MIcah

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Micah part 3 – “NEW LEADER-NEW KINGDOM”

Posted by David Ward on 18/02/2021
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Micah – words of judgement and hope

God promises that one day there will be a new leader who will rescue his people and build a new kingdom across the whole world.

Read Micah 2: 12-13 and 4: 1-4

When I read chapter 4: 4 of Micah I was reminded of a song from a musical!

The musical in question is “Hamilton”, and the song is “One last time”, sung by George Washington as he contemplates stepping down as president after everything that has been achieved:

“Like the scripture says:
“Everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid.” (Afraid)
They’ll be safe in the nation we’ve made (In the nation we’ve made)”

Just as Washington reflects on the infant USA, with all his hopes and dreams for something better than what went before…a land of freedom and security for its people, so Micah suddenly interjects some really hopeful stuff into his narrative of judgement.

By now we have grown accustomed to the normal pattern of the prophecies of the minor prophets…chapters and chapters of judgements. with just a glimmer of hope thrown in at the end (or in the case of Nahum, no hope at all!)

Micah kicks things off in chapter 2 with the image of a new leader who will lead the people from exile into their own land.

But the land is not like the old land, it’s a better place, a place where Jerusalem, the symbol of God’s presence on the earth will become the leading place in all the world.

Because of God’s presence being so clearly seen there, Micah paints a picture of:

  • People streaming to see God
  • People wanting to live God’s way
  • Nations living at peace with each other

Although in the short term the Jews have experience exile, return and rebuilding the nation it’s clear that we’re not there yet! The kind of new nation that Micah envisages is not yet obviously in existence.

In the writings of the prophets up to this time the Messiah has been a shadowy figure, from this point on he takes a more prominent place in the writings of the prophets. The early church saw the life, death and resurrection of Jesus foretold in many of the prophets. After Jesus ascension it very quickly realised that it was metaphorically the “new Jerusalem” which would draw all people to God. As they carried the gospel from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth they remembered what Jesus had said in Matthew 5: 14 – “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.”

It wasn’t the Temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 60AD) to which all the nations would be drawn, but to the living church of Jesus wherever it went in the world carrying the Kingdom of God with it, culminating in the scene in Revelation 21: 2 where God’s presence comes down to earth like a holy city, the new Jerusalem.

This is a prophecy about enlarging God’s kingdom…from just the Jews to displaying God’s love for the whole world, just as God had promised to Abraham so many years before…”all the families on earth will be blessed through you”.

What sort of person do I need to be model “the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden”? Am I more like Jesus now than I was when I first followed him?

Micah part 2 – “PROPHETS FOR PROFIT”

Posted by David Ward on 17/02/2021
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Micah – words of judgement and hope

Prophets can be powerful people, so it’s disastrous when they deliberately use the gift for personal gain, instead of honouring God by courageously saying what he tells them to say.

Read: Micah 2: 11 and 3: 5-12

Prophecy, the calling to speak God’s words into a particular situation at a particular time is one to be exercised with great responsibility and integrity (which actually applies to any spiritual gift or ministry).

We read in scripture and know from bitter experience that it doesn’t always work that way, which is why the New Testament puts emphasis on weighing prophecy and discerning its origin and intent…we all have access to God’s wisdom via the Holy Spirit who lives in each one of us.

Prophets may falsify a message for many reasons. Chief among them, and highlighted here by Micah, are a desire to have power over people, to be popular and admired and, sometimes, to profit financially or in other ways from the people who are misled by what you say, pretending it comes from God. This may seem harsh, but we can so easily be misled and unaware of our less-than-honest motives.

It sounds as if the prophets, priests and rulers of Judah were conspiring together to rob and defraud the people God had given into their care…in other words, deliberately choosing to line their own prophets using God as a lever.

Fortunately, or unfortunately for them, events about which the prophet is speaking often come into being in their own lifetime. Then everyone can see the lies and deceit; the prophets are shamed as their impotence is shown up and the people have to face the consequences of believing their lies.

By stark contrast, Micah lays out his credentials and intent as a prophet, in 3:8. He’s prophesying in the Spirit’s power, which is filling him with justice and courage, enabling to obey God courageously despite preaching a hard and unwelcomed message.

And in the end, he says, you’ll see I’m speaking the truth. The prophets, priests and rulers have been building Jerusalem…the heart and soul of the Jewish people…on evil foundations of murder and corruption, and such foundations will not stand. There will be ruin and desolation, and everyone will suffer, including those who are suffering because of the leaders’ evil.

Anything we do can be built on bad foundations – things like trusting in our own wisdom, telling people what they want to hear, profiting from ungodly ministry and not practising what we preach (like in the story of the wise and foolish builders). And when it all collapses it comes down with “a mighty crash” (Matthew 7: 27)

What experience have you had of leaders misusing God’s gifts or appropriating them for their own ends? Prosperity gospel preachers; self-serving TV evangelists; abusive leaders who use ‘spiritual’ arguments to dominate and control people?

What were the fruits of such ministries? How did they neutralise the power of the gospel and cause people to turn away from Jesus?

Do you see any of the signs in your life and ministry that you may be going the same way?

Micah, part 1 – “CONTAGIOUS”

Posted by David Ward on 16/02/2021
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Micah – words of judgement and hope

Corrupt leaders spread sin like a disease when they fail to live by example and model godly attitudes and behaviour.

Read: Micah 1: 2-13

Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea, prophesying around 750 to 686 BC. Some of the prophecy was given before the Assyrians destroyed Samaria, the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC and before the failed invasion of Judah in 701 BC.

So Micah lives to see some of his prophecy actually happen; this must have given extra authority to his words to Judah and his promises of hope for the exiles from Israel.

The leaders and wealthy people in Samaria, Israel’s capital, have cheated and exploited the poor. The prophets based there have denied their calling, preferring to prophecy things that people want to hear, rather than what God says. They have all worshipped idols instead of keeping their worship of Yahweh pure.

And the example set in the capital inevitably spreads throughout the nation.

Sin is contagious!

And because leaders talk to one another, the leaders of Israel influence the leaders of Judah. The corruption spreads, first to Lachish, the second city of Judah, then on to Jerusalem, the capital.

Sin is contagious!

In the original Hebrew, Micah uses a lot of clever puns as he lists the places in Judah that have become “infected”. The sin is increasingly widespread in Judah, and sin always has consequences. Judgement follows sin like night follows day, but where there is judgement, there is always God’s mercy too.

Israel may be beyond saving, but God holds out hope to the people of Judah if only they will learn from Israel’s folly.

Think aboiut 1 Corinthians 15:33 NLT

Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”

Paul quotes the Greek poet Menander, who wrote these words in about 300BC. Think about the friends you keep…are you in danger of being compromise in your faith?