One Hour. One Book: Micah

the time was between about 7:40 and 7:20 and during that time a number of things were happening a very important strong Assyrian ruler by the name of tiglath-pileser the third had made his way all we always refer to him in school as TP 3 but he was making his way into the country and he took places like Koosh or in the north and eventually making it making his way towards Samaria between him and Ashurbanipal and later Sennacherib these three come in waves and basically sack the northern kingdom and wipe out 46 Judean cities during the time when that is rising from everywhere from about 750 onward there's almost the hoofbeats of the coming of a war in the background of the book and so Isaiah Micah and Hosea will all be part of a triad of writers during this time and prophets during this time his name mija mija is like it's literally who is like you that's what it is and it's sometimes mica Yahoo or Micaiah in the Bible it's the same name who is like but it was like Yahweh who was like God mica is a an interesting prophet because he gives us probably the earliest complete messianic picture the two prophets that are going to give you very good looks at Messiah that come from the divided Kingdom period include Isaiah who will give you a very good description of what Messiah will come and be like and mica or Micah and really there are four rounds of judgment these are four Oracle's for testimonials of coming judgment but at the end of each one there's a messiah statement so remember any jeez I showed you there was like what was going on and then a response a god response it this is set up in that same way so for instance I'm gonna do this like it's a four round fight okay round one is essentially one one two two thirteen and it's the first of the auricles but what's interesting in it is that when you look very closely at 212 and 213 these are actually messianic statements Messiah statement number one is in 212 and 213 it's part of the Oracle but it's specifically concerning the description of Messiah that should tell you that as a study do you remember how you asked me to email to you the conclusions of Ecclesiastes the study if you want to know about Messiah you can see the article 1 you can see each of the Oracle's of judgment but if you want to know God's solution in Messiah you're going to need to look at the other part of the the actual stories so let's look at two things we actually want our eyes to see two different things so we're gonna look across and see not only the Oracle but also the Messianic statement does that make sense so there's essentially two sets of messages here there's the the message concerning why God is judging and in specific as this incredible army is approaching and the hoofbeats are beating in the background you want to have a sense that something's going on so the judgment that comes has to be explained but there's also that messianic claim that is made for different times that gives you a little bit of hope in the background of the book by the way at the beginning of Micah in your Bible I would write down Jeremiah 2618 Jeremiah 26 18 because beyond Micah 1 1 we don't know a lot about except from for the fact that he's from Morissette which is probably morash with gas it's probably in Judah and that Jeremiah 26 18 gives you just a little bit more background on him that's all we really have so what I want you to see is 734 232 taketh police' comes and there's a wave coming at them and and you can see that in second Kings 15 when we get a little further in second Kings you'll see this wave occur but then again there's another wave in 722 21 in which the Northern Kingdom Falls and finally in 701 a third wave when Sennacherib comes to take Jerusalem but doesn't get it and leaves behind archaeologically Sennacherib prism which is a big prism that says i concerning Jerusalem I locked them up like a bird in the cage which meant I didn't take them it was a way of telling the hometown folks I didn't win that war it was a nice way to say it like I really laid siege against them of course I didn't win but that's beside the point and so we'll be looking at some of those stories let's go down to chapter one and take a quick look at some of the judgment and let me say that 1 1 2 to 11 for me the upper box here until you get to the first messianic statement I would simply put the words the need to judge why judge why is God going to judge his people and there's an introduction with a judgement of Samaria and Jerusalem listen to this the word of the Lord came to me father of Marussia in the days of Yotam of Hots has akia kings of Judah which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem hero peoples all of you listen o earth and all it contains and let the Lord God be a witness against you the Lord from his holy temple so when you start off this he starts off and he says it in a poetic way but is it is there any doubt that Makka is claiming to give God's Word does it sound at all like he's going you know I was just thinking no he comes out of the gate with as a witness against you and he's doing it from his holy temple in other words and now God's Word and then he goes on and says behold the Lord is coming forth from his place he will come down and tread on the high places of the earth the mountains will melt under him the valleys will be split like wax before the fire like water poured down on a steep place he says God is going to come and when he lands he will leave a footprint you will know he was here there is something big and dramatic and it's about to happen and why is it going to happen Circle in verse 105 the word rebellion because of the rebellion of Jacob and the sins of the house of Israel what is the rebellion of Jacob is it not Samaria what is the high place of Judah is it not Jerusalem so he starts off and he says I'm gonna do this for rebellion but he defines the rebellion as idolatry circle the word high place in verse five in other words because of the false worship rebellion in the form of religious worship that doesn't represent a real relationship with me and then he goes on and he says for I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country planting places for a vineyard he says I'm gonna take the organized city that was built up at Samaria during the divided Kingdom this nice organized powerful city and I'm gonna scatter its stones and turn it into a natural vineyard you're about to get stomped and by the way within a few years that's exactly what would happen it would be turned back into fallow ground as the people would be carted away in Assyria so he says he says I will pour her stones into the valley I will lay bare her foundations all of her idols will be smashed you can underline all of her idols and relate it back to her rebellion which is her false religion which is her idolatry all her earrings will be burned with I'm sorry all her earnings will be burned with with fire and all her images will be made desolate and she and she collected them from the harlots earnings and to the earnings of a harlot they will return now he makes a reference that should make you think of Hosea a contemporary prophet now here he's doing something he's talking about the Jewish people and he's saying that you have collected up in Temple remember Temple equals Bank in the ancient period you've collected up in your temples essentially the earnings that come from from whoredom as far as idolatry is concerned now he goes on and he says I'm because of this I will I must lament and wail I must go barefoot and naked I must make a lament like the Jackals and a mourning like the ostriches I don't know if you know this some of you I'm not sure where we're gonna stay when we're in the Galilee but there are a number of ostrich farms near the Sea of Galilee ostriches can make a horrendous sound peacocks and ostriches are the two that you just don't want to be around when they're not happy and so he uses this term now here's what he says in verses 1 to 7 he says look I just need to introduce you that Samaria and Jerusalem are about to undergo judgment and I want you to understand that I'm gonna lament the coming of this wrath because what happens to godly people is that they're also affected by the nation's sin this is a prophet who gets up and says you don't understand your sin is gonna ruin my children's lives and and and right now you should be able to understand that concept for her wound is incurable it has come to Judah it has reached the gate of my people even to Jerusalem he says it may have started in the North this idolatry but it's reached Jerusalem and it's corrupted even the most important places where God is being worshipped he says tell it not in Gath weep not at all at Beit la Ofra he's he's using some very specific beta's house leah fra that to dust the house to dust at the place of the house of dust roll yourself in the dust he's saying go to the place where we where you get the ashes to put on your body for sackcloth and ashes roll in it go on your way inhabitants as of Shaffir which is the word for beauty it's a it's a place for I want you to go to this place of beauty and I want you to grab on to shameful nakedness the inhabitant the inhabitants of Zone on Orton on is a city and Judah does not escape the lamentation of bait at sell and here he's using a name another name from a place from Judah he says now at the in lamentation of bait that cell will take you from its support okay here's what I'm trying to say it started in Samaria and it was okay when it was up there but now it reached Jerusalem and now it's actually corrupted the inside of the worship center and all of us are going to lament because all of us are going to play a pay a price he says for the inhabitants of morote become weak waiting for good look at that phrase in verse 12 he says that there are godly people that are going to lament because their world is going to go south because because of the way pagan people and people without a right heart for God have taken over the system but then he goes on and he says there's a lot of people that are growing weaker and weaker and weaker waiting for good because the calamity has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem he says listen when people don't walk with God when the when the bastions of our faith are shaken by all kinds of erosion in what they're teaching then people who have a heart for God start getting weaker and that weakening literally robs the church of its vitality or in this case the Jewish people of their vitality harnessed the chariot to the team of horses o inhabitants of lucky SH she was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion because in you were found the rebellious acts of Israel there or you will give parting gifts on behalf of mirages gasps the houses of axe XIV will become a deception to the kings of Israel about different cities and villages and how they participated in this rising paganism if we knew them if we knew these communities we could even talk about different let's say Church communities where we started to see deception rising it's the kind of sense that he's giving to it then he says this moreover I will bring on you the one who takes possession o inhabitant of Marussia the glory of Israel will enter a deulim do you remember where a deulim showed up in our text before Adam was actually a Canaanite words from a Canaanites city but do you remember then the cave of a deulim was one of the places that David hid he says make yourself bald cut off your hair because of the children of your delight extend your baldness like that of the eagle for they will go from you into exile he says I want you to understand that there's coming a time when you will be stripped and humbled and led away and I want you to get ready because it's about to happen in your life now one of the things he goes on to say is in the beginning of chapter 2 I want you to see three charges and their penalties and see why it is I'm gonna do this and the first one he mentions is in fact greed woe to those who scheme iniquity who work out evil on their beds when morning comes they they do it for it is in the power of their hands these are people who are planning or plotting and what are they plotting look at verse 2 they covet fields and seize them these are people who because of their greed are plotting ways to take the land out of the hands of other people to acquire their goods we would call that an economy right the whole idea of getting the money out of your pocket and put it in mine these are people who are working extra hours in the wee hours of the morning plotting and scheming to figure out how to get your stuff out of your hands and and they covered fields they seized them houses and they take them away they a man and his house a man and his inheritance they have no sense of shame about stealing what's yours this is the person who's crafting and plotting identity theft they're gonna steal your stuff this is the person who's planning that virus so they can get on your computer so they can control and get your stuff and steal your bank account these are people who are deliberately out of greed stealing and he goes on and he says it's not only greed it's also theft and it's not only theft but keep going therefore says the Lord I am planning against this family a calamity from which you cannot remove your necks and you will not walk haughtily for it will be an evil time on that day they will take up against you a taunt and an utter a bitter lamentation and say we are completely destroyed he exchanges the portion of my people how he removes it from me - the apostate he apportions our fields he says what's coming on you is the judgment where someone's gonna come in and you've been taking from each other and now I'm gonna send a big power to come in and take it all away from you and you're all gonna go we don't have anything to defend us you did it to each other and now I'm going to let it happen from the outside and then he says therefore verse 5 you will have no one stretching a measuring line for you by lot in the Assembly of the Lord do not speak out so they speak out but if they do not speak out concerning these things were approaches will not be turned back he says there's a there's a another thing I want to say about what's gonna happen there's going to be a compromise of truth there's gonna be in verse 6 he says do not speak out so they speak out but if they do not speak out concerning these things were approaches will not be turned back he's saying I want you to understand there's coming a time when you won't be able to be trusting what you're hearing even from your leaders you can't imagine that happening can you a time when people who lead you will tell you things that aren't true deliberately they will actually falsify what you know how can what's that so this would be the third charge I would say the third charge here is a compromise of truth or open lying or hiding now here's the thing you get all the way down and he says is it being said Oh house of jacob is the Spirit of the Lord impatient are these his doings do not my words do good to the one who walks uprightly recently my people have arisen as an enemy you strip the robe off the garment from unsuspecting passers-by from those returned from war the women of my people you evict each one from her pleasant house and her children you take from her children you take my splendor forever arise and go for this there is no place of rest because of the uncleanness that brings on destruction a painful destruction he sort of he summarizes and he says you are taking advantage of people you can't be trusted you hurt people you steal their stuff and you're gonna wonder why judgment is coming remember this whole first Oracle is judgment judgment it's coming you're gonna lose City after City after City that your children are going to be taken away and it's because of the way you're behaving the moral and ethical compromises are leading them to judgment and the Prophet says I need to give you an explanation of the reason why it's leading you to judgment now one of the things you have to understand is that this particular piece of literature gives you something that's very very tough to understand when you read it on the surface I want you to drop your eyes down to verse 11 and 12 and 13 in 11 he wraps up his indictment he says if a man walking after the after wind and falsehood had told lies and said I will speak out to you concerning this wine and liquor he would be a spokesman to this people he said if a guy gets up and sells you snake oil you guys will make him a celebrity you don't even understand truth anymore you don't even know how to evaluate whether what you're being told is true anymore you've totally lost track of the moral compass I gave you that's what he saying now when you get to 12 and 13 there's a relief coming because right about now you ought to feel like I've been beating on you you got to be feeling like oh there's greed oh oh there's there's theft oh there's corruption oh there's lying and you feel kind of bad and then he says I want to offer you a glimpse of hope the problem with this glimpse of hope is it's not easy to see you're gonna have to be able to go a little bit wider when you see it okay verses 12 and 13 I will surely assemble all of you Jacob that is all the Jewish people I will surely gather the remnant of Israel that is those who are torn away out of Israel I will put together like sheep in the fold like a flock in the midst of its pasture they will be noisy with men he said there's coming a time when you're going to be judged but there's also coming a time when Messiah will gather all of you together this is a messianic claim that God is going to pull together and that that although they have been scattered they'll be noisy in the pen meaning there's yeah yeah and you know lots of them stopped in the pen and stuff close together now here's where it gets very difficult there's a word in verse 13 that I need you to circle verse 13 the breaker goes up before them they break out pass through the gate and go out by it so their King goes before them and the Lord at their head the last part of the verse so the King goes before them and the Lord at their head is a Hebrew couplet in a couplet the second half equals the first half in other words he says the King goes before them and the King is also the Lord at their head they're the same one equals the other in the couplet okay this is a comparative couplet sometimes you have a contrastive couplet where the first half says the opposite of the second half but it means the same thing like everybody went and the second half of the couplet and no one was left behind it the same thing but it's the it's two contrasting views of the same thing okay here's what I want you to see circle the word breaker because the word breaker is the word Paulette's this is an important concept and when you look at the word clorets I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 11 poor rats means that when you want to get sheep out of a pen how do you do it well all you really need to do is kick a part of the wall down the first one will go through and then they'll start going through and they'll push the wall down as they go the first ones the breech maker the second one comes through after okay what I want you to understand is this is a title this is a messianic passage and in the New Testament they use a style of teaching that is called remiz Ramez is the Hebrew word for hint what my wife says I do not take well a hint meaning a remiz is when you go in later on and mention a portion of a known portion to recall an idea let me give you an example let's say Elly's over here and Tiffany and Ellie have to share a piece of paper because somebody didn't bring paper and Elias taking all the paper and she won't give Tiffany any of the paper because you know her and you know what she's like and so I turned to her and I say thunder her it's like God so loved the world it's God so loved the world that he did what so what am I saying to do give her the paper now I didn't say give her the paper and if you don't know the quote what I said didn't have anything to do with what was happening that's a remiz you read in the New Testament a quote from the old that doesn't seem to have anything to do with what's going on Jesus and Paul both do it extensively it will drive you crazy but you have to know two things in order to understand what they're saying you have to know the passage and you have to know how the passage was cut in the Hebrew Scriptures so for instance if I quote from Genesis and I'm the Apostle Paul and I quote from Genesis okay how was Genesis originally divided you know this he was originally divided he'll originally a prologue 1 1 2 2 3 and then 10 Toula do't this is the account of Scrolls this is the story of this is the story of so when I quote a portion of a portion it represents that whole scroll I may give you a portion from verse 3 but the part point that I'm making is in verse 27 now how is it you would know that because you all went to school you didn't take books home from school how did you learn you memorized and that's how everybody knew it so I could start a sentence for God so loved the world and everybody here can finish it why because you memorized it but in the biblical world they memorized whole tracts of scripture and the reason that Jesus uses Deuteronomy more often than any other place is it's the first thing you learned so I can say I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the and I know that you're going to know it's to the democracy to the state now you're gonna know what idea is okay biblically speaking this is what they learned they had one scroll in town of Genesis at the synagogue how'd you do your homework you memorized it that's how you got so they did teacher teacher teacher student student student teacher teacher teacher student students stood and they went back and forth and drill and skill until they went home and could do their homework based on their memory now because of that expect a remiz to show up in the New Testament because everybody went to the same Sabbath schools the same synagogues were training them all go to Matthew chapter 11 turn in your Bible there and when you get to Matthew 11 you're in a pain saij that relates to Messiah because it's in the New Testament but specifically it relates to the forerunner of Messiah John the Baptizer and I want you to notice that when it says this is Jesus talking about John this is Messiah talking about the forerunner who came before him his cousin John and he says in verse 11 of chapter 11 truly I say to you among those born of woman there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist yet the one who is at least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he what does that mean it means he had the privileged position of announcing Messiah which made him unique in all the earth like Joseph was the first one to call Jesus salvation John was the first one to publicly proclaim behold the lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world but the problem is he is already going to be locked up and killed before the king shows all his cards so you know more than John ever knew about the deity and position of Jesus Christ you and the kingdom no more than John did because he died before he got to see it in other words he was greatest among his fellows but he's least when it comes to people later who will know things he can't know okay now follow the line verse 12 from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent men take it by force well it's it might look like he's saying you know that they're locking them up in prison and you know they're all you know the politics politicians are all against this but actually what it says is this all the prophets and the law prophesied until John and if you're willing to accept it John himself is Elijah who has come I want you to see that the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence is a is a rique rendered version I believe of this of breaching or breaking it seems to me and by the way in that in the Hebrew version of the passage in the New Testament it's a little clearer but it seems to me what he's saying is there was already an opportunity for you to know about this there was a breach maker coming from the king from the time the breach maker brought the breach until now the kingdom was proclaimed the problem is if you take any New Testament scholar they will give you ten verse ten lines to try and explain this verse because it's so hard to translate you know what I think the problem is I think what he was doing was causing calling a remiz of something from before I think next to chat verse twelve I would write Micah chapter two verse thirteen because I think Micah 2:13 is the breach maker the violence he's talking about is that the kingdom suffers violence that's not how I would translate that at offer at all it's actually the it forces its way through breaches is actually what the Greek says the kingdom forces its way through breaches here's what I think I think that Micah promised that Messiah was going to come but that one would go before him that would force the breach open and then he would come through and behind him many sheep would follow I think Jesus is referring back to that and I think the New Testament translator unfamiliar with the remiz is struggling to find a way to translate the passage to make sense when it doesn't actually make any sense if you don't refer back to the original passage the actual Greek translation into English of this passage is labored the way you're reading it that's not the way you would translate that passage that's tuned in and go back to Micah and this time we're gonna pick up the second Oracle and if the first article was you know what yeah I need to judge you guys because you guys have been pulling on some some greed and some theft and some compromise of truth and lying I need to judge you the second judgment the second round to which you'll find in 3 1 all the way to 4:8 is that the leaders will be held in special scrutiny if if God is gonna judge let's say now if God is going to judge his church he's gonna judge the leaders of that church more harshly and more severely James says it this way stop being so many teachers for theirs is the greater condemnation if you don't want your life more carefully inspected by God then don't be a leader because leaders take double shots that's what happens look at verse look at verse 1 of chapter 3 and I said here now heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel underlined the word heads of rulers he's talking about leadership here is it not for you to know justice is it not the job of the leader to know the difference between right and wrong it's not it's not all the followers I'm coming after it's you guys who were supposed to know the difference you who hate good and love evil what a description that is and then you see in verse 4 then they will cry out to the Lord but he will not answer them instead he will hide his face from them at that time because they have practiced evil deeds so it's interesting it you can see in verse 4 that they cry out to the Lord but he doesn't answer so one of the things that are going on is their standards are set aside they become cruel but also there's a distance from God thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray when they have something to bite with their teeth they cry peace but against him who puts nothing in their mouths they declare holy war so they'll fight at the first bite they get they'll run around going peace peace peace but the first time the first time that they look at some situation that's not going to be of any benefit to them at all they'll cry out war and then he says therefore it will be night for you without vision darkness for you without divination that is God's direction the Sun will go down on the prophets and the day will become dark over them the seers will be ashamed and the divin errs will be embarrassed indeed they all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God they'll seek God and they won't hear from them you know the Bible teaches that if you lay on yourself the wrong standard and follow after that wrong standard you can cry out to God to try and get him to speak and he will withhold his voice so one of the things you should know is that when you are when you're not yielded to God you'll still read your Bible but it won't mean anything you won't be able to get you won't be able to shake loose what he's talking about so it says on the other hand I am filled with power with the Spirit of the Lord and with justice and courage to make known to Jacob his rebellious act even to Israel his sin so the Prophet says it's not that God isn't speaking it's not that nobody has truth it's that you don't I'll tell you what he's saying what he's saying is you're all lying that's what he's saying now hear this heads of the house of Jacob I underlined heads of the house of Jacob because again he's moved from the rulers in verse one through four to the prophets in verses five through eight now back to the heads of the house of Jacob and rulers it says rulers of the house of Israel who abour justice and twist everything that is straight that's a great phrase you take something simple and you twist it around I don't know if you've ever actually spent any time reading law but there's a lot of the time when it honestly I knew a lot about it till I read it read the law then I almost couldn't figure out what it was that we were talking about do you know that you can over complicate things to the point where you could say what's untrue and nobody would know I think we live in a day of such incredible blustery complexity that everything befuddled us even when it's simple even when it's as simple as this is right this is wrong we turn it into this convoluted but there's so many details involved and we overload and lose the simplicity of right and wrong it's interesting he says that what's underlying it is that they for justice they don't want justice they want to twist things look at verse 11 her leaders pronounced judgment for a bride her priests instruct for a price and her prophets divine for money that is everybody's on the take you're not gonna believe this but you know what one of the problems of ancient Judah was their televangelists were in it for money that's hard to believe isn't it people using religion to get rich and that's exactly what it he says come on he said it's not the Lord in our myths calamity will not come upon us this is people going no everything's going to be fine we're just we're just loving the Lord and he's just blessing us they're fleecing people he says and he says therefore on account of you Zion will be a plowed field Jerusalem will be a heap of ruins and the mountain of the temple will become a high places of a forest you should know by the way that on the Temple Mount were always planted trees he said one day that's all it'll be is just trees even today when you go up there when you see that golden Dome of the rock all around it are trees that platform was was not fully covered large gardens were left in it now the bottom line here is he says listen you leaders you prophets you speakers you're all on the take now what's the resolution what do you do messianic claims so for one through eight gives you a breath of fresh air Messiah okay it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of mountains how do I know this is messianic what changed in verse one from what we've been talking about all the way through chapter three there's no more judgement in the sentence and he tells you when it's going to happen at the end in the last days many nations will come and say come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob that he may teach us about his ways and that we may walk in his path for from Zion we'll go forth the law even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem he will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty distant nations then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation will not lift up sword against nation and never again will they train for war notice the last days never again watch these words this means at the very end of human history at the last time whatever that time is we're gonna I'm gonna jump spoiler alert millennium I'm gonna jump to the kingdom where the king is righteous in Jerusalem and all the nations are coming up and learning righteousness from him that's he's talking about a Millennial Kingdom he's talking about a a 1000 year Kingdom where the Messiah sits on the throne and actually rules and Nations come up and say this other nations doing this and Jesus says all right this is the truth this is right you're wrong you're right you give him back this go home and they will come and and it says each of them will sit under his own vine and under his fig tree verse 4 by the way is typical Jewish prosperity what it means is you want to know what the dream of a Jewish person was in antiquity to have my own vine in my own fig tree in other words I have my own way of getting what I need I've got FIGS I've got grapes I've got my own little property here I don't need much and no one to make them afraid would you underline in verse 4 and no one to make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken though all the peoples walk each in the name of his God as for us we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever he says when this happens this is at the end of the Jewish people and this is when they are all walking with him let me give you a hint see Obadiah when Israel is holy see prophets are going to build on one another there's coming a day in the future that there will be no more shame Joel says where the Jewish people will all be holy where Romans 11 says all Israel will be saved where Micah chapter 4 verses 1 through 8 say all the nations will come up to Israel and all of them will see that that their God is sitting on the throne of juror of Jerusalem on David's throne as it was promised and he's gonna cut between right and wrong there's nothing metaphoric here he's talking about a future for a people let's go to the second half of this book now for nine two five five gives us the judgment round three King knowwhat's judgment round three this is all about what happens when people allow falsehood to become the norm when everybody thinks everybody's lying that nobody's listening now why do you cry out loudly is there no king among you has your counsellor perished that agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth he says listen what's happening is you have lost your leadership defining voice because you guys won't even tell the truth when when people speak one way but live another everybody knows that's what they're doing and there's no longer any reason to listen to them on that subject so he says writhes and labor to give birth daughter of Zion like a woman in childbirth for now you will go out to the city dwell in the field you will go to Babylon there it is you're gonna be taken away this is by the way before Babylon is a thing Babylon is a city and it's an important one but but nineveh's the problem right then so he's jumped all the way out to Babylon he says there you will be rescued there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies much much later they will go to Babylon and from Babylon they will be redeemed and brought back in and God already made that clear here's what's interesting you'll see I would right next to verse well have a cook one five through 11 have a cook one 5 through 11 listen to this verse 11 and now many nations have been assembled against you who say let her be pollute polluted let her eyes gloat over Zion but they do not know the thoughts of the Lord and they do not understand his purpose he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor arise Thresh daughter of Zion for your horn I will make iron and your holds I will make bronze that you may pulverize many peoples that you may devote to the Lord their unjust gain and their wealth to the Lord of all the earth he says I want you to know something I want you to know that I'm gonna call the nations together Babylon and her friends are at the door and I want you to respond and gather up the people because there's coming a time when I'm going to strengthen the Jewish people and they're gonna tread down those who have tread down them that's going to happen now muster yourselves in troops daughter of troops God's calling in the nation's they have laid siege against us with a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek but as for you Bethlehem Ephrata too little to be among the clans of Judah from you one that is Messiah will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth are from long ago from the days of eternity he says I want you to the nations are going to gather against you I'm gonna call them to gather against you oh by the way did I tell you that little town of Bethlehem I'm gonna raise up the one who is the eternal one the one from the everlasting time so Messiah comes into this in verses 2 through 5 look at the Masonic statement what he says is therefore he will give them up verse 3 until the time when she who is in labor has born a child then the remainder of his brethren will return to the sons of Israel he says I'm gonna bring Messiah then I'm going to bring and gather Israel subsequent to messiahs coming after Messiah is born and by the way there's huge gaps in time here he just doesn't see them after Messiah is born later than that I will return the sons of Israel and then verse 4 he will arise and Shepherd his flock this is the party hasn't done yet he's been born the people of Israel will be gathered and he will Shepherd in the strength of the Lord in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God and they will remain because at that time he will be he will be great to the ends of the earth this one will be our peace he's talking about Messiah so he jumps all the way to the last day again now we're back at the last day I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna be born I'm gonna come to Bethlehem I'm gonna be the child but that's not my beginning I come from the days of everlasting but I'm born here but then he says oops jump to the last days I'm gonna gather my people and I'm gonna be their King and I'm gonna have majesty over them and I don't think that Micah ever knew that he's like looking at this time then he's looking at this time then he's looking at this time then he's looking at this time I don't think he knows I think he's saying what God told him to say but the intricacy of the plan of God is written all over this God's thumbprint is on this now let's go and try to summarize what do you see here what's that upper box about it seems to me that this is the loss of a voice they have no voice why because they've become so unstable in what they're saying that their leadership has no proper and appropriate voice God is going to call the nation's so he begins to build a war theme he's gonna call the nation's to surround Israel but then down here we've got we've got woman we've got birth we've got King mite we've got judge all of this he doesn't know there's a huge amount of time between those two he has no idea he just knows that Messiah is gonna come that he's gonna be born in Bethlehem that he's gonna be born of a woman but that's not his beginning he was already from the ages before then here's the thing it's right there but it's not it's so clear but it's not be a Jew and take the New Testament out this isn't that easy to read is it could could you have gotten out of that what you know now because of the progressive revelation of the New Testament no it's in have a little bit of sympathy for the Jewish person who's looking at this going I don't get it we're gonna see this by the way in very complete terms if you think this one's clear wait till Isaiah where he pulls it out in 50 verses and says and then they strip him down and then they beat him and then they kill him and then they deride him I mean he he goes and he does in the description that sounds like the day after Jesus but it's not in fact if I give a Jewish friend of mine Isaiah 53 to read out loud and I say to him tell me what this is what store who do you think this is about they'll say well here this looks like it's about Jesus I don't know anything about this because they've never actually read it it comes out of Isaiah I want to tell them that they feel that naw that's that's not I just gave you the Hebrew version of what Isaiah said and you told me it was about Jesus how did that happen it's interesting because it's happened to me more than once it's very very startling how clear the prophets are if you know the story now let's go to the last box define the announcement of round four he goes to a greater detail and he comes back and wants to revisit the sins of the people and so he goes in five five second half of five notice that this one will be our peace period and then there's a space do you see it so for some reason they kept the same verse but it's actually a different Oracle this is the fourth Oracle and it begins and the second half of verse five it says when the Assyrian invades our land when he tramples on our Citadel's then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight leaders of men they will Shepherd the land of Assyria with the with the sword the land of Nimrod at its entrances the land and and he will deliver us from Assyrians and and when he attacks our land when he tramples our territory then the remnant of jacob will be among many peoples like Dew from the Lord like showers on vegetation which do not wait for man or delay the sons of men he says listen what's gonna happen is the the Syrians are gonna come down on us we're gonna end up getting scooped up by them and dumped in with lots of other people and there's going to be lots of us and there's gonna be no way that we can stop it and then it says in verse eight the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations among many peoples like a lion among the beasts of the forest it's interesting did you notice that you put Jews together with everybody else and they rise to the top they'll be like lions among beasts they'll just rise to the top how do I know we'll look at the world economy how do I know we'll look at Hollywood how do I know look at Wall Street you don't see Jewish names all over the place you're not looking like a young lion among the flocks of sheep this is the rise of the Jewish people that's what he's talking about we're gonna get scattered but that doesn't mean you're not going to notice us we're gonna keep rising to the top like cream then it says which if he passes through tramples down in tears and there is none to rescue your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries and all your enemies will be cut out now can you sort of feel that when he gets to verse 9 eventually God is going to bring your people victory that's what verse 9 says eventually God is going to bring your people victory but then he says the real victory will come in cleaning up the greed the self will and the idolatry it's not going to come financially it's gonna come spiritually look what he says in that day declares the Lord I will cut off your horses from among you and your destroy your chariots I will cut off the cities of your land I will tear down your fortifications I will cut off your sorceries underline that one from your hand and you will have fortune tellers underlying that one no more I will cut off your carved images your sacred pillars from among you so that you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands I will root out your asherim from among you and destroy your cities and I will execute vengeance and wrath and anger on the nations which have not obeyed he says listen there is coming a great day for you but it won't be because of your army your army will be broken it won't be your tanks those will break it will be because I will break the back of all the things that have been standing between you and me real victory doesn't occur when you're the most prosperous nation it doesn't occur when you're the strongest nation with the biggest military real victory occurs when your nation is on its knees before me and has surrendered to me that's victory and anything short of that anything short of that is not going to make you ultimately strong I'm going to use the nations verse 15 to purify you that's what I'm gonna do and the Lord makes one final statement of his case you see it here now what the Lord is saying arise plead your case before the mountains this is the Lord pleading his final case against them listen you mountains to the indictment of the Lord and you enduring foundations of the earth because the Lord has a case against his people even with Israel he will dispute my people what have I done to you how have I wearied you answer me this is God speaking to his people saying hey hey you treat me this way what did I do to you answer me I want to hear it I brought you up from the land of Egypt i ransomed you out of the house of slavery i sent before you Moses and Aaron and Miriam my people remember now what Balak the king of mob counseled and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him and from two Gilgal so that you might know the righteous acts of the Lord look at what I did for you I walked you through the history we we have studied together chapter after chapter of God's superintending of a that would have were fouled up a 2-car parade they did not do this on their own and he says look at what I've done for you I've given you everything and you answer me back this way this is what you do with with what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high do you hear a change in tone now the prophet speaks and he says looking at our history what should I bring to the Lord shall I come to him with burnt offerings with yearling calves does the Lord take the light in the thousand Rams in ten thousand rivers of oil shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul that's a great line you want to underline that one should I give him the fruit of the my body for the sin of my soul put a box around verse eight it's a profound blessed deep rich statement he has told you oh man what is good and what the Lord requires of you to do justice to love kindness and to walk in resolute humility before your God the voice of the Lord will call to the city and it's sound wisdom for you to to fear your name hero tribe who is appointed it's time is there yet a man in the wicked house along with treasures of wickedness in a short measure that is cursed can I justify wicked scales and a bag of deceptive weights you greedy people who are running greedy things on the side that you economically imbalanced cheaters for the rich men of the city are full of violence her residents speak lies and their tongue is deceitful in their mouths you're all a bunch of liars you're cheating each other left and right you're all a bunch of liars so I will also make you sick striking you down desolating you because of your sins right next to verse 13 first Corinthians 11 do you remember first Corinthians 11 some of you are sick in the church because of the way you've behaved to one another in the body of Christ that God will actually bring sickness to his people as a way of chastising them therefore I will give you up for destruction and your inhabitants for derision and you will hear the reproach of my people woe is me for I am like the fruit picker like the great gatherers there is not a cluster of grapes to eat or a first ripe fig which I crave he says we're going into a time that because you are not going to give up your sinfulness and your new morality I'm going to strip you down to where you don't have hardly anything left the godly person has perished from the land there's no upright person among them all of them lie in wait for bloodshed each of them hunts the other with a trap with a net he says what's going to happen is eventually the the godly people will be silenced and snuffed out and pushed away because you have decided that you want to adopt evil and you will not allow them to be part of you concerning evil both hands will learn to do it well that's a great expression concerning evil you you'll be it you'll be ambidextrous with your evil you can do it on both hands the Prince asks also the judge for a bribe and a great man speaks the desire of his soul so they weave it together he says the rich people will buy their own justice everybody will be looking for bribes and nobody will be honest the day when you post your watchman your punishment will come then your confusion will occur now here's I have three words written next to verse five trust no one do not trust in a neighbor do not have confidence and a friend for from her who lies in your bosom guard your lips watch the person you're sleeping with keep one eye open at all times for son treats father contemptuously daughter rises up against her mother and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law a man's enemies are the men of his own household I want you to put next to that Matthew 10 Jesus is going to refer back to this he's gonna say there's coming a day when the Jewish people will be in such tough situation that they will be their own enemy they will turn on their own families but as for me he says I will watch expectantly for the Lord would you look at verse 7 for a second I will watch expectantly for the Lord I will wait for the God of my salvation my God will hear me put a box around verse 7 stop and contemplate this in the face of an ever-growing coldness in the nation what was his response to spend hours on Facebook enraged at what people are doing wrong no here's what he did I'm gonna spend hours looking at you you'll hear me the right place to take your frustration over what's happening in the nation is God and by the way waiting Kalaa is wrapping your strength around my weakness it is a very tough thing to do I'm gonna bring my frustration and my anger to you Lord and I'm gonna watch for you and I'm gonna allow you to take your strength and wrap it around my weakness and I'm gonna be exhausted after an hour of waiting before you verse 8 do not rejoice over me o my enemy though I fall I will rise though I dwell in darkness the Lord is light for me he says pull the curtain down it doesn't matter I got God and you're not taking him you can cut me down to anything you can take away everything I have but you cannot stop me I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I've sinned against him not because you have I will not go into feeling I'm being stripped down because of other people I will realize I deserve nothing this guy's got such a great attitude Psalm 51 verse 4 1st chronicles 21 these are these are statements of the same idea until he pleads my case and executes justice for me he bring me out to the light and I will see his righteousness I want you to stop for a second and I want you to see that that by the time you get down to the very end of this he has emptied his heart and he says then my enemy will see and shame will cover her who said to me where is the Lord your God my eyes will look on her and at that time she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets there are going to be those who will stick their face finger in my face and tell me my God doesn't exist you know what this sounds like it sounds like second Peter it sounds like where is the sign of his coming and and and Peter says have you forgotten the flood wait a minute the Lord is not slack concerning his promises as some men count slackness but is patient toward all men he says it will be a day when they come to you from Assyria the cities of Egypt Egypt even to the Euphrates from c2c mountain to mountain and the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants on account of the fruit of their deeds he says he's talking about a time of future tribulation and destruction on the nation's that is is terrible and then he ends with the last piece look at this it's a beautiful statement Shepherd your people with your scepter what does that mean what's a scepter something a king so you're my king but you're my shepherd you see it Shepherd your people with your scepter the flock of your possession which dwells by itself in the woodland in the midst of a fruitful field let them feed and Bashan that's in the Golan Heights in Gilead that's in Jordan today as in the days of old as in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt I will show you miracles do you remember that Joel says your young men will dream dreams and your and your young women will see visions he says he comes back and says nation will see nations will see him be ashamed of their plight they will put their hand on their mouths their ears will be death look at verse 16 what does it sound like the coming a time in your future Israel there's coming a time when nations will be ashamed of their own might they will put their hand on their mouth and on their ears will be deaf but God's not done because this ends with a king with a scepter who's a shepherd who's gathering them who is like you who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of his possession he does not retain his anger forever because he delights in unchanging love he will again have compassion on us he will tread our iniquities underfoot yes you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea you will give truth to Jacob unchanging love to Abraham which you swore to our fathers from the days of all it ends with no matter what happens to us in the end there will be a shepherd king and he will gather us and we will be saved we will be rescued don't lose heart I'm coming back I went away to find the place Patel and I'm me I'm coming soon so leave the light on if you're ready

Channel: One Hour. One Book.

Views: 39,663

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Id: NHx6Xx1Q1n4

Length: 64min 26sec (3866 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 27 2014