Live Humbly - Micah 3:1-12
Notes
Transcript
Good morning Harmony!
Last week we began looking at the book of Micah and how to live humble and how that can and should affect our lives to serve Him and others.
This week we’re going to be in Micah chapter 3 and we are going to really home in on leaders and how they should respond to the Lord - and what happens when they don’t.
How many of you have had that leader in your workplace or in your school or in some special project or whatever, and they were just bad leaders?
I can remember a leader early on in my naval career that would come in just after we had finished cleaning a room and he’d go and put some dirt under the steps in that room. And He would do it just so that he had the opportunity to yell at someone.
Then there are those leaders that make better followers than leaders. They’ll be designated a leader, but you know they couldn’t lead their way out of a wet paper bag. I’ve known a few of those as well.
Or the leader that only tells you what to do, and is not willing to pitch in and do things with you, because they are too important to be doing those things.
And there are lots of examples of bad leaders out there. They’re everywhere from our workplaces to our government, and even in our churches. There is just no escape from bad leaders.
And we’re going to see that in chapter three today. There’s this group of leaders that just can’t get right. God has given them every opportunity to follow Him, and they continue to be bad leaders that lead the people astray.
Our main point for today is that
Main Point: God is so concerned with how we treat others and represent Him that he will do whatever it takes to make sure we treat others as he intends.
And so today we are going to learn some things from some bad leaders.
Every leader can teach us something, and today from these bad leaders we are going to learn what not to do, and how we should strive to be leaders that glorify Him.
Beginning in verse 1 -
1 Then I said, “Now listen, leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Aren’t you supposed to know what is just?
2 You hate good and love evil. You tear off people’s skin and strip their flesh from their bones.
3 You eat the flesh of my people after you strip their skin from them and break their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.”
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them. He will hide his face from them at that time because of the crimes they have committed.
5 This is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who proclaim peace when they have food to sink their teeth into but declare war against the one who puts nothing in their mouths.
6 Therefore, it will be night for you— without visions; it will grow dark for you— without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.
7 Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners disappointed. They will all cover their mouths because there will be no answer from God.
8 As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the Lord, with justice and courage, to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.
9 Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert everything that is right,
10 who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with injustice.
11 Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe, her priests teach for payment, and her prophets practice divination for silver. Yet they lean on the Lord, saying, “Isn’t the Lord among us? No disaster will overtake us.”
12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become ruins, and the temple’s mountain will be a high thicket.
Prayer.
How many here would identify themselves as leaders? Leaders in any capacity, can be at school, can be at home, can be at work, wherever, how many of us would identify as leaders?
Whether you know it or not, every person here who is a believer in Christ is a leader. And you are either leading people to Christ, or you are leading them away from Christ.
Today we need to examine what is taking place here in Micah with a keen eye, and we need to examine ourselves and see how we should be leading others towards Christ.
When we take a close look at chapter three, we can see three aspects that differentiate a good leader from a bad one. The first aspect of leadership from Micah 3 is that:
1. Leaders should know what is RIGHT, and do it, vv. 1-4.
Verse 1 says
1 Then I said, “Now listen, leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Aren’t you supposed to know what is just?
Now, remember that this was written to a specific people at a specific time. We covered this last week, the people of Israel are about to be judged or disciplined for their continual disobedience of the Lord, and beginning here in Micah 3 the focus changes from just the people of Israel and Judah to the leaders.
And he goes on to describe in the next few verses from 2 through 3 in metaphorical or symbolic language how they have been treating the poor and less fortunate from among them - Micah says that the leaders of the nation have been treating the poor like pieces of meat. They’ve been tearing off the meat and devouring their poor among them.
They’re being compared to cannibals.
This comparison is because the poor are becoming poorer because the well-off among them, the leaders of the nations, have been taking what little the poor had. We saw that alluded to in chapter two,
2 They covet fields and seize them; they also take houses. They deprive a man of his home, a person of his inheritance.
3 Therefore, the Lord says: I am now planning a disaster against this nation; you cannot free your necks from it. Then you will not walk so proudly because it will be an evil time.
Here in chapter three we see that this is taking place by the leaders of the country.
And when we talk about leaders today, that same problem can be seen amongst some of our leaders.
It would be really easy to just replace some words in verse 1 to represent us today.
Micah 3:1 (CSB)
1 Then I said, “Now listen, leaders of DC, you rulers of the house of AMERICA. Aren’t you supposed to know what is just?
Micah 3:1 (CSB)
1 Then I said, “Now listen, leaders of THE DEPARTMENT, you rulers of the WORKPLACE. Aren’t you supposed to know what is just?
Micah 3:1 (CSB)
1 Then I said, “Now listen, leaders of THE CHURCH, you rulers of the house of GOD. Aren’t you supposed to know what is just?
That last one hits a little bit closer to home. This passage written over 700 years before Christ that had a real purpose and a real meaning for the people of Israel then, in an immediate context, still has a meaning and purpose to us here today 2000 years after Christ.
As the body of Christ every one of us are leaders. Every one of us are called to go and make disciples and to lead people to Christ. We represent Harmony Baptist Church whenever we walk out those doors.
More important than that, we represent Christ and His Kingdom when we are out there leading people toward what it looks like to be a believer and a follower of Christ.
Why is it so important to go out and walk the Christian life? Because you’re a leader, and to be a good leader we have to humble ourselves to the authority of Scripture and of Christ.
We have been given Scripture and the Holy Spirit to know what is right and what we should be doing. We as believers in Christ should know what is right and what is wrong, and we should be doing that.
We shouldn’t be taking advantage of anyone. We shouldn’t be trying to look out for ourselves at all cost.
We know what is right to do, so why is it so hard to do that?
And some today may be saying, you know pastor Jeremy, it’s because of our sin nature. We’re “sinners, saved by grace,” remember?
And that can be true for some things, and there is grace for that and there is forgiveness for that, but once we have been convicted of that or once we have determined that we need to repent and we should be seeking forgiveness from the other person.
“Sinners, saved by grace” is a true statement, but it is often abused to justify our sin that we have done or desire to do - but often we forget the key element of repentance. When we have identified that we have done that wrong, we should be repenting and turning away from that sin.
The leaders here in Micah knew what was right and wrong, yet they chose not to do what was right.
Verse 2 says you know what is right, but you love what is wrong. “I’m a sinner, saved by grace,” so I can do whatever without consequence.
And Micah in verse 4 says of these leaders:
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them. He will hide his face from them at that time because of the crimes they have committed.
I’m just going to say, sometimes you may say that you are a “sinner, saved by grace,” but sometimes you’re just a sinner.
And that may strike a real nerve for some today, but if your excuse for every sin that you commit is that you are a “sinner, saved by grace,” and there hasn’t been any repentance or any change to that sin, you may just be a sinner that still needs to be saved by grace.
We are all sinners, saved by grace, but in that statement the active word should not be sinner, it should be saved, in that the verb is saved.
And in the Christian sense that word saved means we are justified by His sacrifice, being sanctified or made new by His Holy Spirit, and we are glorified because of who He is in our lives.
The leaders of Israel thought they were good, we see that in the last part of verse 11, but they were not.
As leaders we must know what is right, and do what is right.
The second aspect of leadership from chapter three is that:
2. Leaders should lead JUSTLY, and show it, vv. 5-8.
Micah says this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray.
First it’s the leaders, now it’s the prophets - but understand that the prophets are a part of Israel’s leadership.
Again, this can be any leader within the body that leads someone else astray, but this time the language is more clear about what is taking place.
These prophets or leaders or “church people” - we’re going to use that term very loosely - they were essentially corrupt. They were using the Lord or the Lord’s people in order to make money.
Come to me and bring me food and I will proclaim blessing on you, but if you don’t, then it’ll be a curse.
And a lot of televangelists kind of go down this same road, and I’m sure many of us can give examples of that.
Send us some money, and you’ll be blessed!
But if you don’t, we’ll make you feel guilty for the rest of your life until you do!
And this isn’t talking about the tithe of their time, this is hey, if you don’t give me this piece of food or this amount of money, then God is going to strike you down level bribery.
Should we give an offering to the Lord? Yes, but not out of guilt or out of some sort of desire for blessing, but to give back to God. That’s why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:7
7 Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.
I can’t help but think that Paul had the book of Micah on his mind when he wrote that chapter.
And God says through Micah that you should know what is just and not be taking these bribes. Now I am going to take that from you - verses 6 and 7 -
6 Therefore, it will be night for you— without visions; it will grow dark for you— without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.
7 Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners disappointed. They will all cover their mouths because there will be no answer from God.
You will no longer be able to proclaim anything.
Sometimes God is silent because of sin in our lives, and this is an example of that. God says because you are using my Word for personal gain, you will no longer hear from me. I’m done talking to you until you humble yourself and repent.
As Christians we are told to rely on God for our provision, but when we begin to take that and twist God’s truths to meet our own desires for profit or for success, then we are corrupting the Word of God to mean something that it doesn’t and to gain our own glory instead of pointing others to His Glory.
And Micah says in verse 8,
8 As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the Lord, with justice and courage, to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.
I am going to tell you how it is because the Holy Spirit is filling me with justice and courage to proclaim to you your sin Micah says.
He says I am not doing this for money, or for personal power, but the Holy Spirit has come upon me to declare these things to you.
This country boy from nowhere says I’m not rich like you guys, I’m not powerful like you guys, but I have a message from the Lord and in His power, I come to tell you you’re wrong, and you’re corrupt.
How would you feel if some complete stranger came up to you today and said that God sent them to tell you that you are doing wrong or evil in the Lord’s sight and you are corrupt?
For the most part I think most of us would just shrug that off and just call them nuts.
But that is basically what Micah does. And that basically is what the people do. So, maybe if that ever happens to us we should at least take a few moments and examine ourselves before just shrugging it off and calling them crazy.
I’m not saying they aren’t crazy, but that doesn’t mean that God couldn’t still use them to show us something that is going on in our lives that we need to repent of or stop doing.
Leaders should know what’s right and do it, they should lead justly and show it, and thirdly:
3. Leaders should expect CORRECTION, and accept it, vv. 9-12.
Micah again, addresses the leaders and he says
9 Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert everything that is right,
10 who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with injustice.
11 Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe, her priests teach for payment, and her prophets practice divination for silver. Yet they lean on the Lord, saying, “Isn’t the Lord among us? No disaster will overtake us.”
12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become ruins, and the temple’s mountain will be a high thicket.
He’s summing up the chapter for us. He says listen, you leaders who do all of these things, who are doing wrong and who are seeking bribes, you who think that the Lord is on your side while you are doing all of these things, listen!
Because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become ruins, and the temple’s mountain will be a high thicket.
Because of you, God is going to disciple the nation.
And a lot of us will learn this the hard way too. A lot of us will repent and turn back to God, but at the same time many will just try and hide by saying I grew up in church my whole life, or I was baptized years ago, while never having ever actually followed Christ - never having confessed Him as Lord.
Look, in all of this, there was no repentance documented that came from the people of Israel or Judah. They just kept going.
If they had repented, maybe things would have been different.
The problem is, they didn’t. They didn’t know God. They thought they knew Him, because verse 11 tells us that they though they did. But they didn’t seek Him. They didn’t live lives that demonstrated that they followed Him.
Israel was His people, but they chose to defile His name, to abuse His grace, and to do evil instead of what they knew was right.
Chuck Swindoll once wrote:
Imagine, if you will, that you work for a company whose president found it necessary to travel out of the country and spend an extended period of time abroad. So he says to you and the other trusted employees, "Look, I'm going to leave. And while I'm gone, I want you to pay close attention to the business. You manage things while I'm away. I will write you regularly. When I do, I will instruct you in what you should do from now until I return from this trip." Everyone agrees.
He leaves and stays gone for a couple of years. During that time he writes often, communicating his desires and concerns. Finally he returns. He walks up to the front door of the company and immediately discovers everything is in a mess--weeds flourishing in the flower beds, windows broken across the front of the building, the gal at the front desk dozing, loud music roaring from several offices, two or three people engaged in horseplay in the back room. Instead of making a profit, the business has suffered a great loss. Without hesitation he calls everyone together and with a frown asks, "What happened? Didn't you get my letters?"
You say, "Oh, yeah, sure. We got all your letters. We've even bound them in a book. And some of us have memorized them. In fact, we have 'letter study' every Sunday. You know, those were really great letters." I think the president would then ask, "But what did you do about my instructions?" And, no doubt the employees would respond, "Do? Well, nothing. But we read every one!"
Now, we haven’t been in James today, but James tells us to be hearers and doers of the Word.
The Leaders of Israel and the Prophets - they knew the Word of the Lord. They knew what it was they were supposed to be doing. But as Verse 2 said, they hated good, and loved evil.
We must learn to be doers of the Word.
To do that, we as leaders must know what is right, and do it.
We must act justly, and show it.
And when we fail, we must expect correction, and accept it.
Would you stand and pray with me?
Prayer.
If you’re here today and there’s something that is in your life that you need to humble yourself and give over to the Lord, while the music is playing softly you can do that right now.
If you need someone to pray with you or if you need to know more about who Jesus is and what it looks like to follow Him you can simply come forward, and someone will pray with you or talk with you about who He is or about baptism or about what any of that looks like. You can do that today.
If you need more time or you aren’t quite ready to come forward today or if there’s something else that you need prayer for and you’d like us to pray for you or to talk to you later you can text “prayer” the number on the screen or you can fill out a connect card from your bulletin and someone will contact you.
We’re going to take a moment as the music continues to play softly in the background and as people are making those decisions, be praying for those that are struggling with those decisions around you. If there’s someone around you that you can see is struggling with something, pray with them. Let’s just take this moment in a mindset of prayer to allow Him to work amongst us today.
Prayer.