Judgment and Promise Micah 3:1-4:5

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1 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 1 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 2 Judgment and Promise Micah 3:1-4:5 Over the years, I've read several books on preaching. I remember reading one book several years ago although I don't remember precisely which book it was where the author claimed he stood up in the pulpit one Sunday and asked the congregation how they'd gone with the previous week's sermon. It wasn't just: Could they remember it? That's a dangerous enough question in itself. But rather, it was along the lines of how'd they gone with getting it into their lives. Apparently the response was less than satisfactory and so he preached the same sermon again. Why deal with new material if they haven't got the old material properly under their belts? This morning's passage in Micah is a bit like that. Now, we could have just skimmed over it. After all, I think the next section of Micah goes through to the end of chapter 5. So, we could have just skimmed over most of chapter 3 as being much the same as chapter 2, and just dealt with the bits that were different. I've chosen not to do that for a couple of reasons. One is that it's there. If Micah thought it important enough to repeat it and God thought it important enough to keep the repetition in His word maybe there's some value in us not skimming over it too quickly. And secondly, as you're aware from the material I'm working on in relation to the issue of retirement, I'm concerned about our possible cultural blindspots things in our lives where we just go along with our culture and don't think to bring it under the scrutiny of God's word; areas where we just assume this is OK because Christians in our culture have been doing this for centuries. I think these chapters highlight that danger. Their Wrongdoing Chapter 3 consists of three short poems: One addressed to the leaders and rulers (1-4) One addressed to the prophets (5-8) And another to the leaders and rulers (9-12) Each poem charges them with wrongdoing. I think verse 11 provides a good summary: Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. It's back to the coveting from last week. More of the details come out in the earlier verses. For the leaders, look back at verse 1: Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice, you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from My people and the flesh from their bones; And so it goes on. They're pretty strong words hate good and love evil; tear the skin from My people. What's going on? Micah's got the judicial system in his sights. Israel's judges had great laws to work off. These laws were given by God Himself through the prophet Moses. They all acknowledged that. They should have known what justice is. They had no excuse on that front.

2 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 3 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 4 And the law warned them about partiality about showing favouritism. Exodus 23:8 Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous. Leviticus 19:15 Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favouritism to the great, but judge your neighbour fairly. And yet, that's exactly what they were doing. Her leaders judge for a bribe. The outcome of their court cases isn't determined by what's right and wrong. It's not about who can present the most solid evidence or who has the most truthful witnesses. It's all about who can pay the most. The outcome of the legal system isn't determined by justice. It's determined by greed. For them, that's the foundational value. That's what the whole system is based on. The structures of their society are built on that underlying principle. The result? They hate good and love evil. God's word warns them about the evil of greed. It's one of the Ten Commandments. Yet, they ignore that. It doesn't fit with their personal preferences. They think greed's a good thing. They think it's worth basing their lives on it. They love it and so they love evil. And that leads inevitably to the other side of the coin they hate good. And their case by case decisions show that clearly. For what outcome does their legal system produce? God's people are destroyed. Micah expresses it in very graphic terms. It's the language of cannibalism. The average Joe Bloggs comes to court look- ing for justice. They know they've done the right thing. They want their rights upheld. But they can't or won't pay the bribe. They don't offer the only thing the court's interested in. And so the court has no use for them. The system simply chews them up and spits them out. It takes all their property and leaves them destitute. It may as well have gone the whole way and used their bodies for food got that one last possible use from them. And the prophets are no better. Verse 5: As for the prophets who lead my people astray, if one feeds them, they proclaim "peace"; if he does not, they prepare to wage war against him. Now, the issue isn't a question of the prophet receiving a fee for services rendered. That expectation goes back at least as far as Samuel's time. No, the problem here is that the message delivered depends on the size of the fee. Those the prophet thinks have enough money get a good message peace and well-being and blessing and prosperity. Those the prophet thinks don't have enough money get a bad message sickness and misfortune and disaster and death. They operate on the same principle of greed. The content of their message isn't determined by truth or justice or rightness or even what God says. The prophetic oracle is determined by the size of the fee. What's that imply? That you can buy a blessing if you have the price. That the prophet controls the blessing.

3 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 5 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 6 That the prophet manipulates God. That God can be bought. That God's truth changes according to price. That justice depends on money. It's disastrous. And the priests have got in on the act as well. We're not given the details of what they did. They were supposed to teach the people God's law impartially and to all who came. They didn't need to charge for this service. God provided adequately for their upkeep through the various tithes and offerings. We saw that when we looked at Leviticus and Numbers. But, it seems, they weren't satisfied with God's generous provisions. Deadly greed had infected them as well. They wanted more. And so they developed this other practice on the side. Now, I think it's important to step back and ask: How did this happen? The text doesn't actually tell us and what I'm about to say is an educated guess but I think it's a very worthwhile exercise. I mean, these are God's people They have the exodus experience. They have God's magnificent law. They live in God's land. They have God's promises. They've got so much going for them. How could they possibly end up like this? Did they wake up one morning and say: I don't like the concept of justice; I'd rather base my life on greed? Did they calculatingly and deliberately jettison their faith in God and choose this alternative lifestyle? It seems to me that's highly unlikely. Especially when you look at the end of verse 11: Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us." They didn't think they'd abandoned God. They thought they had God on their side even in their back pocket. We look at this and think: No way. It's all so obvious. They're obviously doing the wrong thing. They obviously had God's prophet telling them. It's all black-and-white. But it wasn't so black-and-white to them. They were used to thinking the way they did. This was their culture. This was the way things operated. And they'd been blessed for many years before Micah came along. Why would they think anything was wrong? They had plenty of prophets to tell them things were OK. They didn't know Micah's words would end up in the Bible. It's extremely rare that apostasy happens in an instant. It does happen, but not that often. Much more likely people just drift away from the faith. It starts with a small compromise. It may be doubting a small part of God's word that when God said greed is evil, He wasn't talking about all greed. There's a good aspect to greed that keeps the economy ticking over. It may be thinking my case is an exception that when God said He uses all things to achieve good in my life, He wasn't thinking of these particular circumstances. It may be a small drop-off in commitment that skipping church this once because I had a late night at the movies or I want to sleep in for a change. It may be justifying a small disobedience that it really would be better all round if I sort of stretched

4 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 7 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 8 the truth on this occasion. And, having done it once and not confessed it and not repented of it, it makes it easier the next time and the time after and on a slighter bigger issue. And so it goes on. And when there's a whole nation doing that sort of thing, and when no one's picking up what everyone's doing, and when, over the decades, it becomes part of the culture, and when it even sneaks into their religion, and when God doesn't step in straight away with a bit of judgment well, why would anyone question it? Why would you need a Martin Luther to come along and spoil everyone's enjoyment of the status quo? Why would anyone bother to question what's working so well? When I was growing up, some Christians made up their own rules. Things like: No dancing. No going to the movies. No alcohol. No playing cards. They were concerned to maintain their Christian commitment and a high level of godliness. They were concerned that involvement in these things may lead to compromise. That some weren't a good stewardship of time. That some weren't a good stewardship of money. That some often led to wrongdoing. That some could be the start of the slippery slope to immorality. They were often dismissed as legalists. But fast-forward to the church today. I may be wrong, but it looks to me that we've gone backwards in each of those areas. I speak in terms of generalisations, but today's Christians have less time available for Godactivities than that earlier generation; today's Christians give a smaller percentage of their income to Christian work; today's Christians fail much more often in the area of immorality often without even realising it. We aren't to be legalists. But neither are we to be at the opposite end where we treat greed and self-centredness and self-indulgence as being good. If God sent a Micah to today's church someone who fit the description of verse 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, to Israel his sin. How would we treat him? Would we say: O, we've got Jesus now. He's fully paid the penalty for our sin. He's booked us a ticket in heaven front row seats. You don't understand. He just wants us to sit back and enjoy life to the full while we wait for Him to come back. He's not too bothered about whether we pay attention to His directions. He's not too bothered about whether we flirt with the gods of our culture or even dabble in their worship from time to time. It's not quite right, is it? Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 You cannot serve both God and Money. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:5 Put to death greed, which is idolatry. And in Titus 2:11, he writes:

5 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 9 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 10 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live selfcontrolled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope Yes, we're saved by God's grace because of Jesus' death for us. But it's not business-as-usual. God's grace transforms our lives. God's grace saves us. It's not supposed to be a drifting into compromise and sin either consciously or unconsciously. God's Plans What's God's response in Micah's times? Two things. First, the promise of judgment. That's scattered throughout chapter 3. To the judges who don't listen to the cries of justice from those who can't pay up God says: I won't listen to you when you cry out to Me. To the prophets who adjust their message to suit the amount of money they're paid God says: you'll lose your abilities. To the leaders who have constructed and improved and beautified Jerusalem by ripping off the workers God says: all those buildings will be torn down. And since the presence of God's temple is a stumbling block for them, even that will be torn down. Again, as we saw last week, the punishment fits the crime. One important thing needs to be interjected at this point. Notice the connection with Jeremiah 26:17-19 around 100 years later: Some of the elders of the land stepped forward and said to the entire assembly of people, "Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: Zion will be ploughed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets'." That's quoting Micah 3:12. "Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death? Did not Hezekiah fear the LORD and seek his favour? And did not the LORD relent, so that He did not bring the disaster He pronounced against them? We are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves!" Micah's words hit their mark. Hezekiah repented. The promised judgment was averted but only for a time. For Jeremiah preached a similar message to Micah. But the king in Jeremiah's time wasn't like Hezekiah. He didn't pay attention to God's word. He didn't repent. And judgment followed. Jerusalem was destroyed. God's temple was torched. The people were kicked out of the land and went into exile in Babylon. God's aim isn't judgment. God's aim is to have a people who humbly submit to His rule: who pay attention to His warnings; who base their society on His word; who live in accordance with His will; who seek justice rather than greed. Where people heed the warning and repent, judgment's no longer necessary. But, where there is no turning back to God in repentance, then judgment is inevitable. It is God's just response to their rebellion. God's second response is a promise. Judgment is not His

6 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 11 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 12 final word. Micah 4:1 In the last days the mountain of the LORD'S temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. This is a return to God's intentions which are far wider than just Israel. To Abraham, God said that all the nations would be blessed through him. To Moses, God indicated that part of Israel's purpose as a holy people was to attract the nations to the beauty of Israel's God. God says He will bring this about. Verse 2: Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. There's a wide recognition that God's word is important that His instructions on how to live are valuable. People desire to learn what God says. People long to follow God's ways. And more verse 3: He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. The justice that's currently missing in Israel as the leaders chase the almighty dollar will be present in this future. And the rest of verse 3: They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. It's a well-known picture of peace. The United Nations garden has a sculpture entitled let us beat swords into ploughshares donated by the Soviet Union in Because there is justice and because people can trust the source of justice, war is unnecessary. All those resources expended on military armaments can be turned to productive uses. The world's weapons can be converted to creative tools to benefit everyone. Verse 4: Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken. It's another picture of peace and security and tranquillity and also contentment. Each person has his own place. Each person has his own means of production. Each person enjoys the fruit of his labour. There's a freedom from fear and hunger and oppression. So we have the before picture greed, injustice, brutality, evil. And we have the after picture justice, peace, contentment. How do we get from one to the other? Does Israel just turn over a new leaf? Do the nations suddenly turn to God? Do men realise the error of their warring ways? No, this doesn't come about through human initiative.

7 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 13 Micah 3:1-4:5 page 14 This is all about God's promise. It's what God's going to do. That becomes clearer in the rest of the passage the bit we'll look at next week. It also becomes clearer when we get to the New Testament and Jesus. Israel goes off into exile and God later brings them back. But when they come back, we don't see this happening. We don't see the nations streaming into Jerusalem. We don't see peace and contentment. We see Israel struggling as an insignificant bunch of people under the rule of foreign empires. There are still plenty of wars going on. But when Jesus comes on the scene, we see this begin to happen. He establishes His gospel: a message of free forgiveness for sins; a message of peace with God; a promise of life in God's kingdom. He establishes His reign not in the earthly Jerusalem, but in the heavenly Jerusalem. And He invites people to enter His kingdom to submit to His rule. And what's the result? As the gospel is preached, people from the nations stream into the kingdom they come to learn of God's ways and to walk in His paths. As the gospel is peached, people receive God's justice a justice based on Jesus' death for their sins that issues in their forgiveness and in the call for them to forgive others. As the gospel is accepted, people give up their petty ambitions that result in squabbles and fights and wars. They learn to put their energies and resources into God's purposes. As the gospel is accepted, people learn contentment they no longer strive to prove themselves but rest in what God's done for them and in their confidence in God's good purposes for them. The picture hasn't reached its full realisation yet. You don't have to look far in the world to realise that. Plenty of people still ignore Jesus. Plenty of countries still fight with each other. Plenty of money goes into military hardware. Plenty of refugees still have no fig tree to sit under. Indeed, you don't even have to look beyond your own heart even as a Christian. We still struggle to conform to God's ways. We still struggle to believe God's goodness. We still struggle with all sorts of fears. We still fail to be content. The full realisation comes when Jesus returns. In the meantime, what's it mean for us? Verse 5 All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. Our salvation is God's doing. We can be confident of that and in that. It rests on His promises. It rests on Jesus' work. But it's a salvation that means we do walk, by His grace, in the name of the Lord. We do conform to His purposes. We strive to be taught His ways and to walk in His paths. We resist drifting off into compromise. In His grace and according to His mercy, we become the people He's called us to be.