Micah

Intro

-Minor Prophets series - It’s been a minute.

-Under preached; Micah is typically preached at advent and it typically sticks to chapter 5.

-So much to be gleaned in these texts about God’s character and the character of mankind.

In the book of Micah we are going to dig into a little bit of both of those things.

So as usual, we are going to read a portion of the book, we’ll look at a little bit of the historical background, followed by a summary of the text and we will take a look at two themes that we see specifically in this minor prophet.

Read Passage Micah 7:18-21

Lord, this morning we ask that you open our eyes and our hearts to your word. Help me to be faithful to the text and to speak only what is true. Lord, show who you are and what you have done through the Word this morning.

Background

After Split Kingdom, before either exile. Around the same time as Isaiah and Amos

Close to the fall of the Northern Kingdom to Assyria.

Addresses the Northern Kingdom in the sense that it talks about its impending fall, but it is directed toward the Southern Kingdom.

Northern Kingdom as soon as Solomon died moved sharply away from God.

Southern Kingdom was somewhat more faithful for a time.

That’s being very generous, they were still quite unfaithful.

Summary

Divided into a series of 3 sets of indictment or proclamations of judgments followed by hope.

Ch 1-2 create the first set, Ch 3-5 the second, and 6-7 the final set.

Chapter one as with many of the minor prophets starts out rather jarringly. Immediately you jump into a series of judgments proclaimed against several cities.

He declares judgment on both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms for their idolatry (Primarily Northern - Samaria)

Micah 1:7 “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 laments over this in vs 8-9, before turning to a list of cities that he declares that God will destroy.

Show image - all of the cities in this section are in the Southern Kingdom

After calling out the cities, he specifically calls out the leadership.

People in power for how they treat others.

Prophets for how they preach.

Closes this section with a message of hope:

Micah 2:12–13 ESV

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. 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.

There is a promise to restore the remnant of Israel, and for God to be their King again.

Chapter 3-5 is the second series and echoes many of the same concerns.

In particular, it focuses on the shortcomings of leadership and prophets.

Micah 3:5 “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 3:1–2 “And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?— you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones,”

Paints a picture of bad leadership of people who do evil.

While the first series ended with a short 2 verses of hope, this series uses 2 chapters (4-5) to develop a picture of a messianic kingdom.

Huge contrast between the bad leadership and kingdom set up in chapter 3 and the good kingdom and leadership described in ch 4-5

Micah 4:12–13 “But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; and shall devote their gain to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.”

Micah 5:2 “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.” - Jesus

Micah 5:4 “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. And He shall be their Peace”

This is a far cry from the people described in chapter 3 that hate the good and love the evil.

The final section, chapter 6 and 7 repeats the indictments against Israel and it’s leadership.

Declares that Israel has forgotten what God has done, and what He requires.

Micah 6:8 ESV

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?

Just want to take a moment to connect this back to what Jeremy has been saying while preaching through the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus in those passages is explaining that the heart has always been what the law was about and what the standard was. Micah is declaring this same truth hundreds of years earlier.

Declares condemnation for their breaking of the covenant.

Chapter 7 begins with another lament from Micah followed by a message of hope in the character of God.

That is where he closes the book, with that message of hope.

Much like the other minor prophets we have covered in this series, Micah centers around Israels disobedience and the consequences of that disobedience, couched in this steadfast hope that lies in the Lord.

We have covered those themes before, so today, I want to delve into a couple of things that are weaved throughout this text that are not necessarily the major themes, but are important none the less.

First, Dangers of Bad Leaders, specifically False Prophets/Teachers, and second that steadfast hope lies in the very character of God.

Dangers of False Prophets

Let’s look together at chapter 3:5-8.

vs 5 - They “preach” for the highest bidder.

“Peace” when they are fed, and cared for, but declare war on those who “put nothing into their mouths”

Micah is calling them out for preaching whatever benefits them the most.

We see this throughout the book we are shown leaders and teachers who are just out for themselves and do everything possible to cheat those under their care.

For any of us who are in a position of authority, whether that be as parent/husband/boss/elder, this should stand as a stern warning that our authority should not be used as a means to benefit ourselves, but to build up those God has placed under our care.

In a broad sense, this applies to all of us in a position of authority (which is pretty much everyone at some point or another), but we also need to be aware of this from a follower perspective too.

We need to be on the lookout for those teachers who will sacrifice truth for their own benefit.

Absolutely still something we have to deal with today.

Many churches are sacrificing truth for “relevance”

When a church trades the truth of the Gospel for “nickels and noses,” then they have fallen into this trap.

Preaching a message that ‘tickles the ears’ in order to boost numbers and donations, thinking that equates to evangelism.

Others teach a message of wealth and prosperity.....if you donate.

Vs 6-7 Micah tells us these kinds of preachers are cut off from God.

These are a proclamation of judgment on the particular “prophets” of that time.

it had a particular meaning, especially regarding the fall to Babylon.

But the principle stands that those who sacrifice truth for the sake of personal gain are cut off from God is a principle that is consistent throughout Scripture.

vs 8 tells us that Micah is filled with the Spirit.

It is a difficult message that he declares, but it is grounded in truth

There are multiple places in Micah where we see the prophet lament the message that he has to give. He knows that his message is a hard message to hear and declares

Micah 7:1 “Woe is me! For I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, as when the grapes have been gleaned: there is no cluster to eat, no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.”

He hates what the people have done, and that he has to declare this message of wrath.

It is the same with the Gospel. It is a message that demands we humble ourselves, see the guilt within us.

But it is grounded in truth.

So, there is a heavy burden for us here.

For those of us in authority, we have the burden to lead for the benefit of those under our care.

For those of us who follow, we need to be wary of teachers who sacrifice the truth for the sake of their own benefit.

We also need to be willing and able to preach the truth, even when it is a hard message to preach.

The beauty of the message of the gospel, and the message that Micah gives here, is that it isn’t all bad news. The truth has hope as well.

Micah closes his book with a look at this hope:

Hope in the Character of God

Turn to the very end, 7:18-20.

At the end of each set of indictment/proclamation of judgment, Micah gives a section of hope.

None of those sections are tied to what the Israelites will do, or what the other kingdoms will do, but rather what God will do.

God will call to himself a remnant-

Micah 2:12 “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.”

Micah 4:6–7 “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; 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.”

The hope of Israel is in God, but in this final section, the hope of Israel isn’t really in the actions of God, but in His character.

The actions will be there because of who He is, and Micah describes this in this final section.

Micah has spent most of this book declaring the iniquities of Judah, and here at the end closes with praise for a God who is gracious and forgiving God.

God forgives sins, treads iniquities underfoot and casts sins into the depths of the sea.

Micah describes two characteristics that explain why God would do this, and two characteristics of God that should give us incredible hope.

The first is “Steadfast Love” - “hesed”

18 says “He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in steadfast love”

This word “hesed” isn’t a flowery feeling towards someone like we describe love today. This word describes loyalty, goodness and graciousness.

It is an unfailing love that never wavers, never changes.

When God says he loves his children, it is an unfailing, unwavering love.

We look at the sins committed by Israel, or the sins of our own lives and recognize that even through all of that, God’s steadfast love remains.

When we repent and believe in the work of Christ that steadfast love is there, welcoming us into the family of God.

This love is a part of the very Character of God. It is an unchanging kindness and its not something we can earn, it is just who he is.

The second characteristic is faithfulness. - “emet”

Describes a firmness, but more than that, a firmness founded in truth, in other words a trustworthiness.

Vs 20 says that God will show faithfulness to Jacob, meaning that the covenant made with Abraham and his sons would be kept.

Like the steadfast love this faithfulness is part of the very character of God. His Word is sure and if a promise is made then it will come to pass.

In chapter 5 it says that the messiah shall come from the town of Bethlehem, that his coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

In Matthew and Luke, we see the ancient of days himself take on flesh to fulfill this prophecy.

Forgiveness and grace was purchased by God through the work of Jesus Christ, fulfilling the promises made from Gen 3 through the time of the prophets.

It is this faithfulness and steadfast love that Micah praises and we remember when we come to the table this morning.

This is a practice that we do every week. It is a weekly reminder pointing us back to the foundation of our faith.

Christ gave instructions for us to do this in remembrance of Him until he returns

1 Corinthians 11:24–26 “and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

It’s a moment to remember that we stand before a Holy God, who is faithful and loving. In that love and faithfulness he called a remnant to himself through the blood and body of Jesus Christ.

Here we practice open communion - If you are a believer we invite you to come

if not, we want you to experience the real thing, not this symbol, so we ask you to abstain.

Take a moment to quiet are hearts, examine ourselves, repent of our sin and turn our eyes upon Jesus.