Introduction
– In courtroom-like fashion, Micah summons all the nations
to witness the trial of Samaria and Jerusalem.
The accused plead their ignorance and innocence, but this Judge cannot
be deceived. The sentence is proclaimed
leaving the custodian weeping over the impending executions.
All Nations Summoned (vv2-4) – Israel was
to be a priest to the nations, proclaiming the glory and holiness of God. Instead, she has ironically become an
example to the nations of what happens to all peoples who forsake the living
God and serve idols.
“O earth”
– Like a father disciplining one of His children while the others hear from the
other room, God intends to use even Israel’s disobedience for His good
purposes. Israel is not being treated
specially, but typically. We are
required just as sure as Israel, if not more, to explicitly serve the living
God (Acts 17:30). Pluralism is not
allowed as a nations ‘official position’.
It is nothing less than idolatry.
“the Lord is coming
out of His place” – You can’t keep God in a box, in a
temple, or in pre-authorized areas of
your life, or your nation’s life. Our
temptation is to look for the photo-op, coming out of church with our Bible,
looking religious. But the Lord will be
examining our lives at the office, in the home, in all of our relationships and
responsibilities. He will be peering
into our mouths, our minds, our intentions.
Already, we should be hearing the sound of Micah 6:8.
“the
high-places…the valleys” – Every lofty, powerful place, and every
stable place, will be split open and laid bare before the eyes of God. This is the activity of the Word of God (Heb
4:12-13).
The Charges (v5) – Both kingdoms
are charged with transgression (breaking covenant) and sin (breaking
stipulations).
“Who, me?”
– The rhetorical question is asked as though the defendant claims innocence,
representative of a people who deny their sin.
Samaria has outwardly left the covenant. Judah pleads the innocence of Jerusalem, but even there, ‘high
places’ of pagan worship can be found (2 Kings 15:35). It’s not enough to call it ‘Christian’ –
this must be defined by the Word.
The Sentence Upon Samaria (vv6-7) –
Samaria will be left in a heap of ruins.
The picture is either of a dung heap, or a mound of useless material
when one cleans an area for a vineyard.
And the northern kingdom became a wild wasteland not long after.
Idols –
Idols are tangible symbols of a pagan worldview that brings with it twisted
value systems and unethical conduct (Rom 1:18-31). Calvin called the human mind “a perpetual forge of idols”. Micah pronounces the desolation of those
idols and that the wealth garnered from such worship will be taken away in the
judgment.
Do We Have
Idols? – Let’s consider our present political
races. Who is going to save social
security (our welfare)? Who is going to
save Medicare (our health and longevity)?
Who is going to save our kids from drugs and educate them (our
posterity, our worldviews, our religion)?
Who is our savior? Vote for…
Lamenting Much Closer to Home
(vv8-16) – Unlike the characteristic hellfire preacher, Micah preaches with
tears. Certainly he is following
customs of mourning, but that is not to say that he is insincere. There has been a sentence upon Samaria, but
now it moves to the Judean foothills and to the gates of his beloved
Jerusalem. We talk about the ‘exile’ as
a historical fact. Micah lived through
it.
Various Towns
– These are all towns circling around and then including
Moresheth, Micah’s hometown. The names
of the towns are used in wordplay to describe the destruction of these cities,
their inability to stop the siege of Sennacherib, and eventually, the exile of
the children of future generations (v16).
The general application of this is that the punishment fits the crime,
coming at the very character of the rebellion.
Is AIDS and VD (and abortion and no-fault divorce and homosexual
‘marriages’) a judgment from God upon a people who want their freedom from His
laws regarding morality and marriage? When we refuse to submit to scriptural boundaries for civil
government, what is the result?
Bureaucratic nightmares, scandalous extortion of money and power, theft
in the name of taxes…
Divine Wrath – Should we,
Americans, ever expect God’s wrath to be poured out upon us? Do we even believe in divine judgment
anymore? There is no justice if God is
not pouring out His holy wrath upon sin, and there is no need for a Savior unless
we need to be saved from something.
Relativistic
Society – If there are no absolutes, then there is no
absolute judgment – no hell. We live in
a society where it is unthinkable to judge someone who is ‘not hurting someone
else’. We live in a society where it is
unthinkable to believe that when someone dies they might not be going to
a better place, or have their misery relieved.
We live in a society that teaches it is unthinkable to say that Jesus
Christ is the only way to salvation.
But the fact that it is incomprehensible does not mean that it is untrue
(Luke 16:19-31). Repentance never comes
unless it is given by God (Acts 11:18).
A Trampled Church – Tempted to draw
parallels and look at Washington D.C.?
It might be a better use of our time to remember Matt 5:13. Who is supposed to be the salt of D.C.? So, if the meat is putrid, what does that
tell us about the salt? The church
refuses to speak in antithetical terms anymore. Instead, we stand on less and less truths as absolute. We are the church of relativism. We are worthy of nothing less than to be
trampled underfoot. God be merciful to
us. For when the time of judgment
comes, it will begin in the household of God (1 Pet 4:17). What are we sowing, if not for ourselves,
then for our children (Micah 1:16)? Dave
Hatcher – October 1, 2000