Prophets of Wine and Beer

Prophets of Wine and Beer

I have to admit that the description given by the prophet Micah of false teachers had never caught my attention until I recently studied this text for a Sunday evening lesson. 

Having spoken of false prophets who assure the people that God's judgment will surely not happen and who say that such things should not be spoken, Micah said:

If a liar and deceiver comes and says, 'I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,' he would be just the prophet for this people!  (Micah 2:11)

Prophets of Wine and Beer, in other words!

Such prophets are so called because they tell the people what they want to hear. Their message is one that is less demanding, less offensive, less difficult to practice, and more easily believed because it is what the people want to hear. Such teaching often takes the form of "God is a God of love, He will not judge anyone, be more tolerant, more accepting, don't tell people that God will deal with sin, don't talk about judgment."

Not only are the people given what they want to hear, but what they are given further confuses their minds, just as wine and beer can do.

It's a simple phrase used by Micah to describe the spiritual confusion of the people and those who help to foster such confusion by failing to speak the truth.

As for Micah, he could say of himself:

But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin.  (Micah 3:8)

May God save us from the Prophets of Wine and Beer and from a mindset that is satisfied with anything other than God's truth as given in Scripture!