Expounding on Micah 3:5-7

I’ve been meditating on the following verses for the past few months. Micah 3:5-7:

“Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.”

The context of this verse (and many like it) is that when kings of Judah or Israel wished to make decisions that they knew would be unpopular or against the Torah or Covenant, they would hire prophets to declare oracles that proclaimed the king was acting in accordance with Yahweh. Like so many politicians before them and since, the kings wanted the cover of God over their state actions and would use false prophets to manipulate scriptures and proclaim God’s will.

These verses state that the punishment these prophets receive for their lies, disingenuousness, and false prophecies is the loss of their abilities to see and proclaim the truth.

I would like to expound upon this a bit. I’m very interested in how people think, and I suspect there’s a mechanism at work here, a cause and effect. I’ve noticed that people I know (both privately and publicly) who lie, deceive, demagogue, are disingenuous, lack transparency, relativize truth, and purposely take things out of context often have difficulty recognizing the truth when they want to. By this I mean it seems that people who are intentionally deceptive seem to unintentionally lose their ability to grasp truth. They become out of touch with reality.

Now this isn’t exactly the same as someone who keeps lying until they begin to believe the lie themselves. This is more like the deceptive distortions that one engages in to obfuscate the truth progressively breaks down and hinders the mechanisms used to self-comprehend the truth.

Now why is this? My running theory for why the rational faculties breakdown due to lies and obfuscation is that the human soul (body and mind) was not originally made for sin. We were designed to reflect the image of God in this world. We were created to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. But because we choose to deceive, because we choose to twist the truth and obscure reality, we go against our nature and the hardware breaks down. We start running a machine counter to its construction or program, and it forgets how it was originally designed and wired.

The worst outcome of this is simply that if one cannot see the world accurately, it becomes extremely difficult to make the right choices in life. From this one will continually flounder. Reality will seem an impenetrable labyrinth in which the effects of all decisions seem arbitrary. The rational thought of others will be both indecipherable and suspicious. What simple truths one does grasp will seem either inordinately complex or surprisingly profound. And one will be profoundly resentful and distrustful of those who can see the truth. I think the latter outcome is the main cause for the solidification of irrational beliefs. Nothing hardens the heart like resentment.

The only answer to anyone in the predicament of losing their capacity to comprehend the truth is a full turning back. Humble yourself to truth and wisdom. Pray for guidance and revelation. Explore how you think and what your mechanisms are for making decisions and comprehending the truth. Explore how other people think. Begin to question and work through your worldview, biases, prejudices, assumptions, and meta-narrative. Always give extra consideration to truths and scenarios that you either wish were the case or wish weren’t. Take personality tests and assessments and learn how scientific research understands who you are. Be brutally honest with yourself and as objective as possible in everything you do.

Remember that every disingenuous word is one more pebble being thrown into the gears of your comprehension.