Micah 3:1-4

The sins of the princes -- Micah 3:1-4: In a simple, but very sad statement God said, "They love evil and hate good." Micah encouraged the leaders to listen to God. The princes were unjust and godless people that consumed others. Under such conditions they could never expect the Lord to answer their prayers. They would cry to Him but He would not hear because of their wickedness. You cannot continue to practice evil deeds and expect the Lord to answer your prayers. It is a sad commentary on a nation when the leading men of that nation, whether religious men or politicians are corrupt. These men are people that should have known how to act with good judgment, but in this case they had taken advantage of the unfortunate people for years.

The leaders were not righteous examples to the people. They preferred to do evil instead of what was right. Their mistreatment of the people caused God to say, "You skin my people alive. You strip off their flesh." This is the same picture as of Micah 2:8 when an innocent person passed by and they robbed him of his cloths and possessions. These wicked rulers devoured the goods, and livelihood of their brethren. The idea of breaking their bones was that of a bear or a lion attacking a defenseless lamb. They were very greedy for themselves and did not care who they hurt in the process. The time would come that God would bring judgment upon those wicked people. They would cry in vain for mercy. "Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard." (Proverbs 21:13) Their wickedness put them in such a horrible spiritual state that God would not hear them.