Micah - Who is Like the Lord? - Pt 5

 

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,          and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. (Micah 4:1–4 ESV).

 

Often, Micah is considered to be a champion of the poor in the ancient covenant community. As a prosecutor of God's law, which demanded equal treatment under the law for Israelites in poverty (cf. Exodus 23:6), Micah undoubtedly advocated on behalf of the poor. However, we would be mistaken to believe the prophet stood only for the rights of poor people in Israel and Judah. In fact, he also demanded justice for those who had some means, condemning crooked leaders and the ungodly among the wealthy for driving women out of "their delightful houses" and stealing "rich" robes—the outer garments that were worn on top of the basic undergarments from people who were just minding their own business (cf. Micah 2:8–9). These are references to what would have been considered members of the middle class in the old covenant community. Thus, we see that God expects justice for all people; no one may illegitimately or illegally (defined by God's law) deprive others of what they have earned or inherited.

 

As we have seen, Micah foresaw destruction and exile for Israel and Judah because of their refusal to preserve justice (chapter 3). Yet in keeping with the words of Moses (cf. Deuteronomy 4:25–31), he prophesied blessing on the other side of exile. Today's passage pictures this as the exaltation of the mountain on which the temple of the Lord was built above all mountains on earth (v. 1). Micah is speaking a language his original hearers could easily understand. The people of the ancient Near East built temples on mountains. This was to illustrate the rule of a nation's god over the territory that a mountain dominated and depict the presence of this deity with the territory's people. Such construction also showed the god's triumph over the chaos in the region below the mountain. To exalt the mountain of the house of the Lord over all mountains would make it dominate the whole earth. In turn, this would mean that God would be recognized as the Lord of all creation and that He would be with people from all nations, having triumphed over the chaos of evil.

 

Therefore, we have a revelation of the coming of God's kingdom, which is the recognition of who He is and the reality of His blessed presence manifested everywhere in the world. This could happen only through a worldwide conversion to Yahweh, the covenant Lord of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Micah confirms this (vv. 2–5), wherein we read of the nations going up to serve the one true God and Creator of all.

 

The world will worship Yahweh, the one true Lord of all. That is the conclusion of the Bible in many places, including today's passage. Thus, we may eagerly look toward this day to arrive, and we must never think that any race, nation, or individual is so far gone as to be irredeemable. Death alone marks the point at which salvation is no longer possible.

 

Micah - Who is Like the Lord? - Pt 4

 

Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight, who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the LORD and say,    “Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.” Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height. (Micah 3:9–12 ESV).

 

Our reading today contains a fierce prophetic denunciation of Israel and Judah’s corrupt leaders, delivered by the prophet Micah during the eighth century BC. This passage highlights the danger of false security and systemic injustice. Micah indicts the rulers, judges, priests, and prophets who "abhor justice and pervert all equity". Justice is sold for bribes, instruction is given for a price, and oracles are chanted for money. Sadly, in the depth of their blatant violations of God's covenant, these leaders hypocritically leaned on the Lord, falsely boasting, "Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us." They presume that physical residence in Jerusalem or religious status guaranteed immunity from judgment.

 

What made it worse was the drift toward the false prophets. When Micah speaks to these leaders, he uses phrases like “despise justice” and “distort all that is right.” It sounds so much like our current world with its crazy priorities, the anger, accusations, with people who no longer have a conversation with any semblance of respect. Instead, they yell at each other with angry monologues and derogatory name-calling.  Mary and I have stopped watching any of the national news because the talking heads yell over the top of each other rather than listening and responding. Our politicians no longer answer questions but talk around the topic to avoid real solutions. Our society is competing pitting the “rights” of one group over another rather than working together for the common good. And those who claim to be ministers of the Gospel have either ignored them or affirmed them.  

 

It reminds me of the words of Isaiah 5:20: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”  They are not difficult to recognize. They speak of easy answers guaranteed to make you happy.  Politicians with easy answers.  Preachers who tell you everything is good and nobody is wrong.  Society says you are a victim. The self-help industry says take charge of your life and think happy thoughts. They build a false sense of security, which are no more than diluted versions of God completely void of the truth.  The sun is setting…

 

Micah comes with a serious call to change. The answer if only found in the grace of God (v. 12). However, since they will not repent, Jerusalem will be laid waste. It will not stand forever. Instead, "Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets." (v. 12).

 

Reformed teachers note that this verse is a pivotal turning point where the prophet shatters the nation's unearned confidence. Later in biblical history, the prophet Jeremiah references this exact declaration when warning a similarly unrepentant Jerusalem before the Babylonian exile (cf. Jeremiah 26:18–19). It serves as a permanent reminder that external religious privilege does not excuse systemic corruption or avert divine judgment.

 

We must hear this warning! We must use the tools God has given us to reengage with people in a grace-filled manner speaking truth into their hearts and minds!

 

 

 

Micah - Who is Like the Lord? - Pt 3

 

Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. Therefore thus says the LORD: behold, against this family I am devising disaster, from which you cannot remove your necks, and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will be a time of disaster. In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you and moan bitterly, and say, “We are utterly ruined; he changes the portion of my people; how he removes it from me! To an apostate he allots our fields.” Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot in the assembly of the LORD. (Micah 2:1–5 ESV).

 

The prophet now outlines a stark contrast between human plans of wickedness and God’s plans of judgment. In this passage, the prophet Micah steps away from the broad national indictment of idolatry in chapter 1 and shifts his focus toward specific systemic sins: the greed, corruption, and premeditated oppression perpetrated by wealthy landowners against the poor.

 

The writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once observed, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” A righteous society doesn’t just happen. It requires planning and effort by those in charge. Oddly enough, an unrighteous society happens the same way. The powerful fail to love their neighbors because they never intended to do so. Instead, as Micah observed, they planned their sinful actions, even while lying in their beds (v. 1).

 

In Micah’s time and place, the powerful were taking advantage of others for their own gain. Rather than protect the powerless—typically identified in the Old Testament as the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the oppressed—the powerful in Micah’s day trampled them even further underfoot. What’s worse, these wicked people didn’t simply stumble upon taking advantage of others, they stayed up late figuring out ways to enrich themselves at the expense of others.

 

Micah has strong words for these people—the Lord is “planning disaster...from which you cannot save yourselves” (v. 3), which ends with the once-powerful, once-wealthy elite being homeless. The Lord’s punishment will match the crime when He enacts justice on behalf of His people.

 

There are some things we must learn from these warnings. First, God’s fierce judgment warns us to steward well the power and wealth He has given us. Second, this part of Micah’s prophecy encourages the oppressed. Like God assured Moses long before Micah, He hears, He sees, He knows, and He remembers (cf. Exodus 2:23–25). God does not turn away from oppression in this world. His eyes are open, and one day He will make all things right. Even though it seems like the powerful have free reign over the powerless, they do not.

 

It is important to consider where we stand on these issues. Do we love our neighbors well? If we put ourselves first and worry only about our own needs, we are not following Christ’s example.

 

Micah - Who is Like the Lord ? - Pt 2

 

For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? Therefore, I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations. All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return. For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals and mourning like the ostriches. For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. (Micah 1:3–8 ESV).

 

Our reading today presents a terrifying prophetic picture of the Lord coming forth from His holy dwelling place to judge His rebellious people, specifically targeting the capital cities of Samaria (Israel) and Jerusalem (Judah) for their covenant violations and idolatry. According to most Reformed interpreters of this passage, the prophet highlights several core theological and historical themes. These are all discussed further in the book and we will look at them more in detail in the coming days. Today I want to concentrate on the general transgression of the northern and southern kingdoms of Samaria and Judea respectively.

 

There is the picture of God’s descent as He is pictured as stepping out of heaven to tread upon the "high places" of the earth. His presence causes cosmic upheaval—"mountains melt like wax before a fire and valleys split open like rushing water.” In Reformed exposition, this majestic and terrifying imagery demonstrates that the Creator is actively entering human history to execute judgment against sin, unhindered by earthly powers. This points us forward to the birth of Jesus. We know the lengths to which Herod went to in order to try and keep the “new king” from being born or rising to adulthood.

 

After this we see the transgression of Jacob (v. 5a). The text anchors the root of the disaster directly in the moral and spiritual failure of the covenant community ("Jacob's transgression" and the "sins of the house of Israel"). God holds His people accountable because they had the light of His law yet flagrantly violated the covenant. Micah also identifies Samaria (the capital of the Northern Kingdom) as the crime of Jacob, and the high places/shrines of Judah (centered around Jerusalem) as the epicenter of southern rebellion. If we look at other historical references from other prophets we see that Micah delivered these early oracles during a time of sharp moral decline in both north and south, warning that covenant curses—culminating in devastating foreign invasions by Assyria and Babylon—were inevitable unless the people repented.

 

Both capitals had become centers for pagan shrines, carved images, and unauthorized places of worship, breaking the foundational commandments given to Israel. The moral rot started at the top. The political, judicial, and religious leaders of both nations institutionalized this departure from God, treating Jerusalem—the very home of the Temple—as a pagan "high place". As detailed further in chapters 2 and 3 of Micah, this spiritual abandonment directly fueled severe social injustices. Corrupt leaders and wealthy elites used bribery, greed, and skewed legal systems to exploit, rob, and oppress the vulnerable and the poor. False prophets and priests went along with the corruption, telling the people what they wanted to hear for financial gain and falsely declaring "peace" when judgment was imminent.

 

The sin of that day is altogether too similar to our day. If ever there was a time for us to awaken to our need for repentance it is now. The sin of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel seems very contemporary. Our only hope is in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross!

Micah - Who is Like the Lord ? - Pt 1

 

The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. (Micah 1:1–2 ESV).

 

Today we begin a new series for Morning Devotionals. As I was sitting on my dck the other morning, it seemed like the right time to dig a little deeper into the Book of Micah. First we ought to understand the meaning of the name of the prophet. Names in the Old Testament are revealing. In fact, we see some individuals have their names changed by God to reveal a significant principle through their lives. Here, we see that the name Micah means "Who is like the Lord?" or "Who is like God?" The name comes from the Hebrew word מִיכָה (Micayehû or Mikha), which acts as a rhetorical question. The name implies that no one compares to God in power, love, or truth. It is closely related to the name Michael.

 

We should also note that Micah was an 8th-century (BCE) prophet from Moresheth who wrote this sixth book of what we call the “minor prophets.” They are called “minor” not because they are somehow less important, they are simply shorter than the other prophet’s writings. He lived in a rural agricultural village in Judah southwest of Jerusalem during the reigns of Judean kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Unlike many prophets, he addressed both the northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and the southern kingdom of Judah (Jerusalem). He prophesied around the same time as Isaiah and witnessed the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom.

 

The 7-chapter book itself alternates between warnings of divine judgment for corruption and social injustice and promises of future restoration. He condemned corrupt leaders, merchants using dishonest scales, and false prophets, while defending the poor and marginalized. It has a very contemporary message. Micah also foretold that a future ruler of Israel would come from Bethlehem (cf. Micah 5:2); and summarized God's core moral requirement as: "To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (cf. Micah 6:8).

 

 

A Believer's Pearls

 

[Jesus said] “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45–46 ESV).

 

There are those times in the Scripture when an incredible revelation is tucked away in what seems on surface examination to be relatively insignificant. In our reading today, Matthew is recalling some of the parables of Jesus. This one is most often called “The Pearl of Great Value.” The use of “pearls” in Scripture is not uncommon. Here Jesus uses the pearl to symbolize something of great value and beauty. Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and when he finds one of great value, he sells all he has to acquire it. This parable emphasizes the importance of seeking and prioritizing spiritual treasures.

 

It is also a representation of spiritual transformation: Just as an oyster covers an irritant with layers of nacre to form a pearl, God can use pain and hardship to build a believer's character and inner beauty. The Apostle John uses it to call to mind purity and heaven (cf. Revelation 21:21). He describes the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem as twelve giant pearls, symbolizing the perfection and preciousness of eternal life. And Jesus uses it in the Sermon on the Mount (cf. Matthew 7:6) as a metaphor representing sacred spiritual wisdom, the gospel, and good counsel.

 

It is not a huge leap to apply it to the worth of the treasure that is given to us in our family. I find this truth to be one we often don’t recognize as easily. It’s easy to see our responsibility for our families. We understand the effort and sacrifice necessary in serving and protecting our family, but somehow we miss the motivation for all that work. In my mind it is a matter of knowing the great value of the treasure of family which God has given us. They are our divinely gifted pearls!

 

I wonder, how are you treating your pearls? Is it with the care and wisdom that you would use with other highly valued things in your life? It should be.

 

A Walk through Ephesians - Pt 33

 

So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts. Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. (Ephesians 6:21–24 ESV).

 

Today we come to the end of what I have often called Paul’s “mini-Romans”. Ephesians is certainly packed with theology and practical exhortation for the believer. I never seem to tire of reading and meditating in this letter. I hope it has been an encouragement and help to you as it always is to me.

 

This final greeting from Paul in Ephesians includes a benediction that both “peace” and “love with faith” would be ours “from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 23). This is a fitting way to end the epistle, for peace has been an important theme of Ephesians, both the peace we have with God in Christ Jesus and the peace that results between brothers and sisters in Christ as we strive for unity based on love (cf. Ephesians 1:2; 2:14–15, 17; 4:1–3; 6:15). Unity is not based on just any kind of love but on the love of God revealed in the gospel — the Lord’s objective disclosure of Himself.

 

The twin themes of peace with God and others based on the revealed truth of the Lord’s Word — the peace and the purity of the church — encapsulate the central message of Ephesians. Having ministered in Ephesus (cf. Acts 19:1–10), Paul remained concerned for the believers there and in the surrounding geographical regions. While he was in prison awaiting an audience with the Caesar, the apostle became aware of a need for the Christians in Ephesus to have the major doctrines of the faith summarized. So, he wrote to the Ephesians to remind them that Christ’s work in their behalf was based on the work of the triune God (cf. Ephesians 1:1–14). Believing in this Lord brings many blessings to the saints, blessings we can hardly fathom but that we begin to grasp as others pray for our understanding (vv. 11–23). This inheritance is ours not because of our own works but because of the work of Jesus, the benefits of which we receive by faith alone (cf. Ephesians 2:1–9). Nonetheless, this faith proves itself in good works, and we demonstrate our belief in the work of love and our striving for Christian unity. After all, we believe in One who has torn down sinful divisions among His people (cf. Ephesians 2:10–3:21). The grounding for this love is the gospel itself, which creates a people who glorify the Lord by abandoning the ways of this world and manifesting the reality of Christ (cf. Ephesians 4:1–6:9). And, we persist in such a life only as we don the armor of God and war against Satan (cf. Ephesians 6:10–20).

 

Take time today to read back through Ephesians and thank God for what we have learned. Ask Him to make you more loving and more willing to stand for the essential truths of the Christian faith. Also, ask Him that you would be willing and able to serve as a model to other believers as one who promotes with fervor the church’s peace and purity. Seek the help of other Christians in working to foster unity and truth in Christ’s body. And, may you possess God’s grace and peace in all things!