Micah Continued


Chapter Six: The Lord Takes His People to Court

 

6:1-8...Hear ye now what the LORD says: Arise, contend thou with the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with his people, and he will reprove Israel. O my people, what have I done unto thee? and in what have I wearied thee? testify against me…I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt and ransomed thee out of the house of slaves; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam…remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal: that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD. (See Numbers 22-24 and Joshua 3-4)

 

With what shall I present myself before the LORD, how shall I worship the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my rebellion, the fruit of my bowels for the sin of my soul? He has declared unto thee, O man, what is good and what the LORD requires of thee: only to do right judgment, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself to walk with thy God.

 

Micah sees the Lord taking His people to court. The lawsuit addresses the relationship between God and Israelite nations. Mountains, hills, and the foundations of the earth are the witnesses. The message is clear: Israel and Judah had no reason to abandon God and act like all the pagan nations around her. God has done no wrong--He has only acted in love and graciousness towards His people.

 

The Lord reproves us when we turn away and forget His great love for us. He pleads with us to walk righteously according to the code of conduct (Torah) and to love our neighbor. When we obey His commands things work out and we are blessed. He pleads with us and the nations: “…only to do right judgment, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself to walk with thy God.”

 

6:9-16...The LORD’s voice cries out unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and he who has established it. Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked…Can I be pure with false balances and with a bag of deceitful weights? With which their rich men are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth…I have made thee weak in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.

Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take, but shalt not be saved; and that which thou dost save, I will give it up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with the oil…For the statutes of Omri have been kept and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye have walked in their counsels that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

 

What happens to those who do not live as God has asked? The Lord says to “hear the rod” because it is His chastisement for their wickedness (disobedience). In Isaiah 10.5 God says the Assyrians are the rod of His anger! God is talking to His nations and especially the Laodiceans. God is saying, “Please don’t become my enemy--don’t make me discipline you!” His rod is chastisement through those who do not know Him! By powerful end time nations or “Kings of the East” that will be the rod of His chastisement.

 

Omri was the father of Ahab the most evil king in Israel. Ahab, through his evil wife Jezebel, brought in the worship of Baal--worse than the statues of his father. God is telling us to get rid of pagan mixture. He is urging us to understand church history and to come back to His feasts. Once we do this our understanding of his ways and His appointed times become clear. The Bible begins to make sense in a fresh way. The eyes of our understanding begin to open. He who has ears to hear will hear.

 

Next: Chapter Seven: The Response to Social Disintegration is To Trust in the Lord

 

 

Chapter Seven: The Response to Social Disintegration is To Trust in the Lord

 

7:1-7...Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first ripe fruit. The merciful man of the earth is missing: and there is no one upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt each man his brother with a net. To complete the evil with their hands…the judge judges for a reward…The best of them is as a brier; the most upright as a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, thy visitation, comes; now shall be their confusion. Do not believe in a friend, do not trust in a prince…For the son dishonours the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies are those of his own house. Therefore I will wait for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my saving health; my God will hear me.

 

When men and nations turn away from God society begins to disintegrate. Justice no longer prevails--only lawlessness. The leader of the nation takes matters into his own hands and does whatever he wants. Judges and representatives are easily bribed. Jesus spoke the words of verse 6 when He prophesied about the end of the age. We live in a time when we see all these things coming to pass. Godless nations will rule for a short time. Micah looks to the Lord and says, “My God will hear me!”

 

7.8-20...Do not rejoice against me, O my enemy; for if I have fallen, I shall arise; if I sit in darkness, the LORD is my light. I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he has judged my cause and executed my judgment; he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness…my enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her who said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? my eyes shall behold her: now she shall be trodden down as the mire of the streets. In the day that thy walls shall be built unto thee, in that day shall the decree of thy slavery be far removed…the land with those that dwell therein shall be made desolate, for the fruit of their doings.


Chastisement is not pleasant. Our enemies laugh at us, but our God is working something into us--His character! As we become obedient to His word and leading we begin to overcome our enemies. In many cases our "enemies" will repent and come to salvation. There will be a powerful end time witness from God's people who have laid down their lives.

 

Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell only in the mountain, in the midst of Carmel; let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the time of old…I will show you marvellous things as in the day when thou came out of Egypt. The Gentiles shall see and be ashamed at all thy mighty acts…They shall lick the dust like a serpent; as the serpents of the earth, they shall tremble in their holes; they shall be filled with fear of the LORD our God and shall also fear thee.

Who is a God like unto thee that pardons iniquity, and passes over the rebellion with the remnant of his heritage? He did not retain his anger for ever because he delights in mercy. He will turn again, he will have mercy on us; he will subdue our iniquities; and will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea…Thou wilt perform the truth…which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the times of old.

 

These final verses confirm the relationship between God and His people is forever, that the Lord forgives, and will restore Israel (His people) and Judah. These are millennial verses depicting the final prosperity of God’s people. The two sticks coming together (Ezekiel 37.15-28).

 

Even though the land will be made desolate due to rebellion our merciful God promises restoration and forgiveness. God says He will not be angry forever--He loves it when we repent so He can show mercy. He wants us to be holy and sanctified because He cannot tolerate sin. He has a great work for mankind in the Millennial Kingdom and beyond.

 

“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard what God has prepared for them that love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2.9/Isaiah 64.4

 

There will be a new heaven and a new earth after one thousand years. The universe will then be the focus of God’s eternal plan.


https://www.thetrumpet.com/16704-americas-retreat-from-global-leadership