Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Micah 1-7

Micah 1
1 Introduction to the Prophet
  • Micah is from Moresheth
  • Prophesies of Judah and Samaria in the days of Kings:
    • Jotham (2 Kings 15:32-38; 2 Chronicles 27:1-9)
    • Ahaz (2 Kings 16; 2 Chronicles 28)
    • Hezekiah (2 Kings 18-19; 2 Chronicles 29-32)
2-7 Judgment against Samaria
  • The LORD will come from his holy place and stomp on Israel
  • He will lay waste her images, wages, and idols
8-16 Doom of the Cities of Judah
  • The sickness and crying has come to Judah.
  • Instruction to other powerful cities: Just walk on by. This disaster comes from God. (Lots of references to cities and geographical locations here that will require much more study. Such a study will probably lend significance to this judgment on Judah.)
Micah 2
1-11 Social Evils Denounced
  • Alas for those who devise wickedness; they
    • covet and take away fields
    • oppress householder and house
  • God will take away your haughtiness, and you will wail, "We are utterly ruined!"
  • You will preach "Do not preach. We will not be disgraced."
  • Yet you take advantage of innocent women and children.
  • The preacher suitable for you? One who would lie, who would preach of wine and strong drink.
12-13 Promise of a Remnant
  • I will gather your survivors, like sheep in a fold
  • Their king will pass on before them, the LORD at their head
Micah 3
1-12 Wicked Rulers and Prophets
  • To heads of Jacob and rulers of Israel
    • You hate good and love evil
    • You kill and devour my people (The language here is very vivid -- it would also describe a wild beast tearing at a victim)
    • You will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer
  • To the prophets
    • You cry peace when you have something to eat, declare war on the hungry
    • You shall see no visions, you will be disgraced, receiving no answers from God
  • Yet I am filled with power to declare this judgment on you.
  • Hear this, you whose "rulers give judgment for a bribe, whose priests teach for a price, whose prophets give oracles for money" while you claim to have God's protection
  • It's because of you that Zion will be destroyed. In so many cases, leadership is everything. I noticed in Hosea that the famous passage in Hosea, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" is an indictment on their leaders.
Micah 4
1-5 Peace and Security through Obedience
  • In the days to come (Isaiah 2:1-4 almost verbatim)
    • The mountains of the LORD's house shall be established
    • Peoples will stream to it
    • Out of Zion will go instruction, judgment, peace
  • They shall all sit under their own vines...and not be afraid
  • Others may walk in the names of their gods, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.
6-13 Restoration Promised after Exile
  • God will assemble the lame and make them the remnant
  • Jerusalem's former dominion will come
  • Like a woman in labor, you will go through Babylon, and there the LORD will rescue you
  • Others will think Zion is theirs, but they don't know the thoughts of the LORD.
Micah 5
1-6 The Ruler from Bethlehem
  • They will strike the ruler of Israel on the cheek, but from Bethlehem, the little clan:
    • Will come one who is to rule in Israel
    • Whose origin is from old
    • She who is in labor shall bring forth
    • He shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD
    • ...He shall be the one of peace
  • Seven shepherds and eight will rescue us from Assyria. More clarification needed on this statement, for sure, especially in light of the Messianic nature of the previous verses. Like so many prophecies, it possibly has two fulfillments, one physical, but the more important one spiritual and referring in some way to the church.
7-15 The Future Role of the Remnant
  • Like dew from the LORD, like a lion in the forest, whose hand will be lifted up over your adversaries
  • On that day, says the LORD, I will destroy your military force, destroy all semblance of your idolatry, execute vengeance on nations that did not obey
Micah 6
1-5 God Challenges Israel
  • The LORD has a controversy with Israel
  • What have I done to you, besides save you from Egypt, given you leaders that saved you time and again?
6-8 What God Requires
  • Burnt offerings? Thousands of rams? Your firstborn?
  • He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
9-16 Cheating and Violence to Be Punished
  • I will not forget nor tolerate wickedness, dishonesty, violence, deceit
  • Your punishment? No satisfaction from eating, no saving for the future, no reaping, no olive or grape yield.
  • Because you have followed Omri and Ahab (wicked kings of Israel - father and son, 1 Kings 16:21-34), I will make you a desolation, an object of hissing, the scorn of my people
Micah 7
1-7 The Total Corruption of the People
  • Woe is me! I have planted but cannot gather fruit: The faithful have disappeared from the land.
  • No one is upright
    • They are bloodthirsty, skilled to do evil
    • Judges and officials ask for bribes, the powerful pervert justice
    • The best of them is like a brier, a thorn hedge
  • Trust no one
    • Not your wife, not your son, daughter, or daughter-in-law
    • Your enemies are members of your own household
  • As for me, I will look to the LORD.
8-10 Penitence and Trust in God
  • Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;The LORD will lift me up
  • When he executes judgment, my enemies will be ashamed of their doubting accusations
11-17 A Prophecy of Restoration
  • Your city will once again be a city of safety, but the earth will be desolate
  • Shepherd your flock, as in the days after Egypt. The nations will stand in fear of God and of you
18-20 God's Compassion and Steadfast Love
  • God will pardon iniquity and pass over transgression
  • He will not retain his anger forever, because he "delights in showing clemency."
  • He will have compassion, tread our iniquities under foot, cast them into the sea

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