UBF Daily Bread

GOD'S REMNANT

Passage: Micah 2:1~13

Key verse: 12

Human Plans and God’s Plans

2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
    to those who plot evil^(A) on their beds!^(B)
At morning’s light they carry it out
    because it is in their power to do it.
²They covet fields^(C) and seize them,^(D)
    and houses, and take them.
They defraud^(E) people of their homes,
    they rob them of their inheritance.^(F)

³Therefore, the Lord says:

“I am planning disaster^(G) against this people,
    from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,^(H)
    for it will be a time of calamity.
⁴In that day people will ridicule you;
    they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;^(I)
    my people’s possession is divided up.^(J)
He takes it from me!
    He assigns our fields to traitors.’”

⁵Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land^(K) by lot.^(L)

False Prophets

⁶“Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
    “Do not prophesy about these things;
    disgrace^(M) will not overtake us.^(N)”
⁷You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
    “Does the Lord become^[a] impatient?
    Does he do such things?”

“Do not my words do good^(O)
    to the one whose ways are upright?^(P)
⁸Lately my people have risen up
    like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
    from those who pass by without a care,
    like men returning from battle.
⁹You drive the women of my people
    from their pleasant homes.^(Q)
You take away my blessing
    from their children forever.
¹⁰Get up, go away!
    For this is not your resting place,^(R)
because it is defiled,^(S)
    it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
¹¹If a liar and deceiver^(T) comes and says,
    ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’^(U)
    that would be just the prophet for this people!^(V)

Deliverance Promised

¹²“I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
    I will surely bring together the remnant^(W) of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
    like a flock in its pasture;
    the place will throng with people.^(X)
¹³The One who breaks open the way will go up before^(Y) them;
    they will break through the gate^(Z) and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
    the Lord at their head.”

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Footnotes

Micah 2:7 Or Is the Spirit of the Lord

1. Man's plans and God's plans (1-5)

Men lie on their beds and calculate this and that about how to take advantage of others to their own profit. But God has his own plan. He will bring disaster on people who plan deceit and fraud, even before they can carry out their plans.

2. False prophets (6-11)

False prophets are popular because they tell people what they want to hear (11). They do not warn the people about God's judgment. In fact, such false prophets advised Micah to keep quiet and not talk about unpleasant things.

3. Deliverance of the remnant (12-13)

In the day of catastrophe God will surely spare a remnant of his people. The remnant are those who are truly his sheep, those who follow him and obey him.

Prayer: Lord, let me be among your sheep and a part of your faithful remnant. Take from my mind the useless plans and human thinking that only give me a headache.

One Word: God's sheep; God's remnant