Untitled Sermon (2)

Micah 6:1-8

While every marriage is unique, most marital problems fall into familiar categories. Usually, one or both partners have little idea of their biblical calling in marriage, or have expectations that are not reasonable. It is especially common in marriage for spouses to take one another for granted: in the busyness of life, they do little to convey their appreciation or affection. When this has been going on for a long time, emotional coolness and hard feelings can very easily damage a relationship.

In this chapter of Micah, God has a quarrel with His people Israel along these very lines. Not that the Lord has grown distant toward them, but rather that His people have taken Him for granted and distanced their hearts from Him. As God summons the prophet to plead His case, the scene is that of a courtroom. But it is family court, not criminal court. God has a grievance against His people, and the result He seeks is the renewal of the ancient covenant faithfulness and love.

Micah's prophecies of strength for God's people look forward to the new covenant, in which the aims of the old covenant are fulfilled. The prophet foresees an age of power for the church in the world, but also a divine mandate for holiness that exceeds even that of the old covenant.

I. God's Covenant Lawsuit

A. The prophet summons the long-standing mountains to bear testimony, since they have borne witness to Israel's long record of misdeeds.

1. Most likely, there is an intended contrast between the immovable mountains and the fickle hearts of Israel.

2. Calling such important witnesses stresses the seriousness of the case.

3. The mountains were the very witnesses summoned to observe God making His covenant with Israel.

4. 3 times, God called heaven and earth to witness during the covenant-making process with Moses (Deut, 4:26; 30:19; 31:28).

5. Only if the mountains could be moved and their foundations dug up would God's covenant obligations suffer a lack of testimony before His people.

B. Micah explains the purpose of his message: [].

1. The charge is a breach of covenant - spiritual adultery: Israel has not fulfilled her marriage vows to the Lord.

2. His rightful expectations as husband have not been met.

3. Israel has lost interest in God, taking His blessings for granted, and they have gone their own way.

4. The indictment has the purpose, not of carrying out punishment, but of pleading renewed loyalty and love.

II. God's Case Vindicated

A. God reaches out to Israel with tender love. Then He goes on to invite complaints against His own marital performance: [].

1. The implication is that Israel has acted as if God had let them down.

2. They have grown tired and bored with God.

3. But, what has God done to deserve such emotional distance? Has the Lord failed to uphold His end of the covenant?

4. It seems that Israel found it tiresome to be God's people. Like many believers in Christ today, they were weary of having to live a certain way. Has God deserved this attitude?

B. God could make the same complaint today. It is especially telling for those who reject His salvation altogether: what has God done to deserve such rejection? It is also a valid complaint for any of God's covenant people, who should turn their hearts away from God and back to the world.

1. There can be no true cause shown why any should choose to forsake God.

2. God's commands are not grievous, His yoke is easy, His trials are not above measure, and we always have a Mediator ready to take any crisis upon Himself.

C. God demands that they give an answer, but Israel has no answer. It will be the same on the day of judgment when everyone stands before the Lord.

1. For many it will be too late on that day.

2. If God's faithful love for Israel formed the basis for Micah's complaint, God's mercy in Jesus Christ will stand behind God's angry condemnation at the end of history, toward all those who have rejected Him.

D. God recounts the exodus in 4 stages, beginning with His freeing Israel from bondage in Egypt [ ].

1. We were in bondage to sin, condemned by its guilt.

2. But God had mercy and delivered us by sending His Son to receive the punishment of our sin on the cross.

3. Remembering this great salvation, how can we ever grow bored with God or resent our discipleship to Jesus?

E. God raised up Spirit-anointed leaders to guide Israel to the Promised Land.

1. Moses was the lawgiver who met with God. Aaron was the high priest who made atonement for their sins. Miriam, their sister, was the one who led the women in singing of God's victory on the banks of the Red Sea ().

2. In Micah's time, Israel's leaders fell far short of their forbears in the exodus, but it was the result of the people's lack of devotion to the Lord.

3. We can also be sure that, if we seek the Lord, He will provide faithful preachers, pastors, and lay leaders whose instruction and example will serve us in the pilgrimage of our lives.

F. God not only sent His people on their way to freedom, but also intervened on their behalf along the way: [].

1. As the tribes of Israel drew near to the Promised Land, the king of Moab plotted to prevent them.

2. They summoned Balaam, who possessed mystic powers, and employed him to utter a curse on Israel.

3. But, each time Balaam was hired to curse Israel, God resisted the ungodly king and his hireling prophet, and instead put a word in the pagan prophet's mouth that blessed Israel!

4. So, after delivering Israel from the bondage of Egypt, the Lord oversaw the successful journey to Canaan.

5. Likewise, believers in Christ will be able to think of times in which God savingly intervened in the course of our journey through this world. We can face the challenges ahead with confidence in His vigilant care!

G. Taken together, this history lesson recalled Israel's deliverance from bondage, God's provision of spiritual leadership, God's intervention along the way, and God's oversight of the journey's successful conclusion.

1. God did not leave His people to fend for themselves, either in the slavery in Egypt or on the journey to Canaan, but provided His saving grace at every point of their need.

2. Christians today can also look to God with thanks for His every provision for our journey through this life into heaven, being sure, with Paul, "that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" ().

H. God's saving acts vindicate Him before His people.

1. This is why the essential work of each generation is to recount and pass on the good news of what God has done all through history, especially in the gift of His Son Jesus to deliver us from sin.

2. The chief purpose of preaching today is to hold before the church the good news of God's salvation in Jesus Christ.

a. It was for this same reason that Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, signifying His atoning death, instructing us, "Do this in remembrance of me" ().

b. By word ans sacrament together, Christ's church is reminded of God's righteousness in providing His Son to redeem us from our sin by His own blood.

3. God's people are to be drawn to Him in a bond of grateful devotion.