Judgment and Salvation for the Cities (Micah 1-2)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:06.240 So let's turn to Micah chapters one and two. You may be seated as 2 00:00:06.280 --> 00:00:36.810 I read this passage Mica One and two. I want to begin by reading 3 00:00:36.929 --> 00:00:42.130 the words that we just sung in psalmy Teen B. This is verse twenty 4 00:00:42.130 --> 00:00:45.570 seven in the Psalm. You Save the humble and the meek, but shame 5 00:00:45.810 --> 00:00:50.560 haughty eyes of the pride you, Lord, will keep my lamp a flame. 6 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:56.000 God turns my darkness into light. Of this promise, that God will 7 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:00.000 put down those who are prideful and lift up those who are in him, 8 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:04.230 who are held according to his promises and according to His grace, is the 9 00:01:04.310 --> 00:01:08.549 foundation of what we have in the book of Micah, and we will see 10 00:01:08.629 --> 00:01:15.510 that in different ways. I'm sadly, though, God's promises to David, 11 00:01:15.670 --> 00:01:23.219 his promise to keep this covenant, to keep put a son on his throne 12 00:01:23.340 --> 00:01:30.019 that would reign eternally, seems to be becoming undone in some ways because of 13 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:34.810 the evil of those kings, because of the evils of Israel and Judah. 14 00:01:36.049 --> 00:01:45.569 The book of Micah is prosecuting this covenantal case, as is reflecting on the 15 00:01:45.730 --> 00:01:51.719 sins of Israel and the judgment that is coming upon them. So let's hear 16 00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:56.599 now the words of the Prophet Micah and give our attention to it, for 17 00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:05.349 it is the word of the Lord, the word of the Lord that came 18 00:02:05.469 --> 00:02:08.430 to Micah, of Moor Chef, in the days of Jotham, a has 19 00:02:08.469 --> 00:02:14.550 and has a Kiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning summaria and 20 00:02:14.750 --> 00:02:22.620 Jerusalem. Here, you people's, all of you, pay attention, Oh 21 00:02:22.740 --> 00:02:25.020 earth and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a 22 00:02:25.099 --> 00:02:30.689 witness against you, the Lord from his Holy Temple, for behold, the 23 00:02:30.810 --> 00:02:34.849 Lord is coming out of his place and he will come down and tread upon 24 00:02:34.930 --> 00:02:38.009 the high places of the Earth, and the mountains will melt under him and 25 00:02:38.490 --> 00:02:44.479 the valleys will split open like wax before the fire, like waters poured down 26 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:50.520 a steep place. All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the 27 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:53.599 sins of the House of Israel. What is the transgression and of Jacob? 28 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:58.909 Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is 29 00:02:58.990 --> 00:03:04.110 it not Jerusalem? Therefore, I will make Sumaria a heap in the open 30 00:03:04.229 --> 00:03:08.270 country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones 31 00:03:08.469 --> 00:03:15.860 into the Valley and uncover her foundations, all her carved images shall be beaten 32 00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:20.620 into pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her 33 00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:25.139 idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered 34 00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:30.729 them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return. For this 35 00:03:31.009 --> 00:03:36.610 I will lament and wail. I will go stripped and naked. I will 36 00:03:36.610 --> 00:03:40.840 make lamentation like the jackals and mourning like the ostriches, for her wound is 37 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:46.199 incurable and it is come to Judah. It is reached to the gate of 38 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:53.599 my people, to Jerusalem. Tell it not in gath weep, not at 39 00:03:53.639 --> 00:03:59.150 all. In Beth La, UPRA roll yourselves in the dust. Pass on 40 00:03:59.310 --> 00:04:03.990 your way, inhabitants of Sheffir, in nakedness and shame. The inhabitants of 41 00:04:04.030 --> 00:04:09.509 a Anon, do not come out. The lamentation of Beth Azel shall take 42 00:04:09.550 --> 00:04:15.340 away from you its standing place. For the inhabitants of Marath wait anxiously for 43 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:19.620 good, because disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem. 44 00:04:20.540 --> 00:04:26.930 Harness the steeds to the chariot's inhabitants of LAKISH. It was the beginning 45 00:04:27.009 --> 00:04:30.209 of the it was the beginning of Sin to the daughter of Zion, for 46 00:04:30.329 --> 00:04:35.689 in you were found for the transgressions of Israel. Therefore, you shall give 47 00:04:35.810 --> 00:04:42.319 parting gifts to more cheff gaffe. The houses of oxib shall be a deceitful 48 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:46.360 thing to the kings of Israel. I will again bring a conqueror. To 49 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:51.240 you, inhabitants of marshaw. The glory of Israel shall come to Audilon. 50 00:04:53.310 --> 00:04:58.350 Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair for the children of your delight. 51 00:04:59.350 --> 00:05:03.629 Make yourselves as bald as the Eagle, for they shall go from you into 52 00:05:03.709 --> 00:05:13.899 into exile. Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds. 53 00:05:14.899 --> 00:05:17.339 When the morning dawns, they perform it because it is in the power 54 00:05:17.420 --> 00:05:21.850 of their hand. They covet fields and sees them, and houses and take 55 00:05:21.970 --> 00:05:26.410 them away. They oppress a man and his house, a man and his 56 00:05:26.569 --> 00:05:31.329 inheritance. Therefore, thus says the Lord behold against this family. I am 57 00:05:31.490 --> 00:05:38.319 devising disaster from which you cannot remove your necks, and you shall not walk 58 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:43.000 haughtily, for it will be a time of disaster. In that day, 59 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:47.560 they shall take up a taunt song against you and Moan bitterly and say we 60 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:53.550 are utterly ruined. He charges the portion of my people, or he changes 61 00:05:53.910 --> 00:05:58.550 the portion of my people. How he removes it from me to an apostate. 62 00:05:58.949 --> 00:06:02.389 He allots our fields. Therefore, you will have none to cast the 63 00:06:02.629 --> 00:06:06.620 line, to cast the line by lot in the assembly of the Lord. 64 00:06:08.860 --> 00:06:13.540 Do not preach. Thus they preach. One should not preach of such things. 65 00:06:13.699 --> 00:06:17.769 Degrad disgrace will not overtake us. Should this be said, Oh House 66 00:06:17.810 --> 00:06:24.730 of Jacob, has the lawn grown impatient? Are these his deeds? Do 67 00:06:24.930 --> 00:06:28.810 not my words do good to him? Who UPLOT, who walks uprightly? 68 00:06:29.889 --> 00:06:33.879 But lately my people have risen up as an enemy. You Strip the rich 69 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:39.680 robe from those who pass by trustingly with no thought of war. The women 70 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:43.879 of my people you drive out from their delightful houses, from their young children. 71 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:47.870 You take away my splendor from ever forever. Arise and go, for 72 00:06:48.029 --> 00:06:54.350 this is no place to rest because of uncleantness, uncleanness that destroys with a 73 00:06:54.430 --> 00:06:58.910 grievous destruction. If a man should go about and under an utter wind and 74 00:06:59.149 --> 00:07:02.540 lies saying, I will preach to you of wine and strong drink, he 75 00:07:02.620 --> 00:07:08.060 would be the preacher for this people. I will surely assemble all of you, 76 00:07:08.259 --> 00:07:12.660 Oh Jacob, I will gather you or gather the remnant of Israel. 77 00:07:13.339 --> 00:07:16.529 I will set them together. Lie Sheep in a fold, like a flock 78 00:07:16.769 --> 00:07:23.290 in its pasture, a noisy multitude of men. He who opens the breach 79 00:07:23.449 --> 00:07:29.170 goes up before them. They break through and pass the gate, going out 80 00:07:29.290 --> 00:07:35.680 by it. Their king passes on before them, the Lord at their heady 81 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:50.750 God bless his word to us. I want to begin tonight by introducing you 82 00:07:50.790 --> 00:07:55.269 to Mica, I'm to this prophet of the Lord, and I'll do that 83 00:07:55.470 --> 00:08:01.339 by way of his own introduction, just to keep things simple. In Verse 84 00:08:01.459 --> 00:08:07.180 One, Mica tells us that he was from moorishef. MOORISHEFF is a village 85 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:11.899 west of the Dead Sea. If you start in the Dead Sea and you 86 00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:16.290 head West, you would climb up over some mountains, sometimes called the hill 87 00:08:16.370 --> 00:08:20.610 country in the Bible. Climb up over some mountains and then, as you 88 00:08:20.649 --> 00:08:24.170 go down the mountains, you would go into what's called the CHAPLA, which 89 00:08:24.209 --> 00:08:30.639 means lowland or lowlands. You would go down and there are these lowlands which 90 00:08:30.680 --> 00:08:35.559 then eventually get to the coast. A. Mica is from one of the 91 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:41.110 towns in this area, this town called more chef a town near gaff which 92 00:08:41.110 --> 00:08:48.429 is a Philistine country, a city. It's mentioned in verse ten. All 93 00:08:48.509 --> 00:08:50.669 these things, he says, tell it not in gas, in other words, 94 00:08:52.429 --> 00:09:00.539 let not this word in this tragedy go out from here. It is 95 00:09:00.700 --> 00:09:07.259 near towns and fortresses and this is where anyway, this is where he's from. 96 00:09:07.620 --> 00:09:11.929 All of this is in what we call the southern kingdom. We know 97 00:09:11.169 --> 00:09:15.529 that because it says that he is testifying. Well, we know that because 98 00:09:15.529 --> 00:09:18.730 of its place, and then also the names of Jotham, a, hasn't 99 00:09:18.769 --> 00:09:24.129 has a Kayak, kings of Judah are mentioned. It helps to perhaps have 100 00:09:24.169 --> 00:09:28.679 a little bit of background here, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the 101 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:33.799 Old Testament. After God brought his people out of Egypt, he freed them 102 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:39.429 from slavery, he brought them into the promised land after a period of wandering 103 00:09:39.470 --> 00:09:45.549 in the Wilderness, and eventually this kingdom was established underneath a king. The 104 00:09:45.669 --> 00:09:48.830 first one was Saul, and you might remember his name from earlier when we 105 00:09:48.950 --> 00:09:54.940 read Psalm eighteen and it said that David Sang this psalm after he his life 106 00:09:56.019 --> 00:10:00.659 was preserved from Saul right. So you can perhaps tell just by that verse 107 00:10:00.740 --> 00:10:05.940 that the Kingdom and the kingship did not go well even from the very beginning. 108 00:10:05.980 --> 00:10:11.370 I'm Saul was king, then avid after him, and then David Son 109 00:10:11.529 --> 00:10:16.529 Solomon. Then in hundred and thirty two BC, the kingdom was split on 110 00:10:16.850 --> 00:10:22.960 North and south. The northern kingdom was called Israel. The southern kingdom was 111 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:28.159 called Judah, and it remained that way for about two hundred years. There 112 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.519 was a separate kingdom and seat of kings and various things that were going on 113 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:37.429 in the north, which is marked here by Samaria in Mica, and then 114 00:10:37.669 --> 00:10:43.350 down in the south the capital Jerusalem and its own history. That was going 115 00:10:43.470 --> 00:10:48.149 on. Occasionally. There was some back and forth and I would encourage you 116 00:10:48.149 --> 00:10:52.700 to learn about that. The thing to note, though, is that this 117 00:10:52.899 --> 00:10:56.500 divided kingdom, though it ceased in seven hundred and twenty two, that was 118 00:10:56.620 --> 00:11:01.460 not because they all got together and became a happy family again. It was 119 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:05.330 because the Assyrians came and raided Samaria and then there was only one left. 120 00:11:07.129 --> 00:11:09.850 So it's not divided any more, because there was only Judah that was left, 121 00:11:09.889 --> 00:11:15.769 only the southern kingdom, and they raid and attack of the Assyrians. 122 00:11:15.809 --> 00:11:20.879 The exile of the northern people was really just a sad prelude to the fall 123 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:24.240 of Jerusalem, eventually in five hundred and eighty six, when the Babylonians came, 124 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:28.840 and that was in some ways, it seemed to be the end of 125 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:33.830 God's people and God's kingdom, except, of course, for these promises that 126 00:11:33.950 --> 00:11:39.149 he made, promises to David, promises to Abraham, promises that he would 127 00:11:39.149 --> 00:11:46.259 establish a king on his throne that would be forever, a promise that one 128 00:11:46.299 --> 00:11:50.500 day, after the exile, after the judgment, he would gather back together 129 00:11:52.139 --> 00:11:56.700 this remnant, this people, and that's what Mica is testifying about. He's 130 00:11:56.779 --> 00:12:03.250 testifying at this time, right at the end of the northern kingdom's lifespan. 131 00:12:05.409 --> 00:12:09.450 These Southern Kingdoms that are are southern kings that are mentioned, Jotham, Ahaz 132 00:12:09.490 --> 00:12:13.169 and Hezekiah. They were the last few kings that were reigning in the southern 133 00:12:13.250 --> 00:12:20.159 the southern kingdom, before the northern kingdom fell. Mica is using this time, 134 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:28.320 contemporary with Isaiah, to prophesy and say wake up, disaster is coming. 135 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:31.990 As I mentioned before, you could think of him as kind of a 136 00:12:31.549 --> 00:12:37.470 and the other prophets, as well as as prosecutors, right lawyers, covenantal 137 00:12:37.549 --> 00:12:45.179 lawyers, they are prosecuting the covenant that God made. He established a relationship 138 00:12:45.220 --> 00:12:48.179 with his people and on Mount Sinai he said, if you do these things, 139 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:52.419 you will live, and if you don't, I will scatter you out 140 00:12:52.419 --> 00:12:56.259 of this place, just like I scattered the Philistines and everyone else who was 141 00:12:56.340 --> 00:13:03.169 here before you. You must live by this law. Are you will die 142 00:13:03.289 --> 00:13:09.090 by this law, and that principle of justice is reinforced in so many ways 143 00:13:09.129 --> 00:13:16.039 here in Mica. This coming destruction on God's people is coming because they have 144 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:22.679 broken the covenant. At the same time, as we read at the end 145 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:28.350 of Mica, to just to give you a finish this overview, God remembers 146 00:13:28.470 --> 00:13:35.269 these promises he's made that have not depended in any way on Israel's obedience, 147 00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:41.940 promises that depended sheerly on His grace and favor. And because of those promises, 148 00:13:41.379 --> 00:13:45.460 because of his love, because of his grace, because of his mercy, 149 00:13:45.779 --> 00:13:50.539 this is not going to be the end of the story, despite the 150 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:56.690 terror and the destruction and the wrath of God that is coming, and we 151 00:13:56.690 --> 00:13:58.769 will get into some of the details of that so that we might impress that 152 00:14:00.289 --> 00:14:07.049 on our hearts. Despite that, somehow, out of all of that wife 153 00:14:07.169 --> 00:14:11.279 will come. Out of the death, out of the destruction, out of 154 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:16.960 the wrath, a people will be born, a king will come that will 155 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:26.429 charge through this breach and will save the day. And so as we come 156 00:14:26.509 --> 00:14:33.029 to Micca, and there's similar things in the other prophets, we have a 157 00:14:33.149 --> 00:14:39.899 way that God is calling us to understand him. God is not sitting up 158 00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:45.500 in heaven bored and wondering what to do and not really seeing things, and 159 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:52.220 now he's holy and he's powerful and he's mighty and he's paying attention to the 160 00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:56.250 things that are going on. We fool ourselves when we say, well, 161 00:14:56.289 --> 00:14:58.929 I just live the way that every way I want. We can't do that. 162 00:15:01.009 --> 00:15:05.970 Michael reminds us that God sees things and that one day he will, 163 00:15:07.639 --> 00:15:11.279 in the final judgment, which this is a prelude to a shadow of what's 164 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:18.519 coming, he will say he will call the Earth to pay attention and it 165 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:22.710 will be time to judge. So, in hearing the words of Mica, 166 00:15:22.710 --> 00:15:26.509 we don't just look back and we say wow, those people were really awful, 167 00:15:28.110 --> 00:15:31.710 what's the matter with them? This is an opportunity to look at our 168 00:15:31.750 --> 00:15:37.820 own hearts, to see how our own lives correspond or don't correspond with God's 169 00:15:37.820 --> 00:15:43.580 law, to understand and recognize the judgment that is due to those things and 170 00:15:43.820 --> 00:15:50.129 then to turn to Christ, to find our salvation in him as our king, 171 00:15:50.289 --> 00:15:54.330 who goes forward, leads the way and saves us, so that we 172 00:15:54.370 --> 00:16:00.289 might not come under the wrath that is described here, a wrath that will 173 00:16:00.370 --> 00:16:07.600 be even worse than what is described here. So with that introduction, let's 174 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:11.639 take a look at some of the details here in chapters one and two and 175 00:16:11.799 --> 00:16:18.360 hear how God expresses these things. His power is holiness, is judgment. 176 00:16:19.750 --> 00:16:25.029 We won't have time to deal with every detail, but let's consider these first 177 00:16:25.070 --> 00:16:32.629 few words here in verse two, the Prophecy. Mica has prophecy. This 178 00:16:32.830 --> 00:16:37.500 word that came from the Lord begins with an address to the whole earth. 179 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:42.539 Here, you people's, all of you, pay attention, Oh earth and 180 00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:47.019 all that is in it, and let the Lord, your God, be 181 00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:52.610 a witness against you. The Lord from his Holy Temple. Now MICAS I've 182 00:16:52.690 --> 00:16:57.690 said and as you've heard in the word, is going to preach a particularly 183 00:16:57.769 --> 00:17:03.640 against Samaria and juice Jerusalem. This prophecy is against his people. But the 184 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:08.559 words from the introduction tell us right away that it's not just for them that 185 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:15.599 what as going on here is a microcosm for everything. What the judgment that 186 00:17:15.789 --> 00:17:18.029 is going on here, the law that is required here, the grace that 187 00:17:18.190 --> 00:17:22.990 is promised here, is something that is not just for this people. It's 188 00:17:22.990 --> 00:17:27.990 a microcosm of something that is much bigger that. All you people, the 189 00:17:29.230 --> 00:17:33.579 whole Earth, need to pay attention to you because in some way, and 190 00:17:34.859 --> 00:17:40.779 hopefully in very obvious ways, it is it speaks not only against them but, 191 00:17:40.900 --> 00:17:45.490 as he says, against us as well. The let and and this 192 00:17:45.690 --> 00:17:51.730 comes with a witness. Let the Lord God, the Lord, the King 193 00:17:51.769 --> 00:17:56.609 Yah Way, be a witness against you, the Lord from his Holy Temple. 194 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:03.200 In other words, this accusation comes with the support of the greatest witness 195 00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:08.200 of all, the Lord, the king, whose eye searches all and knows 196 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:14.630 the heart of man. Psalm Eleven, for says the Lord is in his 197 00:18:14.789 --> 00:18:21.269 Holy Temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven. His Eyes See, his 198 00:18:21.509 --> 00:18:26.779 eyelids, test the children of Man. Job Thirty four twenty one says something 199 00:18:26.819 --> 00:18:32.579 similar, for his eyes are on the ways of man and he sees all 200 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:37.140 his steps. Walking is one of the great images of the that we have 201 00:18:37.299 --> 00:18:41.490 in the Bible. That describes the way we live our lives. We use 202 00:18:41.650 --> 00:18:47.490 this language to ask questions like what are the direction in which we are what's 203 00:18:47.529 --> 00:18:51.289 the direction in which we are heading? Are we heading toward towards God and 204 00:18:51.490 --> 00:18:56.000 towards righteousness and the things of God, or are we headed away from him? 205 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:00.640 Are we straying from his path? Do we walk in the truth, 206 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:04.599 as children of a right or are we running away, like Jonah did, 207 00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:11.430 for example, in disobedience and rebellion? Jonah, another prophet of the Lord, 208 00:19:11.430 --> 00:19:17.990 whose book is right here before Micah, Jonah Ran Jonah, thought that 209 00:19:18.150 --> 00:19:22.789 God wasn't in his temple, or he at least for a time. He 210 00:19:22.910 --> 00:19:27.339 thought that perhaps he could just move another direction. Even he thought he could 211 00:19:27.779 --> 00:19:32.859 die to get away from his problems, to get away from the Lord. 212 00:19:32.859 --> 00:19:36.940 And of course none of that is true. Whatever we do, God sees 213 00:19:37.019 --> 00:19:40.329 it, and God not only sees it. The Psalm says, as I 214 00:19:40.410 --> 00:19:47.049 said, God's eyelids test us. He is seeing is not just a distant 215 00:19:47.130 --> 00:19:52.720 observing, a noticing, it's a scene of witnessing, of judgment, and 216 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:57.519 this he does not it is emphasized that he does this from this place of 217 00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:07.309 holiness his throne, room, his temple, his palace, and because of 218 00:20:07.430 --> 00:20:11.829 who he is, because of who we are and what we have done, 219 00:20:12.029 --> 00:20:17.549 Mica tells us that we have reason to be afraid if we are not those 220 00:20:17.710 --> 00:20:21.349 who stand in His grace and in his favor, if we are not those 221 00:20:21.430 --> 00:20:26.059 who have been rescued and forgiven, if we stand in our pride, if 222 00:20:26.099 --> 00:20:29.859 we stand on our high places, if we stand in our idolatry. Mica 223 00:20:29.980 --> 00:20:32.940 tells us it's all coming to an end, just as it came to an 224 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:40.890 end for Israel and Judah is. Mica tells us that God is not going 225 00:20:41.089 --> 00:20:47.450 to stay there on his throne. He will shaking his head like a disappointed 226 00:20:47.490 --> 00:20:53.839 old man who has no powers to fix the problems he sees. No having 227 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:59.799 witnessed the sins of the world, God will come in judgment, though it 228 00:20:59.880 --> 00:21:04.829 will be as easy as walking for him. For behold verse three. Behold, 229 00:21:04.869 --> 00:21:07.549 the Lord is coming out of his place. He will come down and 230 00:21:07.789 --> 00:21:14.109 tread on the high places of the Earth, and the mountains will melt under 231 00:21:14.109 --> 00:21:18.059 him. In the valleys will split open like wax before the fire, like 232 00:21:18.259 --> 00:21:23.819 waters poured down a steep place. There are other descriptions of this. We 233 00:21:23.940 --> 00:21:29.220 read some of them in Sawmighteen. Jesus talks about them in the gospels. 234 00:21:29.779 --> 00:21:33.849 We find them Hebrews and other places, where it's described that the coming of 235 00:21:33.930 --> 00:21:40.049 the Lord the Earth will be rolled up like a robe, that the heavens 236 00:21:40.170 --> 00:21:45.329 and the heavenly stars and and the hosts of Heaven and will just fall from 237 00:21:45.329 --> 00:21:52.599 their places, that the earth will just crumble, as we read under verse 238 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.839 four, will melt under him, split open under the weight of his power, 239 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:07.829 the weight of his judgment. It's important to understand and believe these descriptions. 240 00:22:10.509 --> 00:22:15.980 Mike is not just shooting the breeze, and we know that because we 241 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:21.500 hear his heart right he says in Verse Eight, for this I will lament 242 00:22:21.779 --> 00:22:26.819 and wail, I will go stripped and naked, I will make lamentation like 243 00:22:26.980 --> 00:22:33.690 the jackals and mourning like the ostriches. Listen to me, he's saying. 244 00:22:33.490 --> 00:22:38.809 And we also get the sense that there are people who are saying something different. 245 00:22:38.849 --> 00:22:45.559 Chapter two, verse six. They say do not preach to him. 246 00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:48.559 They say thus they preach, they preach, don't preach. One should not 247 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:53.720 preach of such things. Disgrace will not overtake us. Stop giving us all 248 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:59.309 this bad news, Micael, you need a positive attitude. No, look 249 00:22:59.349 --> 00:23:06.630 at life on the bright side. Come on, Mica. Michael will have 250 00:23:06.789 --> 00:23:15.779 none of it, not because he's given over to glumness, but because he's 251 00:23:15.779 --> 00:23:26.339 heard in the word of the Lord and, unlike Jonah, who ran it's 252 00:23:26.420 --> 00:23:32.410 going to preach what he has to preach, Jonah eventually did. I don't 253 00:23:32.410 --> 00:23:38.130 mean to harp on Jonah too much, but it's a good contrast. I 254 00:23:38.170 --> 00:23:41.880 didn't mean to say this, but I'll say Jonah. One of the reasons 255 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:49.319 we have Jonah is because we have this this story, in this this of 256 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:53.920 this prophet, like it's telling us that even the prophets are falling apart. 257 00:23:53.920 --> 00:24:00.109 At this this time, here's this prophet WHO's supposed to announce repentance, even 258 00:24:00.230 --> 00:24:06.549 he's falling apart and the people he preaches to, the Assyrians, they repent. 259 00:24:07.029 --> 00:24:11.259 Israel is this blind right that her prophets don't get it, that the 260 00:24:11.380 --> 00:24:17.980 nations are getting it and are waking up. Anyway, back to Micah. 261 00:24:18.420 --> 00:24:22.779 So as we hear these descriptions, we should let them settle in. We 262 00:24:22.859 --> 00:24:27.690 should see God for who he is and take very, very seriously. Are 263 00:24:27.890 --> 00:24:33.970 Sins, because he says that these things are happening because of what he has 264 00:24:33.049 --> 00:24:40.519 seen. Verse Five. Why is this happening? All this is for the 265 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:47.480 transgression of Jacobin, for the sins of the House of Israel. For six, 266 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:51.519 therefore, I will make some AIA, a heap in the open country, 267 00:24:51.559 --> 00:24:55.829 a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into 268 00:24:55.869 --> 00:25:00.829 the valley and uncover her foundations. In other words, what he's saying is 269 00:25:02.029 --> 00:25:07.380 that this, this city, which is a capital, which has been cultivated, 270 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:14.180 which is a stronghold, it's going to become it's going to revert back 271 00:25:14.259 --> 00:25:19.779 to the beginning. Instead of having foundations and streets and buildings and all of 272 00:25:19.859 --> 00:25:22.289 this, it's going to be the kids of the place that you walk up 273 00:25:22.289 --> 00:25:26.369 to and you go, Oh, I could plan a vineyard there. Right. 274 00:25:26.609 --> 00:25:30.809 He's taking it back, he's he's destroying it to such a level that 275 00:25:32.410 --> 00:25:38.160 it would be unrecognizable as a city. I will pour down her stones into 276 00:25:38.200 --> 00:25:42.839 the valley, I will uncover her foundations. That will be nothing left to 277 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:48.279 build on, just a place to put seeds into and start over again. 278 00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:56.990 And this is happening because of her idolatry, Morrisons or in specific sins are 279 00:25:56.029 --> 00:26:00.990 mentioned in chapter two, but the core of it is a spiritual problem. 280 00:26:00.750 --> 00:26:06.380 He'll talk about the way that they're relating to one another as an example of 281 00:26:06.579 --> 00:26:10.019 how the spiritual problem is playing out, but at the core of it it's 282 00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:14.900 a problem between them and God. All her carved images shall be beaten to 283 00:26:15.059 --> 00:26:19.410 pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire and all her idols laid 284 00:26:21.049 --> 00:26:26.329 to waste. They have been trusting in these false gods and if you go 285 00:26:26.569 --> 00:26:30.930 back and you read through the history of this time and before it, you'll 286 00:26:30.930 --> 00:26:37.559 see what he means. People who were clinging to who rejected God's priesthood, 287 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:41.480 who rejected his festivals, the one who had brought them out of Egypt, 288 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:45.359 who established into the promised line. They were doing all the same things that 289 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:49.269 the people who had brethen previously there and we're kicked out for. They were 290 00:26:49.349 --> 00:26:59.150 now doing them, sacrificing their own children to idols, giving themselves over to 291 00:26:59.630 --> 00:27:04.740 sexual immorality, establishing a whole religious system apart from God, going their own 292 00:27:04.740 --> 00:27:08.339 way, doing their own things. Why? Over and over again, the 293 00:27:08.460 --> 00:27:12.180 prophets and the histories tell us, because they wanted so bad to be like 294 00:27:12.299 --> 00:27:17.690 the nations around them. They wanted to look like them, they wanted to 295 00:27:17.769 --> 00:27:22.490 be like them, but God always intended them for be something different, to 296 00:27:22.609 --> 00:27:26.930 be something holy, to be something protected, to be something that wasn't marked 297 00:27:26.970 --> 00:27:33.359 by power struggles and oppression and greedy grabs and deceitful practices and giving oneselves over 298 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:38.519 to lust, but something that was marked by his name. I. Love 299 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:45.309 And Holiness and maturity and safety and freedom. That's what God wants for his 300 00:27:45.470 --> 00:27:52.829 people and of course his laws correspond perfectly with all of that. That's why 301 00:27:52.869 --> 00:27:59.940 they have to go together. But they didn't. As we continue on in 302 00:27:59.980 --> 00:28:04.339 chapter one, we have this, the section where he lists all of these 303 00:28:04.700 --> 00:28:11.500 cities, and here he's kind of draws a circle. Is Likely what's going 304 00:28:11.619 --> 00:28:15.769 on around the place that he is from, Morisheth gaff. He draws a 305 00:28:15.490 --> 00:28:22.250 circle on naming these various cities, and I won't go into them all now, 306 00:28:22.450 --> 00:28:33.599 but there's a lot of love irony going on. So, for example, 307 00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:37.640 already spoke about verse ten. Tell it not in gas weep, not 308 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:42.789 at all, but in Beth la apar, Beth La Offra, roll yourselves 309 00:28:42.950 --> 00:28:52.910 in dust. Well, Beth Oprah, or how depends on how we translated 310 00:28:52.029 --> 00:28:56.779 it, literate it. It means house of dust. That's what the name 311 00:28:56.779 --> 00:29:00.859 of the city is called. So he's saying tell it, not in GAF, 312 00:29:02.099 --> 00:29:08.500 but pals of dust. Roll yourselves in the dust. Chaffier, it's 313 00:29:08.740 --> 00:29:17.289 likely means something like beauty town, which prided itself in splendor. Pass on 314 00:29:17.410 --> 00:29:22.250 your way, inhabitants of Safire and nakedness and shame. There's this kind of 315 00:29:22.650 --> 00:29:27.480 reversal over and over again, or a way in which he connects these various 316 00:29:27.559 --> 00:29:33.039 town names to the fit these actions. They ought to take the bitterness, 317 00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:40.109 the taking away all kinds of things. At the end of the day, 318 00:29:40.150 --> 00:29:44.390 though, what we have is this picture in which he's calling his people to 319 00:29:44.509 --> 00:29:48.470 repent, to recognize who they are in relation to God and turn away, 320 00:29:48.509 --> 00:29:56.019 as we are all called to do. Glacier six seven, the New Testament, 321 00:29:56.140 --> 00:30:02.180 Paul says, do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for 322 00:30:02.299 --> 00:30:11.170 whatever one shows that will he also reap. Moving on to chapter two, 323 00:30:11.250 --> 00:30:17.690 then we have some of the specific things that they were doing, and it's 324 00:30:17.730 --> 00:30:22.480 a reminder that evil is not evil in general or just something that we make 325 00:30:22.599 --> 00:30:30.960 up or have some a abstract standard for. It's the things that we know 326 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:37.309 are evil. Mica begins in chapter two. Woe to those who devise wickedness 327 00:30:37.390 --> 00:30:45.269 and work evil on their beds. It's like they can't even stop right you've 328 00:30:45.309 --> 00:30:48.829 finished your work for the day, you'll lay down, and yet you're still 329 00:30:49.019 --> 00:30:56.220 working at devising evil. You can't even sort of stop and just rest in 330 00:30:56.339 --> 00:31:00.660 your beds. You just keep going in when the morning dawns. They perform 331 00:31:00.779 --> 00:31:03.569 it. Why? Because the power is in their hand. What else are 332 00:31:03.609 --> 00:31:07.650 they going to do? They devise evil, they plan it, they do 333 00:31:07.769 --> 00:31:11.529 it even on their beds. Verse Two. They covet fields and they seize 334 00:31:11.609 --> 00:31:15.730 them, and houses and they take away. They oppress a man in his 335 00:31:15.890 --> 00:31:22.079 house, a man and his inheritance. What kinds of commandments are they breaking 336 00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:26.720 here? The Ten Commandments? God says in the ten commandment do not cove 337 00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:30.960 it, and they are covening. God says do not steal, and they 338 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:33.630 are stealing. They say, I want that house, I want that Vineyard, 339 00:31:33.869 --> 00:31:37.670 I'm gonna take it. I don't care if it belongs to someone else. 340 00:31:38.269 --> 00:31:45.470 I want what I want and I want it now. To the victims 341 00:31:45.509 --> 00:31:51.339 of this MIA is a relief. If you've ever been the victim of a 342 00:31:51.460 --> 00:31:55.900 crime if someone has ever done something that is hurt you or your family or 343 00:31:56.059 --> 00:32:00.700 stolen something for you and your family and they get away with it. There's 344 00:32:00.700 --> 00:32:04.849 a constant frustration there. We have to sort of reminders on. I'll just 345 00:32:05.009 --> 00:32:07.849 get over it move on, right, but there's this sense that sits with 346 00:32:07.890 --> 00:32:15.650 him and say justice was not done, justice should be done. We want 347 00:32:15.690 --> 00:32:20.319 it to be made right. Well, Mica, to and many, many 348 00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:25.000 other places in scripture, promise us, to those who have been victimized, 349 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:29.799 to those who have been oppressed, to those who have been hurt, that 350 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:35.990 God does see and God will make things right. This is a joy to 351 00:32:36.470 --> 00:32:42.589 victims, to the oppressed, to the downtrodden, and hopefully a terror to 352 00:32:42.750 --> 00:32:47.059 the thieves. In pride and in confidence, they take what they think they 353 00:32:47.099 --> 00:32:57.299 can take, but in disaster, Mica promises they will fall. And these 354 00:32:57.660 --> 00:33:05.009 things are mentioned here, stealing, theft. People will say, MICA, 355 00:33:05.369 --> 00:33:09.569 as we've considered, MICA, don't preach such things. You're hurting people's feelings, 356 00:33:09.690 --> 00:33:15.240 you're making them feel bad. Your might bother someone who's in charge, 357 00:33:17.960 --> 00:33:24.839 but as I am the like a continues a head, and good that he 358 00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:30.390 did. There was one king who did hear Micah has a Kiah, and 359 00:33:30.509 --> 00:33:36.950 we know from a scripture that has a Kiah heard the words of Mica and 360 00:33:37.109 --> 00:33:42.539 made reforms and things improved for a while and that was great, except, 361 00:33:42.619 --> 00:33:45.099 of course, that has a Kioh had his own sins and his own failures, 362 00:33:45.740 --> 00:33:51.859 and eventually they needed a greater king, a king who would come from 363 00:33:51.859 --> 00:33:54.259 David's line, a king who was, of course, Jesus. And when 364 00:33:54.259 --> 00:33:59.130 Jesus came, the New Testament makes very clear to us that he is this 365 00:33:59.329 --> 00:34:02.049 king, this promised one to have come, are to come, this one 366 00:34:02.170 --> 00:34:07.609 from the Line of David, and he does what is promised. Then, 367 00:34:07.690 --> 00:34:14.320 in verses twelve and thirteen, which is where will end after these promises, 368 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:22.400 of of curse and destruction and woe, Micah says, speaking the words of 369 00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:29.269 the Lord, this Great Promise, I will surely assemble all of you, 370 00:34:29.469 --> 00:34:35.630 Oh Jacob, I will gather the remnant of Israel, I will set them 371 00:34:35.789 --> 00:34:40.139 together like sheep in a fold, like flock in its pasture, a noisy 372 00:34:40.260 --> 00:34:50.420 multitude of men. This gathering together is what Jesus will do. The Gospels 373 00:34:50.500 --> 00:34:53.170 we read that one point Jesus looks out on the people and he pities them. 374 00:34:53.289 --> 00:34:59.170 Because these sees them is like sheep without a shepherd, and he is 375 00:34:59.449 --> 00:35:06.130 that Shepherd, that image of gathering and protecting and knowing and loving. He 376 00:35:06.329 --> 00:35:12.440 does that for us, he does that for his people, and Shepherd is 377 00:35:12.559 --> 00:35:17.559 an image also that's used frequently of kings as well. He is the great 378 00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:22.510 shepherd king who is going to take care of his people, he's going to 379 00:35:22.750 --> 00:35:29.789 gather them together, and he does this with power. He who opens the 380 00:35:29.829 --> 00:35:32.750 breach, goes up before them. They break through and pass through the great 381 00:35:32.789 --> 00:35:37.980 going out by it. Their king passes on before them. The Lord is 382 00:35:37.099 --> 00:35:43.099 at their heads. Likely speaks to a particular moment in history, but even 383 00:35:43.219 --> 00:35:49.019 that moment points forward to the work that Jesus would do and has done for 384 00:35:49.059 --> 00:35:53.289 us. So that's why, when we read Mica, we hear these promises 385 00:35:53.329 --> 00:35:57.849 and we hear about these curses, it's important that we read it in light 386 00:35:57.969 --> 00:36:04.050 of the Greater Prophet to come, the greater king to come, who's Jesus, 387 00:36:04.760 --> 00:36:08.559 because he fulfills these things. And this great contrast between the judgment of 388 00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:14.119 the Lord and the salvation of the Lord, this one hundred and eighty degree 389 00:36:14.199 --> 00:36:17.750 term learned that happens between verse eleven and twelve. We see those things coming 390 00:36:17.829 --> 00:36:24.070 together in Christ, how well we see them coming together in him, as 391 00:36:24.110 --> 00:36:30.510 he takes the judgments that are described here in Mica on himself, when he 392 00:36:30.710 --> 00:36:39.300 takes when he who knew no sin, Paul says, became sin. In 393 00:36:39.420 --> 00:36:45.420 other words, he took on our sins and our judgments and all of this 394 00:36:45.619 --> 00:36:51.849 wrath it is described here, so that he could bring us through it and 395 00:36:52.130 --> 00:36:58.289 gather us together in a safe place, not dying and going away and fust 396 00:36:58.369 --> 00:37:02.199 another person to come, but to continue to be our Lord and our head. 397 00:37:04.800 --> 00:37:07.360 And so, when you hear the words of judgment here in my car 398 00:37:07.440 --> 00:37:13.840 or in any other place of scripture, fear of the Lord, but don't 399 00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:19.590 remain in your sins. Go to Jesus, the Lord who promises to take 400 00:37:19.670 --> 00:37:24.550 on your sins, to forgive them and bring you into his sheepfold, to 401 00:37:24.750 --> 00:37:31.300 be our great shepherd, to protect us and keep us forever. This is 402 00:37:31.340 --> 00:37:36.659 the work God promised to do. This is the work God did and is 403 00:37:36.780 --> 00:37:38.579 doing. Praise be to God.