SERIES: Major Profit from Minor Prophets
He Has Shown You
SPEAKER: Paul Stolwyk
Note: This series, done in the summer of 1999, involved one sermon each on the Twelve Minor Prophets. Obviously, since these books are of varying lengths, from one chapter to fourteen chapters, these sermons are focused on the key message of each prophet, rather than a detailed examination of their words. This sermon was given by Paul Stolwyk, Associate Pastor at First Free in St. Louis.
Introduction: Turn to the index in your Bible and under the Old Testament heading look for Micah. Our time this morning will be spent examining the message of this great servant of God.
Reading and studying the Old Testament prophets can be a bit daunting. We must work to overcome a lot of obstacles. Their situational nature makes them difficult to understand because we lack some historical context. Some, like Micah, are written in a poetic style, so the story is sometimes hard to follow. Plus, some of us have wrong notions about the Old Testament in general. Often, we come to the prophets with the notion that God is just hacked off at everyone and a little Valium would do him good. It is worth the work to overcome these obstacles, because God has spoken through the prophets with timeless truth about himself, his will, and what he values.[i] Hopefully, by the end of the summer we will all have a different view.
Micah’s preaching ministry lasted at least 35 years. He was a contemporary of Isaiah. Micah’s message is like Isaiah’s in content but not in length or depth. Micah’s ministry extends through the reigns of three kings of Judah—Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. The historical background for these kings is found in 2 Kings 15-20.[ii] Their reigns were a mixture of faithfulness and outright idolatry.
God’s issue with his people is that they do not understand his grace to them. They presume their relationship with God gives them the freedom to do as they wanted. Since they are Gods’ covenant people, they have freedom to live the way they want. Instead of God’s grace motivating them to live justly and graciously, they choose to live completely the opposite way. Micah’s prophetic word is a series of oracles—oracles of judgement and discipline mixed with oracles of hope.
We are going to go through this book three times, looking at three different themes. First, we will see God’s judgment against the sins of his people. The second time through we will consider God’s promises for the future of his people. And finally, we will look at Micah’s view of God’s unchanging character.
God’s judgment against the sins of His people.
Chapter 1 is an initial prophetic oracle explaining God’s plan to bring a conqueror against his people, a conquest that would leave Judah in rubble. As chapter 2 begins, the sins that will bring about this judgement are exposed.
The wealthy covet the assets of the poor. (2:1-5)
Look at verse 1 of chapter 2. As I read, notice how Micah describes the people. “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. [2] They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance.” (Micah 2:1‑2)
Micah addresses two faults with the wealthy. First, though they were exceedingly prosperous, they became exceedingly more covetous. They never developed a governor that would control their heart. So, they wake up in the middle of the night and scheme how to get more. This character flaw leads to a second fault—defrauding the poor out of what little they had. They did this to other Israelites, to their own flesh and blood, defrauding them even of the home and land upon which they live.
The issue for God is not just wealth. Jesus taught that money was a tool that God gives us to demonstrate spiritual responsibility (Luke 16:10-12). The issue for God is one’s heart regarding wealth. He is concerned that we have governors that control our love for money, having convictions that allow us to say “no” to one more deal that really doesn’t matter. He wants us to have a lifestyle that is self-limiting, so we have freedom to say “no” and be at rest when the Joneses pull up in a new Suburban, a lifestyle that says “enough,” so that increased abundance can be invested to correct injustice and extend God’s kingdom.
On at least two different occasions, Jesus said to his followers, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24).[iii] From Jesus’ perspective, God’s greatest competitor for the allegiance of our souls is not the devil but money.
The second sin that God condemns is that …
The people listen to false prophets. (2:6-11)
While Micah brought a message of warning that God was going to judge them severely, other prophets stood up with another message. Look at verse 6 in chapter 2: “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say. “Do not prophesy about these things; disgrace will not overtake us.” Should it be said, O house of Jacob: “Is the Spirit of the LORD angry? Does he do such things?”
These other prophets were saying, “Micah, shut up! Where do you get such an idea. Do you think God disciplines his covenant people? Micah, you are crazy. He doesn’t do such things!” The other prophets were the people’s prophets. They were saying things about God that were contrary to what God had said in Scripture or had done previously in Israel’s history. In the past, God had disciplined Moses, keeping him out of the promised land. Joshua experienced a tremendous defeat at Ai because of disobedience. The people were listening to the wrong prophets.
Every age has its false prophets and teachers. Our age is no different. In the church, people like Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and Benny Hinn teach false things about Jesus that are contradictory to Scripture, not found in Scripture, or simply untrue. Their health/wealth gospel is not the gospel. Their understanding of faith is nothing more than works dressed in spiritual language.
Outside the church, people are writing your horoscopes, psychics are ready to answer your phone call, and advertisements ask you to take L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics course. Inside or out, God holds each of us responsible for the prophets we listen to. God wants you to be able to discern it.
The third sin that Micah brings God’s judgement against is that …
The spiritual leaders distort justice and truth for money and perks. (3:1-11)
Turn to chapter 3 and look with me at verse 5: “This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead my people astray, if one feeds them, they proclaim ‘peace’; if he does not, they prepare to wage war against him.” Now drop down to verse 9: “Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; [10] who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. [11] Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us.”
These leaders are the spiritual leaders of God’s covenant people. Their counterparts in the Church are elders, pastors, teachers, and deacons. In other denominations, it would include bishops, archbishops, and even popes.
In exchange for dinner at Kemoll’s, the prophets pronounce a blessing on their hosts.[iv] They set up “900″ numbers to counsel with people and tell them God’s will. The leaders, the people who judge the affairs of God’s people, change decisions based on the influence of big financial donors. The priests are teachers because it has become a good way to earn a living instead of a conviction about truth. Motives for the church and its leaders are not to be profit-centered, P-R-O-F-I-T. They are to be prophet-centered, P-R-O-P-H-E-T. They must be truth-centered, even if it costs the teacher to say it.
The final sin mentioned is that …
Everyone tries to perform for God. (6:1-8)
God’s people do not understand what God requires them to do because they do not understand or have lost sight of the grace of God. Turn to chapter 6: “Listen to what the LORD says: ‘Stand up, plead your case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. Hear, O mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel.’”
The Lord is assembling the mountains to be a jury as he presents his case against his people. He wants their judgment on the people’ disobedience. But before presenting the case to the jury, he steps from behind the prosecution table and looks at the defendant sitting at the other table and in a relational manner speaks personally to his people. Look at verse 3: “My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. [4] I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. [5] My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”
He is presenting his case before them. “I have given you nothing but grace. I took you from slavery and brought you into a land. I gave you the land. I fought the battles. Why don’t you obey me?”
The people answer in verse 6. As we read their response, think about what this sounds like. Is it even relevant to what God has just said? “With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
They are grasping for what the proper response is to God. What do you want us to do? Do you want our best calves? If not that, maybe you are like the Canaanite gods who require us to sacrifice our first born?
What are they trying to do? What does this sound like? They are trying to perform for God so that maybe he will be gracious again. One writer has observed, “we will perform until we know we are loved.” This is true in human relationships. It is true in our relationship with God as well. The people do not know they are loved, so they think they must perform to earn God’s favor. They didn’t get it when God told them that he blessed them because He loved them.
Micah shakes his head and answers in verse 8: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
This is the answer to the question, “how do you respond to God’s grace?” God asks only that we take the grace we have received and translate it into real life. In dealing with people, he desires that we work for justice and extend the mercy and kindness we have received into our dealings with other people. In dealing with Him, He doesn’t want us to perform a bunch of religious acts motivated by guilt and fear. He asks only that we walk in humble relationship with Him.[v]
God condemns the injustice of the rich over the poor. He can hardly stand to see the corruption of the spiritual leaders. The perverting of justice by the leaders and the false religion of the people are finally enough. God pronounces a judgment against his people. They will be overtaken. The north will be overtaken by the Assyrians, the south by the Babylonians.[vi]
Even with these great sins, there were still some who were faithful, Micah being one of them—people who could answer the question about “how to respond to grace?” correctly. They too would experience the judgment, because God was judging the community, not just select individuals. For them, Micah brings another message imbedded in his prophetic words, a message containing …
God’s promises for the future of his people.
Turn back to chapter 2. Let’s start over again and look at those promises of hope. God’s first message for the few who are faithful is that …
He will not lose sight of the faithful remnant. (2:12-13; 5:7-9) Look at verse 12 of chapter 2: “I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people. [13] One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the LORD at their head.”
God assures the faithful that despite the reality that they have become collateral damage, they are not out of God’s sight. There will be a time when he will gather them together again and bring them home like a shepherd after lost sheep.
Second, God promises that …
He will be Lord of all nations not simply Israel and Judah. (4:1-5) Turn to chapter 4 beginning in verse 1.
In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. [2] Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. [3] He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. (Micah 4:1‑3)
Micah foresees a day when the nations will be fully under the influence of God’s Word. The Lord himself will be the arbitrator of disputes among the ethnic groups normally at war with one another. Because his arbitration will be perfect, the need for weapons and war cease to exist. On the one hand, this promise has seen fulfillment in the coming of Jesus. Because of Jesus, both Jew and Gentile can worship and know Yahweh.[vii] On the other hand, the complete fulfillment still awaits the second coming of Jesus.
The third promise God makes is that …
He will provide an eternal deliverer. (5:2) “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whoseorigins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Listen to how the ruler is described in verse 4: “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.” Micah says some incredible things about this ruler. He will come from the city where King David was born. He will be a person who will be eternal. He will shepherd in majesty and glory. And his reach will extend beyond the people of Israel to the very ends of the earth.
In Matthew’s gospel, we read that after Jesus was born, Magi came from the East, looking to offer worship to the King of the Jews. Upon inquiry by Herod, the Jewish teachers quote Micah’s promise that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. The Magi find a child who grows up to die on a cross and then rise from the grave, a cross that becomes the pathway of peace with God for the Jew first and then the Gentile.[viii] Alongside judgment, Micah preaches God’s message of future hope, so that God’s remnant people can look forward to what God will still do.
Alongside the themes of judgment and hope, one last theme is hard to miss as we read Micah’s prophecy. It is Micah’s view and understanding of …
God’s unchanging character
In my opinion, one of the best questions we can ask when we read the Bible is, “What does God reveal about himself in this passage, this chapter, or this book?” God has spoken through the prophets because he wants to reveal himself. Three aspects of God’s character stand out in Micah.
He is fair when he disciplines his people. (6:1-5) The times when we see God’s anger against his people, it is never capricious. It is not impulsive. It is not without warning. It is not without patience. It is always in the context of his gracious dealings with his covenant people. His discipline is always fair. It is always an invitation for repentance, an invitation to come home.
In Hebrews 12, the people of the new covenant in Jesus’ blood are exhorted this way: “The Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” [7] Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? …. [10] Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. (Hebrews 12:5‑11)
He is personal and hears his faithful servants (7:7) Being a prophet was no fun. For at least 30 years, Micah brought the word of the Lord to the people, warning them, calling them to repentance. God’s people rarely, if ever, budge. In chapter 7 Micah laments over the bleak picture he sees. Jewish society is unraveling to the point that people cannot even trust one another. It is every person for himself. It becomes a time when one’s word no longer holds true. Even in the family unit, one spouse cannot trust the other.
Amid the gloom, he reflects on his God. Look at chapter 7, verse 7: “But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” Alone, with everything looking hopeless all around him, Micah makes a decision: “I am going to choose to turn my eyes toward heaven. I will watch for his coming. Though I am experiencing the capture by the Babylonians myself, I am going to look expectantly for the Lord to come. I will not give up. I will wait. I know that the Lord has heard my cries.”
When my son Matthew was 3, a friend of mine gave him a box turtle they had found in their garden. Matthew was really excited about that turtle. We put him in a big box and Matthew named him “Matthew, the turtle in the box”. Matthew, the turtle in the box was a climber and escaped while we slept that night.
Matthew, the three-year-old, was planning on keeping Matthew the turtle in the box forever. So, needless to say, Matthew the three-year-old was devastated. As we went for a walk that morning, Matthew, the three-year-old, talked about how he wanted another turtle. He asked me to get him one. I told him it was out of my power to do that, but he could pray and ask God to bring a new turtle. Matthew, the three-year-old liked that idea so much that he said he was going to ask God for three turtles.
Paul, the theologian-pastor-father, told Matthew the three-year-old that God would give us the things we needed, but not necessarily the things we wanted. It wasn’t right to presume upon God for three turtles, when one would do. As he sat in the umbrella stroller outside in our driveway, I sat next to him and he began to pray. Matthew, the three-year old, didn’t listen to Paul, the theologian-pastor-father. He asked God to send him three turtles. After saying “amen,” Paul, the theologian-pastor-father, wondered to himself how he would explain to his Matthew, the three-year-old, why God didn’t bring him any turtles, let alone three.
A funny thing happened, though, to Paul, the theologian-pastor-father. About a week later, I was looking out my kitchen window that overlooks our backyard. As I took my first sips of coffee, I noticed in the back corner of our lot, something trying to get into our yard through the fence. Being curious, I went to investigate. And you know what was there? A turtle. Even funnier was as I walked back to the house, I noticed something else coming through the fence closer to the house.
Being curious, turtle in hand, I went to investigate. And you know what was there? Another turtle. Matthew, the three-year-old immediately named them both “Matthew, the turtle in the box.” And we put them in a larger box on our back deck so they couldn’t escape. The next morning when I went out to look at the turtles, I glanced out into the yard, and saw something walking toward me in the grass. And you know what it was? A turtle. Matthew, the three-year-old also named this turtle, “Matthew, the turtle in the box.”
Since those days three years ago, Paul, the theologian-pastor-father, has not seen another turtle anywhere, anytime. Not one. God was teaching something to Paul, the theologian-pastor-father. What is amazing about the living God is that not only has he spoken, but he listens as well. If you think God has stopped listening, you are wrong. Periodically in bold, brilliant and living color, he will show you that he has heard. Until then, like Micah, we must choose to believe by faith that God does listen.
The final characteristic of God that Micah knows is that …
He delights to be forgiving. (7:18-20) Think about this for a minute. Why does God send Micah or any prophet to his people? Why does he bother? What is motivating him to do this? Is it because God gets his jollies making people feel guilty over their sin? No, God sends Micah with a message of judgment because he wants them turn back so that he can forgive them. Look of verse 18 of chapter 7. This is the God Micah knows:
“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. [20] You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago.”
Imagine a banner hanging from the front of the table that is before us today. Across it are the words, “Who is a God like you!” God delights to forgive to such a great extent that while we were still in sin, even before any of us was born, Jesus died for us, taking all our transgressions and sins upon himself. Once and for all, God wanted to make it very clear that we could come home, demonstrating in a very unambiguous way that He loves us.
Now everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord is heard and is saved. Jesus has given us the table to recall that moment when in deep regret for our sin, we asked God for a Savior. And God heard us. The bread reminds us that Jesus, the one from eternity who was born in Bethlehem, allowed his body to broken for you. Isaiah, Micah’s contemporary, said that by his wounds we find healing. The cup reminds us God has made a covenant with us through the blood of his Son, Jesus, a covenant based on forgiveness and grace.
Have you been on the sidelines with Jesus, keeping him at arm’s length, never really coming up to the table and confessing to Jesus that you, too, need him to forgive you? What is keeping you? Are you afraid he might not hear? He will hear you. Don’t put it off any longer. Do it today. Do it now. And celebrate your faith with us at the table.
DATE: June 27, 1999
Tags:
Judgment
The poor
False prophets
Justice
Performance
[i] Consider Hebrews 1:1-2: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways….” God speaking means he has revealed himself in ways that we could never know through natural revelation.
[ii] In particular 2 Kings 15:32-20:21. See also 2 Chronicles 27:1-33:20.
[iii] Jesus used very similar language to talk about the tension between God and money in the heart of his servants. In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, we have the first chronological recording (Matthew 6:19-24). In Luke, Jesus gives the same warning at the end of his parable on the shrewd manager (Luke 16:1-15).
[iv] Kemoll’s is a well-known and expensive Italian restaurant in St. Louis, Missouri.
[v]Jesus said the same thing 700 years later. Matthew records in Matthew 22:36-40 that when asked which commandment in the law was the greatest, “Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ [38] This is the first and greatest commandment. [39] And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[40] All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”
[vi] Micah 4:10 is a clear, though often denied, prediction of Judah being overtaken by the Babylonians, an event that occured in 586 BC.
[vii] Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then the Gentile.”
[viii] See Matthew 2:1-8 and Romans 1:16-17.