Micah
Notes
Transcript
Handout
As we continue our look at God’s Story in Scripture, we’re going to be considering the book of Micah today.
Introducing Micah
Introducing Micah
The book of Micah is the sixth of the minor prophets. Of course, these prophets are minor because of their size, not because of their importance or their value of their messages. If anything, these small books pack quite a punch.
Micah, himself, is from a town about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem (Longman, 450).
He served in the second half of the 8th century BC during the reigns of three different southern kings - Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Mic. 1:1) - just prior to the fall of the northern kingdom.
While Micah lived in the south and seemed to focus much of his message toward Jerusalem, the northern Kingdom was not immune from his messages. In many ways it seems like he both predicts the fall of the northern Kingdom (Mic. 1:2-7) and the latter fall of the southern kingdom at the hand of the Babylonians (Mic. 5:10).
Overall, the book of Micah can generally be divided into three different sections or sermons - each beginning with the word “hear” (1:2; 3:1; 6:1). The ESV Study Bible outlines the book in this way.
Judgment on Israel/Samaria and Judah/Jerusalem (1:1-2:13)
The Present Injustice and the Future Prospect of Just Rule in Jerusalem (3:1-5:15)
The Lord’s Indictment and Restoration of His People (6:1-7:20)
(ESVSB, 1694-1695)
Today, as we consider the book of Micah, we’re going to consider it in light of justice - the standard, our corruption, God’s expectation and his demonstration of justice.
First of all,
The standard of justice - God.
The standard of justice - God.
Micah’s name is a shortened form of the name “Micaiah” which means “Who is like Yahweh?” (Longman, 450). Implicit in even the name of the book and its prophet is the incomparable nature of God. The name asks a rhetorical question that has only one response - who is like yahweh? - no one.
But not only is God seen as the ultimate standard based on the name of the book and its prophet, but this very same question is asked at the end of the book. Consider how the book closes...
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.
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.
You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.
God demonstrates perfect justice by His character - he is forgiving and compassionate. He is faithful to his promises and demonstrates steadfast love to his people. There is none like God. He is the ultimate standard.
The book of Micah not only seems to show that God is standard of justice, but it lays out an indictment against Samaria and Judah because of their corruption of justice - which in many ways could be seen as...
Our corruption of justice
Our corruption of justice
In the three sections or sermons of the book, Micah warns the people of coming judgment. he calls them to pay attention and to hear how God will bring justice to their injustice.
Micah’s charges against God’s people addresses several forms of injustice:
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.
They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.
As with many of the prophets, we don’t get to know exactly what was going on, but we can see clearly the nature of some of their actions. They were not only scheming wicked actions, but then they were doing them. They were taking advantage of the disadvantaged and seizing opportunities to oppress.
It wasn’t just the people who were acting unjustly, but it was the leaders too...
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,
who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron.
He continues...
Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight,
who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.
Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.”
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.
The very people who should have been upholding justice were the ones who were corrupting it.
Their lives had become so distorted and corrupted that they could no longer see right from wrong.
Because this sinfulness was so deeply engrained in the fabric of their society - it seemed like there was systemic corruption and wickedness.
There has been a lot of talk lately about the systemic injustice that seems to be baked into the fabric of our society. Some of this injustice goes back for centuries as our laws legal cases have tended to favor one group of people over another. While some of that is slowly and painfully being addressed and removed, there is more to be done - not simply on the racial front, but on moral fronts as well.
While our society seems to cry out against some forms of injustice - racial bias, oppression and abuse of women and children, some corporate and political corruption - there are other areas where our society gets it completely wrong. Because we are a part of this society - we are in some ways complicit. I’m sure that not everyone in Judah and Israel was guilty of the sins that God laid out on them, but they were included in the judgment.
We as a society speak out against violence and murder - but willingly kill millions of unborn babies - especially African American babies. I was born the month before the Roe v. Wade decision came down. Since that time, there have been over 61 million abortions (https://nrlc.org/uploads/factsheets/FS01AbortionintheUS.pdf). Now, I bring that up, not to condemn people who have chosen abortion. It’s a painful and difficult subject. But the fact that our society has gone to the point where we are willing to wipe out an entire generation of people and celebrate personal liberty in doing so is a tragedy.
We as a society speak out against the abuse of women - but in our media at so many different levels - we objectify women and make movies that elevate violence against women a common element (Avengers, Hunger Games, etc.)
We as a society speak out against racial injustice - but then look the other way when certain laws are passed that are disadvantageous against some African American Communities (minimum sentences, welfare programs that encourage the destruction of families and keep people in poverty).
There are things that we can continue to do to bring about change in our society. In many ways, we are fighting an up hill battle. But I do think, we certainly have the responsibility to affect change in the areas that God has given us influence - in the people around us.
Are there places where we could be guilty of oppressing people, taking advantage of others, working business deals that favor us. Are there places where we are viewing ourselves as more important or valuable than others?
These are the types of things that Judah and Samaria were judged for. These are some of the things we need to repent of and take action to root out where we can.
But what’s more than just acting in this way, the leaders and the people...
Refused to hear truth
“Don’t say such things,” the people respond. “Don’t prophesy like that. Such disasters will never come our way!”
They refused to hear that God might bring judgment. They refused to hear of the pending destruction. They chose to hear only what would make them feel good.
Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you, “I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and alcohol!” That’s just the kind of prophet you would like!
The Apostle Paul told warned Timothy about this same kind of behavior - stating that there will come a time when people will only want to hear select things...
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
God’s prophets in the Old Testament were called to sometimes declare a pending judgment. Many times, though, they were called to bring people back to a right and biblical way of living.
I think in some ways that is the essence of sound teaching. That’s the essence of what it means for us to submit ourselves to God’s word and align ourselves with His will.
While our society might want to label biblical values as old fashioned and out of date, we must recognize that it is us who are to yield to scripture and not scripture to the changing values of the world.
While sometime’s the prophet’s word is hard to hear, it is necessary. In fact, the Word of God - whether written or through the prophets of old - doesn’t only tell people what they are doing wrong, it also communicates what we should be doing.
Here in the book of Micah, it reveals...
God’s expectation of justice from us
God’s expectation of justice from us
In many ways - God expects the opposite of what he’s getting. Both today and back in Micah’s day, people seem to be asking similar questions about living and about some form of justification.
“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
Is it the size of our offering or even the sacrifice of our children that would make God happy?
Micah answers these questions with this familiar and simple response:
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?
There are times when we want to assume that God will only use us if we do seemingly big things for him - start a ministry, go overseas to be a missionary, become a pastor, or serve as a deacon, or become known for some big act of generosity. I think all of those things are fine but the things that God expects from us are not the big things only - but the little things, the consistent things.
To do justice - to take action and be decisive in a fair and equitable way - whether or not you get favor from it.
To love kindness or mercy - Sometimes we can think that it is a burden to be kind, to be merciful. I think the kindness and mercy that Micah is referring to here is not a religious obligation but a relational privilege. It’s not a guilt trip but a generosity of the heart.
These two actions are possible because of the third expectation that God has for us...
to walk humbly with God - this humility is an attitude that recognizes that we don’t deserve anything from God. There is no quid pro quo with Him. We are in a relationship with him because he chose us and called us. This does not make us any better than anyone else. So our natural response should be a grateful and humble attitude.
You see, when we walk in this way with God, we can see how God tilted the scales of justice in our favor by allowing His perfect Son to die as a substitute for our sin. Justice should be a natural response in the life that is transformed by God.
We can show kindness and mercy to others because we recognize how much we have received from God - how it was His kindness that led us to repentance (Rom. 2:4).
I believe God may have some big things for us to do, but mainly, he is looking for faithfulness, obedience.
Eugene Peterson calls this the
“long obedience in the same direction.”
Zack Eswine has said that
“almost anything in life that truly matters will require you to do small, mostly overlooked things, over a long period of time with him.”
Eswine, Zack. The Imperfect Pastor (p. 28). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
I guess the question is, are we content to do justice in small ways? Do we have hearts that overflow with love and kindness? Are we willing to walk a long road of humble communion with God?
So far, we’ve seen the standard of justice in God, how we’ve corrupted justice, and the justice God expects of us. Finally, the book of Micah seems to help us see...
God’s demonstration of justice
God’s demonstration of justice
God doesn’t just demand without first demonstrating. God exists as a perpetual and perfect example. In Micah, we see at least three ways that God demonstrates justice...
First of all, God demonstrates justice by...
helping the helpless
helping the helpless
Just like many of the other prophets, Micah takes us back to show what God has done in Israel’s past to remind them.
“O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”
The people of Israel were living as slaves in a foreign land. They had no rights or privileges. They could not fend for themselves. God helped them in powerful ways by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. He showed them how he acts righteously.
In much the same way, for us, God helped us in our helplessness.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul refers to us as “dead” because of our sin. There is no greater helplessness than being dead - stuck in sin, blinded by our own corruption. God saw us in this place and sent His Son Jesus Christ as the perfect and truly only substitute for our sin.
Friend, if you are not yet a follower of Christ, if you’re just checking all of this out - let me encourage you to take a humble look at your life. What shapes your perspectives and attitudes? What helps you recognize right from wrong? Is there a standard? You see, God is the perfect standard and as the Bible says, we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) - we all fall short of God’s standard. But this Bible also says that
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Friend - recognize your sinfulness, confess your sin to God, and be reconciled to God through the finished work of what Jesus did on the cross. If you don’t understand how to do that, put a note in the Facebook feed or talk to me after the service or send me an email - it would be a joy to open the word of God with you and help you understand this more.
God has demonstrated his generous justice by helping the helpless - including you and me.
God also demonstrates justice by...
restoring his people
restoring his people
The people of Judah had sinned against God. They had committed heinous acts of injustice. God disciplined them through the exile from a foreign nation. But again, in God’s loving kindness, he restored the people after 70 years in exile. Micah gives some insight into this...
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.
And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.
God’s justice has a healing element. The punishment was completed and God restored.
(how should we do the same - be people of reconciliation - restoring those who have sinned and repented, reconciling with those who have offended us - rather than holding grudges - image the massive offense that we have committed against God - and how he willingly restores us)
Finally, God demonstrates justice by...
providing a future hope
providing a future hope
As if the promise of a future restoration wasn’t enough for the people of Judah, Micah reveals a hope that is long into the future, a hope that we celebrate at Christmas, a hope that we live in as His Kingdom people on Earth today...
(Micah 5:2-5a)
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.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.
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. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men;
Jesus Christ was born nearly 7 hundred years after Micah’s prophecy in the small town of Bethlehem. His origin did not begin at his birth, but came from of old. After all, he told some who were asking him...
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Barely 30 years old according to our timeline, as God Himself, he had no beginning. He simply was.
As he walked on this earth, he set up a kingdom that spans geographic and political boundaries. His people walk with Him by the indwelling of His Spirit. He is the one who brought peace between God and humanity by His death on the cross. He truly is our peace.
God gave the people of Judah a future hope. He has given us a future hope as well as we look forward to the day when Jesus will come again and we will get to reign with Him. But I don’t think that will happen until we have finished our job - to preach the Gospel in all nations (Mark 24:14) and to live out the His heavenly kingdom here.
We have a future hope - but we don’t just get to sit back and wait. We get the joy of humbly walking with God each day, doing justice, and loving mercy.