A Promised Messiah Pt 5: Micah

Introduction

We are continuing our way through the prophets, landing in Micah this morning, as we are coming quickly to the end of our “Finding the Missiah” series. We are in this period of time where the nation of Israel has been split in two, there is widespread idolotry and a rejection of God, and the repurcussions of these things is fast approaching (or already at hand…).

To keep this from feeling as though we’re simply on repeat week after week, we’re not going to spend a whole lot of time on what’s going on in the nation at the time of Micah’s ministry, because it’s the same type of culture and society as we have talked about in previous weeks with other prophets—Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos…

We’ll breifly touch on some specific things to note regarding Micah and when he is used by God to speak to Judah, but the two things we’re really going to focus on this morning are these:

The way Micah describe the coming Messiah

A prophetic response Micah gives to this coming Messiah

Context

Okay, so, a little bit of context:

~730 - 690 BC (Probably overlapped Isaiah)

Southern Kingdom of Judah

His prophecies are what spurred on King Hezekiah’s Reforms

This is a bit of a glimmer of hope in Judah’s histroy—where a king actually listens to the Word of the Lord through His prophet

But overall, the culture of the time is much like what we’ve seen already:

Rich are becoming richer at expense of the poor

Affluence & prosperity abounds among small segments of the population - much at the expense of others

$$$ Ruled the day—judges, religious leaders, officials, all being ruled by money

Assyria is the great enemy (to begin with) — Judah (the southern Kingdom) watches as the Northern Kingdom of Israel falls to the Assyrians and are taken into exile. Also during this time, Assyria attacks Jerusalem—at first King Hezekiah allies himself with Babylon and Egypt, but (as was mentioned) heeds the call to repentance by Micah, and Jerusalem is spared.

But these reforms are not long lasting…and a greater enemy is on the way. Destruction and Exile are coming by the hands of the Babylonians.

Finding the Messiah

Okay, if your neighbour has fallen asleep through our history lesson, you can wake them up now. And if you have your Bible, I invite you to turn with me to Micah 5.

Where do we see the Messiah? Where do we see Jesus in this book? Within the prophecies of Micah?

READ Micah 5:2-5a

From Bethlehem City of David - Where Jesus is eventually born

Ruler in Israel King who has been promised

Coming is from old, from ancient days On one level, pointing back to the Davidic Dynasty, but at a deeper level, one whose come is from beyond histroy—the ETERNAL Ruler- God Himself

Shepherd His Flock ***Really Focus in on this one: He’s described as a Shepherd. And we’ve seen this already in other prophecies regarding the Promised Messiah, that He would be a shepherd to Israel.

He shall be their peace Not just peace from their adversaries—as we remember, Assyria and Babylon are simply tools in the hands of God. Israel, Judah, has placed themselves at war with God. They have rebelled against Him, and have placed themselves in the position of His enemies. But this Promised One, this Ruler, this Shepherd, who is “from ancinet days”…He Himself will be their peace. The God they are at war with, the God they have pitted themselves against because of their rebellion is, Himself, going to become their peace.

And ulitimately, we see this fulfilled in Christ. And we’ve walked through this, we’ve seen this in other prophecies by other Prophets, but…

Response to the Messiah

Micah doesn’t just give us a description of the coming Messiah, but also a prophetic response to this promised Saviour. He goes from this Messianic promise in chapter 5, to a promise that there will be remnant that is saved, but that judgement is coming. Destruction is coming for the wicked.

But there’s hope! This shepherd is coming. The Messiah is coming! And then Micah gives us a response to this Messiah, this promise. And it’s this prophetic response that I want to really spend time on this morning, because it encapsulates so clearly what our response to the Messiah should be.

Look with me:

READ Micah 7:7-9

There is a very particular tension we are called to walk in as followers of God, followers of the Messiah. This tension is so beautifully encaptured in these 3 verses.

We are both sinners and saints. We walk both the path of sorrowful repentance over sin, while at the same time the path of extraordinary joy as the blood-bought children of God.

But here’s the reality—too often, and too easily, we can find ourselves only walking in one of these things. We can easily find ourselves

Either overwhelmed by shame, forgetting what Christ has already done for us, who He has already made us to be, or…

Flippant in regard to sin. Accepting it, walking in it, making light of it, forgetting that it was our sin that Jesus paid for on the cross.

But here, in this prophetic response to the Promised Messiah, we see both of these things in tandem with one another:

A confident assurance of the grace of God:

“I will wait for the God of my salvation”

“I will rise”

“the LORD will be a light to me”

“he pleads my cause and executes judgement for me”

“He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication”

A recongnition of the impact of sin, the seriousness of sin:

“when I fall”

“when I sit in darkness

“I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him”

Turn with me to Romans, chapter 7. We see this reality expounded upon by the Apostle Paul in a way that I think we will all understand and be able to relate to.

Romans 7:15-8:17

We are jumping in here in Romans at sort of the conclusion of what Paul has been working towards so far in this letter:

There is a just and deserved punishment for sin: the wrath of God. God, in His righteousness and justice, must punish sin. He cannot let it go unchecked.

The Law could not save. In fact, where the Law was introduced, sin abounded all the more.

Salvation from Sin can only come through faith in Christ—not through the keeping of the law.

We are justified (made right with God) by faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Clarification Regarding Sin & the Law:

We should not sin more in order that grace would abound. That’s a slap in the face of the sacrifice God made through Christ.

No longer being under the law does not give us freedom to sin. We have been freed from sin, not freed to sin.

The Law is not sinful - it exposes sin.

And all of this now culminates in what this all means for the follower of Christ, still living in this world.

So let’s jump in:

READ Romans 7:15-23

So Paul is, here, showing us this distinction in our lives. It’s a distinction between what he calls “the flesh” and the “inner man”.

Before Christ, before salvation, both are dead.

The Inner Person - died at the Fall. The inner person is dead because of sin.

The Outer Person - condemend to death. Our bodies are wasting away. They all have an “end date”.

When we Accept Christ, Accept the gift of Salvation He offers, the inner person is born again “born of the Spirit”. This is what Jesus explains to Nicodemus back in the Gospel of John.

The Flesh, the outer man, though, is still waiting full redemption. Now, we miss what Paul is talking about here if we oversimplify this and think that our physical body is all that he’s talking about. That’s not the case. There’s something more to the flesh than simply our body. It’s not our soul, but it’s also not just our physical body.

And here’s what’s happening within the Believer:

Our soul, our inner person, has been redeemed, has been set free from sin. However, our outer person, our flesh, is still awaiting full redemption. And so there is this battle that is now waging between the two.

Our inner person, led by the Spirit, is renewed, desiring the things of God. Our flesh, there’s nothing good in it. It is ever inclined to do what is evil. Our natural desires are bent towards what is wrong and evil.

How often can we relate to what we read here?!

Romans 7:15 “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”

*Let’s make sure we catch here what Paul is doing: He is not giving an excuse for sin. He isn’t saying “well, it’s my flesh, so I’m off the hook”. But he’s giving this explanation of this battle so we understand what’s going on inside of us. And we see this in his response to this reality:

Romans 7:24 “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

This is the godly sorrow, the godly repentance we see in Micah. This hatred for sin. This understanding of the full weight of sin. When we fall, we understand the gravity of it. We understand “the indignation of the Lord” when He disciplines us. We’re told in Hebrews:

Hebrews 12:5–11 ESV

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

And right alongside this discipline, this godly repentance, this hatred for sin, this sorrow over sin…we have great hope and great joy. Because that’s not where it ends!

READ Romans 7:25-8:4

This is the Gospel! “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Though we face discipline, though we mourn our sin, though we hate the works of the flesh, we do not stand condemned by them. Jesus has done what the Law couldn’t. He has dealth with sin fully and completely, condeming it. So we are not left in condmenation and shame.

Perhaps that’s where you struggle—you’ve accepted Christ, you’ve accepted his gift of salvation, yet you still remain under an immense weight of guilt and shame and condemnation every time you slip, every time you stumble…But Christian: “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!”

As Micah said:

“Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.”

Take heart! Christ has already dealt with your sin. He’s forgiven you. He has restored you. You stand in the righteousness of Christ.

Now let’s walk in it. Walk in that righteousness, putting to death the deeds of the flesh, and walking by the Spirit of Christ who has been given to us.

Let’s keep going:

READ Romans 8:5-17

There’s this third facet of our being that is introduced here: Our mind. And we have this choice of where we will set our mind: On the things of the Spirit, or on the flesh. And in Christ, by His Spirit who dwells within us, we have the ability to now set our mind on the things of the Spirit that lead to life. And we have this promise, this guarantee, that because the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, “he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells within you.”

Guaranteed victory. The battle has already been won. We are walking through this battle right now, between our inner man and our flesh. But the outcome is already secured because of the One who lives within us and has given us life!

We are no longer in the flesh—our lives, our being, our identity is no longer defined by our flesh. We are adopted sons and daughters of God! Heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ (just try to wrap your mind around that for a moment).

But don’t miss that last phrase: “provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

We’re told that Jesus was tempted just as we are, yet without sin. He came in the likeness of flesh, and suffered. Refusing every temptation that came His way. We are now called to do the same. And this is the fruit of a life that has been made alive by the Spirit.

Conclusion

This is the Gospel. I’m going to share two quotes with you as we wrap things up this morning. I don’t always like doing this, but I really appreciate how these describe the fullness of the Gospel:

From a Commentary on Romans: “If we are to understand the gospel, we must understand its obligations. Being reconciled to God brings us peace—but it also obligates us to turn away from the deeds of the flesh and be led by the Spirit of God instead.”

The Gospel isn’t a “Get out of Hell free Card”. It’s a new life. I saw this video Mike is going to put on the screen quite a while ago, and I just had to laugh at how well it portrays us as people. *Play Sheep Video

Jesus didn’t save us so that we could just run headlong again into the thing that brings death! Follow your shepherd! Follow your shepherd to green pastures and still waters!

2. From a book I recommend anyone read, “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer - “Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks' wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?... Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

Let’s not fall into cheap grace. Let’s not live our lives under cheap grace. We walk this particular tension of both sinner and saint. We battle our flesh every day, yet from a position of victory. But don’t stop fighting. Don’t dismiss sin, don’t cheapen grace by continuing to live with your mind set on the flesh.

The Promise from Micah 5 is that “he shall be their peace.” As we walk in the Spirit, as we put to death the deeds of the flesh—we find life and peace. Church, let’s keep our eyes fixed on our Messiah, our Good Shepherd who is leading us down the path of righteousness and peace.