Hope in Darkness (Micah 6:1-7:20)

Introduction

While I grew up in Soddy-Daisy, TN. I was born and spent a good amount of time in my childhood in Dayton, TN. Dayton is a town that is unknown to most until you are told what happened there. In July 1925 Dayton became known around the world as a famous trial took place in the now historic Rhea County Courthouse. Dayton is where the Scopes Monkey Trial took place.

The Scopes Trial was the trial of John T. Scopes, a local teacher who was teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. He was teaching that man and ape shared a common ancestor. Standing opposite Scopes as the prosecutor was William Jennings Bryan. Bryan was a Christian fundamentalist. This trial became a spectacle for the city of Dayton, Rhea County, and the world. It drew a defense attorney out of Chicago to come down and defend Scopes.

In a History Channel documentary it was said that Dayton had itself a carnival. My Great Grandfather, Giles Ryan was then quoted in the documentary, saying, “People would bring in trained chimpanzees dressed in suits and ties and they would lead them up and down the streets.”

But the trial was more than a grand spectacle of a carnival, it was a trial that would force people who had nothing to do with the trial to make a decision of what they believed, modern science or the Bible.

This morning we turn our eyes to the Bible where another trial is put on display for all to see. A trial that too will force all to make a decision. A decision on is God truly righteous in the midst of his judgment?

This trial comes in the book of Micah, in its third and final cycle. So, please take your Bible and turn with me to Micah 6:1-7:20. (Begins on page #927 in Red Pew Bible).

A brief recap of Micah while you are turning there. Micah is a prophecy that is taking place over the matter of years through the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. And in these days, the people of Israel were being warned of coming exile. Micah then warns of this coming exile and tells Israel and Samaria why they are headed towards exile, but along the way hope is given. Micah uses 3 cycles of judgment and deliverance, the third cycle being our passage this morning. READ MICAH 6:1-7:20.

Main Idea: There is no God like YHWH who passes over the iniquities of his people’s sins. Therefore we are to respond to his mercy by walking humbly with him according to his ways.

1. A God of Righteous Acts (Micah 6:1-7:6)

2. A God Like No Other (Micah 7:7-20)

1. A God of Righteous Acts (Micah 6:1-7:6)

This third and final cycle of Micah’s starts with a trial of sorts. In the trial God’s righteousness and justice is being put on trial. The people seem to accuse God of being unjust and too harsh against them with his decree of exile and judgment. And so, as the trial starts, it follows the pattern of any trial with opening arguments.

Opening Arguments (Micah 6:1-5)

Micah 6:1. Micah invites the people of Israel, the LORD, YHWH, and creation itself to the trial of God’s righteousness and makes the case indictment, the charge known. Micah 6:2.

All creation is to hear that the Lord has charges against Israel as a defense of his righteousness. Starting with the asking of a question. Micah 6:3.

The question is put forth in how has the LORD wronged his people? How has he acted unjustly or unfairly to them? But to take this further, it is immediately put forward for the people to look backward and to remember how the LORD has acted towards them.

First, he points to the Exodus and his delivering them from out of their slavery in Egypt. Micah 6:4.

Through his servants, namely Moses, the LORD delivered the people, rescuing them out of their harsh situation in Egypt. He was the one to bring them out, not themselves.

Second, he points them back again to his care of them in the wilderness journey by pointing them to one of many threats against them. Micah 6:5a In this example is the attempt of Balak, the King of Moab, to find a prophet and curse Israel. This story is told in Numbers 22 if you want to write that reference down and look at later.

Now, Balak found a prophet, Baalam, but he was unable to curse Israel, for it was not the word of the LORD. The LORD instead blessed Israel as he cared for them in this wilderness journey.

Then a third remembrance is given. Micah 6:5b. So what happened in Shittim? Shittim was the place where Israel lived outside of the promised land, a land in which they began to whore after the daughters of Moab and began to commit Spiritual Adultery by turning to the gods of Moab. And yet, the LORD carried them from Shittim to Gilgal. Gilgal being the first city in which they settled in as they crossed the Jordan and entered the promised land.

Joshua 4:19 ESV

The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.

It is with these three reminders the LORD is making known his righteous acts towards the people of Israel. God has not in any way acted unjustly. Instead, the LORD has acted compassionately and patiently towards this people.

The Defendant’s Claim (Micah 6:6-7)

But now the people interject in an attempt to prove the LORD’s unrighteousness. Micah 6:6-7.

They paint the picture of religious piety in saying they are seeking the LORD, but with excuse. Excuse that they are uncertain what is pleasing to the LORD. What it is he wills and desires of them. What it is they must do to draw near to him. Bowing before him? Burnt offerings? Rivers of oil? Even the offering of their own children as sacrifices?

The religious piety here of being willing to offer whatever necessary to be right with God. And yet it is none of this that the LORD has required. In fact, the LORD time and time again has forbidden such foolish declarations of oaths and offerings, especially that of children. And yet, King Ahaz, who reigned in Micah’s day had done just this, he had offered child sacrifices in an attempt to please the LORD. Hint, hint, this is part of why they are under judgment.

The Prosecution’s Interjection (Micah 6:8)

The LORD interrupts the claim of the defense here of the people not knowing what they are to come to him with. He tells them plainly again what is required. Micah 6:8.

Again, this is not some new information. The LORD has previously stated elsewhere what he required.

Deuteronomy 10:12–13 (ESV)

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?

What is required of us to come before God is plain, it is to love him with all we have and to walk with him according to his will and purposes. This coming, because he has first loved us in having rescued us. This was true of Israel, for God first delivered them out of Egypt, then gave his covenant proclamations after. And it is true of us in Christ. For while we were still sinners Christ died for the ungodly. God loves and God saves. He does not expect a people to first love him and get it right before salvation. But, because of such a great salvation, he has always expected his people to respond accordingly.

Particularly by calling us to humbly walk with him. This not being a one time profession of faith and calling that a humble walking. No, this is a perpetual, ongoing, daily walking with the LORD in humility. Walking with him in our homes, in our jobs, in the community, and wherever we go. A walking that we are learning from him and being taught by him how to live and act. A learning that happens through the word and the Spirit working in tandem together. Christian, we can not be walking humbly with the LORD if we are not regularly reading our Bibles with a humble heart. A heart ready to hear the voice of God and a heart ready to obey.

For it is this humble walking the LORD has called us to. But that is not all. He has called his people to not only love him and walk humbly with him. Part of that humble walking is to do what good he has required of us. To do justice and to love kindness.

Remember, the judgment against Israel is coming because of their injustice which we are about to turn back to. But God has called his people to do good in not only talking about justice, but actually doing justice. Doing justice to those around us and within our means to do so.

Christian, do you know it is our duty to carry out justice? To carry out justice in our jobs, especially if we have authority in that job? To do justice in seeing fairness in our civic duties to serve on jury duty, even more so if our job is in the realm of the law? To do justice in speaking for the innocent, in advocating for them.

Along with doing justice, the LORD has made it plain to us to also love kindness. To be good samaritans, to be charitable in helping others. Church, let me commend us here. There are many of you who do a really good job of this when you hear of various needs. Some of you would literally give the shirt off your backs to help others. Praise God for this love of kindness among our body. May we continue in this and never forsake this call to love such kindness. For it is the love of kindness and the doing of justice that reflects our God whom we are to be walking humbly with and imitating.

This is what the LORD has required of us in doing good. It has been made plain for us. Beloved, let us seek this kind of doing good. Let us take heart in knowing what God has required of us as we seek to draw near to him and respond accordingly.

The Prosecution’s Rebuttal (Micah 6:9-16)

But here is the thing, while what God required was given and made plain for his people, they did the exact opposite. They failed to hear and obey the LORD. And so, the rebuttal of the LORD comes now against Israel. Micah 6:9.

The people have not feared the LORD and obeyed his commands. But now the wisdom of discipline and judgment comes against their evil. For the LORD now draws out how they have failed to do what was required. Micah 6:10-12.

Israel has treasured not good and justice, but injustice. They have not done kindness, but loved violence and deceit. And so, the LORD declares that he will not acquit them of such charges, of such guilt. They are going to face the consequences of their sins in judgment.

Micah 6:13-15. The rod of discipline is coming down on the backs of Israel because of their sins. They will be to the point of having all stripped away. Not enough food to satisfy them, not enough stored up to keep them in famine, and what they think they’ve stored will be taken by sword when they are conquered by their enemies, by the Assyrians. Nothing of their attempts will succeed.

For Israel has acted unfaithfully. They have not walked humbly with their God, but they have gone whoring after the ways of the nations. Micah 6:16.

Omri and Ahab are foreign kings who the people of Israel were to be distinct from. But instead of being distinct from these foreigners, the people of Israel went after the ways of these foreigners, living as the world. They failed to walk humbly with their God. This then is why they are on trial and why they are being found guilty.

This trial is being revealed to us to warn us, even today as Christians. A warning that we are not to neglect what the LORD has told us is good, to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with him. And this trial is also a reminder of just how our God is a God of righteous acts. For even in his judgment, he is just.

Closing Remarks (Micah 7:1-6)

Micah now begins to lament the sin of Israel and the pending judgment that is swiftly coming. He first laments the ungodliness of the people. Micah 7:1-4.

Micah mourns that there is none upright, that the people lie in wait for the shedding of blood, or as Paul uses in the New Testament, the biting and devouring of one another. He mourns because the people seek to do evil. And it is because of all of this ungodliness that judgment and punishment has now come. And this causes Micah to lament such evil.

Beloved, does your heart weep in seeing the evil of the world around you? The evil in you, the evil that affects those around you? The lurking of evil around the corner?

It should. Let us follow Micah’s example and lament. For as Micah laments over these sins, Jesus would later lament over Jerusalem.

Matthew 23:37 ESV

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

Next, Micah turns his lament to how the ungodliness has spread to the closest of relationships. Micah 7:5-6.

If these verses sound familiar to some of you, that is because we looked at Jesus’ use of these verses in Matthew 10:34-39 not too long ago. Sadly, I don’t think I shared that connection with you then. But here, Micah turns to these words in lamenting of such division among family. In Micah’s day it was because of sin this division came. Jesus tells us that this division should be expected as we seek to follow him, because of this same reason, those loved ones loved sin more than they did the LORD. And though true, this brings Micah to lamenting this fact, this great love of sin that has spread and separated the most near of relationships.

But as with all lament, it does not stop at complaint, Micah turns and hopes in the LORD. Micah 7:7.

Micah turns and trusts in the LORD, trusting in the fullness of his righteous acts and his coming salvation.

2. A God Like No Other (Micah 7:8-20)

The LORD is the Light in Darkness (Micah 7:8-10)

To trust the LORD for his salvation is to embrace his judgment against sin. That is where we see Micah turn next. Micah 7:8-10.

Micah knows judgment is coming, and he doesn’t ignore the pain and darkness of the LORD’s discipline in judgment against his people. And yet, because of the hope, he as God’s prophet calls the peoples against Israel to not rejoice over them while they are in the darkness of God’s judgment, for the same God that has driven his people into the darkness of exile is the God who is the light for his people. And as their light, pleads their case and will soon restore them.

This hope allows Micah and those who likewise have turned to trust in the LORD’s salvation to bear the indignation of God’s judgment. Friend, if we have not yet embraced God’s just judgement and discipline of our sin, we have not yet understood or rightly embraced his salvation.

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Sin has consequences. God’s salvation and mercy does not wipe away in this world the consequences of sin. Though Micah and a remnant are trusting in God’s salvation, they still bear God’s indignation against them. But while doing so, they know the LORD will reverse their circumstances and carry out his judgment against those who have opposed his people.

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Let us  then see the LORD disciplines his children, and that is ultimately for our good. The LORD is not our adversary in this discipline, but an advocate for our good. There is the darkness of discipline, but the LORD will bring his people back to the light.

The LORD is the Shepherd of His People (Micah 7:11-14)

But let us see that our God is not only our light, but our shepherd who protects us. Micah 7:11-14.

In the gathering of his remnant, a people will be gathered from all over, from these foreign nations, from sea to sea and mountain to mountain. And they will be gathered inside the gates of God’s kingdom where they will dwell with safety and peace. Yet, outside the gates, the rest will be desolate, with nothing to eat or drink.

This picture is not a picture of the return of exile. It is eschatological, that is it is looking towards the second advent, the return of God’s forever King. A king who will be a shepherd to his people in caring for them.

It is said that Bashan and Gilead were among the first lands won in the entering of the Promised Land and some of the first lost. And yet, here the Shepherd will come and gather his people again.

God is the Shepherd of his people, and he will gather them from exile and lead them to a land where we shall not want and lead us to lie by still waters. Micah hopes in this shepherd, and so will we.

The LORD is Ruler of the Nations (Micah 7:15-17)

As the Shepherd gathers his people, the nations will be brought to their knees as well. Micah 7:15-17. Though they were the tools of God’s judgment, they themselves will be judged, for they too have rejected the LORD. And so the LORD will show how he alone is God and bring the mighty nations of the world crashing down. Bringing them even down to crawling on the earth like a serpent and licking the dust.

God will rule over the nations, making all turn and fear him as they see him in his might and glory. As they see that there is none like him.

The LORD Alone Saves (Micah 7:18-20)

Micah 7:18. This has been the melodic line of Micah. For who else is like the God of the Bible, like YHWH? For what other is there that judges his people in their sin, but then pardons them in their iniquity, passing over their transgressions?

This is not to say there are any other gods, for there isn’t. But even the false gods and idols can’t compare to this God. The way Muslims talk about Allah does not compare to this God. The way Hindus talk about their 330 million gods does not compare. There is no god like YHWH! He alone is merciful and passes over the transgressions of his people, because of his compassionate mercy. Micah 7:19.

In his compassion, YHWH gets rid of our sins, passes over them and casts them away they are trampled and wiped away. This goes back there in verse 18, because God does not retain his anger against sin forever. His steadfast love endures forever. Loving even his imperfect people until the end. His steadfast love and faithfulness will endure. Micah 7:20.

GOSPEL! GO!

Conclusion

Micah has put the trial of God on display for all to see, and as the trial ends, God is in the clear, he is a righteous God who has acted justly against his people in their breaking of his covenant, and yet, there is no God like YHWH. For who else shows such compassion to pursue and save sinners to the point of casting their sins away?

Praise be to the LORD, the Great I AM and his salvation that has come in Jesus!

Let’s pray!