What the Lord Requires

Micah 6:1-16

Welcome! Today we are continuing our study of the book of Micah, focusing in on Chapter 6. I want to start today by reviewing briefly some aspects of the covenant God made between Himself and the people of Israel at the time of Moses. This covenant was a conditional covenant that that either could lead to God’s blessing or cursing of the people, depending on whether they kept their part of the agreement. The agreement, or Law, included the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) along with many other commands, totaling about 600 requirements, about half of them positive (things to do) and half of them negative (things to not do). Through Moses, God told them:

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse—the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses. – Deut. 11:26-29

Majestic Shepherd

Micah 5:1-15

Before we begin let’s pray and ask God not only to allow us to hear His message but to inscribe it on our hearts and memory so that we can by faith persevere in this world until He returns and sets all things right on earth again as they are in heaven.

Today we will continue our series in the book of Micah.  As you will remember in Chapter 1, Micah, speaking the words of the Lord, pronounces the coming destruction and laments that it is to be. In Chapters 2 and 3, Micah explains further the reasons for the coming destruction; in Chapter 2 the focus is on the acts of the people, on the Israelite society, and in Chapter 3 the focus is primarily on the actions of the leaders of the people. The foretold destruction did come to pass; first, the northern kingdom (Israel) fell to the Assyrians, and later, the southern kingdom (Judah) fell to the Babylonians.  In chapter 4 Micah prophesied of the coming Kingdom and as Carl mentioned the Kingdom of God is coming, but the Kingdom of God is here. It is both “now” and “not yet.” It is now because Jesus lives inside of each believer and it is not yet because His second coming will be on the clouds to reign on earth as He does in heaven. Today we are going to look at chapter 5 where the focus is on the return of "Majestic Shepherd" whose place of birth and whose future majestic reign and greatness and whose inevitable vengeance in Anger and wrath the prophet Micah was foretelling. We begin with Micah 5:1:

Come Let Us Go Up

Micah 4:1-13

Welcome! Today we will have a shorter message followed by a time of communion and then a sharing time. We have been studying the book of Micah over the past several weeks, and this week we will explore one of my favorite chapters, Chapter 4.  This chapter is in many ways a break from the first three chapters, which are prophecy and judgement against the people of Israel and Judah. In Chapter 1, Micah, speaking the words of the Lord, pronounces the coming destruction and laments that it is to be. In Chapters 2 and 3, Micah explains further the reasons for the coming destruction; in Chapter 2 the focus is on the acts of the people, on the Israelite society, and in Chapter 3 the focus is primarily on the actions of the leaders of the people. The foretold destruction did come to pass; first, the northern kingdom (Israel) fell to the Assyrians, and later, the southern kingdom (Judah) fell to the Babylonians.

But Micah Chapter 4 looks beyond these events into what was for Micah’s hearers a distant future. Micah wrote this before Christ came and died for our sins and rose from the dead. What future is Micah writing about? Well, I think the things he says don’t find their ultimate completion until Christ’s return, “soon and very soon,” as the song we sang puts it, but there is a degree to which these things are to be for us now as well. The Kingdom of God is coming, but the Kingdom of God is here. It is both “now” and “not yet.” Let’s look at the first several verses.

Den of Thieves

Micah 2:1-13

Good morning.  I hope you all are rested and ready this morning for a full strength dose of truth from God’s Word.  We’re going to continue our series through the book of Micah.  We’re in chapter 2.  God is going to deal with some specific sin areas today, especially coveting and stealing, hence today’s title, “Den of Thieves.”

A lot of the time when someone tells us they are going to tell us what they really think or they’re going to tell us the whole truth, we get a sense that bad news is on the way.  It is interesting that this week, in the How People Grow class that meets at 9:45, the chapter we discussed was on the topic of truth.  And honestly, sometimes, the truth is hard for us to hear.  Sometimes the truth can be painful to us.

However, God is the true God.  In Him, there is no darkness at all.  He is holy and righteous.  His Word is truth.  His Son, Jesus is the truth.  His Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.  But then, contrast that with the fact that God is love.  God’s love sent His Son, Jesus to the cross to suffer and die for our sins.  He has cast our iniquities into the sea.  He has separated us from our sins as far as the east is from the west.

Plague of Idolatry

Micah 1:3-16

Last week Carl set the stage for our study of Micah, putting this prophet in his historical context of the good and evil kings of Israel and Judah, the unfaithfulness of the Hebrew people in following the Lord, and the looming menace of foreign invaders. Carl noted that Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea, with a special focus on the southern kingdom of Judah – though he began his ministry before the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722-721 BC. In fact, he prophesies the destruction of Samaria in the section that we will be looking at today.

In the Biblical record, the book of Micah comes right after Jonah, which we looked at earlier this year. The main threat against Israel was the Assyrian empire, and you will recall that Jonah was sent by God to speak out against the sin of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, which led to the temporary repentance of the king and the people there. However, that didn’t last, and by the time of Micah, the Assyrians were back to their former ways and the brutal conquest of the nations around them. God intended to use them bring his judgment on the apostasy of Israel, and he provides a warning of this through his prophets.

Introduction to Micah

Micah 1:1-2

Welcome! Today we begin a new series on the book of Micah. Micah is called one of the Minor Prophets. The terms Major Prophets and Minor Prophets do not describe importance, but are simply a way to divide the Old Testament prophetic books roughly on length. The books called the Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The books called the Minor Prophets are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

Today my goal is simply to put Micah in the context of the history of Israel. As a people, the history of Israel really begins with Abraham, whom God led to a new land. God covenantally promised to bless Abraham’s descendants. The promise continued through Abraham’s son, Isaac, and then through Isaac’s son, Jacob who also was given the name Israel, and the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons became known as the twelve tribes of Israel. One of these sons, Joseph, was hated by the others and was sold by them as a slave to Egypt. However, God raised Joseph up and Joseph saved his family in a terrible famine.