IYAR 10
At What Cost?
“Hear this, please, you heads of the house of Yaʽaqoḇ and you rulers of the
house of Yisra’ĕl, … those BUILDING UP Tsiyon with bloodshed and Yerushalayim with
unrighteousness.” (Mic 3:9-10, emphasis
mine)
Most of us are acquainted
with the clique of ‘tele-evangelists’, found within the westernized church
system, who broadcast their programs through television and internet. The one message that they all have in common
is ‘send ME your donation, and God will bless you’ (financially, with
healing, etc.). Unfortunately, this commonality
is not limited to those within all of the ‘Christian’ denominations; there are
those within the Messianic/Hebrew Roots/Torah Observant persuasion that are now
following in these footsteps. While ‘the
flock’ is beggaring themselves to support said individuals, the head of each
specific ministry is growing richer and richer.
Most of the members of this ‘clique’ are multi-millionaires (one
individual is close to a billionaire), accumulating homes, planes, and other
‘toys’ to give evidence of their enjoyed prosperity.[1]
Please do not
misunderstand me; I am in no way taking any kind of a stand against
prosperity. However, I would seriously
challenge any one of these ‘tele-evangelists’ to give away as much as 90% of their wealth – especially to their
constituents who made them wealthy in the first place! Money – in and of itself – is not evil (1Tim
6:10); in fact, it is a necessity for survival in today’s world. However, I truly believe that Elohim blesses
us financially in order that we give to those that ARE in need (see 2Cor 9:8; Eph 4:28; 1John 3:17), as an extension
of Him.
The three major
prophets of this time period in which Micah lived (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel)
all had scathing words directed toward the shepherds and leaders that fleeced
and abandoned ‘the flock’ (see Isa 56:10-12; Jer 23:1-2; Eze 34). Those in leadership were feeding themselves
at the expense of the people they were responsible for (Eze 34:2-4; 19-21),
something that the Apostle Paul also warned us about (1Tim 6:3-5). In our opening section of Scripture, the Hebrew
word that has been translated as ‘building up’ is the word bânâh
(Strong’s H1129), and implies not only construction, but also an establishing,
such as setting a precedence.
From this definition, we can surmise that the rulers of that time were
establishing themselves, using
violent, illegal, immoral and evil methods, and at the expense of any
and every one.
Our
Creator does NOT look kindly upon
this type of behavior.
“Therefore, O shepherds,
hear the word of יהוה! ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “See, I am against the shepherds, and shall require
My flock at their hand, and shall make them cease feeding the sheep, and the
shepherds shall feed themselves no more. And I shall deliver My flock from
their mouths, and they shall no longer be food for them.” (Eze 34:9-10)
©2021
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