Micah. Who Is Coming? Chapter 5:1-15

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1 Micah Who Is Coming? Chapter 5:1-15 They sat before me each Sunday morning with shining faces, but I knew well the situation they were facing. They had an ice concession on a lake, or pond as they called it. They made their living by cutting ice from it in the winter time, storing it, and then selling it in the summer. A favorable winter gave them plenty of work and money, but the previous winter the pond had not frozen over, and now winter was almost over and still no ice. It was aggravating, too. Several times it got cold enough to freeze the pond and they would tell me they intended to cut ice next week, for by that time the ice would be thick enough. But always the weather moderated and away went their ice and prospects. Spring was on the way for the second time. There was little hope for ice now unless we had a hard freeze soon. But the hard freeze came and the pond froze to such a depth that they could cut in a day or two and they were very happy. But suddenly the temperature commenced to climb and each day the ice got thinner. I prayed for it to stay cold and so did they, but as Sunday approached the ice was going fast. I knew I would have to face them on Sunday morning with something to say that would help them in their time of need, but how could I help them? I prayed for a message, and I believe God gave me one especially for them. On Sunday morning my text was, And the brook dried up (1 Kings 17:7). I preached to two hundred, but my message was really for only two. I asked my audience this question: Have you ever been compelled to stand helplessly by and see that on which you are depending slowly and surely taken from you? I told them that Elijah had that experience at Cherith. I emphasized the fact that the experiences of men of the present day are not different from those of men of past generations. I pointed out that whether it be a brook receding, or stocks and bonds or a bank account the situations are analogous. I related how Elijah trusted God when the brook was receding, and even after it dried up. I reminded them that God took care of Elijah and that the ending of the Cherith experience was the beginning of better things for him at Zarephath. I insisted that God yet takes care of folks who will trust Him when outward appearances are against them. Several people were helped that morning, but God had given me a message for at least two. Their happy faces shone that morning and they smiled through their tears. At the close of the service they voiced their faith in God, come what may. They did not cut a pound of ice that winter, but they did learn a lesson of dependence on God. It is true that God does not promise ice for those who desire it, or warm weather for those who enjoy it. One man in a community may pray for ice to help him in his business, while another equally righteous prays for sunshine because he is without fuel and of course God could not answer both prayers at one and the same time. But God promises this transcendent blessing that, thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee (Isaiah 26:3). I believe that promise and I believe that God can and will minister to us in every life situation. 1 I THE KING OF HOPE Verses 1 5a II THE KING OVER ASSYRIA Verses 5b 7 III THE KING OF VICTORY Verses 8 9 IV THE KING OF RESTORATION Verses Strang, C. B., Meeting Life Situations, The Master Christian Library, AGES Software, Albany, OR, Version

2 Israel also needs to learn to totally depend on the Lord. God will restore the nation, return it to Himself. But, as we will see this morning, He does it in three steps. The first, as we have noted over the last few weeks, is discipline. The second is by removing evertthing that the nation depends on for security. This was intended to help the people to see God as the only source of their security. The third is by making His ultimate statement of restoration, providing the Messiah. As we examine the workings of God with Israel, we will see something of how He also works with us. Micah s message of destruction and deliverance continues. Again it is important to remember we are talking about God s dealings with His own children. The principle here is: once we belong to the Lord we can never be lost. But just as was the case with Israel, we can turn away for a time. Thus we may find ourselves being put through the Lord s discipline, which should cause us to turn back to Him. Probably one of the most important principles we can learn from God s plan for restoration of the Jewish people is the fact that there was nothing they could do to earn it. While they will repent of their sins, it is the fact that God keeps His promises which will be the basis of their salvation. The basis of our salvation is similar. God is loving and merciful and there is nothing we can do to earn it; it is a gift that only needs to be accepted. Anyway, Israel had moved away from God. Sometimes we do the same, acting from selfish desires. But God promised to restore Israel, returning her people to Him. He also acts in our lives to restore our fellowship with Him. Can you give any examples in your life? If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). While the focus of Micah s messages seem to be the coming judgment, the underlying theme is the mercy of God. The ultimate statement of God s desire for the restoration, for the reconciliation of man to Himself is found in this chapter. God s work was to bring peace between Himself and mankind which He did by taking human form, suffering and dying for us. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Verse 1: Moving into the text, we find the editors made a poor choice in the chapter separation. Verse one continues the theme from the previous chapter: the coming fall of the nation. Conditions within the city are warlike. Israel s enemies will be victorious. Micah stresses that before the restoration can occur, the people will have to face hardship and suffering. Jerusalem was still to fall and the leadership, which had humiliated the people, would now themselves be humiliated itself by the Gentiles. However, this is not the end, for soon there would be a new king. Dr. McGee believes Micah is not prophetically speaking in this verse of Christ, but of King Zedekiah. 2 McCominisky, looking at verse 1, notes: 2 McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Vol. 3, Proverbs - Malachi, Thomas Nelson Inc., Nashville, TN 1981, p ) 26 (

3 The striking of the king on the cheek represents the extremest of insults and marks the victory of Israel s enemies over her. The king is called judge, depicting the judicial aspect of his office. The word may have been chosen by Micah to form a play on words with rod. 3 Verses 2-4: If God is to establish a restored kingdom, a power to rule over the world, then this will necessitate the raising up of a new king, one who is wholly committed to Him. In the last part of Micah s second message the king is introduced. And so some seven hundred years before the fact, Micah says the birthplace of the king is to be Bethlehem Ephrathah, as distinguished from any other Bethlehem. This city was David s birth place so he is tied to the coming Messiah. The Messiah comes from this insignificant town. Micah points out that although the king will be born there, his origins are not bound by time or place. The ruler is to come forth to me (li ), according to the Hebrew text. Yahweh is represented as speaking here, and the close identification of the king with the purposes of God is thus implied. Some commentators apply the phrase from ancient times to the remote beginnings of the monarchy, but this is unsatisfactory. The term applies grammatically to the ruler. It is he whose activities stem from the distant past, yet whose coming is still future. 4 It is clear that Micah is expecting the Messiah to be a supernatural figure. As Jesus Himself put it. I tell you the truth,, before Abraham was born, I am! (John 8:58). Micah is making it clear that the Messiah existed prior to His appearance in Bethlehem. Feinberg notes that even Rabbinical scholars identified this ruler as the Messiah. 5 Clearly, at the time of Herod, the chief priests and law professors knew this passage spoke of the Messiah. When the Magi came asking for the King of the Jews, they were immediately directed to Bethlehem using this passage. (see Matthew 2:1-6). One reason for the Messiah coming from Bethlehem, not Jerusalem, was the fallen state of the nation. Out of labor pains, the suffering of the people, comes the new king and the new kingdom. Before this coming there was no longer a royal line in Jerusalem. The Jewish people would not be under the hand of God or His kings, but under the foot of the gentile, and so it still goes. The nation is left o reap the results of her disobedience to the Lord. And after some four hundred years God once again chose to speak through a prophet, John the Baptizer. The message God was prepared to bring the King upon the scene. While it seems the socio-political conditions of the Jew didn t change upon Christ s arrival, they did have the opportunity to be restored in their spiritual relationship to God. The problem was they were looking for the ruling king, the one who would restore the nation to its past glory. Instead they found a suffering king, one who had come to restore the nation to its past spiritual glory, and this wasn t what they wanted. 3 McComiskey, Thomas E., The Expositor s Bible Commentary, "Micah, Zondervan, Ibid. 5 Feinberg, Charles Lee, Jonah, Micah and Nahum, American Board of Missions to the Jews, ) 27 (

4 Messiah s first coming wasn t for the purpose of ruling, but the second will a political rule over the restored nation. When Messiah first came, restoration with God was offered through the salvation provided by His work on the cross. Restoration was offered regardless of whether or not the Jew was willing to accept it. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Colossians 1:19-20). So Micah is speaking of not only a new king, but a unique one; a king who would shepherd His people. Where previously the leadership had been fleecing the flock, the Messiah would be a shepherd who would care for the sheep. The difference is He would function in the power of and obedience to God. He would be the ruler David and Solomon should have been. He would be the perfect king. Verses 5-6: But once again Micah moves from hope to judgment. The identification of the Assyrian is unclear but the general consensus is that it is used as a type of the nations who were and will be aligned against Israel. However, one day Israel will be able to stand against those who in the past have abused her. Continuing in the poetic imagery Micah speaks of shepherds and leaders, who seem to be also types, speaking of the wealth of resources available under the King s rule. The important point to understand here is that when the king sits before the nation, she will no longer live in fear of her enemies, but will at last stand before the Lord in faith and obedience. She will be protected and cared for by Him. This is reinforced by the naming of historic enemies, reassuring the people that no one, no matter how powerful, will ever again be able to bring suffering and misery down on the nation. Verses 7-9: The faithful remnant will be found throughout the world and returned to the land. Where they had once been trodden down, now they are perceived as a lion who rules over all he surveys. But now they will rule for God and no one will be able to interfere. Micah makes it clear that God s victory and the restoration of Israel and her people is inevitable. But even though victory in inevitable, first comes Messiah s work of purification. First the Lord removes the weapons of the people. They will no longer depend on their own strength, but on God s. Israel will no longer need a budget that includes a larger percentage of military spending than even the U.S. He will also have to purify their worship, removing anything that could be perceived as a source of spiritual strength other than dependency on Him. The teachings of the New Age will be removed. Secular Humanism will end. All that lifts up anything other than God will be destroyed, because God will be worshiped, not mankind. The words forgotten for so long will never again be lost! You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me (Exodus 20:4-5). ) 28 (

5 Verses 10-15: Micah s message finishes with the promise of God s pruning of all that stood between He and the nation. But just as He promises to purify the nation, He also promises His wrath and judgment will fall on all the Gentile nations that have lived in rebellion against Him. If there is to be true peace in the Millennial age, then God will no longer allow anyone to live in a way that reflects rejection of Him or His standards. Conclusion: There is certainly no more important issue in this message than God s promise of the coming Messiah. It is this passage we examine every Christmas as we celebrate the ultimate statement of the Lord s love of each of us. If the message of Micah to Israel is their restoration after judgment, then the message to us is God s love and restoration. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22, 24). And this restoration came through His own acceptance of the judgment due to us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God s wrath through him! (Romans 5:9). If there is a time when it seems that all of mankind is fearful it is today. We see so much concern over the presidential election, the Middle-east Situation and the state of Social Security. And with all of these there is some reason for concern. But we have a message of hope to a lost world. The message is; while the world is in chaos, God is doing a work of restoration in the lives of individuals. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). Because of the work of Christ Jesus fear has been cast out, but first one must be willing to accept Him as Lord and Savior, as Paul stated; For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 4:12). But God s ministry of reconciliation isn t limited to the work of salvation, although as we say at Passover It would have been sufficient. Just as we saw with the Jew, in the last few verses of the chapter, the Lord continues to work in our lives to remove that which would keep us from full enjoyment of and dependency in Him. He focuses specifically in those areas that we are inclined to try to hold on to as a source of personal security. Imagine what the average Israeli would say if you suggested that they disband their military forces and depend wholly on the Lord, (What! Are you nuts or something?), but this is what ) 29 (

6 God will do in the latter days (vs ) As believers, this is the kind of work we are to desire from Him, so that nothing remains in the way between ourselves and the Lord. I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2). It s amazing that because of the old nature we constantly choose things which gives temporary satisfaction instead of desiring the joy that comes from a focus on the Lord. One example I come across frequently is young couples concerned with owning their own homes. This desire is perfectly understandable and can be achieved witrh a responsible use of resources, but often this leads to a problem. One couple I ve talked to tends to make all their decisions based on whether or not their choices will allow them to eventually get a house. Instead of wanting the Lord s direction for their lives, including a house if it s His will, they demand the house above all else. Another couple did make a purchase and now all their time is spent working on the wreck they bought. This situation has caused strife and distress, leaving little time for each other and the Lord. It may be that God gave them their desire, just as He let Israel have Saul for a king when she would have been better off continuing on with God as the true head of the government. The reason the Lord will have to purge Israel of all of the various things mentioned, in verses 10-14, is so the people will enjoy the full benefit of His reign. As we in turn grow in our relationship with Him, we need to pray He will remove those things that keep us from the fullness of that association. Much of what we go through is carrying us towards that goal. Don t we truly desire to become closer to the Lord? If so,let us not fight against circumstances, but instead accept them as God s instruments of our blessing. We are created for enjoyment and worship of God. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to move us towards this goal. In the final analysis, the blessing that comes with being a believer is a product of the quality of our walk, our dependency on the Lord and obedience to His ways. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father s commandments, and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full (John 15:9-11). The greatest work of reconciliation is not the restoration of Israel, as great as that will be, but the work of Christ on the cross for the benefit of all men, whether Jew or Gentile. And with that restoration comes not only an eternity in the presence of God, but an opportunity to walk with Him daily and to enjoy His presence. ) 30 (

7 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth. Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth. Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth. ~ Psalm 96 ) 31 (

8 Micah Who Is Coming? Chapter 5:1-15 I THE KING OF HOPE Verses 1 5a II THE KING OVER ASSYRIA Verses 5b 7 III THE KING OF VICTORY Verses 8 9 IV THE KING OF RESTORATION Verses A. Introduction: (1 John 1:8-9; Romans 5:8) B. A New King: (John 8:58; Matthew 2:1-6; Colossians 1:19-20) C. Old Enemies:

9 D. A Faithful Remnant: (Exodus 20:4-5) E. A Purified People: F. A New Hope: (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22, 24; Romans 5:9; Philippians 4:6-7; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 4:12; Romans 12:1-2; John 15:9-11; Psalm 96) Personal Application: Do I live in the joy of the reality of God s kingdom, both now and in the future? If not, why? How can I experience this joy more fully? Prayer for the Week: Father, I sing unto You a new song, You the Lord of all the earth. I praise You for Your Majesty, Your love and for the hope of Your Future Kingdom. In Christ s name, amen.