Micah: Wine and Beer Pastors

They didn’t wanna sound negative. They wanted to cheer up people, cater to their entertainment proclivity. People just wanted happy messages that “blessed” them.

Micah was preaching about the coming doom and criticizing religious leaders’ errors and sins and the nation’s disgrace. Among negative things he bombarded them with was how the rulers and leaders of the house of Israel despised and distorted the truth (Micah 3.9). But the wine and beer pastors or prophets cautioned him: “Don’t prophesy about these things. No disgrace will overtake us.” (Micah 2.6).

If you wanna hear nothing but praises and positive things and encouragements, chances are, you have an entertainment proclivity or spirit. And you’re perhaps reflecting the kind of church you attend. Many churches today are nothing but entertainment centers. Poor showbiz copy cats. They are not prophetic temple courtyards of God where His Word, Will, Ways, and Warnings (judgments) are powerfully declared.  

I always see Christians who can’t stand criticism. Churches never want to talk about their problems and would rather pretend that the problems do not exist. If you mention about their problems they say you’re a gossip. I even see churches patching up band aid solutions to their problems and go on “worshiping” God. They feel good when you always praise them and say nothing but good things about them. When you do criticize, they make you out as the bad guy and they the good ones. Exactly what the false prophets were doing in Micah’s day.

Prophets Criticize

Genuine prophets criticize—or more precisely, declare God’s criticism. God criticizes and sometimes mocks anything not of Him. He specially enjoys satirizing man’s ways. He wants to make it clear that only His ways work. All others are trash. If your ways in church are not genuinely God’s ways, you have a major, major problem. Wine and beer pastors are those who defend people’s appetite for appreciation and encouragement in the face of gross error. You criticize their denomination and they think you’re the devil.

Demonic Criticism

Criticism inspired by evil is one that criticizes God’s ways and Word. It aims to preserve man’s ways. It’s to push forward self interests. It prophesies or preaches wine and beer so church people will “hire” them as their pastors. Jesus said hirelings entrench themselves in comfort zones and quickly run away from trouble. Hirelings are elected pastors. “If a deceiver and liar comes and says, ‘I will preach nothing but wine and beer in plenty,’ they’d vote him in as church pastor!” (Micah 2.11).

Hirelings

Micah was not an elected prophet, or what was termed “court prophet” in his day. He was raised up and appointed by God. Hirelings are elected temple or church leaders. Jesus and the apostles were not elected. Hirelings support church elections because that’s how they get a job and paid. Thus, they defend man’s ways and criticize God’s ways.

Preaching Suits the Salary Payer

Preaching is not led by the Holy Spirit when you’re a wine and beer pastor. It is led by the people who “pay” the pastor’s salary. Preaching is led by the whims and moods of the salary payer. What the payer wants, the payer gets.

But there are also instances when the payer and preacher quarrel. Then the payer stops or controls the pastor’s salary. This is the demon of witchcraft. The pastor then uses the pulpit to fight for his right to salary. But when the pay is good, the pastor preaches nothing but wine and beer abundance. God is thrust into the background of their play.

I’ve seen how church people control tithes and offerings and funds against the church leadership when things are awry. They’re not aware that this is the demon of witchcraft. You misuse God’s money, you are accursed. And only Aaron’s sons—those genuinely appointed and anointed by God to lead churches—are fit to handle church money and decide where they go—not elected ones. It’s all over the Old Testament. Yet church people today misuse God’s money. Church boards who are merely elected by men and who control church money are accursed.

“I Myself have put you (Aaron) in charge of the offerings presented to Me,” (Num.18.8). God-called and God-appointed pastors alone have the God-given right to handle all offerings.

Divination

Wine and beer pastors preach nothing each Sunday but divination. When pastors are controlled by their salary payers so that they do nothing but preach messages that tickle tithers’ ears, the whole thing becomes occultism.

“As for those prophets who mislead God’s people—if a prophet feeds them well, the people proclaim peace. If he does not, they make war against him. Thus, visions will not come to you in the night,” (Micah 3.5-6). When this is the case, the passage says preaching becomes tantamount to divination.