Mic 2:2 | KingComments | STEP | Their evil practices, conceived in the night, consist of robbing and oppressing. They result from their coveting of what belongs to their neighbor. When the rights of God are violated, the rights of one’s neighbor are also violated. It is already forbidden to covet something that belongs to someone else. It is a violation of the tenth commandment of the law ( ). It declares the coveting of what belongs to someone else to be a sinful act ( ). Paul states that greed is idolatry ( ), because it is putting your heart on something other than God. But it does not stop at coveting. First they sin in their hearts. Then they sin in practice. And it seems that they are successful in their evil intentions. What they do is aptly illustrated in the history of Ahab who wants Naboth’s vineyard ( ). Ahab shows his complete indifference to the fact that the land belongs to God ( ). God has given His land as a hereditary possession to the families of His people. Naboth appreciates what God has given him and under no circumstances wants to get rid of his land ( ). He is aware that Ahab’s covetousness does not only concern his own house, but his ancestral house and also the house that will be of the next generation. But Ahab does not care about that. He takes possession of Naboth’s inheritance by placing the business in the hands of his still more wicked wife Jezebel. She sees to it that Naboth is murdered and the vineyard comes into Ahab’s possession ( ). The people Micah has in mind are all little Ahabs. They do what Ahab did. It is not flattering, but it is a clear comparison. Isaiah also denounced and punished these practices ( ). The history of Ahab and Naboth is therefore not merely an incident, but happens repeatedly and takes place wherever covetousness prevails. The characteristic of covetousness is that you never have enough. That is how it is with these people. In our twenty-first century, criminal trials against directors of large companies bring to light the same behavior. The prophet speaks of ‘robbing’, but they will certainly have denied that. They will have acted in such a way that they can defend themselves against these kinds of accusations. They will present it so that they have appropriated the possession of the other in a ‘neat’ way. But they are people who move the boundaries to their own advantage ( ) in order to take possession of another person’s inheritance. They do not care about the boundaries of others.

‏ Micah 2:2

Covetousness, Robbery and Oppression

Their evil practices, conceived in the night, consist of robbing and oppressing. They result from their coveting of what belongs to their neighbor. When the rights of God are violated, the rights of one’s neighbor are also violated. It is already forbidden to covet something that belongs to someone else. It is a violation of the tenth commandment of the law (Exo 20:17). It declares the coveting of what belongs to someone else to be a sinful act (Rom 7:7). Paul states that greed is idolatry (Col 3:5), because it is putting your heart on something other than God.

But it does not stop at coveting. First they sin in their hearts. Then they sin in practice. And it seems that they are successful in their evil intentions. What they do is aptly illustrated in the history of Ahab who wants Naboth’s vineyard (1Kgs 21:1-2). Ahab shows his complete indifference to the fact that the land belongs to God (Lev 25:23). God has given His land as a hereditary possession to the families of His people.

Naboth appreciates what God has given him and under no circumstances wants to get rid of his land (1Kgs 21:3). He is aware that Ahab’s covetousness does not only concern his own house, but his ancestral house and also the house that will be of the next generation. But Ahab does not care about that. He takes possession of Naboth’s inheritance by placing the business in the hands of his still more wicked wife Jezebel. She sees to it that Naboth is murdered and the vineyard comes into Ahab’s possession (1Kgs 21:4-15).

The people Micah has in mind are all little Ahabs. They do what Ahab did. It is not flattering, but it is a clear comparison. Isaiah also denounced and punished these practices (Isa 5:8). The history of Ahab and Naboth is therefore not merely an incident, but happens repeatedly and takes place wherever covetousness prevails. The characteristic of covetousness is that you never have enough. That is how it is with these people. In our twenty-first century, criminal trials against directors of large companies bring to light the same behavior.

The prophet speaks of ‘robbing’, but they will certainly have denied that. They will have acted in such a way that they can defend themselves against these kinds of accusations. They will present it so that they have appropriated the possession of the other in a ‘neat’ way. But they are people who move the boundaries to their own advantage (Hos 5:10) in order to take possession of another person’s inheritance. They do not care about the boundaries of others.