Micah 3:5

"Thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that make my people to err: that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and whoso putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him."

These verses (Micah 3:5-8) were directed principally against the reprobate priesthood and the false prophets associated with them. In later centuries, after the captivity and prior to the coming of Christ, there were indeed, here and there, a few righteous men to be found in such positions of trust, such as Zachariah and others; but on the whole, the unqualified apostasy of the whole establishment of the priestly system had occurred by the times of Micah; and even in the times of Christ, the temple itself was "a den of thieves and robbers." True prophecy from God perished from the earth throughout the long intertestamental period. Gomer did indeed "sit still" for God throughout centuries of time. Nothing ever proved any more conclusively than the experience of Israel that the very conception of sacerdotal man does not work. In vain do men bestow upon any of their fellows a special education, a special dress, and special emoluments, and then invest them with the business of procuring forgiveness from God and then bestowing it upon others! Five thousand years of recorded history, plus the universal experience of our own times, prove that it will not work. The genius of Christianity lies in the endowment of every Christian with the right and privilege of priesthood and in the elevation of one High Priest, only, Jesus Christ the righteous.

"Bite with their teeth ..." Two diverse meanings are found by expositors in this. Some hold that these words are merely a reference to eating, with the implication that the false priests received favorably only those who fed them. While that was no doubt true, we do not believe this passage says that. Both Harley and Deane agree that. "Wherever this word occurs in the scriptures, it means `to bite like a serpent,' or `to wound.'"[7] Surely this is what Micah said. Those false prophets were like a den of poison snakes to God's people. In conjunction with the metaphor of cannibalism, used of the rulers, this is most appropriate for the false prophets, The majority of commentators prefer the view expressed by Mays thus:

"Two scornful and derisive lines uncover the true source of the (false) prophet's words. What comes out of their mouths depends on whether anything goes in. Feed them, and you hear good words. Slight them, and you hear of your doom."[8]

Affluent clients were no doubt catered to by the false prophets, and what numerous commentators say about that is undoubtedly true; but, somehow it appears impossible to find that particular meaning in the expression, "they bite with their teeth." The implication of such an expression seems to be more in line with the words of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:7), and especially those of Jesus our Lord who said of the false priests of his earthly ministry:

"Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell (Matthew 23:33). These words could also be appropriately applied to the false prophets addressed by Micah here, and we believe that such is implied by this verse."

The existence of false prophets concurrently with the lives of the true prophets had come about, almost from the beginning of Israel's existence as a nation. Following the consecration of the Israelites to the Baalim at Baal-peor, the pagan priests found ready access to the populations of the chosen people; and following the days of Jezebel, the false priests and prophets proliferated. They certainly made up the vast majority of spiritual advisors to Ahab and Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22), a full century earlier. As time went on, the true prophets were more and more a hated and persecuted minority in both kingdoms of Israel.

"They even prepare war against them ..." This is no mere metaphor. Jezebel had slain all of the Lord's prophets except Elijah, and she was hunting him (1 Kings 18). The war against the true prophets went on a long as Israel remained.

The terrible warnings against the corrupt judiciary and prophetic establishments of the chosen people had their impact. "Of course, it could not prevent the nation's ultimate tragedy, but it did succeed in postponing it."[9] That Israel (the southern kingdom) still existed a century later (Jeremiah 26:18) is a mute but eloquent testimony to the effectiveness of Micah's fearless proclamation of divine truth.