Micah-Week 2 Judgment & Restoration
Notes
Transcript
Handout
6:20-6:30—FELLOWSHIP/CHECK-IN
6:25—START COUNTDOWN
6:30-6:35—WELCOME & PRAYER/ANNOUNCEMENTS
6:35-6:55—Music & Prayer
Song #1
Song #2
Prayer
6:55-7:00-—THE GOSPEL & DISMISS Middle School small groups
7:00-7:20—MESSAGE—
7:20-7:35—SG PRAYER TIME
7:35-8:00—Game/Fellowship
_____________________________
Lord, here we go again!
Pray.
Think myself empty.
Read myself full.
Write myself clear.
Pray myself haught. Be myself.
Forget myself. (From Alister Beggs)
Lord, let this message be a beacon for you. Let me be forgotten and invisible. Let them see and know you, only you.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
________________________________________________________________________________
The gospel is the good news that God, the loving Creator, sovereign King, and holy Judge of all, has looked upon men and women wonderfully and uniquely made in His image who have rebelled against Him, are separated from Him, and deserve death before Him, and He has sent His Son, Jesus, God in the flesh, the long-awaited King, to live a perfect and powerful life, to die a sacrificial and substitutionary death, and to rise from the grave in victory over sin, Satan, and death. The gospel is a summons from God for all people in all nations to repent and believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, turning from all idols to declare allegiance to Jesus alone as King and trust in Jesus alone as Lord. All who turn from Jesus will experience everlasting, horrifying suffering in hell, while all who trust in Jesus will experience everlasting, satisfying communion with God in heaven. (Secret Church 2020, David Platt, Radical.net) For now, Jesus remains in heaven, changing the world one person at a time, but one day he will return and judge the world in righteousness. He will remove from this world all sin and all causes of sin and he will restore the cosmos to a state of peace, prosperity and flourishing and all those who have received him as their Lord and Savior will participate in his rule and enjoy his goodness forever.
_____________________________________________________
PRAY
_____________________________________________________
Micah’s name means “Who is like God?”
Micah is tasked with speaking hard truths to the people and to the kings that were ruling in his time. Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah.
Three kings Micah addressed- Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
So far, we’ve kinda blown through chapters 1 and 2
Today, we’ll be looking at 3 and 4
There is a lot to unpack so you’ll have to keep up.
The first thing we need to look at in chapter 3 is the issue of social Justice. Micah, as we talked about last week, was known for his deviant theology, his passion for social justice and speaking out for the weak, oppressed, and the downtrodden.
It infuriated Micah when people misused their powers in order to manipulate the disadvantaged.
The political leaders would have also functioned as judges. When the wealthy broke the law and seized the property of the poor, the leaders/judges, not only protected the wealthy, they consistently ruled in their favor despite knowing they had broken the law!
McNutt Week 2
Humans are supposed to utilize their power to help the hurting, just as their Creator did and does. But among the national leaders and even the religious leaders of Micah’s time, men were leveraging their God-given power for selfish ends.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 44.
But, this wasn’t the case. In fact, it was the people that shouldn’t be misusing their power, like the prophets, priests, and leaders.
We all have some power to do something, it’s whether we use it for good or for leverage that determines the outcome.
The point is that everyone has power, to a greater or lesser degree. It is a gift from God, and his people are called to employ it for his glory and for the common good.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 45.
Power is a gift from God
But we can’t get rid of power, right? We need some sort of authority in place for the good of all.
Micah is calling those in power out.
1 And I said:
Hear, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
Is it not for you to know justice?—
These people should know better, and I figure they do, but they have placed this power up as an idol. Micah is saying:
You are the ones who have been assigned to act justly and to be compassionate and merciful, especially for the people who have been marginalized.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 46.
He is so infuriated by this that he compares them to the Assyrians.
2 you who hate the good and love the evil,
who tear the skin from off my people
and their flesh from off their bones,
3 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’s saying that they are acting just as bad as their enemies. That’s pretty bold to say. But, he’s right, right?
They are misusing their power. Basically, they are
taking the influence God has given you for the sake of the common good, and using it against others for selfish gain.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 46.
Misuse of power is taking the influence God has given you and using it against others for selfish gain.
11 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.”
He calls them all out, the rulers, the prophets, and the priest! I mean, we kinda figure that we’re gonna be mislead in some regard by politicians, right? But not our pastors.
God’s response through Micah is this:
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.
And really,
In other words, God says that he will not hear these religious leaders when they call out to him. God will not listen to them, because when the marginalized are in need of support from these leaders, they do not listen to them. verses 6–7 further describe the nature of this silence from God. God is saying, You don’t listen to the people who are weak and lack privilege. If, therefore, you are engaging in social injustice, why should I listen to your plea? And if you will not speak truth to those who need truth from you, why would you expect truth from me when you look for it? You chose to be silent when you should have spoken; you will find silence from me when you wish I would speak.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 47–48.
Robert Fuller stated it this way:
“Characteristics such as religion, race, gender, and age are merely excuses for discrimination, never its ultimate cause.” (All Rise, p. 5-6)
The problem, again, is not with power or authority; it is the abuse of power, as Fuller argues:
“When people abuse their power to demean or disadvantage those they outrank, that will lead to indignity.”
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 49.
The prophet Isaiah, a contemporary of Micah, had this to say to the rulers in Jerusalem:
17 learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.
The rulers have a responsibility to be just and to help people who lack but, as Micah lays bare, they have not taken up that responsibility but done the opposite.
Micah does not just call out the abuse of power he sees around him. He is also, himself, an embodiment of the proper use of power.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 52.
He describes himself in 3:8, saying
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
He is the antithesis of the false prophets he’s calling out. He is filled with the power and the spirit of God, with justice and might. He is engaging in acts of justice.
Micah
Micah is simply saying that instead of dismissing power, or using it unthinkingly, we need to ask the question: how do we reimagine the use of power so that it leads to human flourishing—so that we can use it to help those people who are under-privileged?
Here are a few aspects of the proper use of power:
1. It exposes falsehood, even in our own lives. It takes strength to admit one’s weaknesses.
2. It seeks the good of others. Power properly used is willing to embrace personal sacrifice so that others might gain. Conversely, it refuses to sacrifice others for personal gain.
3. It leads to flourishing. It makes all the difference in the world whether or not you’re properly using power that can either lead to flourishing or famishing, to restoration or ruin.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 53.
We have to have God’s help in this, it’s not natural. It’s our sin nature. That’s why Micah says:
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
We are meant to look away from and beyond Micah, to the greatest prophet—to Jesus, who, though he was the victim of flagrant abuse of power by both the religious and political leaders of his day, nevertheless properly used his power for the good of others and absorbed the judgment of God in their stead. The Son of Man, the most powerful man in the cosmos, the one who rules everything for all time, did not come to be served, but to use his power to serve others (Mark 10:45).
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 55.
Jesus is the one that is greater than any, filled with the Spirit of God. When we read
9 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,
10 who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
and compare Jesus, He built Zion and Jerusalem too, but not with the blood of others but with his own blood, shed on the Cross. He used his power in love.
When he died on the cross, he didn’t lose his power, but he did give up his privilege. He was still the second person of the Godhead. He could have left the cross, yet he chose to stay on it. He had the power to give his life and die on the cross so that his people would be able to exercise power for its true and proper use: human flourishing and justice—that is, helping those who are less privileged.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 56.
With that, we change gears to Chapter 4 and look at Hope Restored:
It’s easy to get bogged down in the muck and mire of pride.
We all have the tendency to be unjust, and our lives are marked by the misuse of power and privilege, and by us using our power for our own personal gain—even at the expense of harming others—rather than leveraging it in order to help others benefit.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 59.
In 4:1 we find the promise of restoration: “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it.”
After the first three chapters that discussed the corrupted hearts, actions, and leaders of God’s people, Micah promises that in the latter days, God’s rule will be established.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 60.
The latter days just mean in the future. The mountains aren’t just a scenic view of a large picturesque mountain but rather is a reference to God and his rule. Think back to Genesis when Moses went up the mountain and communed with God, and received the Law. It’s the place where the presence of God dwells.
It’s a promise of what’s to come. And, it’s from a promise-maker we can trust!
Author Ed Welch puts it this way:
“Nothing delightful about ourselves is being described here. Nothing to sing about, and that is the point. This is not about us, it’s about God. He is the One who takes away our punishment. He is the One who gives us new hearts. His singing comes from the work that he has done for us in restoring us … God simply asks us to come to him with nothing.” (Running Scared, page 231)
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 62.
This is the promise of restoration.
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;
Micah is saying that this restoration will break into the midst of all the brokenness and fallenness we experience every day.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 65.
When we look through the Bible, we see the idea of the mountain of the Lord and Mount Zion being developed… The author of Hebrews was writing to a Jewish Christian community who were under a great amount of persecution and were experiencing the temptation to abandon their Christian faith in order to find some level of protection under Judaism. That’s the situation the writer speaks into. And here is what he writes in Hebrews 12:22–24:
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
The writer is using Mount Zion as a reference to—a shadow of—Jesus. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise made about how he will rule and dwell from Jerusalem, and give to his people his law and his word. His rule and his dwelling are now fulfilled in the person of Jesus.
But this sets up a tension in our experience. That tension is that we’ve come to Mount Zion, to Jesus, to the great restored city. But, at the same time, we still experience brokenness and fallenness, oppression and injustice, and expressions of idolatry—not only or even primarily around us, but right here in our own hearts. How does this get reconciled? How is the tension resolved?
The answer is: by the Lord Jesus, on Mount Zion.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 67.
Do we have evidence that God is going to keep his promise that we will dwell under his rule? Of course we do! God’s Son hung on a cross at Calvary on the side of Mount Zion. There is an empty tomb on the side of that same mountain. This is what Jesus accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection. His resurrection is the receipt of his payment, and the payment is what has canceled the debt that our idolatry, injustice and oppression have incurred.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 68.
Pastor and author Tim Keller puts it this way: “Through Jesus we don’t need perfect righteousness, just repentant helplessness” (Kings Cross, page 121). When we ask God for help and want to experience restoration, God doesn’t say to us, I want you to have perfect righteousness. Work it up and then I’ll help you; nor does he say, Do everything that you can to make the situation right, and then I will help you. If you can help yourself, why would you need God to restore you? God wants somebody who has a repentant helplessness, not a perfect righteousness.
Here is the point: the One who was transfigured on that mountain is also the One who died on Mount Zion to take the judgment for our lack of righteousness. He took the punishment for our idolatry. The cross is where “the house of the Lord”—the presence of God in human form—was “lifted up” (Micah 4:1). And so his holy presence can dwell among us, and within us, to help and transform and restore our hopeless situations as we come to him and say, God, I have nothing to give, and I cannot do this myself. Even my belief is weak, but I’m here, coming to you for help.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 70–71.
Look at the promise in Micah 4:6–7 that one day things will be made right: “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.” There are two groups of people that are being addressed: the lame (representing the pain caused by brokenness inside of us) and those who are cast off (representing the pain caused by the brokenness of circumstances outside of us). Whether our pain comes from inside or outside of us, God promises to restore us from all of it.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 75.
The biblical principle is this: the world will give us trials, suffering, and pain. But God packages the pain, hurt, and trials, and he takes us through the trials, not evacuating us from the trials, but seeing us through the trials in order to restore us.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 83.
But the twist to the plot was the cross. Jesus didn’t simply come to enact a shalomic-like state where he would fulfill the promises of restoration forever. He came to experience the judgment of exile. That is how he restores us. On the cross, he experienced the exile of separation from God’s blessing and loving presence that you and I deserve, so that we might receive the homecoming that Jesus deserved. God is not unfamiliar with your pain. We also need to know that restoration from pain is utterly and ultimately certain.
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 83.
Pain and suffering are not a sign of the absence of God. They are a place in which to experience the presence of God because he wants to restore us through them:
“You shall go to Babylon.
[But] There you shall be rescued;
there the Lord will redeem you
from the hand of your enemies.” (Micah 4:10)
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 85.
Three things to learn from Micah chapter 3 & 4
God’s holiness requires judgment .
Sinis serious in God’s eyes.
God always provides a way to restoration.
The restoration that Christ’s death and resurrection have won was anticipated in two wonderful episodes, one at the peak of another mountain, and the other at its foot.
“After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.” (Mark 9:2–3)
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 69.
Then later on after they come down the mountain, there is a man who comes and brings his son, who is possessed by a demon. Jesus asks how long the boy has been so afflicted, and his father answers:
“ ‘From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’
“And Jesus said to him, ‘ “If you can”! All things are possible for one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’ And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.’ And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, ‘He is dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
“And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ And he said to them, ‘This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.’ ”
(Mark 9:21–29)
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 69–70.
The disciples can’t cast out the demon in this young boy, and they cannot understand why. Jesus responds by saying that there are certain things that you cannot do without prayer. The disciples were underestimating the power of evil. They thought they could handle it themselves and restore the boy in their own strength. The boy’s father didn’t make the same mistake. He said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” He didn’t say, I have enough righteousness and faith and everything that is required for you to properly respond to my need. Instead he said, I have absolutely nothing. There’s nothing that I can bring before you. I have no righteousness on my own. I can’t help my son, so can you please help him even though I don’t have enough belief? I have doubts, but I have enough belief in you and little enough in myself to have brought him to you.
. He restored me through the pain because “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3–4).
Stephen Um, Micah for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2018), 83.