“Dealing With Moral Decline”

Series: “The Gospel Truth”

Text: Micah 7:1-20

Introduction: (What?)

It I easy to see that America is in a spiral of moral decline. Paul described such decline in 2 Timothy 3:1-4 “But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,”

The closer we get to the second coming of Christ, the worse the situation in society will become. Micah was faced with moral decline in Israel, and the way he dealt with it can teach us a lot today.

Examination: (Why?)

1. The Problem (vv 1-7)

Mic 7:1-7 “How sad for me! For I am like one who— when the summer fruit has been gathered after the gleaning of the grape harvest— finds no grape cluster to eat, no early fig, which I crave.

Faithful people have vanished from the land; there is no one upright among the people. All of them wait in ambush to shed blood; they hunt each other with a net.

Both hands are good at accomplishing evil: the official and the judge demand a bribe; when the powerful man communicates his evil desire, they plot it together.

The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns. The day of your watchmen, the day of your punishment, is coming; at this time their panic is here.

Do not rely on a friend; don’t trust in a close companion. Seal your mouth from the woman who lies in your arms.

Surely a son considers his father a fool, a daughter opposes her mother, and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own household.

But I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.”

Micah responded to the moral decline of Israel with tears. He was like a pastor or missionary who had served faithfully for years and yet saw no fruit for his labor. He did not see spiritual development taking place among those with whom he worked. Instead he saw evil flourishing. People were becoming better and better at being evil. He didn’t know who he could trust any longer.

William Carey would understand this. By the time Carey died, he had spent 41 years in India without a furlough. His mission could count only some 700 converts in a nation of millions, but he had laid an impressive foundation of Bible translations, education, and social reform.

Adoniram Judson would also understand. He was run out of India and would then labor for seven years in Burma without a convert. People he thought he could rely on let him down time and again. Yet he persevered and the churches in Burma stand as a monument to his labors.

We must take the attitude of Winston Churchill who said, “Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

2. Vindication (8-13)

Micah 7:8-13 “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will stand up; though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.

Because I have sinned against him, I must endure the Lord’s fury until he champions my cause and establishes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see his salvation.

Then my enemy will see, and she will be covered with shame, the one who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will look at her in triumph; at that time she will be trampled like mud in the streets.

A day will come for rebuilding your walls; on that day your boundary will be extended. On that day people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates River and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

Then the earth will become a wasteland because of its inhabitants and as a result of their actions.”

The “enemy” Micah is speaking to was most likely Nineveh. He is assuring them that Jerusalem is not defeated. He asserts that they will “stand up” even though at the present time they sit in darkness. He announces his faith that “the LORD will be my light”.

This is the kind of faith that Ukraine needs right now. I read daily responses of Ukrainians who declare, “we may be down, but we’re not out.” This is also the kind of faith that we as believers must have in the midst of the darkness of our culture. We still have the Light of the World shining in us and through us.

In vs 9 Micah admits the sin of Israel and recognizes that discipline is merited. The writer of Hebrews said in Heb 12:7-8 “Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” Rather than complaining and griping about discipline, we must learn from it, repent of sin and free God up to, as Micah put it “champion my cause and establish justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His salvation.”

Notice that Micah didn’t wait until the discipline was lifted. He spoke in faith will Jerusalem was still being disciplined. He knew that they deserved punishment. He also knew that the punishment would make them better, and when the punishment accomplished God’s purposes, it would be ended. When our daughters were young, if corporal punishment was merited, it was applied. But when it was over, a hug cemented the fact that this was done in love and that they were deeply loved by their parents.

The Bible admonishes us in Prov 24:17-18 “Don’t gloat when your enemy falls, and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, or the Lord will see, be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him.” In v 10 Micah noted that those who had gloated over the discipline of Jerusalem and who had verbally attacked them would experience, not the discipline of God, but His judgment. Today we must be careful when our political or military enemy suffers defeat that we don’t gloat over them. “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the LORD.” Give God room to do His thing.

In vss 12-13 Micah made a declaration of faith. A day will come for rebuilding your walls; on that day your boundary will be extended. On that day people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates River and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

Then the earth will become a wasteland because of its inhabitants and as a result of their actions.”

That declaration came true and is still coming true today. Those from Israel who had been dispersed among the nations, DID return and are STILL returning to Israel. The Hebrew word for this return is “Aliyah”. I recently heard that record numbers of Jews were “making Aliyah” daily. Instead of returning from Babylon and Egypt, they are returning from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, all parts of Europe and the USA. When God has gathered all of His Chosen back in the homeland, the rest of the world will be under extreme judgment.

3. Answered Prayer (14-20)

Micah 7:14-20

“Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock that is your possession. They live alone in a woodland surrounded by pastures. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in ancient times.

I will perform miracles for them as in the days of your exodus from the land of Egypt.

Nations will see and be ashamed of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.

They will lick the dust like a snake; they will come trembling out of their hiding places like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will tremble in the presence of the LORD our God, they will stand in awe of You.

Who is a God like You, forgiving iniquity and passing over rebellion for the remnant of His inheritance? He does no hold on to His anger forever because He delights in faithful love.

He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

You will show loyalty to Jacob and faith love to Abraham, as You swore to our ancestors from days long ago.”

Micah turned from repentance and prophecy to prayer and praise to complete his book. He prayed, God answered, and then Micah praised. I think that many times God has an answer ready, but we don’t pause to hear it. We dump our list on Him and quickly leave to go about things we consider to be more important. We would do well to follow Micah’s example. Pray, wait for God to answer, and then praise Him. I think that is what Paul had in mind in Phil 4:6 “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Application: (How should I respond to this message?)

When you bring your requests you can wrap them in thanksgiving that God is answering even as you speak. I think that often God allows needs to arise in our lives so that we will ask for what He has already decided to give us.

Acknowledging sin, accepting discipline and responding to it in repentance will hasten the answers we want.