Sunday Service
Notes
Transcript
The spiritual reforms during the reign of King Hezekiah have now given way as Manasseh take the throne. As a nation, Judah suffers a spiritual relapse, revealed in declining morality and re-acceptance of pagan worship. The gains of ministry are seen as null in the eyes of Micah. His lament in these first verses of Micah 7 take on the form of a personal lament.
1. Lamenting the evil of the days, 7:1-7.
1. Lamenting the evil of the days, 7:1-7.
1— Micah expresses himself with a cry of disappointment and seeming hopelessness. After all the labor he has done on behalf of the LORD as His prophet, he finds that the fruit of his labor has disappeared.
He compares himself to the harvesters and gleaners, preparing to begin the harvest of their long-awaited fruit, the taste of the first grapes and ripe figs causing their mouths to water. But then they get there, and there is no harvest!
That would be devastating to anyone who put their blood, sweat, and tears into their labors with little, if any, benefit. Micah has proclaimed the word of the LORD to His disobedient people, like his fellow prophet Isaiah.
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel And the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
Both had very few respond to God’s message. Little spiritual fruit has been developed, even after the reforms of Hezekiah, and now what little fruit there has been seems be disappearing once again from Micah’s perspective.
Micah’s use of hyperbole overstates the case as he cries that the godly person has perished and there is no upright person among men. The godly and upright do exist in the land, but they are a remnant. Nearly a hundred years later, Jeremiah and Ezekiel lament the evil of their day when none can be found who would stand for the LORD.
“Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, And look now and take note. And seek in her open squares, If you can find a man, If there is one who does justice, who seeks truth, Then I will pardon her.
“And although they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ Surely they swear falsely.”
O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth? You have smitten them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.
Then I said, “They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the Lord Or the ordinance of their God.
“I will go to the great And will speak to them, For they know the way of the Lord And the ordinance of their God.” But they too, with one accord, have broken the yoke And burst the bonds.
“I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.
Micah characterizes the people as advancing their own interests, lying in wait to do violence for their own gain.
3 - they are skillful in doing evil, the right hand equally as well as the left hand active in it.
The one who should rule justly, as well as the one who makes judgment are only concerned with what will benefit them, not for true justice and righteousness. The great openly speaks what he desires, so together they make networks of conspiracy (saying:you scratch my back and I will scratch yours) to entrap the weak. They entangle and hurt all they come in contact with like a briar or thorn hedge.
The LORD has sent them watchmen (the prophets) to warn them of their spiritual danger and the judgment to come, but the nation has ignored them so when they post their own watchmen, they will certainly see God’s punishment come and they will be able to do nothing to stop it. Their confusion will occur because they have failed to heed God’s watchmen.
It is a time when Micah declares that no person can be trusted. The reason? For their own gain they would even stoop to betraying even those who are in their closest circle of relationships (neighbor, friend, spouse). J. Vernon McGee’s quote here is timely:
Thru the Bible Vol. 29: The Prophets (Jonah/Micah) Pardoning All Iniquity Because of Who God is and What He Does
We live in a day when the word of man seems to carry less value than it ever has before. You cannot believe what you read, and you cannot believe what you hear on radio or on television. The child of God should test everything.
Thru the Bible Vol. 29: The Prophets (Jonah/Micah) Pardoning All Iniquity Because of Who God is and What He Does
We have gotten to the place where government is having to watch everything. But who is going to watch government? They need watching also. Whom can you trust? In whom can you believe today? We are living at a very sad time in the history of the world. This verse reveals the condition of that day of Micah’s grief. This is not something to boast of, not something to rejoice in. It is something to be deplored, something which should grieve your heart and my heart.
Micah, however, will choose to wait expectantly on the LORD. He will be patient while the LORD brings about His salvation at the proper time, and is confident that God will hear his prayers. He has determined that he will trust God.
so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
2. Encouraging the faithful remnant, 6:8-17.
2. Encouraging the faithful remnant, 6:8-17.
Now Micah speaks for the faithful remnant, expressing confidence in the LORD, praying to and praising his God.
A. Micah confident in God’s ultimate victory, vs. 8-13.
A. Micah confident in God’s ultimate victory, vs. 8-13.
Micah addresses his enemies as he faithfully discharged God’s message, warning them not to rejoice over him. Though it would appear that they have the upper hand, appearances would be deceiving. He would rise again; the LORD is his light in the darkness he is experiencing.
Micah identifies with his people by confessing his guilt. As a part of the nation. he would bear the consequences of God’s discipline. Yet the Lord will come to Micah’s defense. He will plead his case, He will execute justice for him, and He will bring Micah back out to the light. Micah would see God’s demonstration of His justice and faithfulness to His promise. God vindicates the faithful.
Just as certainly God also will humiliate Micah/Israel’s enemies. They will see what God does for those who are His and they will be ashamed. They will be brought low as the godly are raised up, as low as the mire upon the street.
When will they be ashamed? I believe this points to the regathering and reestablishing of Jerusalem and Israel in the land at the onset of the Millennial Kingdom. the walls they build are not walls for defense; the word here refers to the walls surrounding the vineyards, Zech 2:4-5
and said to him, “Run, speak to that young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within it.
‘For I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’ ”
The boundaries of Israel will be extended on that day, beyond what they were in Micah’s day, extended during the Kingdom.
It is a time when the former powerful enemies of Israel, starting with the ones in Micah’s time, extending to those nations who were against Israel at the end of the tribulation will come to Israel. At this time the earth will become desolate, the devastation of the last days taking its toll on the earth…Isaiah 24:1 and more in Chapter 34-35.
Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants.
… because of the sins of the earth’s inhabitants. This occurs in the tribulation and the judgment of the nations following the second coming of Christ.
“All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
and Matthew 25:46
“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Pride and haughtiness of everyone will be removed. No crutch on which to lean on before the clear eyes of the Lord, who sees and knows all about each individual and nation.
B. Micah petitions God for His leader and future blessings, vs. 14-17.
B. Micah petitions God for His leader and future blessings, vs. 14-17.
What God’s people need is a godly leader. Micah requests just such a leader — the only one fit to do so is God Himself! He is asked to shepherd His people with kingly leadership. It is a request for the promised descendant of David to appear and to lead the nation, “His flock.”
Micah further requests that this leader would allow His people to enjoy God’s blessings. At an earlier time Bashan and Gilead were rich pastureland where flocks could find rest and provision. It became Israel’s by conquest before the crossing of the Jordan led by Joshua. God had given them victories and these lands were the fruit of that. Micah desires for the people’s restoration to once again enjoy this land.
Verse 15 is a statement from the LORD that once again He will show His people Israel miracles, just like those their fathers saw when they came out of Egypt. His might will overwhelm the nations of the world.
They will respond in shame, their might inferior to the mighty power of God in bringing Israel back to the land. They will not speak out against the God of Israel, either because of reverence or awe, nor will they hear what God is doing for His people.
The picture of “licking the dust” is a description of these once mighty nations becoming servile and humble in total defeat before the LORD.
Pusey, The Minor Prophets, Volume 2 (Chapter 7)
To lick the dust, by itself, pictures the extreme humility of persons who cast themselves down to the very earth. To lick it “like the serpent” seems rather to represent the condition of those who share the serpent’s doom, whose lot, viz. earth and things of earth, they had chosen.
“Kings will be your guardians, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth And lick the dust of your feet; And you will know that I am the Lord; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
These last three verses of Micah are read in the synagogues of Orthodox Jews following the reading of the prophet Jonah on the Day of Atonement. They extol the LORD, praising His forgiveness.
C. Micah praises the uniqueness of his God, vs. 18-20.
C. Micah praises the uniqueness of his God, vs. 18-20.
“Who is a God like You,” Micah exclaims, “who ...
pardons iniquity
passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
There is none! And added to that He does not retain His anger forever, unlike humanity. Exodus 34:6-7
Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;
who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
Rather, He delights in loyal, steadfast love demonstrating unfailing kindness and devotion to those He loves. And He will once again have tender, heartfelt concern on His people.
You will arise and have compassion on Zion; For it is time to be gracious to her, For the appointed time has come.
Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate.
He it is who will tread our iniquities underfoot — like bugs!
All their sins will be cast into the depths of the sea. Iniquity, rebellious acts, and sins are mentioned, but the word “all” indicates that God will forgive all types of Israel’s sins, placing them where they will not be remembered—in the deep!
in the last verse Micah reiterates that the ancient promises made to Abraham and Jacob have been sealed with the LORD’s own oath, vowing to fulfill them.
and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,
indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.
“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
“He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.