Existence as Exiles

I bring that up because as Micah closes his second sermon in the book, he raises some issues that the people will deal with in exile. These issues are not entirely different from issues we might experience as Christians in America.

Background Info

He’s been calling out the wickedness in Judah/Israel

He has promised punishment/exile

Promised restoration

But restoration won’t look like they want it to. Often, restoration from God doesn’t look the way we want it to.

There will be a coming invasion and exile and the people will be away from their land.

So in this Section of Micah, we can see two major characters at play - the enemy (Assyria) and the remnant (the saved of Israel/Judah). Those two players have roles to play. In all of that God is working and moving in their lives.

Lets begin with…

The Role of the Enemy (5-6)

Micah 5:5–6 (ESV)

When the Assyrian comes into our land

and treads in our palaces,

then we will raise against him seven shepherds

and eight princes of men;

6 they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,

and the land of Nimrod at its entrances;

and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian

when he comes into our land

and treads within our border.

Assyria will clearly have a part to play in God’s sovereign plan. It may even be a three-part plan.

Invasion -

For the people of Israel and Judah - Assyria acted as the hand of God’s judgment on his people because they had rebelled against God.

It is challenging to think of the fact that God would use a godless people to bring His judgment on His people - and yet throughout Israel’s history, God has done that.

Infiltration -

Some commentators looked at a portion of this invasion as more of an infiltration or an imposition of foreign ways on the people of Judah. When the people of Judah would be taken out into Assyria, they would be going out as exiles in a foreign land. The values of God’s people would be put to the test.

And yet, even as Judah had leaders who compromised in the past, the idea that “seven shepherds and eight princes” suggests that there will be an abundance of godly leaders.

Initiation

This will be the mechanism for God’s judgment on the nations - God would eventually bring judgment on the judging nation. We’ll see this a bit more in the next section.

This is where the idea of the American dream affects us.

In their song “American Dream,” the band Switchfoot describes the American dream this way:

When success is equated with excess The ambition for excess wrecks us As the top of the mind becomes the bottom line When success is equated with excess

When success is equated with excess When you're fighting for the Beamer, the Lexus As the heart and soul breathing the company goals Where success is equated with excess

The go on to talk about the correlation between time and money and the endless pursuit of stuff.

How do we respond when the nation in which we live begins to invade and infiltrate God’s people and tread in our homes? How much of the Christianity that we practice is true biblical Christianity and how much has been co-opted by our culture’s values? (Consumerism, convenience, ease, success, achievement) Will we buckle and surrender - giving way to the ways of our culture? Or Will we be distinct?

God’s people will face challenges to be sure. We will face challenges in our own land.

Judah was taken as exiles - but even in their exile, they would have a job to do. They would actually have two roles to play. The first...

The Refreshing Role of the Remnant (7)

Micah 5:7 NLT

7 Then the remnant left in Israel will take their place among the nations. They will be like dew sent by the Lord or like rain falling on the grass, which no one can hold back and no one can restrain.

Chile - early 1990s. Mission. Driest dessert. No rain in decades. Yet the people have survived on dew. Set up intricate webs to collect and utilize the dew.

As God’s people go into exile in a foreign land, they will have that sort of influence on their captors. It will be unstoppable. Like dew on grass - scattered about - spread around - blessing, refreshing, reviving, permeating society.

This activity runs counter to the way that we naturally think about opposition. We want to stand up and fight - resist, reject, curse. And yet God is calling his people to bless. Micah is not the only one pointing this out.

The Prophet Jeremiah challenged the people of Judah in much the same way as he prepared them to go off into exile.

Jeremiah 29:4–7 ESV

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

All of these activities suggest a permanence to life. They would be there for a long time. It’s as though God is sending them out as missionaries.

Have you ever considered the idea that God placed you where you are for a reason? You may be the “dew” that He is using to bring life to the places you get to be.

Home - neighborhoods - westerly, wesmond, hunters run, stoney creek/bottom?, Tama, Urbana, Dickerson, Rockville, Germantown, Boyds -

what is your interaction like with your neighbors? Do they feel the refreshment of the gospel in your presence?

Are we walking ourselves off in our “palaces” or are we making it possible for my neighbor to be refreshed by us? Like a cold cup of water on a hot day…

What about with your family? Are you blessing them with the hope of the gospel?

Work - whether we work from home or commute, our occupations are assignments from God. We get to be his ambassadors. How are we doing representing God? Do our colleagues know more about our hobbies or sports interests than they do of the hope of the gospel?

School - Students, I know it can be intimidating letting your faith be public. Do people know that you genuinely care? Can they trust you with their successes and failures? do you pray for your friends or your teachers? Consider coming out on May 6 to pray for the Poolesville schools - 8am on the PHS track - Jericho Walk - 7 laps, 7 prayers.

What does being a refreshment look like in those places? It may be a simple conversation or telling someone that you care. Sitting with that student who is alone. It may be a shared meal or an act of service. It may mean a front porch conversation or an invitation to play golf or join a book club. It may mean inviting someone to come with you to church.

In addition to having a refreshing role, there is another role that the remnant will play...

The Rending Role of the Remnant (8)

David Prior suggests that part of the role of the remnant is as a “rending” agent - like a “lion”

Micah 5:8 ESV

And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which, when it goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.

Israel/Judah may have had an opportunity to play a role in that way. We see that some in the book of Esther. (Summarize Esther).

And there was some rending that took place during the time of the Maccabees (between the testaments) where the people revolted against their foreign rulers.

But so much of the return from exile happened in rather miraculous ways.

Ezra - was appointed by a foreign king to lead a group of people back to Jerusalem

Nehemiah - heartbroken about the condition of the city petitioned the king to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. Nehemiah was given the kings blessing and resources to rebuild. There was a threat of physical conflict, but the wall was rebuilt without a fight.

As we look at the life of Jesus our restorer and how he worked on the earth and how he works in our lives today,

how do we act as rending agents?

Are we called to take up arms?

Are we called to “tread down and tear in pieces” physically? It’s in this place that some people might reference the 2nd amendment and encourage people to take up arms to fight for what we think is biblical - or at least right.

I think our rending role will be different. The apostle Paul writes...

2 Corinthians 2:15–16 ESV

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

There is something about our very lives that will be a rending agent in the lives of our enemies. Some will respond the way Peter recommends:

1 Peter 2:12 ESV

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

In doing so, they will see the grace of God in our lives and the miraculous way that he works and will rend themselves from their former ways by the conviction of the Holy Spirit and will turn and trust in Him.

Others may have a different response. Jesus told his disciples...

John 16:2–4 (ESV)

They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

Have their been just wars in the past? Yes - probably

Are we called to take up arms? I don’t know - personally, I don’t think so - I don’t think it’s the time. There is too much heart-work to do.

I think David Prior has a helpful comment on this, stating that...

“The remnant have this [refreshing and rending] impact among the nations solely because of their relationship with the Lord. They take on his character and impart something of his qualities wherever they go.”

When we get our eyes on Jesus - our restorer - and point our “enemies” eyes in his direction as well, then we get a chance to see what God is working in us and in the nations...

Moving from independence to God-dependence (10-15)

Our sinful natures are content with self-sufficiency. In many ways, we’re striving for it. We don’t want to depend on anyone else. We want to have enough military strength to feel at peace. We want enough prosperity and financial security to buffer against any storm. We want to cover all of our bases spiritually by dabbling in this superstition or worshiping that idol.

And yet God wants us to trust in Him. He wants us and the whole world to return to him. He had determined that at some point in time - under the leadership of Jesus the restorer, the Messiah, the world will.

Micah concludes this second sermon in his book and this chapter with this comment toward Israel’s enemies.

Micah 5:10–14 ESV

And in that day, declares the Lord, I will cut off your horses from among you and will destroy your chariots; and I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds; and I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes; and I will cut off your carved images and your pillars from among you, and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands; and I will root out your Asherah images from among you and destroy your cities.

In these verses, Micah communicates what God is saying to the nations about the evils of independence that they are touting. In response, God is going to “cut off” their confidences. Look at what these things represent.

He is cutting off....

military dependence (10) - ultimately nothing can stand against his strength - we’ve seen time and time again in the OT when God allowed a weaker and smaller Israelite army to beat their enemies. There is no nuclear arsenal big enough to withstand God’s judgment. He has the ability to render them powerless.

In addition to cutting off the military strength, Micah says that God will cut off...

strongholds/cities (11) - prosperity wealth. Their walled cities became veritable fortresses. There was no connection to the land. There was only a defensive stance. There was prosperity - but at what cost?

sorceries (12) - fortune tellers - forecasters - maybe even superstitions - how often have we seen people try to forecast the weather or the financial markets?Political pundits make millions speculating about the future. It seems like this sorcery was all about causing people to place their hope in other things - in some astrological chart or sign - almost a sort of fatalism - the oracle says… so it must happen.

When God brings judgment on the nations, he will rip away their abilities to speculate about the future or place their future hopes in faulty oracles.

Finally, God will cut off...

idolatry (13-14) - So many of the nations worshiped deities that were geo-centric. They worshipped images that were carved or fashioned by human hands out of wood, metal, and stone. They practiced erotic rituals in worship of false gods.

God will eventually cut all of these off from the nations - and root them out of Judah. But remember - Micah had prophesied that all nations would come to the mountain of the Lord to learn and to live - to prosper.

David Prior says:

So long as people called by the Lord continue to put their trust in military might, or in any other human resources, Micah’s vision of a time when war shall be no more (4:1–4) remains a pious hope.

He will do that on a national level. I think he did it some in the lives of the Assyrians. He certainly did it in the lives of the people of Judah.

I believe He does that on an individual level as well - in our lives personally. When you consider all that we have here in the US - all of our comforts and conveniences, freedoms, stuff… how much are we depending on God? How much are we living lives marked by faith?

Let’s think about this through the lenses that Micah mentions about Judah and the nations:

military dependence - are we depending on our personal strength or our personal arsenal to defend us? What is giving us security? I’ve heard it said that the safest place to be is in the center of God’s will. I’ve also heard it said that the most dangerous place to be is in the center of his will.

strong holds - financial independence - how much is enough - a little more - materialism - are we using our resources like currency - a flow to bless others - or are we gripping so tightly or using our resources for our own pleasure?

Scripture tells us to provide for our families - 1 Tim. 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

I guess it really comes down to the object of our faith. Are we putting our faith in our own resources/safety-nets/abilities - or are we trusting God?

Are we so defensively minded (protecting what is mine) that we’re not willing to be radical for God? How would we respond if he called us to go to the middle east or Africa or Asia for the sake of the gospel?

long range plans - Are we basing our thoughts of the future on the expectations and fear mongering of the pundits or allowing our lives to be dictated by astrologies?

James gives us a helpful perspective in this:

James 4:13–16 NLT

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.

What role does God’s will play into our planning - for us, for our children, for our careers?

idolatry - the things we worship - we may not have the figurines of wood, metal or stone that we worship, but we may have a tendency to be lulled into a stupor by our illuminated boxes of plastic and circuitry (TV) or the glass devices in our pockets.

Closing thoughts

At the beginning of the sermon, I asked you to answer a couple of questions.

How do you define the American Dream?

How different is the American Dream for a Christian?

One of the challenges we face is that we are living as exiles in our own land. Whether we were born here or we moved here from somewhere else, we have to recognize that we are “not of this world.” We are aliens and strangers in the world, in our nation - because our citizenship is in heaven (Eph. 2:19). Have we personally been so infiltrated by the values of our society that we dream the American dream? Or do we dream the radical things - that bring refreshment and rending to the world around us?

Earlier I mentioned the band Switchfoot. The are one of our family’s favorite bands. I love how in their lyrics, they speak so pointedly toward the challenges we face as a society and as Christians in society. In talking about the excesses of the American dream, they write...

Switchfoot “American Dream”

I want out of this machine It doesn't feel like freedom

This ain't my American dream I wanna live and die for bigger things I'm tired of fighting for just me This ain't my American dream

Let’s Pray

“God, we know know that you’ve placed us in this world where we are for a reason. Help us to live our lives guided by your dreams for us and our work in the world and not guided by the allure of the American Dream. Help us to depend on you and not the resources and comforts of our world. May we be used as instruments in your hand for the spiritual refreshing and rending of our community.”

Benediction

Hebrews 13:25 ESV

Grace be with all of you.

Question for reflection:

What part of our culture does the Holy Spirit want to cut off in your life so that you might represent Him more fully and clearly?

References:

Prior, David. The Bible Speaks Today: The Message of Joel, Micah & Habakkuk. Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 1998.

Um, Stephen. Micah for You. The Good Book Company, 2018.

Waltke, Bruce K. “Micah.” In New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, edited by D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham, 822–833. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/micah/

https://bibleproject.com/explore/category/how-to-read-biblical-poetry/

ESV Study Bible

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