Preface: The following post is from this past September 2. I'm bringing it back for a while because of a concept that I talk about in it. My Bible is highlighted with this concept...that being that when the prophets....the prophets.....speak about....'Jacob"....in the future....they are pointing to us....evangelicals....the church....and Jews who have come to believe in Jesus....and when they the prophets speak about....'Israel'....they are referring to literal Israel today. I've never heard anyone make this distinction....which means that I am probably wrong....but still....it is firmly embedded in my mind. I could only ask that when you come upon these words the in the prophets....which hopefully you are reading all the time....that you consider this thought....and see what you might think about it?
"Hear Now, O Heads of Jacob....And Rulers Of The House Of Israel..."
First of all....Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah....both prophesied of the coming Messiah....and both prophesied judgment....consequently the question at time comes up....who reported first....because the prophesied judgments were so similar. Babylon was still subservient to Assyria at the time....but Micah prophesied that it would be Babylon that will bring judgment on Jerusalem. Isaiah prophesied the same thing. The northern kingdom was about to fall to Assyrian assault. That was bad enough for this prophet from Moresheth....located in Judah....about twenty-five miles SW of Jerusalem....but Micah knew that the people of Judah and Jerusalem were following in the exact same footsteps as Israel to the north. So the extreme warning was there to His covenant people....return to God. The same warning is to us today....as we are following in the same footsteps of both Israel and Judah.
Micah offers a rhetorical question....what was it that the north did that was so bad....and then provided the answer...."Is it not Samaria?".....the capital of the northern kingdom. Is not our capital a source of our rebellion to God.....and do we not send the people to our capital? They relied....and we rely today....on our military might and financial prowess....as we reject dependence upon God.
What about the 'high places of Judah'....Jerusalem itself....with its temple? The leaders commanded the prophets....not to point out the corruption and injustice...and not to prophesy judgment. They only wanted good news....or stop the prophesying! Spurgeon preached a sermon on this....The Holy Spirit...The need Of The Age....(please listen to this powerful sermon!)....where he asked....can anyone restrict the Holy Spirit? What gave them the right to say who can prophesy or preach and who cannot prophesy or preach? Spurgeon wasn't saying that anyone can minister for God....but rather the Holy Spirit can choose whomever He wants to declare what the Word of God says!
There are three parts to the book of Micah....chapters 1 and 2....3 through 5....and 6 and 7. Each part....or oracle as some call them....begins with prophesied judgment....and then concludes with hope and deliverance...
"Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case....and executes judgment for me....He will bring me forth to the light." (Micah 7 8,9 NKJV)
Why the separation into three parts? Was it a chronology of some sort....or was Micah emphasizing the warnings by essentially repeating them three times? Whatever it is....Micah is speaking to us today....warning us....and telling us not to boast because we are still standing!
The elites....the people with money and power....cheat and lie....they want to take houses and fields....and basically lord it over all the poor people....in this society where the rich get richer....and the poor get poorer....as even their inheritance and heritage was stolen. There's more....they were violent. The judiciary was corrupt. The judges took bribes...the priests taught for the money....and the prophets prophesied to please the rich. So those who were allowed to prophesy....became the false prophets. It was almost as if they were running for reelection....securing the needed votes by prophesying peace....and keeping the truth from the people....the same thing that our pulpits do today.
So what was it that the Lord demanded....and demands...."To do justly....to love mercy....and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8) That doesn't sound like Christian nationalism....does it? Micah became extremely vexed....just as Jeremiah would cry over what he saw coming....for God's covenant children were in rebellion....and God was going to judge them....and judge them severely.
I don't see any scriptural warrant for it....but I cannot get it out of my mind. When I read of Jacob....the people of Jacob....not the man Jacob....I associate it with the church....and when I read of Israel....I think of the Jewish people today....however many God has willed....who have not as of yet....found their redemption in Jesus Christ....but rather it points to a redemption that will come! "Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel" (Romans 9:6) So when I read...Jacob....in prophecy...anywhere in Scripture....my mind first goes to God speaking to us....the church. It is a hard habit to break....and to be truthful....I'm not sure that I want to break it.
Israel was about to fall....Judah would be next. Secular America is about to fall today....along with the world.....and unbelieving Israel....and Micah is as speaking to the true church today....the remnant....that is where the hope and deliverance comes in....this is where Israel will see its salvation.
"He will again have compassion on us; and will subdue our iniquities....You will cast all our sins....Into the depths of the sea, You will give truth to Jacob....And mercy to Abraham....Which you have sworn to our fathers....From days of old." (the last two verses of Micah)
Note: The title of this post is....Micah 3:1.
