should shake us. These leaders still think they have access to God. They still pray. They still go through religious motions. But God says, "I'm not listening." Why? Because you can't oppress people Monday through Saturday and expect God to hear your prayers on Sunday. You can't devour the vulnerable and then lift up holy hands. God doesn't honor that kind of hypocrisy.

James 5:4 echoes this when it says, "Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts." God hears the cries of the oppressed louder than the prayers of the oppressor.

False Prophets and Comfortable Lies (Verses 5-7)

Now Micah turns to the religious leaders, the prophets who are supposed to speak truth: "Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry 'Peace' when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths."

These are preachers for hire. If you feed them, they'll tell you what you want to hear. They'll preach peace and prosperity. They'll make you comfortable in your sin. But if you don't pay them? Then suddenly they're against you.