Thursday
Evening Bible Study
May 11,
2006
Introduction
Micah wrote around the time of the prophet Isaiah, around 700 BC. He lived
in the southern kingdom of Judah
and had a message for both the northern and southern kingdoms.
Micah 1
:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and
Jerusalem.
Micah – Miykah –
“who is
like God”
Moresheth – Morashtiy –
“possession
of Gath”
Jotham – Yowtham –
“Jehovah
is perfect”; the son of king Uzziah, he was one of the “good” kings
(2Ki. 15:32-38) and reigned for
sixteen years (750-732 BC).
Ahaz – ‘Achaz – “he has grasped”; the son of Jotham, he ruled
for sixteen years, 736-716 BC (2Ki. 16). He was NOT a good king. He made
alliances with the Assyrians and introduced the gods of Damascus to the southern
kingdom of Judah. He renovated
the Temple in Jerusalem to copy some
ideas he saw in a temple in Damascus. It was during
his reign that the Assyrians invaded and conquered the northern kingdom.
Hezekiah – Y@chizqiyah –
“Jehovah
has made strong”; the son of Ahaz, he was one of the best of the “good” kings
(2Ki. 18-20) and reigned for 29 years )716-687 BC). He brought all sorts of
reforms to the nation, getting rid of idolatry, reviving the Passover, bringing
people back to God. The Assyrians also attacked Hezekiah, but God did a
miraculous work, sending a single angel who killed 185,000 Assyrians in a
single night.
The
prophet Isaiah ministered during these times as well and was possibly a bit
older than Micah since he also prophesied during the reign of Uzziah, Jotham’s
father as well.
We
know that Isaiah had an influence on King Hezekiah, but apparently so did
Micah:
When Jeremiah was seized and charged with being a traitor for predicting
the fall of Jerusalem, some people rose up to defend him and used Micah as an
example of a similar prophecy:
(Jer 26:17-19 NKJV) Then
certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the
people, saying: {18} "Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of
Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, 'Thus
says the LORD of hosts: "Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem
shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills
of the forest."' {19} "Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever
put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and seek the Lord's favor? And the
Lord relented concerning the doom which He had pronounced against them. But we
are doing great evil against ourselves."
Sometimes we can look at prophets like Jeremiah and think that nobody
listens to someone with the warning from God. Sometimes people do listen.
:2-7 Judgment on Israel
:2 Hear, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all that is in it! Let the
Lord GOD be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple.
Hear – shama‘– to hear, listen to, obey
There are three major divisions of the book of Micah, and they all begin
with this word, “Hear”. (1:2; 3:1; 6:1).
Lesson
Hearing God
It’s important to God that we be able to “hear” what He says.
Eight times in the gospels, Jesus says,
(Mat 11:15 NKJV) "He who has ears to hear, let
him hear!
There’s a similar phrase found 7 times in the book of Revelation:
(Rev 2:7 NKJV) "He who has an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit says to the churches…
Illustration
Whale Talk
An expert on whales was telling friends about some of the unusual findings
he had made. “For instance,” he said, “some whales can communicate at a distance
of 300 miles.” “What on earth would one whale say to another 300 miles away?”
asked a sarcastic member of the group. “I’m not absolutely sure,” answered the
expert, “but it sounds something like ‘Heeeeeeey! Can you hear me nowwww!?!
(1 Sam 3:1-11 NKJV) Then
the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was
rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.
I wonder if the rarity of God’s Word in those days was because God was
silent, or was it because nobody was listening?
{2} And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in
his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see,
{3} and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD where the
ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, {4} that the LORD called
Samuel. And he answered, "Here I am!" {5} So he ran to Eli and said,
"Here I am, for you called me." And he said, "I did not call;
lie down again." And he went and lay down. {6} Then the LORD called yet
again, "Samuel!" So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said,
"Here I am, for you called me." He answered, "I did not call, my
son; lie down again." {7} (Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor was
the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.) {8} And the LORD called Samuel again
the third time. Then he arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for
you did call me." Then Eli perceived that the LORD had called the boy. {9}
Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls
you, that you must say, 'Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears.' " So Samuel
went and lay down in his place. {10} Now the LORD came and stood and called as
at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel answered, "Speak,
for Your servant hears." {11} Then the LORD said to Samuel: "Behold,
I will do something in Israel
at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
What’s your attitude when you have your Quiet Time every morning? How about
when you come to church? We ought to learn the prayer of little Samuel (whose
name means “heard of God”), “Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears”.
:3 For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place; He will come down And
tread on the high places of the earth.
:4 The mountains will melt under Him, And the valleys will split Like wax
before the fire, Like waters poured down a steep place.
(Psa 97:5 NKJV) The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the
LORD, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
(Zec 4:6-7 NKJV) So he answered and said to me: "This is the
word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,'
Says the LORD of hosts. {7} 'Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel
you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of
"Grace, grace to it!"' "
God is bigger than your mountains. He’s bigger than your problems. They can
melt in His presence.
:5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob And for the sins of the house
of Israel. What
is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria?
And what are the high places of Judah?
Are they not Jerusalem?
Both the northern kingdom and southern kingdoms are condemned.
:6 "Therefore I will make Samaria
a heap of ruins in the field, Places for planting a vineyard; I will pour down
her stones into the valley, And I will uncover her foundations.
Samaria – the capital of the
northern kingdom.
:7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, And all her pay as a
harlot shall be burned with the fire; All her idols I will lay desolate, For
she gathered it from the pay of a harlot, And they shall return to the pay of a
harlot."
The northern kingdom was carried off by the Assyrians in 722 BC. The
Assyrians attacked the southern kingdom in 701 BC, but God delivered them. In
586 BC, the southern kingdom was finally carried into captivity by the
Babylonians.
:8-16 Mourning for Israel
:8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked; I will
make a wailing like the jackals And a mourning like the ostriches,
:9 For her wounds are incurable. For it has come to Judah;
It has come to the gate of My people; To Jerusalem.
:10 Tell it not in Gath, Weep
not at all; In Beth Aphrah Roll yourself in the dust.
Micah uses some “puns” or plays on words …
Beth Aphrah – “house to (i.e.
of) dust”; And they would roll in the dust.
:11 Pass by in naked shame, you inhabitant of Shaphir; The inhabitant of
Zaanan does not go out. Beth Ezel mourns; Its place to stand is taken away from
you.
inhabitant … inhabitant – Micah uses a feminine form of the
word, meaning that God was saying that the women would be taken captive first.
Shaphir – Shaphiyr –
“fair”,
yet they would pass by in naked shame.
Zaanan – sounds like a
verb meaning “to go out”, yet they will not “go out”.
Beth
Ezel – sounds like a word for “foundation”, but they had no place to stand on.
:12 For the inhabitant of Maroth pined for good, But disaster came down from
the LORD To the gate of Jerusalem.
Maroth – sounds like a word meaning “to wait for good”, but instead
disaster came.
:13 O inhabitant of Lachish,
Harness the chariot to the swift steeds (She was the beginning of sin to the
daughter of Zion), For the transgressions
of Israel were
found in you.
Lachish – a city known
for its horses. Apparently it was been an influence towards idolatry on Jerusalem.
:14 Therefore you shall give presents to Moresheth Gath; The houses of
Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.
:15 I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah; The glory of
Israel shall
come to Adullam.
glory of Israel
– perhaps the leaders.
Adullam – a place with caves. David hid there (1Sam. 22:1)
:16 Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, Because of your precious
children; Enlarge your baldness like an eagle, For they shall go from you into
captivity.
Micah 2
:1-5 Warning to wicked people
:1 Woe to those who devise iniquity, And work out evil on their beds! At
morning light they practice it, Because it is in the power of their hand.
They have nothing better to do with their time than to lay on their beds at
night and dream of the ways they will oppress people.
:2 They covet fields and take them by violence, Also houses, and seize them.
So they oppress a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.
:3 Therefore thus says the LORD: "Behold, against this family I am
devising disaster, From which you cannot remove your necks; Nor shall you walk
haughtily, For this is an evil time.
:4 In that day one shall take up a proverb against you, And lament with a
bitter lamentation, saying: 'We are utterly destroyed! He has changed the
heritage of my people; How He has removed it from me! To a turncoat He has
divided our fields.'"
:5 Therefore you will have no one to determine boundaries by lot In the
assembly of the LORD.
(Micah 2:5 NLT) Others will set your boundaries then, and the
Lord's people will have no say in how the land is divided.
:6-11 Good prophets/bad prophets
:6 "Do not prattle," you say to those who prophesy. So they shall
not prophesy to you; They shall not return insult for insult.
prattle – nataph –
(Hiphil)
to drip; to drop (prophecy)
This is probably the rebuke of the people to Micah.
(Micah 2:6 NLT) "Don't say such things," the people say.
"Don't prophesy like that. Such disasters will never come our way!"
Micah responds by saying …
:7 You who are named the house of Jacob: "Is the Spirit of the LORD
restricted? Are these His doings? Do not My words do good To him who walks uprightly?
restricted – qatsar –
to be
short, be impatient, be vexed, be grieved
(Micah 2:7 NLT) Will the LORD have patience with such behavior?
God’s Spirit can be grieved:
(Eph 4:29-32 NKJV) Let
no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary
edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. {30} And do not grieve
the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. {31}
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from
you, with all malice. {32} And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.
God’s Word does good …
If you were doing the right things, you’d have nothing to be afraid of.
:8 "Lately My people have risen up as an enemy; You pull off the robe
with the garment From those who trust you, as they pass by, Like men returned
from war.
(Micah 2:8 NLT) Yet to this very hour my people rise against me!
You steal the shirts right off the backs of those who trusted you, making them
as ragged as men who have just come home from battle.
:9 The women of My people you cast out From their pleasant houses; From
their children You have taken away My glory forever.
:10 "Arise and depart, For this is not your rest; Because it is defiled,
it shall destroy, Yes, with utter destruction.
:11 If a man should walk in a false spirit And speak a lie, saying, 'I will
prophesy to you of wine and drink,' Even he would be the prattler of this
people.
prattler – nataph –
(Hiphil)
to drip; to drop (prophecy)
Lesson
Why are there false prophets?
The idea is that if a person who is not listening to the Lord would come up
and tell people that God wants them to all go out and get drunk, they’d let
that person be their prophet.
The people didn’t want to hear from Micah. He was warning them to turn from
their sin so they would avoid the judgment of God. Instead, they would rather
hear from somebody that told them to “party”.
Paul warned Timothy:
(2 Tim 4:3-4 NKJV) For
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to
their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for
themselves teachers; {4} and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and
be turned aside to fables.
Some people only want to hear the things that make them
feel good. They like the idea of someone telling them to go get drunk.
I think that the only reason false prophets can “profit”
is because people only want to hear what makes them feel better.
I think this is part of the “health & wealth”, “word of faith”
teachers. People like it because it appeals to their flesh.
People don’t like bad news.
Paul talked about difficulties as if they had value to our
lives:
(2 Cor 4:16-18 NKJV) Therefore we do not lose heart.
Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed
day by day. {17} For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is
working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, {18} while we
do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen
are eternal.
The “health and wealth” teachers try to tell people that
they don’t have to go through difficult times because if they have enough faith
they can just “rebuke” that cold or “claim” that bonus.
But if difficult times actually benefit us, and if God
actually wants the best for us, why is it that people are taught how to avoid
or run away from problems when God wants to strengthen them through them?
:12-13 Future restoration
:12 "I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob, I will surely gather
the remnant of Israel; I will put them together like sheep of the fold, Like a
flock in the midst of their pasture; They shall make a loud noise because of so
many people.
:13 The one who breaks open will come up before them; They will break out,
Pass through the gate, And go out by it; Their king will pass before them, With
the LORD at their head."
There will be a day of restoration when God will bring the people out of
captivity.
Ultimately this is speaking of Jesus’ second coming.
Micah 3
:1-12 Bad leaders
:1-4 Leaders
:1 And I said: "Hear now, O heads of Jacob, And you rulers of the
house of Israel:
Is it not for you to know justice?
justice – mishpat –
judgment,
justice, ordinance
:2 You who hate good and love evil; Who strip the skin from My people, And
the flesh from their bones;
:3 Who also eat the flesh of My people, Flay their skin from them, Break
their bones, And chop them in pieces Like meat for the pot, Like flesh in the
caldron."
The leaders treated the people like a butcher treats a carcass.
:4 Then they will cry to the LORD, But He will not hear them; He will even
hide His face from them at that time, Because they have been evil in their
deeds.
:5-8 False prophets
:5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets Who make my people stray; Who
chant "Peace" While they chew with their teeth, But who prepare war
against him Who puts nothing into their mouths:
chew with their teeth – they have plenty to eat.
They prepare for war against God by leading the people astray. God doesn’t
put anything in their mouths, He doesn’t give them His Words.
:6 "Therefore you shall have night without vision, And you shall have
darkness without divination; The sun shall go down on the prophets, And the day
shall be dark for them.
:7 So the seers shall be ashamed, And the diviners abashed; Indeed they
shall all cover their lips; For there is no answer from God."
:8 But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, And of justice
and might, To declare to Jacob his transgression And to Israel
his sin.
The false prophets were full of food.
Micah was full of the Spirit of God.
:9-12 Jerusalem’s
rulers
:9 Now hear this, You heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house
of Israel, Who
abhor justice And pervert all equity,
:10 Who build up Zion with
bloodshed And Jerusalem with
iniquity:
:11 Her heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay, And her
prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Is not the
LORD among us? No harm can come upon us."
Jerusalem’s leaders will serve
as long as they’re paid well.
(1 Pet 5:1-3 NKJV) The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am
a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker
of the glory that will be revealed: {2} Shepherd the flock of God which is
among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for
dishonest gain but eagerly; {3} nor as being lords over those entrusted to you,
but being examples to the flock;
They felt comfortable in being in Jerusalem.
They felt nothing could happen to them there.
:12 Therefore because of you Zion
shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem
shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills
of the forest.
because of you …
Because of the wicked rulers.
The influence of leaders.
Lesson
Warnings to leaders
I think there is something attractive to being a leader. After all, would
you rather boss people around, or would you like to be bossed around?
But God holds leaders accountable for how they lead their flock.
James writes,
(James 3:1 NKJV) My brethren, let not many of you
become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
(James 3:1 KJV) My brethren, be not many masters …
Illustration
Don’t take a position of leadership in church unless you are prepared to be
honest, pure, and loving in your lifestyle. Leadership is a privilege, and with
privilege comes responsibility. God holds teachers of His truth doubly responsible
because we who lead are in a position where we can either draw people toward
Christ or drive them away from Him.
This is illustrated in the life of the famous author Mark Twain. Church
leaders were largely to blame for his becoming hostile to the Bible and the
Christian faith. As he grew up, he knew elders and deacons who owned slaves and
abused them. He heard men using foul language and saw them practice dishonesty
during the week after speaking piously in church on Sunday. He listened to
ministers use the Bible to justify slavery. Although he saw genuine love for
the Lord Jesus in some people, including his mother and his wife, he was so
disturbed by the bad teaching and poor example of church leaders that he became
bitter toward the things of God.
Indeed, it is a privilege to be an elder, a deacon, a Sunday school
teacher, or a Bible club leader. But it is also an awesome responsibility. Let’s
make sure we attract people to the Savior rather than turn them away.
God is promising destruction on Jerusalem
because of the influence of it’s leaders.
On the other hand, leaders can have a good impact on people when their
“walk” matches their “talk”.
Illustration
A missionary in India
was once teaching the Bible to a group of Hindu ladies. Halfway through the
lesson, one of the women got up and walked out. A short time later, she came
back and listened more intently than ever. At the close of the hour the leader
inquired, “Why did you leave the meeting? Weren’t you interested?” “O yes,” the
Hindu lady replied. “I was so impressed with what you had to say about Christ
that I went out to ask your driver whether you really lived the way you talked.
When he said you did, I hurried back so I wouldn’t miss out on anything.”
Micah 4
:1-8 The Millennium
The eventual destruction of Jerusalem
(which happened twice) would not be the end of God’s city. There will be a day
when Jesus comes back…
:1 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the
Lord's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be
exalted above the hills; And peoples shall flow to it.
The idea is that Jerusalem will
be in a sense the “capital” of the world.
:2 Many nations shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the
mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His
ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion
the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
many nations – including the Gentiles …
:3 He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning
hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn
war any more.
Isaiah says the exact same thing (Isa. 2:1-4)
:4 But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one
shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
It’s supposed to be a picture of peace and security.
The phrase was used to describe Solomon’s kingdom:
(1 Ki 4:25 KJV) And Judah
and Israel
dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to
Beersheba,
all the days of Solomon.
:5 For all people walk each in the name of his god, But we will walk in the
name of the LORD our God Forever and ever.
:6 "In that day," says the LORD, "I will assemble the lame,
I will gather the outcast And those whom I have afflicted;
:7 I will make the lame a remnant, And the outcast a strong nation; So the
LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on, even forever.
Lesson
God uses the least
Sometimes we get the idea that we need the biggest, brightest, and best
looking people if we’re going to win the world to Jesus.
God thinks differently.
(1 Cor 2:1-5 NKJV) And
I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of
wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. {2} For I determined not to know
anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. {3} I was with you in
weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. {4} And my speech and my preaching
were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Spirit and of power, {5} that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but
in the power of God.
Samuel learned this lesson when it came time to find a person to replace
Saul as king. Saul, the first king, was “head and shoulders” above everyone
else. When Samuel followed God’s instructions and showed up at Jesse’s house to
pick from one of his sons,
(1 Sam 16:6-7 NKJV) So
it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, "Surely the
Lord's anointed is before Him." {7} But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do
not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have
refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the
outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
And the son that God picked out? The youngest son, David. In
fact he hadn’t even been invited to the party, he was out in the field tending
the sheep. His own father thought he was the least likely one to be picked.
And in David’s own life, he learned the same lessons:
(1 Sam 22:1-2 NKJV) David
therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his
brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. {2}
And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who
was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there
were about four hundred men with him.
This became the core of David’s “mighty men”. You and I
might have called them a bunch of “losers”. They became might men.
You might feel like a loser, you might feel flawed, perhaps you were never
part of the “cool” group at school, but you may be exactly the kind of person
that God wants to use.
:8 And you, O tower of the flock, The stronghold of the daughter of Zion,
To you shall it come, Even the former dominion shall come, The kingdom of the
daughter of Jerusalem."
tower of the flock – Jerusalem,
like a shepherd watching over the flock from a tower.
:9-13 Present suffering
:9 Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in your midst? Has your
counselor perished? For pangs have seized you like a woman in labor.
:10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city, You
shall dwell in the field, And to Babylon
you shall go. There you shall be delivered; There the LORD will redeem you From
the hand of your enemies.
to Babylon …
In Micah’s day, Babylon was not the
great nation it would become when it conquered Judah
in 586 BC (making this quite an amazing thing).
Deliverance would come from chastisement.
(Heb 12:11
NKJV) Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful;
nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those
who have been trained by it.
:11 Now also many nations have gathered against you, Who say, "Let her
be defiled, And let our eye look upon Zion."
Could this be talking about the days before Armageddon?
(Zec 12:2-3 NKJV) "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness
to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah
and Jerusalem.
{3} "And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very
heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in
pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.
:12 But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, Nor do they understand
His counsel; For He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
:13 "Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion;
For I will make your horn iron, And I will make your hooves bronze; You shall
beat in pieces many peoples; I will consecrate their gain to the LORD, And
their substance to the Lord of the whole earth."
(Rom 8:31
NKJV) What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be
against us?