Thursday
Evening Bible Study
May 18,
2006
Micah 5
:1-5 Coming Messiah
:1 Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops; He has laid siege
against us; They will strike the judge of Israel
with a rod on the cheek.
the judge – one suggestion is that God is talking about Zedekiah,
who would be the last king over Judah
before the Babylonian invasion.
Another suggestion is that it could be talking about Jesus Christ, the
“judge” of Israel,
who was beaten for us.
(Isa 50:6 KJV) I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them
that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
(Mark 14:65 KJV) And some began to spit on him, and to cover his
face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did
strike him with the palms of their hands.
:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the
thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler
in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting."
Ephrathah – “place of
fruitfulness”; an ancient name for Bethlehem (which means,
“House of Bread”):
(Gen 35:19 NKJV) So Rachel died and was buried on the way to
Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
out of you … the One – Bethlehem
was the birthplace of David, and so it was the birthplace of the kings of Judah.
More importantly, it was the birthplace of Jesus.
Whose goings forth are from of old, – Jesus existed before He was
ever born.
From everlasting – ‘owlam –
long
duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore,
perpetual, old, ancient, world
In the Old Testament we often see Jesus being called “The Angel of the
LORD”.
This phrase “the angel of the LORD”, or literally,
“the messenger of Yahweh”, is a specific phrase used in the Old Testament to
indicate a specific person. He made many appearances to many different people.
The actual Hebrew phrase appears 58 times in the Old Testament.
He appeared to Abraham when he
was going to sacrifice his only begotten son on Mount Moriah (Gen. 22).
He spoke to Moses out of the
burning bush (Ex. 3:2).
He was the one who called
Gideon to deliver the Israelites (Judg. 6).
He was the angel that David
saw at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite on Mount Moriah, which led to
the purchase of the property for the Temple (1Chr. 21).
We believe that this “angel of
the LORD” is a “theophany”, or an appearance of Jesus in physical form before
his birth. In some of the passages I just mentioned, this “angel of the LORD”
is actually called God (Gen. 16:13; Ex. 3:2-4).
In the New Testament:
(John 1:1-3 NKJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. {2} He was in the beginning with God. {3} All
things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
(John 1:14 NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth.
Lesson
Little is okay
This Great One that would come and rule Israel
would come from Bethlehem.
One that was considered “little”.
:3 Therefore He shall give them up, Until the time that she who is in labor
has given birth; Then the remnant of His brethren Shall return to the children
of Israel.
Possibly talking about the rebirth of the nation of Israel,
not Mary giving birth to Jesus.
:4 And He shall stand and feed His flock In the strength of the LORD, In
the majesty of the name of the LORD His God; And they shall abide, For now He
shall be great To the ends of the earth;
This seems to all be talking about when Jesus comes back again and
establishes His kingdom on earth. He’s the one who is “great”:
(Phil 2:9-11 NKJV) Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and
given Him the name which is above every name, {10} that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under
the earth, {11} and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
:5-15 Judgment on Israel’s
enemies
:5 And this One shall be peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land, And
when he treads in our palaces, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds
and eight princely men.
Assyrian – not talking about the Assyrian in Micah’s day, but a
picture of God’s enemies in the last days.
:6 They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria,
And the land of Nimrod
at its entrances; Thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian, When he comes
into our land And when he treads within our borders.
Nimrod – the founder of Babylon.
the Assyrian – could this be the antichrist?
:7 Then the remnant of Jacob Shall be in the midst of many peoples, Like
dew from the LORD, Like showers on the grass, That tarry for no man Nor wait
for the sons of men.
The remnant will be “refreshing”
:8 And the remnant of Jacob Shall be among the Gentiles, In the midst of
many peoples, Like a lion among the beasts of the forest, Like a young lion
among flocks of sheep, Who, if he passes through, Both treads down and tears in
pieces, And none can deliver.
:9 Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries, And all your enemies
shall be cut off.
:10 "And it shall be in that day," says the LORD, "That I
will cut off your horses from your midst And destroy your chariots.
Jesus will destroy weapons of war.
:11 I will cut off the cities of your land And throw down all your
strongholds.
:12 I will cut off sorceries from your hand, And you shall have no
soothsayers.
He will destroy all false religion.
:13 Your carved images I will also cut off, And your sacred pillars from
your midst; You shall no more worship the work of your hands;
:14 I will pluck your wooden images from your midst; Thus I will destroy
your cities.
wooden images – ‘asherah –
“groves
(for idol worship)”; a Babylonian (Astarte)-Canaanite goddess (of fortune and
happiness), the supposed consort of Baal, her images; Pornographic,
centered around sex.
:15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury On the nations that have
not heard."
Micah 6
:1-8 God pleads with Israel
:1 Hear now what the LORD says: "Arise, plead your case before the
mountains, And let the hills hear your voice.
Sounds like the setting of a courtroom.
:2 Hear, O you mountains, the Lord's complaint, And you strong foundations
of the earth; For the LORD has a complaint against His people, And He will
contend with Israel.
:3 "O My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you?
Testify against Me.
What has God done that caused them to walk away from Him?
:4 For I brought you up from the land
of Egypt, I redeemed you from the
house of bondage; And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
Look at all God had done for them.
:5 O My people, remember now What Balak king of Moab counseled, And what
Balaam the son of Beor answered him, From Acacia Grove to Gilgal, That you may
know the righteousness of the LORD."
Balak asked Balaam to put a curse on the people. But Balaam responded that
he couldn’t curse what God had blessed. God would turn Balak’s desire for a
curse into a blessing from Balaam.
:6 With what shall I come before the LORD, And bow myself before the High
God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old?
What can a poor sinner do?
:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of
oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for
the sin of my soul?
:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of
you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
God isn’t looking for us to live our lives by continually having to deal
with our sins. He wants us to learn to obey Him.
Lesson
What God is looking for
What does God want us to do?
to do justly – mishpat –
judgment,
justice, ordinance; justice, right, rectitude (attributes of God or man)
To treat people fairly.
to love mercy – checed –
goodness,
kindness, faithfulness
One idea of mercy is that of keeping your promises to be kind to others;
“loyal love”.
walk humbly – tsana‘–
to be
humble, be modest, be lowly
Walking in fellowship with God requires humility.
(James 4:6 NKJV) …"God resists the proud, But gives grace to
the humble."
Illustration
“Lord, when we are wrong, make us willing to change. And
when we are right, make us easy to live with.
-- Peter Marshall
Illustration
There’s a story told of a pastor who was officiating at a
funeral. When he was done, he was asked to lead the funeral procession as it
made its way to the cemetery. So he got into his car, and he started driving at
the head of the funeral procession. He flipped on his radio and became
preoccupied, lost in thought; he forgot where he was going. About that time, he
passed a K-Mart and thought about something he needed to pick up. So he turned
into the parking lot. As he was looking for a parking space, he just happened
to glance into the rear-view mirror—and saw a string of cars following, all
with their lights on! So self-absorbed, and then so humbled.
This kind of stuff happens to us all. The question is how
do you take it when it happens to you? Does it devastate you? The more humble
you are, the easier it is. You’re already close to the ground and so when you
fall over, you don’t have as far to fall as you did when you put yourself up on
that pedestal…
:9-16 Punishment for injustice
:9 The Lord's voice cries to the city; Wisdom shall see Your name:
"Hear the Rod! Who has appointed it?
:10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness In the house of the wicked,
And the short measure that is an abomination?
:11 Shall I count pure those with the wicked scales, And with the bag of deceitful
weights?
short measures … wicked scales …deceitful weights … – merchants who
cheat their customers
:12 For her rich men are full of violence, Her inhabitants have spoken
lies, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
These are the kinds of sins that Israel
was caught up in.
:13 "Therefore I will also make you sick by striking you, By making
you desolate because of your sins.
God was going to punish them.
:14 You shall eat, but not be satisfied; Hunger shall be in your midst.
My doctor wants me to go on a diet where he doesn’t want me to eat breads
or cereals, nothing with fat, no eggs, nothing with sugar … what’s left? This
verse sounds like where I’m headed!
:14 You may carry some away, but shall not save them; And what you do
rescue I will give over to the sword.
:15 "You shall sow, but not reap; You shall tread the olives, but not
anoint yourselves with oil; And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.
:16 For the statutes of Omri are kept; All the works of Ahab's house are
done; And you walk in their counsels, That I may make you a desolation, And
your inhabitants a hissing. Therefore you shall bear the reproach of My
people."
Omri … Ahab – Omri was Ahab’s father, both were kings of Israel,
both were a part of bringing idolatry into the northern kingdom.
Lesson
Unsatisfied
Illustration
A hungry lion was roaming through the jungle looking for something to eat.
He came across two men. One was sitting under a tree reading a book; the other
was typing away on his typewriter. The lion quickly pounced on the man reading
the book and devoured him. Even the king of the jungle knows that readers
digest and writers cramp.
Sin does not satisfy. You eat and are hungry for more.
Only God satisfies the hunger and thirst in your heart.
(John 4:6-14 NKJV) Now
Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat
thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. {7} A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." {8} For His disciples had gone
away into the city to buy food. {9} Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How
is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For
Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. {10} Jesus answered and said to her,
"If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a
drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living
water." {11} The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw
with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? {12} "Are
You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it
himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?" {13} Jesus answered and
said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, {14}
"but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.
But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water
springing up into everlasting life."
Illustration
From a former Lesbian:
Thank you for your recent radio program, “Hope for the
Homosexual.” which aired in April. I am a former lesbian. After many years in
the gay community, I joined a Christian women’s Bible study, where I met happy,
healthy, normal Christian women who treated me with respect. I’d never had my
emotional needs met before. My mother
had rejected me and the lesbian community was always looking for “lovers.”
Being around real Christians was the most healing experience I’ve had.
Focus on the Family
Magazine, August, 1994, p. 16.
The psalmist said,
(Psa 63:5 NKJV) My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and
fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
Jesus said,
(John 6:35 NKJV) And Jesus said to them, "I am
the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes
in Me shall never thirst.
Micah 7
:1-7 Sorrow for sin
:1 Woe is me! For I am like those who gather summer fruits, Like those who
glean vintage grapes; There is no cluster to eat Of the first-ripe fruit which
my soul desires.
(Mic 7:1 The Message) 1 I’m
overwhelmed with sorrow! sunk in a swamp of despair!
I’m like someone who goes to
the garden to
pick cabbages and carrots and corn And returns empty-handed,
finds nothing for soup or
sandwich or salad.
:2 The faithful man has perished from the earth, And there is no one
upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother
with a net.
Everybody is a jerk.
:3 That they may successfully do evil with both hands; The prince asks for
gifts, The judge seeks a bribe, And the great man utters his evil desire; So
they scheme together.
:4 The best of them is like a brier; The most upright is sharper than a
thorn hedge; The day of your watchman and your punishment comes; Now shall be
their perplexity.
day of your watchman – it’s time for the watchman to sound the
alarm, the enemy is approaching.
:5 Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion;
Guard the doors of your mouth From her who lies in your bosom.
:6 For son dishonors father, Daughter rises against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man's enemies are the men of his
own household.
:7 Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my
salvation; My God will hear me.
Lesson
Trusting God, not people
We can get surprised when people disappoint us, but we really shouldn’t be
surprised.
Illustration
Lousy Sermon
A
pastor was called away unexpectedly by the illness of a close family member. He
entrusted his new assistant with filling the pulpit. The Pastor’s wife stayed
home. When he returned, the pastor asked his wife what she thought of the young
man’s sermon. “The poorest I’ve ever heard,” she said. “There was nothing in
it, nothing at all. It didn’t even make sense. It was very unorganized. I was
disappointed.” Later that day, the concerned minister met his assistant and
asked him, “How’d the Sunday service and sermon go? Did all go well? How did
you manage?” “All went very well, sir, absolutely wonderful,” he said. “I
didn’t have time to prepare a new sermon of my own on such short notice, so I
got on your computer and pulled up one of your old sermon’s from last year.”
Who disappointed who?
Illustration
Snow White
Snow White received a camera as a gift. She happily took many pictures of
the Dwarves and their surroundings. When she finished her first batch, she took
the film to be developed. After a week or so, she went to get the finished
photos. The clerk said the photos were not back from the processor. Snow White
was so disappointed that she started to cry. The clerk, trying to console her,
said kindly, “Don’t worry, someday your prints will come.”
Illustration
I’ve been having a couple of bad weeks with my car. I took it in to have a
problem looked at that I’ve been having for a couple of years and have spent
lots of money on, and the car dealer wanted to charge me another $800. Then
this week I took it to someone else on Monday. While I was on the way, the car
broke down from a different problem and I had to have it towed. Then when I got
it to the new garage, they said it’d be done on Wednesday. Then on Wednesday
they said it would be done on Thursday. Now they say it will be done tomorrow …
Ever had weeks like that when everything seems to let you down?
That’s the time to be sure to look to the Lord for fulfillment.
(Psa 20:7 NKJV) Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we
will remember the name of the LORD our God.
:8-13 Confession
:8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit
in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me.
:9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, Because I have sinned against
Him, Until He pleads my case And executes justice for me. He will bring me
forth to the light; I will see His righteousness.
:10 Then she who is my enemy will see, And shame will cover her who said to
me, "Where is the LORD your God?" My eyes will see her; Now she will
be trampled down Like mud in the streets.
:11 In the day when your walls are to be built, In that day the decree
shall go far and wide.
It seems that Micah now moves into the time of the Millennium, when Jesus
comes back to rule and reign for a thousand years.
:12 In that day they shall come to you From Assyria
and the fortified cities, From the fortress to the River, From sea to sea, And
mountain to mountain.
People will come from all over the world to see Jerusalem.
:13 Yet the land shall be desolate Because of those who dwell in it, And
for the fruit of their deeds.
For now, the land would be desolate.
:14-20 Forgiveness
:14 Shepherd Your people with Your staff, The flock of Your heritage, Who
dwell solitarily in a woodland, In the midst of Carmel;
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
As in days of old.
Perhaps this too moves back into the future reign of Christ.
:15 "As in the days when you came out of the land
of Egypt, I will show them
wonders."
:16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; They shall put
their hand over their mouth; Their ears shall be deaf.
:17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent; They shall crawl from their
holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the LORD our God, And
shall fear because of You.
:18 Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the
transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger
forever, Because He delights in mercy.
pardoning – nasa’ –
to lift,
bear up, carry, take; to take, take away, carry off, forgive
passing over – ‘abar –
to pass
over or by or through, alienate, bring, carry, do away, take, take away
We use the term “overlook” a fault. Perhaps the idea of not being bothered
by the little stuff.
(1 Cor 13:5 NKJV) (Love) …thinks no evil;
retain – chazaq –
(Hiphil) to
make strong, strengthen; to have or take or keep hold of, retain, hold up,
sustain, support
He doesn’t have a “firm grip” on His anger. He’s not holding on to it.
mercy – checed –
goodness,
kindness, faithfulness
Illustration
Several years ago, a businessman found out about an elderly widow who was
unable to pay her rent. Feeling pity for her, he went to some of his friends
and asked them if they would be kind enough to contribute something to help pay
her rent. They responded, and he got two months’ rent. He went to the widow’s
house that week to deliver the money. Although he knew she was inside, when he
knocked he got no answer. He knocked a second time and still no answer. He
knocked a third time, still no answer. He knocked a fourth time. Not knowing
what else to do, he returned to his business. A couple of days later, he saw
her downtown on the sidewalk looking destitute. He walked up to her and said,
“Ma’am, some friends of mine and I found out about your situation. We want to
help. We got enough money together to give you rent money for two months. I
came to your house to give it to you this week, but I knocked several times and
got no answer.” She took a gasp of breath and put her hand to her face. She
said, “Oh, I thought you were the landlord coming to evict me.” God is not out
to punish. God is out to pardon.
-- R. Larry Moyer, "Right Smack
in the Middle of Sin," Preaching Today, Tape No. 148.
:19 He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities.
You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.
compassion – racham –
to love,
love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection, have
compassion
I think compassion comes from having a sense of what the person is going
through.
Jesus knows what we’re going through.
(Heb 2:17-18 NKJV) Therefore, in all things He had to be made like
His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things
pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. {18} For in
that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are
tempted.
(Heb 4:15
NKJV) For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our
weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
subdue – kabash –
to
subject, subdue, force, keep under, bring into bondage
(The Message) …You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing.
(NLT) …You will trample our sins under your feet
cast all our sins into the depths of the sea –
Corrie ten Boom used to say, “and He’s posted a sign over it saying “No
Fishing””
We think of the bottom of the sea as a place where scuba divers and
submarines go. But in Micah’s day, it was a place where NOBODY went.
:20 You will give truth to Jacob And mercy to Abraham, Which You have sworn
to our fathers From days of old.
truth – ‘emeth –
firmness,
faithfulness, truth
mercy – checed –
goodness,
kindness, faithfulness
Lesson
Forgiveness
Paul writes,
(Eph 4:32
NKJV) And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as
God in Christ forgave you.
forgiving – charizomai –
to do
something pleasant or agreeable (to one), to do a favour to, gratify; to show
one’s self gracious, kind, benevolent; to grant forgiveness, to pardon;
This is the verb connected to the word “grace” (charis). We could translate the end of this sentence, “gracing one another, just as God in
Christ graced you”
God
wants you to experience His forgiveness, His grace.
The
Bible says:
(1 John 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We saw
Micah expressing “confession” back in verse 9 – now in verses 18-20 he tastes
forgiveness.
If we
too would confess our sin to Him, He will forgive. He wants you to know what
His forgiveness is like:
He’s pardoned, He’s carried your sins away.
He’s “passed over” your sin, letting it go.
He’s no longer angry at you.
He is delighted to be merciful to you.
He has tender affection, compassion on you.
He has stomped your sins under His feet.
He has cast your sins into the deepest ocean.
God
also wants us to learn to take His grace and turn it around to forgive others
as well.
To pardon
To Passover
To let go of anger
To delight in mercy
To have compassion
To stop and think about what the other person is going through. Not to
excuse what they’ve done, but to understand. To treat them the way you would
like to be treated.
To stomp on sin
To cast their sins into the ocean