"Do not prophesy," their prophets say. "Do not prophesy about these things; disgrace will not overtake us." – Micah 2:6

Today's Scripture Reading (March 14, 2023): Micah 2

Okay, we need to understand that ostriches do not hide their head when they are in trouble. When danger strikes, ostriches don't hide any part of their body. When danger strikes, ostriches run. They are very fast birds, and while they are flightless, that does not mean their wings are useless. When an ostrich turns to run, it uses its wings to stabilize its body, keeping it upright as it reaches its top speed, around 43 m.p.h., faster than a lion or a hyena. The myth that an ostrich hides its head in times of danger seems to return to a picture taken almost a century ago of an ostrich with its head in the ground. But the ostrich was not hiding from danger but building its nest. The ostrich uses its head to dig out a nest that can be over three meters in diameter.

Too bad that the myth is so strong. The idea of an animal that hides its head, thinking that if it can't see danger, then there must not be any danger, is persuasive, although it is not a good defense. Imagine an ostrich hiding its head in the sand as a lion stalks it. It is unlikely that the lion will stop its attack just because it can't see the ostrich's head. All that kind of defensive strategy would do is produce a lot of dead ostriches.

Which, I guess, is really the point. An ostrich might not hide its head rather than face trouble, but that is the common response of another animal species; humans do it all the time. We have disease symptoms but don't go to the doctor or get the required diagnostic tests. We see financial problems but do nothing to address it. Instead, we sometimes seem just to hide our heads so that we don't see the danger.

Micah speaks about the prophets God had been sending to his people. But he knows the reality; the people don't want to hear what a true prophet has to say. They only want to know that everything is alright and God is still with them. So, when a true prophet shows up, someone like Micah, they reject the message. They complain that he is just a naysayer and not a real prophet of God. Besides, who wants to have a negative person like that around?

But Micah believes things had gotten so bad that God was about to stop sending prophets to speak to his people. He would let the nation bury its head and be blindsided by the danger. After all, just because the people were willing to ignore trouble didn't mean that the coming trouble was willing to ignore them.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Micah 3