Title: Panorama of Micah
Contents
Micah's Panorama
Subject: Where Is There a God Like You? (7:18)
If we compare Micah 1:1 with Isaiah 1:1, we can see that the two prophets were established at the same time.
㉠ The book of Micah begins by saying, “Listen, all peoples” (1:2). The book of Isaiah begins by saying, “Hear, O heavens; give ear, O earth” (Isaiah 1:2).
㉡ As the prophet Isaiah said with tears, “It is a nation that has sinned” (Isaiah 1:4), the prophet Micah is also weeping, saying, “I will mourn and weep and mourn” (1:8). Why are you sad and weeping? Because he heard the warning of judgment, “Thus says the Lord, I plan to bring calamity upon this people” (2:3).
① First, I want you to understand the structure of the entire book of Micah. What is the problem and how is the solution presented?
㉠ Micah warns of judgment and says, “It was all because of the transgression of Jacob and the sin of Israel” (1:5). This is not a problem limited to Israel, but a problem faced by all mankind.
㉡ What is God's answer to this problem? In the final chapter, “What god is there like you? You forgive iniquity, and pass over the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance, and because you delight in kindness, you do not always harbor wrath” (7:18).
㉢ “He will again have mercy on us, and will tread our iniquities under his feet, and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (7:19), which means that He does not remember any more. This is God's answer. Here lies the hope and salvation of mankind.
② The book of Micah is divided into three parts, which are by three cycles of “warning of judgment and promise of restoration”. “Judgment” is caused by the problem of human sin, and “recovery” is the answer through God’s grace. The structure of the book of Micah is that “problem and solution” are emphasized three times over and over.
three cycles
㉠ first cycle, ㉮ warning of judgment (1:1-2:11),
㉯ The promise of restoration (2:12-13).
㉡ the second cycle, ㉮ the warning of the referee (Chapter 3),
㉯ The promise of restoration (chapters 4-5).
㉢ third cycle, ㉮ warning of judgment (6:1-7:6),
㉯ The promise of restoration (7:7-20).
③ First cycle (1-2 chapters)
㉠ Problem (1:1-2:11), “It is all because of the transgression of Jacob and the sins of the house of Israel (1:5), because his wounds cannot be healed, and they reach even to Judah, and are the gates of my people. It is also crazy about Jerusalem” (1:9).
㉮ The answer (2:12-13), “Jacob, I will surely gather you all together; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel and place them in one place (2:12). He who opens the way goes up before them, and they The king will go ahead, and the Lord will go ahead” (2:13).
④ Second cycle (3-5 chapters)
㉠ the problem (Chapter 3), “Zion builds up Jerusalem in iniquity with blood (3:10). Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become heaps, and the mountain of the temple will be like the high places of the bushes. ” (3:12).
㉮ The answer (chapters 4-5), “In that day, says the Lord, I will gather the lame, the outcasts and those whom I bring to tribulation, and the lame will become a remnant of the people (4:6), Bethlehem Ephrathah, you Out of you will come to me one who will be ruler over Israel, though it is small among the clans of Judah” (5:2).
⑤ Third cycle (chapters 6-7)
㉠ Problem (6:1-7:6), “You shall be gentle with the rod, and obey the one who appointed it (6:9). Their best is like thorns, and the most upright is more than a hedge of briers. The day of their punishment has come, and now they will be troubled” (7:4).
㉮ Answer (7:7-20), “The Lord will lead me into light, and I will see his righteousness. You turn over transgression, and because you delight in kindness, you do not always harbor wrath” (7:18).
⑥ Through these three cycles, we can see how powerful and earnest what God wants to say to us. Therefore, if the book of Micah (all the prophets) is centered on human “works”, it is bound to be judgment and destruction, but it is only in the gospel of salvation that God will solve through His Son. And we are talking through three cycles.
㉠ All the prophets have the same structure that shows destruction and hope alternately. Failure to discern this in the prophets leads to confusion, and if you miss it, you are literally just scratching the surface of the watermelon. Thus, all the prophets begin with a warning of judgment and end with a promise of restoration.
㉡ Because here is the hope of mankind. The Bible is the answer to the problem. And the “answer” is only Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the door, I am the way.” Therefore, the central theme that I want to talk about through the prophets is not teaching, but the gospel of salvation through Christ.
⑦ Then, who is responsible for being judged like this? As with all prophets, the prophet Micah mainly rebukes the errors of the leadership of his day.
㉠ First, “You chiefs of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel” (3:1) accuse the political leaders of their sins. “You hate the good, and you love evil, and you skin my people, tear their flesh from their bones, and eat their flesh” (3:2-3).
㉡ Second, accuse the prophets. “The prophet who deceives my people cries for peace when he bites them, but prepares war for those who do not fill their mouths” (3:5).
㉢ Third, accuse the priest of the sins of the priest. “A priest teaches for wages” (3:11). In 3:11, “the chief, the priest, and the prophet” are rebuked, “the chief judges for a bribe, the priest instructs for wages, and the prophet divination for money, but trust in the Lord and say, Is not the LORD among us? No calamity will come upon us.” He said, saying that all the leaders had fallen.
⑧ Despite this depravity, what is detestable is that they are selling God's name, saying, “Rather, is not the Lord among us?” Please don't use God's name.
㉠ Jeremiah says, “There are marvelous and marvelous things in this land. The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule by their own power, and my people favor it. What will you do in the end?” (Jeremiah 5:30- 31) He does.
㉡ The foolish people welcome the false prophets, and toward a prophet like Micah who speaks upright words, they say, “You shall not prophesy, for this is not prophesy, and you will not cease to swear” (2:6). It was regarded as “cursing and cursing.”
Leaders' Responsibilities
⑨ Because the leaders were responsible for this destruction, they say, “They build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity” (3:10).
㉠ “Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become heaps, and the mountain of the temple will be like the height of the bush” (3:12). This warning was to be literally fulfilled.
㉡ And this warning was repeated with the destruction of the 2nd Jerusalem, “not one stone will be left upon another, but will be destroyed” (Matthew 24:2) because of the crucifixion of Christ who had come to his land. will be Now, out of the three-fold compound revelation (the time of the prophets, the first coming of the Lord, the time of the second coming of the Lord), what will be revealed on the day of the Lord's second coming? Today's leaders must be seriously awakened through the book of Micah.
King Nazirite from Bethlehem
⑩ But Micah is not in despair. Because it prophesies that a true ruler will be born who has the mission of “king, priest, and prophet” in one body. He says that, contrary to expectations, he will be born not in Jerusalem, but in Bethlehem, a small town.
㉠ “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.” How about Bethlehem? This is because Christ is the descendant of David who promised David, and must be born in David's city.
㉡ However, He is not from Bethlehem, but says, “His origins were from ancient times” (5:2), and He says that His essence is “God from the beginning”. That's right. In Genesis 3:15, far away, he is revealed as a “descendant of the woman”, and through the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as the descendant of David of the tribe of Judah, he draws closer and closer toward us. He was clearly showing his face.
⑪ The central point of Micah is 7:18-20.
“Where is a god like you?
The Lord forgives iniquity
passing over the faults of the remnant of the inheritance,
Because you delight in kindness, you do not always harbor wrath.
He has mercy on us again, and treads our iniquities under his feet.
He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (7:18-19).
㉠ How is this possible? It is necessary to testify strongly that it is made possible through the atonement of the one who will be born in Bethlehem. On what basis does God say that He does this?
㉡ “You will show faithfulness to Jacob and show kindness to Abraham, just as you swore to our ancestors in the past” (7:20) ) to protect them, so they are showing kindness in this way.
Brother, God has faithfully kept His promises. The Bible is about how you faithfully kept the promises you made with your holiness, and preaching is to testify to this so that you can grow in knowing God, love God more, and learn to fear Him more.
Brothers, let us also praise in this way.
“You pardon our iniquities, and pass over our transgressions, and have mercy on us; you have trampled our iniquities under your feet, and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Truly, what God is like you?” Amen.