SERMON Minor Prophets Micah
"STUDIES IN THE MINOR PROPHETS"
Micah - Judgment Now, Blessings Later (1:1-2:13)
INTRODUCTION
1. The eighth century (800-700 B.C.) was filled with prophetic
activity...
a. Starting with Jonah, who prophesied to the city of Nineveh (790
B.C.)
b. Continuing with prophets sent primarily to the northern kingdom
of Israel
1) Amos (755 B.C.)
2) Hosea (750-725 B.C.)
c. The southern kingdom of Judah was also the recipient of God’s
prophets
1) Isaiah (740-700 B.C.)
2) Micah (735-700 B.C.)
2. In our study of "The Minor Prophets"...
a. We have looked at the works of Jonah, Amos, and Hosea
b. We now come to the works of Micah, the last prophet of the eighth
century B.C.
[Before we take a look at the messages of Micah as recorded in his
book, it may be helpful to first look at some...]
I. BACKGROUND MATERIAL
A. MICAH - THE MAN...
1. His name means "Who is like Jehovah?" - cf. Mic 7:18
2. His home was Moresheth-Gath - Mic 1:1,14
a. In the lowlands of Judah, near Philistia
b. About 20-25 miles southwest of Jerusalem
3. Nothing is known of his occupation prior to becoming God’s
prophet
4. Characterization
a. "He was the prophet of the poor and downtrodden." (Homer
Hailey)
b. "He had Amos’ passion for justice and Hosea’s heart for
love." (J.M.P. Smith)
c. Comparing Micah to his contemporary Isaiah (as suggested by
Hailey)
1) Micah was a man of the fields, Isaiah was of the city
2) Micah took little interest in politics, giving himself
to the concern over spiritual and moral problems; Isaiah
was in close contact with world affairs, the associate
of kings and princes
3) Both Micah and Isaiah...
a) Saw God as the infinite Ruler of nations and men
b) Recognized the absolute holiness and majesty of God
c) Stressed that violating principles of God’s divine
sovereignty and holiness would bring judgment and
doom
B. MICAH - THE BOOK...
1. The date: 735-700 B.C.
a. During the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of
Judah - Mic 1:1
b. Just as the northern kingdom of Israel was falling under
Assyria’s attack
2. The message: "Present Judgment, Future Blessings"
a. Judgment is coming because of Israel’s unfaithfulness to
God
b. Blessings will come because of God’s faithfulness to Israel
1) Cf. the promise God made to Abraham - Gen 22:18
2) God would fulfill in the person of Jesus Christ - cf.
Ac 3:24-26
3. A brief outline: The book appears to contain three messages
or oracles, all beginning with the word "Hear"; therefore the
book can be divided as follows:
a. The coming judgment, with a promise of restoration - Mic 1:
1-2:13
b. God’s condemnation of Israel, with a glimpse of the future
hope - Mic 3:1-5:15
c. God’s indictment of Israel, with a plea for repentance and
promise of forgiveness - Mic 6:1-7:20
[In the remaining part of this lesson, let’s take look at Micah’s first
message...]
What we see is more powerful than what we hear. The visual always trumps the audible. I learned a long time ago that what people see is more powerful than what they hear. I learned it when I sat through an education professor’s hour-long lecture about why lecturing was the least effective way to teach. He proved his point amply not by how he argued but by the fact that all I could see was a lecture about not lecturing. I learned that what people see is more powerful than what they hear.
And so we choose visible symbols by which we will be known. Schools, churches, governments, businesses – all have logos, symbols meant to suggest something about that organization. You recognize the Starbucks hairdo immediately. You know the Coca-Cola script right away. And if you are an American, the Stars and Stripes Symbols, visual signs, of the institutions we know. And they are important. If you don’t think visual symbols are important, just ask one of our Presidents about what happened when he did not wear a flag pin on his lapel!
Of all the symbols we use, the use of birds is the most intriguing. States and nations choose official birds. Some are obvious, like the Baltimore Oriole
I do like the story, however, about old Benjamin Franklin arguing that the wild turkey would be a more fitting symbol of America, because, Franklin said, the bald eagle is a “bird of bad moral character” who snatches prey from other birds and who is a coward that can be run off by far smaller creatures. Old Ben thought the bald eagle not a proper emblem for what this country should become.
How curious, then, that the prophet Micah also invokes the bald eagle as a symbol of a people! How fascinating that when Micah looked for something visible that would carry God’s message to Judah, he pointed to a bird, a large and powerful bird, but one that had no feathers in its cap. And since in the ancient world, a shaved head showed grief, the eagle’s baldness signaled a nation that would grieve, a people that would suffer loss. “Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair for your pampered children; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they have gone from you into exile.”
Look at the old bald eagle, said Micah; look at his uncovered head. He looks like you do when you are grieving the loss of a loved one. He looks like you will when you learn that your nation is in trouble. “Make yourselves as bald as the eagle.” What a picture of loss! Your very symbol becomes for you a portrait of pain and powerlessness. The nation is under judgment. Grieve for it. You will face severe trials. A conqueror will take you away. Grieve for all of that.
Micah is confident that painful days are on the way for the people of Judah.
These things Micah will deal with over the course of his entire prophecy. He will go into agonizing detail about some of them.
The judgment was to come on bald eagle Judah because, first, she ignored justice; because, second, she was skeptical of kindness and compassion; and because, finally, she left God out of the equation. Judah was headed for a state of collapse – economic, moral, and spiritual collapse. Judah was going to look like a bald eagle, still flying around but showing signs of grief.
II. THE COMING JUDGMENT AND PROMISED RESTORATION (1:1-2:13)
A. JUDGMENT PRONOUNCED ON ISRAEL AND JUDAH...
1. Micah’s message is for both Samaria (Israel) and Jerusalem
(Judah) - Mic 1:1
When we become a Christian, it doesn’t mean that it’s over, but it just started. We must fight, with this "three kings" in our Christianity life. They are: the ignorant king, the wicked king, and the proud king; and they will try hard to make you one of their citizens. I hope we never will distract to come in other country, because we are going back to our homeland, the heaven; and to our King of kings, Jesus! Because we are His possession; we are His Micah, people who stands before our friends and enemies and cry out: "Who is like my God?"
Heb 11:14, "And obviously people who talk like that are looking forward to a country they can call their own."
2. The Lord announces His coming judgment - Mic 1:2-5
3. The destruction of Samaria (representing the northern kingdom
of Israel) - Mic 1:6-7
4. Micah’s mourning - Mic 1:8-16
a. For the judgment has reached even Judah and Jerusalem
b. His lament involves making a play on words involving the
names of cities; for example...
1) "Tell it not in Gath" (Gath is similar to the Hebrew
word for "tell")
2) "Weep not at all in Beth Aphrah, Roll yourself in the
dust" (Beth Aphrah means "house of dust")
3) "Pass by in naked shame, you inhabitant of Shaphir"
(Shaphir means "fair, beautiful, pleasant")
4) "The inhabitant of Zaanan does not go out" (Zaanan means
"come out")
5) "Beth Ezel mourns; its place to stand is taken away
from you" (Beth Ezel can be paraphrased as "nearby
house")
c. As revealed in verse 16, their judgment will involve
captivity
B. REASONS FOR THE INEVITABLE JUDGMENT...
1. The arrogance and violence of the nobles - Mic 2:1-5
a. For coveting fields and taking them by violence
b. So it will happen to them
2. For rejecting true prophets, and accepting false ones - Mic 2:6-11
a. They tell the prophets of God not to speak of God’s words
b. They abuse the people of God
c. Destruction is coming, because they are defiled and accept
false prophets
C. RESTORATION PROMISED...
1. It will involve God assembling a remnant - Mic 2:12
2. God will lead them like a flock of sheep, with a king at their
head - Mic 2:12-13
CONCLUSION
1. Later, Micah will tell us more about the ultimate fulfillment of
that restoration, and from where that "king" shall arise who shall
lead God’s flock! - cf. Mic 5:2-5
2. But for now we have seen that Micah certainly follows the pattern of
God’s prophets at that time...
a. Proclaiming the coming judgment, which would involve captivity
b. Providing the basis for such judgment, describing the nature of
their sins and departure from God
c. Promising that God would one day restore the good fortunes of
Israel, but requiring repentance and involving a "remnant"
3. How sad that many in Israel and Judah did not heed the words of such
men like Micah, Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah...
a. But are we heeding God’s spokesmen for today?
b. Such as His apostles Peter and Paul, and of course, His Son Jesus
Christ?
We would do well to remember the preaching of Micah as we read in the
New Testament...
"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we
have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken
through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if
we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first
spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who
heard, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and
wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit
according to His own will. (He 2:1-4)
Israel as a nation failed to heed the message sent to them; are we
heeding the message for us today?
