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Meeting God, Again - Micah

We’ve been going through a series called Meeting God, Again. If you’re just joining us for the first time, we’ve been walking through the minor prophets in the Old Testament to highlight the character of God, and really, to see what kind of relationship God wants with us.

Today we’re talking about the prophet Micah. Like all the minor prophets, Micah deals with sin, judgement and hope… but not just on an individual level… The prophets are addressing sin, judgement and hope on a national level. And as I studied this book, I couldn’t help but wonder: Are we really a “blessed nation”? ​ ​ ​

On one level, I’d say, yeah we’re definitely blessed. We live in a free country! Honestly, I have to say, when my plane landed back in the states after 2 weeks in Israel, I was really glad to see our flag flying high! I’m convinced that we can’t fully appreciate the freedom we have unless we’ve been to a country without freedom - and I only had a small taste of that!

So, don’t misunderstand my question: I appreciate and completely respect those that have served our country (like all of my grandfathers) and especially those ​ ​ that have given their lives for our freedom!

So yes, on one hand, we’re blessed. But, I’m not convinced we’re blessed in ​ such a way that the wealth and prosperity we have is proof that God is on ​ ​ our side. ​

Think about this: We have everything we need - actually, most of us have more ​ than we need to live. I remember researching for a sermon a few years ago where I found that if you have clean running water and a roof over your head, you’re in the top 1% of the wealthiest people on the planet!

Hard to believe… I know… but that’s because we’re in a nation that is so abundantly wealthy that we simply don’t know any better unless we’ve visited parts of the world that don’t have clean running water and a roof over their head.

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But again, after studying Micah and the other prophets, I’m wondering if we’re actually a “blessed nation” in the way we assume we’re blessed. Hear me out on this one…

I was thinking this week… and this is sort of a thought experiment… it’s what I like to call a campfire discussion question…

Could it be that our wealth and luxurious living is sort of a mirror image of the story of Job? If you remember Job in the OT, this was a guy who was ​ faithful to the LORD. But one day an adversary approached the throne room of God and said, “You know what? I bet your servant Job wouldn’t be so faithful if You would stop blessing him so much.”

So Job was put to the test. His wealth was taken… His family was taken… even his health was taken from him. But in the end he proved faithful and Yahweh God blessed him even more.

Is our story sort of the opposite of Job’s? Has our nation been given so much as a test to see whether or not we would be faithful to God? In other words: Will we ​ depend on the LORD even though we have everything we need, or will we detach ourselves from Him because we feel like we don’t need Him?

That’s actually a main strategy that the enemy uses to keep us distanced from God. When I say ‘enemy,’ I’m talking about Satan. He’s called the ‘god of this age’ in 2 Corinthians 4:4; the ‘ruler of the kingdom of the air’ in Ephesians 2:2; and the ‘prince of this world’ in John 12:31. But it’s not just Satan, the scriptures also talk about other bad guys - not demons - they’re lower level evil spiritual beings - I’m talking about the really bad guys of the Bible… the heavy hitters. Paul calls them the rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6:12) - Paul’s talking about evil spiritual forces who influence nations! [One of these days maybe I’ll do a short series on the bad guys of the Bible, but for now check out the resources I have listed in your sermon notes]

These bad guys of the Bible influence nations in different ways, but for our nation, I’m convinced that Satan and his spiritual forces of evil would love nothing 3 more than for us to be unaware of just how much we need Jesus because of how well off we are.

2 Corinthians 4:4 says that “The god of this age has blinded the minds of ​ ​ unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

It’s no wonder that the world says: “Why would we need this Jesus guy? ​ We’ve got everything we need. We might not have everything we want, but hey, if we just work hard enough, good things will come our way! We can succeed if we just try hard enough. Success will come our way if we don’t give up! We just have to speak it out into the universe! You’ve got the power to make your life whatever you want it to be! You can do it!”

I know you’ve heard these statements before. Think about them from a biblical worldview. What if the situation we live in is kind of a test to see exactly how faithful we are to Jesus? I think that’s a great discussion to have as you’re ​ ​ roasting marshmallows by the campfire this fall!

So, we’ll see that in Micah’s day all of Israel chose to depend on themselves rather than Yahweh God. We’ll see exactly how they rebelled against God, and we’ll see God’s response to their unfaithfulness.

Let’s Pray

Turn with me to the book of Micah. As you get there, let’s talk about why Micah was writing to God’s people...

The prophet Micah lived during the same time as Isaiah and Hosea. Long before Micah’s day, God’s people had divided into two nations - The Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Both nations were prospering… but it’s one of those cases where the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting even more poor. Both nations fell into so much sin that God decided their days were numbered. So, Micah was writing as a warning to the Israelites ​ that judgement was coming because of their sin, but he was also writing because there would be hope for their people.

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The book itself is written mostly in the form of Hebrew poetry. So you’ve got this back and forth of judgment and hope throughout the whole book. What I’d like to do this morning is look at the reasons why God’s people were about to be judged…

What were they guilty of?

#1. They were guilty of idolatry and serving other gods.

Of the 10 Commandments, these are the first two! They say, “You shall have no other gods before me.” And, “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:3-4a).

Go with me to Micah chapter 1, starting in verse 7:

“All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”

So, they were making idols… idols are man made statues that represent certain deities. They made their own idols of other gods and then placed them in their temples (we’ve seen examples of this during this series with the cities of Bethel and Dan).

The bible often talks about the sin of worshiping other gods as prostitution. God’s people essentially sold themselves to other gods. And because they did that, they were prospering. But Yahweh God says that “since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”

This is talking about a later event when the nation of Assyria comes to Israel, invades their capital city of Samaria, and then takes Israel’s wealth and uses it to fill their own Assyrian temples of worship.

So, Israel is guilty of idolatry… 5

#2. Israel was guilty of stealing wealth and materials that were not theirs

Check out Micah chapter 2, starting with verse 1…

“Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes, they rob them of their inheritance.”

[Advance slide again] They were to the point where they were staying awake at ​ night trying to figure out how they could steal from other people! These are like people today who try to steal our identity. They spend their spare time by figuring out how to trick us into giving them our information so they can use our name and account information to get whatever they want!

And they don’t care how you feel about it! They have no sense of shame! They steal out of their own greed. That’s the kind of greed that led the Israelites to spend their free time planning how to steal from people.

And by the way, they were breaking the 8th and 10th commandment: “You shall not steal” and “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:15, 17) In other words, be satisfied with what’s been given. Don’t take what’s not yours.

Micah 2:8-9, the LORD says, “Lately my people have risen up like an enemy. ​ You strip off the rich robe from those who pass by without a care, like men returning from battle. You drive the women of my people from their pleasant homes. You take away my blessing from their children forever.”

They’re taking whatever they want, whenever they want it. Things are not looking good for Yahweh’s people!

Micah 2:11 says that, “If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’ that would be just the prophet for this people!” Yahweh is saying that Israel didn’t even know how to evaluate ​ 6 what’s true and what’s not anymore! They totally lost the moral compass that Yahweh gave them long ago!

They chose to disregard Yahweh’s standard of living. And you know, as if that wasn’t bad enough:

#3. Israel’s leaders were guilty of oppressing the poor

Listen to what the prophet Micah has to say…

Micah 3:1-4, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not ​ embrace justice, you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my ​ ​ people and the flesh from their bones; who eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin and break their bones in pieces; who chop them up like meat for the pan, like flesh for the pot?” Then they will cry out to the LORD, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.”

[advance slide again] Micah isn’t accusing them of cannibalism. This is poetic ​ language that is saying the Israelite leaders are like hungry dogs that tear into their meal. These leaders were using the poor for their own personal gain. In fact Micah 6:12 brings this up again by accusing the rich for their violent actions of oppression toward the poor.

And what does God think about this? Well, when His judgment comes on them, Micah 3:4 says that they will cry out to Yahweh God, but He’s not going to answer them. He’s going to hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.

The Israelites should have known better! Yahweh God had laid out His expectations for them as His nation, but they blew it! They gave in to their own sinful desires and said, “Forget you God! We don’t want to hear it anymore!”

That’s what Micah 2:6 is talking about. The prophets of Israel were saying to prophets like Micah, Hosea and Amos, “Hey, keep your mouth shut! We don’t want to hear it anymore! Disgrace will not overtake us! We’re good! God is clearly on our side because look at everything we’ve been blessed with!” 7

There’s something interesting… Yahweh wasn’t happy with them. They weren’t getting blessings from Him. They took matters into their own hands and praised other gods for their prosperity. So, God decided to use prophets like Micah to send out warnings to Israel. Yahweh wanted His people to come back to Him, but they didn’t want any part of it. Life was good for them! They had everything they needed, and then some!

They had money, they had prestige, they had houses, they had all the pleasures that their world offered them. They didn’t need or want God anymore. And who kept this whole charade going? That leads me to Israel’s fourth sin…

#4. Israel was guilty of employing false prophets

These false prophets were not prophets of Yahweh God. They would intentionally lead people astray…

Micah 3:5 says, “This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead my people astray, they proclaim ‘peace’ if they have something to eat, but prepare to wage war against anyone who refuses to feed them.”

[advance slide again] These prophets would only do their work if you paid them. ​ In fact, if the price was right, they would prophecy whatever you wanted them to. That reminds me of 2 Timothy 4:3-4 where Paul says that “the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

So, this was going on in Paul’s day… it certainly goes on in our day… but it’s nothing new because this was happening with ancient Israel as well!

Micah 3:9-11 says, “Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the LORD’s support and say, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us.” 8

They were using their material wealth as proof that God was with them. But they couldn’t have been farther from the truth! That leads me to their fifth and final sin that I see in Micah…

#5. Israel was guilty of putting their trust in themselves rather than God

Israel had this false sense of security. Like the Edomites that we learned about last week, the Israelites deceived themselves in thinking that they were untouchable.

They had the military might… they had their own places of worship… they had the magic arts that helped them when they were in need… they were serving little-g gods that they were convinced were blessing them... But Yahweh God gives them a dose of reality!

Turn with me to Micah 5:10-15…

10 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will destroy your horses from among you and demolish your chariots.

He says, ‘I see your armed forces… I see your military might… your strength is nothing compared to my strength. I’m going to teach you again what it means to depend on me.’

11 I will destroy the cities of your land and tear down all your strongholds.

He says, ‘I see your cities and fortresses. I also see the pagan worship that goes on in your cities. I’m going to tear those down.’ We might think - “See, there’s the angry God of the OT! Where’s the loving God we see in the NT?!” But what we need to understand is that this is a drastic wake-up call for Israel. These were God’s chosen people. They had no excuse for their sin. So God, being a loving and just God… God decides to finally withhold His mercy from them and ​ ​ dish out what they deserved. He continues...

12 I will destroy your witchcraft and you will no longer cast spells.

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One commentator writes that “Witchcraft denotes the ways in which primitive ​ people sought control of natural forces or power over individuals.” ​ (McComiskey, “Micah.” EBC, 2008)

I have a little bit of a problem with that statement… by saying “primitive people,” the commentator gives us the idea that the Israelites turned to witchcraft because they lacked a good modern scientific education.

Because if that’s the case, then the same thing could be said of people today. Did you know that people are still practicing witchcraft today? Did you know ​ that not all of it is fake? The spiritual forces of evil have a field day with this ​ kind of stuff. Again, if we’re going to take the bible seriously, we can’t discount its supernatural worldview. But here’s the thing: Deuteronomy 18 commands ​ the people of God to avoid these kinds of occult practices.

Deuteronomy 18:10-12a says, “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices ​ their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD;”

This kind of stuff goes on all the time today, and it’s not like our media hides it. But if you’re a follower of Jesus, the scripture is saying to stay away from this stuff. That doesn’t mean you can’t research it. But it does mean that we shouldn’t be practicing things from the occult.

I’ll have more on this closer to the end of the month… but for now, just know that Israel was practicing the very things that were detestable to Yahweh God. Rather than getting on their knees and praying for Yahweh’s provision, they turned to things like witchcraft. So God said He’s going to destroy their witchcraft… they’re no longer going to cast spells. He also says...

13 I will destroy your idols and your sacred stones from among you; you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands. 14 I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles when I demolish your cities.

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God had enough of them worshiping other little-g gods. Let’s pause here: For those of you that were around earlier this year, think back to my sermons on Supernatural Warfare and what happened at the Tower of Babel. Not all of these little-g gods are merely imaginary gods. These were rebellious supernatural beings who were orchestrating the corruption of the nations.

So this passage mentions one of these little-g gods by name - Asherah. Was she real? Possibly! The Canaanites certainly thought so. She’s the Canaanite goddess of war and intercourse. The Asherah poles in verse 14 were wooden poles that were used in ritual worship of her. This is just one of the little-g gods that Israel had an affair with! Israel was to worship only Yahweh God… but they rejected him - they committed adultery against Him - so Yahweh says:

15 I will take vengeance in anger and wrath on the nations that have not obeyed me.”

This includes every nation that wasn’t loyal to only Yahweh God… including the Israelites. The Israelites were Yahweh’s treasured possession. They were supposed to be His light in dark world, but they turned off that light a long time ago.

So there we have it - Israel was guilty of Idolatry, Greed, Oppression of the ​ ​ poor, false prophets, and a false sense of security in themselves. Because ​ ​ of all this, Yahweh was prepared for judgement.

You know, I look at this list of sins, and I have to wonder: How is our nation any ​ different than the nation of Israel described in the prophets? Are we truly a ​ ​ blessed nation? Or are we a blind nation because we’ve drowned ourselves with our own success?

What a message for us today!

If you’re a Christian, then ask yourself: Am I completely devoted to Jesus? Is ​ my worship of Him genuine, or do I have something to gain? How does my life reflect the faith that I claim to have? Would others know that I’m a Christian? Do I use other people for my own success? Do I have a false sense of security in my success? Do I depend on my own strength to survive? 11

As a follower of Jesus, do I act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, as Micah 6:8 says I should?

I’ll leave you this morning with a quote from Dr. Bruce Waltke (biblical scholar). He says:

“The church today will not prevail through her own resources—an educated clergy, the technical know-how of expositors and educational directors, inviting buildings—but only through faith in God. She must confess once again with David: ‘some trust in horses, and some in chariots, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God’ (Ps. 20:7).”

Wiseman, Donald J., T. Desmond Alexander, and Bruce K. Waltke. Obadiah, Jonah and Micah: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 26. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988. Print. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries.

As we live in uncertain times, we all need to trust in the Lord Jesus. As another scholar I like puts it, “Real victory happens when a nation is on its knees before God and is surrendered to Him. Real victory cannot be achieved through money and war.”

Real victory has already happened in Jesus! His life, death and resurrection was the solution to humanity’s sin problem. Like Israel, all of us sin. But thankfully through faith in Jesus, we can be brought back into a right relationship with Him.

So if you’re not in a good place with God right now, maybe today is the day you surrender to Him? Maybe today is the day you get to meet God, again? Maybe you’ve strayed from God because you thought He was only about judgement and wrath? But even here in Micah, after everything Israel did against Him, look at what Micah says about Yahweh God:

Micah 7:18-20, “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the ​ transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. 19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea [it is ​ only God who can take care of our sin problem!]. 20 You will be faithful to ​ Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.” 12

Look, if you don’t know Jesus… I want you to know that the scriptures do in fact say that Jesus is God, and our God is faithful, loving, just, forgiving, merciful, compassionate… and if you choose to put your faith, your believing loyalty, in Him, He can and will remove the sins that drive a wedge between you and Him.

Micah brings his book to a close by restating the sins of Israel and how they were disloyal to Yahweh God. But then Micah says this of himself…

Micah 7:7 - “But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; ​ my God will hear me.”

Micah’s prayers will be heard because he remained faithfully loyal to Yahweh God. He didn’t serve other gods or even himself. And so, I know I’ve ended this way before, but I’ll end with this question again because it’s one that continually jumps off the pages of the prophets:

Where do you place your loyalty?

Let’s Pray