Micah

Intro

Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 17:6-23

Opening sentence: Promise? Warning?

JTTB. Last day of OT. . . End with Micah. Minor prophet. Contemporary of Isaiah. . .

Solomon to Micah, or at least the capital cities, the divided kingdom, the lineage of evil kings, the wars

Backdrop of what’s happening. SLIDE

Talk through slide a little. . . what do you notice?

Promises of God.

Why Israel Fell?

2 Kings 17:13–17 ESV

13. Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” 14. But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16. And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. 17. And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.

This is what was happening, that help us to understand what Micah said. Today, a micro Journey through Micah

Looking for the 2 types of promises of God: Judgement and Mercy.

Looking for evidence of God’s character.

What does this say about God? What does this say about people?

Chapter 1 The Coming Destruction

Story and Promised Judgement or Hope

Micah 1:1–7 ESV

1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2 Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 3 For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. 4 And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. 5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? 6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations. 7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.

Micah 1:9 ESV

9 For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.

Micah 1:12–13 ESV

12 For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem. 13 Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish; it was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel.

Micah 1:15 ESV

15 I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.

Chapter 2 Woe to the Oppressors

Story and Promised Judgement or Hope

Micah 2:1–3 ESV

1 Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand. 2 They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. 3 Therefore thus says the Lord: behold, against this family I am devising disaster, from which you cannot remove your necks*, and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will be a time of disaster.

Ref. Deut 28:48 The iron yoke of the curse

Micah 2:6 ESV

6 “Do not preach”—thus they preach— “one should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us.”

Micah 2:11 ESV

11 If a man should go about and utter wind and lies, saying, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be the preacher for this people!

Micah 2:12–13 ESV

12 I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob; I will gather the remnant of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture, a noisy multitude of men. 13 He who opens the breach goes up before them; they break through and pass the gate, going out by it. Their king passes on before them, the Lord at their head.

-He will gather a remnant, led by a Shepherd King

Chapter 3. Rulers and Prophets Denounced

Story and Promised Judgement or Hope

Micah 3:1 ESV

1 And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?—

Micah 3:4 ESV

4 Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil.

Micah 3:5 ESV

5 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths.

Micah 3:7 ESV

7 the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.

Micah 3:12 ESV

12 Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

Chapter 4: The New Future Kingdom and Judah’s Exile.

Story and Promised Judgement or Hope

Micah 4:1–7 ESV

1 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall [Jerusalem] be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, 2 and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 3 He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; 4 but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. 5 For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. 6 In that day, declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; 7 and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.

This is a future we haven’t seen yet. This is the millennial Reign of Christ. This is his second coming. . .

Then we have a segue back to current reality. . .

Micah 4:10 NASB 2020

10 “Writhe and scream, Daughter of Zion, Like a woman in childbirth; For now you will go out of the city, Live in the field, And go to Babylon. There you will be rescued, There the Lord will redeem you From the hand of your enemies.

Chapter 5: The Ruler to be Born in Bethlehem.

Story and Promised Judgement or Hope

Micah 5:2 ESV

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. [NASB: From the days of eternity. . .] cross ref. Matthew 2:1-6

Micah 5:4–5 ESV

4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. 5a And he shall be their peace. . .

Micah 5:10-15 God will purify the nations. Execute vengence in anger and wrath against the nations that have not obeyed. . . Whom? Jesus.

Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess Jesus is Lord. Judgement.

Chapter 6: The Indictment, Requirement, and Destruction.

Story and Promised Judgement or Hope

Micah 6:2 ESV

2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel.

Micah 6:3-5 God reminds of his past promises kept!

Micah 6:8 ESV

8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

God can’t just ignore the wickedness. . .

Micah 6:13 ESV

13 Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins.

Chapter 7: Watching and Waiting. God’s Character and Promises.

Micah 7:7 ESV

7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

Micah 7:18–20 ESV

18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. 20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

2 and end of micah. Bible project says we have 2 reasons for future hope. God’s Character and God’s Promises.

watch and wait

watch/stare/look

God’s character. Who is a God like you, who forgives and pardons.

Watch for God, prayer, stare at God staring back at you in love

Look at God and what he has done. His word, “Have I shown you?”

wait for God’s primises.

faith in future hope. . . 

God kept past promises, he will keep future promises

John 14:1–3 NASB 2020

1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be.

There is a kingdom of God that has come and is still coming. . .