Today we will begin a new sermon series through
the Old Testament book of Micah. My
desire has been to preach through a sampling of the prophets this summer and
while our series through Jonan has certainly been than, I wanted to look at one
more of the prophets besides Jonah because Jonah, being mostly narrative, is so
unlike the rest of the prophets. Micah is an outstanding snap shot of the Old
Testament prophets. The prophets in
general tend to sting a little because they are normally calling God’s people
who have broken covenant with Yahweh to repent of their wickedness. However, along with a message of judgment,
the prophets, especially Micah, also deliver a message of hope that there will
be redemption for God’s people beyond the judgments being pronounced.
The book of
Micah begins with a message that is desperately needed in the church
today. The people of God had become a
very wicked and worldly people, and so in Micah
1:1-16, Micah boldly calls them
to repentance, reminding them that Yahweh will be faithful to judge wickedness
among His people. The Assyrian revival
that took place in the book of Jonah was now over, and Micah warned God’s
people with the threat of an Assyrian invasion and captivity if they did not
repent. The reasons I say that this
message is desperately needed in the church today is because the church, at
least in America, has allowed much worldliness and wickedness to creep in. Most any statistics you read today indicate
that there is very little difference between the church and the world. Micah’s message is a sober warning that God
will not ignore wickedness among people who claim to be His people. He will be faithful to judge wickedness in
our lives. Honestly, there are probably
people who fit this description this morning.
To put it simply, you are not where you need to be with God and you know
it. My prayer for you today is that God
would bring you to a place of genuine mourning and repentance over your sin and
turn you back to Him.
[1:1] The word of the LORD that came to
Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah,
which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
[2] Hear,
you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let
the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. [3] For
behold, the LORD is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon
the high places of the earth. [4] And the mountains will melt under him, and
the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down
a steep place. [5] All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the
sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not
Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? [6] Therefore
I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations. [7] All
her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with
fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she
gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
[8] For
this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation
like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. [9] For her wound is
incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to
Jerusalem. [10] Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all; in Beth-le-aphrah roll
yourselves in the dust. [11] Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir, in
nakedness and shame; the inhabitants of Zaanan do not come out; the lamentation
of Beth-ezel shall take away from you its standing place. [12] For the
inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down
from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem. [13] Harness the steeds to the
chariots, inhabitants of Lachish; it was the beginning of sin to the daughter
of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel. [14] Therefore
you shall give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib shall be a
deceitful thing to the kings of Israel. [15] I will again bring a
conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come to
Adullam. [16] Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children
of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from
you into exile. (Micah 1:1-16 ESV)
I.
The TEXT (overview)
a.
Title & Summary (1:1)
What we learn in Micah 1:1 is that this book is a collection of oracles (about
twenty) that came to “Micah of Moresheth”
during the reigns of Judean kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (2 Kings 15:32-20:21; 2 Chronicles
27:1-32:33) concerning God’s people.
These oracles are to be considered the “word of YAHWEH” both then and now to us. One commentator said that we should take our
shoes off our feet when we hear this phrase![1]
b.
The Coming Judgment Announced (1:2-7)
Micah
1:2-7 contains a judgment oracle, which is sort of a
“courtroom” scene where God brings a case against a party and renders a verdict
upon them. This particular oracle has “Samaria” (the Northern Kingdom of
Israel) as its focus. In verses 2-4, this courtroom scene begins
with YAHWEH calling all the “peoples,” or
nations, to court to bring His case against them (2). He will only mention His people, but we will
talk about how that is a case against all nations in a minute. For now, just notice this truth that we see
all throughout the prophets in the Old Testament: that Yahweh is the sovereign
God of the nations to who all nations and peoples are accountable.
In this court case, Yahweh is the Witness, the
Plaintiff, the Sovereign Judge, and even the Executioner (2-4)! God is not just a “witness” in this case, He is “coming
out of His place,” a phrase that implies that Yahweh is marching out for
battle (Judg. 5:4; Isa. 26:21; Zech.
14:3). The “high places” of the earth are seen to be under His feet, the
mountains “melt under Him” like “wax before the fire” and “waters poured down a steep place,” the
valleys “split open” (4). This is an awesome and dreadful scene! The implication of this scene is that God is
coming down to execute justice upon some guilty party.
What has Yahweh so riled up? Of all these nations that He has called to
court, which one does He have beef with?
We receive a shocking answer in verse 5: Yahweh’s beef is with His
people! He is going to do “all this” because of the “transgression of Jacob” and the “sins of the house of Israel.” In other words, God’s people have broken covenant with Him. That God’s judgment is going to be upon His
people would shock both His people and the nations. For God’s people, He is no longer being seen
as their safe stronghold, but a dreadful Judge who has a case against them. Also, this case against God’s own people
would send a jolting message to the nations.
Everyone knows that a policeman who would write his own mother a ticket
is certainly not going to cut him or her any slack! Likewise, if God will not tolerate the sins
of His own people, then the nations can be sure that Yahweh will not tolerate
their sin either.
God passes the sentence upon Samaria in verses
6-7. He is going to level Samaria and lay her
idols waste. Notice the images of
destruction here: Yahweh is going to make her ‘a heap in the open country,” a “place
for planting vineyards,” and He is going to “pour down her stones into the valley” and “uncover her foundation” (6).
Notice also that God’s people are guilty here of idolatry and that their worship of idols has been futile (7). Here’s how God’s people had broken covenant
with Him: instead of loving Yahweh with
all and above all, they were
loving and worshipping idols. God’s
people were to have no other gods before Yahweh. Since they would not do away with their
idols, God was going to and in a way that would show them just how impotent
their idols were. That is what is going
on here in verse 7 with the statements about temple “wages” and “the fee of a
prostitute.” Pagan centers of
idolatry were primarily financed through payments to cult prostitutes. These wages would then be used to construct
the idols to be worshipped there. God
says here that these idols would be beaten to pieces, melted back down, and
molded into other idols by the Assyrians.
You can read about this actually taking place under the Assyrian ruler
Shalmaneser in 2 Kings 17.
c.
The Coming Judgment Lamented (1:8-16)
Micah
1:8-16 contains a song of lament which has “Jerusalem” (the Southern Kingdom of
Judah) as its focus. The big idea in this
song is that God is going to bring disaster to Jerusalem’s gate and exile her
people for their sins. What they need to
do is to lament and mourn over their sin as Micah does and also repent to avoid
this terrible judgment.
The song begins with Micah’s mourning in verses
8-9, where he demonstrates the heart that we should share anytime we are
calling sinners to repent. Micah
preaches judgment with such love in his heart that he weeps over his audience. Also, in going about “stripped and naked,” Micah is giving his people a vivid picture of
being exiled as Isaiah did (Isaiah
20:3-4). Micah’s symbolic weeping
ritual wraps this section with the
idea of exile (see verse 16).
In verses 10-15, Micah mentions eleven towns that
were west of Jerusalem. Some of these
are Judean towns, and some are Philistine towns. The towns that belonged to God’s people were
towns that would be taken on the way
to Jerusalem during an invasion. Micah
poetically wraps this section in Davidic
allusions and uses word plays on the
name of nearly every town to describe the disaster that is coming to Jerusalem
if God’s people do not repent. As far as
Hebrew poetry goes, this is poetic justice at its finest! Notice first how the list of towns is wrapped in Davidic allusions. First, Micah says to not tell this news in Gath (10a). Gath was a Philistine town and Micah is
actually quoting David in 2 Samuel 1:20,
where David lamented over the death of Jonathan and Saul. Micah is saying that his news for Judah is
something that will make their enemies rejoice, so they should not tell it to
them. Finally, he says the “glory of Israel” will go to Adullam (15b). This is where David fled from King Saul to:
the cave of Addulam (1 Samuel 22:1; 2
Samuel 23:13). The message is that
Israel’s leaders will need to flee for their lives just as David did.
Then notice the word play upon nearly every town
name given here. Beth-le-aphrah means, “House of Dust.” So those who are of the house of dust are to
roll themselves “in the dust”
(10b). Shaphir means, “Beauty Town.” So the inhabitants of “Beauty Town” are
going to be marched away in “nakedness
and shame” (11a). Zaanan means, “go forth” or “come out.” So
“coming out” town needs to “not come out”
(11b). Beth-ezel means, “House of Taking Away.” Their standing place is going to be taken
away from them (12a). Maroth is told to “wait anxiously for good,” but also that it is not going to come
because disaster is coming to the very “gate
of Jerusalem” (12b). Lacish, which was a formidable military
fortress, is told to harness their war chariots to racehorses so that they can
get out of dodge! There is another play
on words in the Hebrew here: it says that “lakis”
(Lacish) is to “larekes” (harness
the steeds). Notice here also that Micah
says that “sin” began in Lacish; that
in Lacish were found the transgression of Israel. I believe this is a statement about their
dependence upon their military might. In
the Old Testament, trusting in one’s military might was just as much a form of
idolatry as worshipping literal idols was and also caused damage to covenantal
faith.
Moresheth-Gath
sounds like the Hebrew word for “one who is betrothed” (me’orasah). God’s people are going to have to give “parting gifts” (a dowry) along with
this town to the Assyrian invaders. Achzib sounds like the Hebrew word, “akzab,” which is used here and means,
“decieftul.” In other words, the
“Deceitful Town” shall prove deceptive to Israel’s kings. Mareshah
sounds like the Hebrew word used for “conqueror”
here. A “yoresh” is going to come to “Maresh-ah.” The word play and rhyme is obvious in this
song, but the big idea is simply that God is bringing disaster to Jerusalem’s
gate (12).
Micah’s song here ends with another statement
about exile. Since disaster is going to
come to the gate of Jerusalem (12), God’s people need to shave their heads (a
sign of deep mourning), mourn, and repent.
He warns here that their very children in whom they delight will be
marched away into exile because of their wickedness (16). This
too came to pass…Sennacherib’s invasion
II.
THE POINT (application)
a.
Micah’s Message is a Call to Take Our God
Seriously
God is not soft or indifferent to sin, especially
not the sin of His people. Unlike His
people who break covenant with Him all the time, God is a faithful covenant
partner. Part of God’s covenant with His
people in the Old Testament included curses if they were disloyal (Deuteronomy 28-32).
Many people have a view of “God” today that
basically makes Him out to be a push over paw-paw in the sky who will just look
over their sin. This view of God is
rampant in the church today, where people who call themselves Christians think
that since they are covered by grace now they can live how ever they want and
God will understand. Friend, if that is
your view of “God,” then you need to repent of idolatry because you are not
worshipping the God of the Bible. The
God of the Bible struck down Annanias and Saphira for lying about their
offering in Acts 5:1-11. The God of the Bible poured out judgment upon
members of the Corinthian church for taking the Lord’s supper in an unworthy
manner (1 Corinthian 11:30). God knows what you do on Friday and Saturday
night folks. He knows the truth behind
all your empty excuses as to why you have no time for Him or His church. He sees what you do in the dark. He knows that some of us in this room claim
to be Christians but are a wicked and worldly as the devil. You may fool me and everyone else in this
church, but you do not fool God! And
here is what is more, He will not be mocked: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that
will he also reap. For the one who sows
to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to
the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
One of the members who went on our last mission
trip to Africa shared with me how they spotted a lion in the game park the
visited on the last day of their trip.
Their tour guide suddenly stopped the vehicle and stated that there was
a lion ahead. No one, not even the tour
guide with his binoculars, could see it, but as they eased around, sure enough,
there he was taking a nap. When asked
how he knew there was a lion, the guide said that it was all the other animals
that alerted him to the lion’s presence.
In any direction you looked every other animal within sight was frozen
in fear and looking in the lion’s direction.
This is how seriously the other animals take the king of the jungle,
even when he is sleeping! Friends, how
much more serious should we take our God?
He is the King of the Universe!
b.
Micah’s Message is a Call to Take Our Sin
Seriously
This passage calls us to take our sin very
seriously. There is no sin in the
universe that will ever go unpunished, even among God’s people (even for
believers, our sin was punished upon the cross), because God’s justice demands
that sin be paid for. Samaria and
Judah’s sin was idolatry, which is
the worship of something or someone other than God. It is a failure to love and treasure God
above all else and with all of our hearts.
Rather than gods’ of wood, metal, or stone, our idols today are things
like money, sex, drugs, technology, power, and perhaps the most powerful of all,
self.
In 1
Corinthians 6:9-11, Paul has some pretty strong language for people who do
not take their sin seriously: “[9] Or
do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do
not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor men who practice homosexuality, [10] nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
[11] And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified,
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of
our God.” Paul says that these kinds
of people, whether they call themselves Christians or not, will NOT inherit
God’s kingdom.
How do we know that we are taking our sin
seriously? First of all, if you are
taking sin seriously in your life and in this church, then it should break your
heart. It did Micah’s. He mourned over the sin of His people. Sin in the church and in our lives should
break our hearts. Secondly, if you are
taking sin seriously in your life, then you will be making war with it. That’s what repenting of sin is: constantly
making war with sin. Repentance doesn’t necessarily
mean you will never struggle in an area again, but it does means that you will
constantly go to war with it and try to kill it. Puritan John Owen said that we should “be
killing sin, or it will be killing” us! Repentance
is the goal of every word of Judgment (Jeremiah
18:1-11). What is remarkable is that
in Micah’s day, though Assyria did nearly invade Jerusalem, King Hezekiah
heeded God’s warning and repented. God,
in response, spared Jerusalem from the Assyrian invasion (Jeremiah 26:17-19).
Perhaps the greatest reminder of how seriously our
God takes our sin is the cross of His Son Jesus Christ. We must never forget that God did not deal
with our sin by sweeping it under a rug, but by demanding justice up His Son. This is the greatest news in the world for
sinners like you and me. What chance do
we stand before a God who takes our sin this seriously? Our only hope is that this God also loves us
so much that He would make a way to judge our sins without having to judge
us. This is the good news of the gospel,
that God has made His own Son who knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might
become the righteousness of God in Christ (2
Corinthians 5:21). God now offers us
forgiveness of our sins and eternal life if we will place our trust and our
deepest hopes in His Son, who after paying for our sins, rose again from the
dead, never to die again. Will you give
your heart to Him today?
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