Series in Micah - Do You Mourn Our Depravity? Part 1

 

Do You Mourn Our Depravity? Part 1

Micah 1:8-12

Have you ever broken down in such despair over an overwhelming event or personal tragedy? Then you can identify with Micah in this lesson. He is so distraught over the sins of his country and of his people, for their transgressions have not only angered God but have brought Him to the place of wrath and judgment. So let’s read the first portion of the text, “Therefore, I will mourn and lament. I will walk around barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl. For my people’s wound is too deep to heal. It has reached into Judah, even to the gates of Jerusalem.”

Micah has seen the vision from the Lord on the coming judgment and annihilation of Israel and seemingly the world, that it had also infected Jerusalem and Judea. The catastrophic devastation of the country brings Micah to more than tears, he is so distraught that He laments naked and barefooted. Whether this is similar to when Isaiah was told to walk naked among the people to symbolize the extent of the coming judgment. “Sargon, king of Assyria, commander came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it—at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot. Then the Lord said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared—to Egypt’s shame.” (Isa. 20:1-4)

Isaiah walked around like this for three years, probably in linen loincloth, but possibly naked. Anyway, for Micah, this seems to be a personal lament and it truly humbled him for his people. 

Not only is he walking around naked, but he now takes on animalistic mannerisms, his wailing resembles the howling of the jackal. Micah’s high pitched howling sounded so mournful to literally scare others, and the repetitive whimpering was similar to the owl’s screeching. The blood curdling shriek and screech was evidence of the depth of Micah’s grief and lament.

But what really took Micah to a dismal despair was the horrible depth of the sins and transgression of the people against God. The depravity of their sins were an embarrassment and shame even to the heathen nation of Assyria and Egypt. They brought God’s name to shame and jested among the nations. Ezekiel later spoke of Jerusalem’s transgression as twice as bad as that of her sister Samaria. (Ezk.16:44-63)

Micah saw that the harlotry of Israel (Samaria) had made it to the very gates (the seat of government) of Jesusalem. It was terminal, no amount of relenting would turn their hardhearted rebellion against God. They were fully given to idolatry in such extremes, as to the burning and sacrificing of their children. They rejoiced in the blasphemous celebrating and giving themselves to public licentious behavior. And prior to Ezekiel’s time it was beyond a full blown Sodom. 

  Application - It is strange that in our religious world today, we have those who call themselves pastors, prophets and apostles yet I have never seen any of these mournful or broken for the sinful state of our nation or the world. This would be yet another sign of our times is the promotion of licentious behavior by apathy and passivity. We, the United States, are the leading promoter and distributor of pornography worldwide. We are also among the leading supporters and participants in the sin God calls blasphemous, unnatural affections between genders. We in the last few years have taken to the act of mutilating children, and this paid for by our government. And not to be out done this was preceded by the killing of the innocent, to the tune of over 70 million since the nineteen-seventies. Then the heresy and apostasy of the church has risen to such extremes, that many mainstream denominational churches are now promoting and openly practicing all that Micah’s nation did and exponentially increasing away from the sound doctrines of the Bible and the God who wrote it. The shepherds in America will have to answer to an angry and wrathful God, as Micah and other prophets envisioned at the beginning of this Biblical book. I have been serving God for over thirty-five years, and I’m wondering “How long O Lord!” And I have not come to the place of howling or screeching in my mourning. Which reminds me of the animalistic mannerisms of some past revivals, “Arf, arf; bow wow.” But I know that our Almighty sovereign God will not linger longer than His appointed times of retribution and recompensable wrath for the blatant and wanton sins and transgressions in our world. The writer of Hebrews penned it correctly, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb. 10:31)

Last, Micah saw that the name of God Almighty had been drugged through the septic waste of depravity. The people who used to fight against or align themselves with Israel and Judah were aghast and appalled by their transgressions and sins. So let's read the final portion of the text. “Don’t tell our enemies in Gath; don’t weep at all. You people in Beth-leaphrah, roll in the dust to show your despair.
You people in Shaphir, go as captives into exile—naked and ashamed. The people of Zaanan dare not come outside their walls. The people of Beth-ezel mourn, for their house has no support. The people of Maroth anxiously wait for relief, but only bitterness awaits them as the Lord’s judgment reaches even to the gates of Jerusalem.”

Micah begins by using poetic word play on names in puns to mock the tragic debauchery of Israel. First he picks out Gath, of the Philistines. Micah knew that the word for Gath sounded similar to “tell” in Hebrew, so don’t tell our enemies of our stench, don’t weep at all. Next, the city of Beth-leaphrah (Ophrah) sounds like the Hebrew word for dust. Don’t put on Sackcloth and dust in Beth-leaphrah for these people. Then he names Shaphir, this city’s name means beautiful, pleasant, but it was anything but beautiful, and then having Micah walking through such a town naked, howling and screeching in his lamenting over the upcoming judgment as a possible symbol of judgment upon them. This would disturbed the nice little hamlet to shame and dishonor.

Next Micah calls out Zaanan, it sounds similar to “come out” in Hebrew. This town wouldn’t have come out to watch or take part in this sin. Lock the doors and close the window, and bar the gates! Micah then names a small village of Beth Ezel, the word is similar to mourning for there was no protection, no support against this judgment. Last, in this text was Maroth, which meant “bitter” in Hebrew. This village or town was near Jerusalem’s gate and this transgression was bitter in the nose, mouth, and eyes of anyone. For those who sat at the gate, the leading elders, religious leaders, and leaders of families and tribes were caught up in these transgressions against God. It truly was a bitter message for the people of Samaria and Jerusalem.

Application - Again, how much do we mourn our blatant transgressions and sins in America. It is easy for the pundit and the sarcasm of the writer to parody, satirize, or lampoon, to make light of, underemphasize, downplay, or trivialize the critical spiritual and moral decay of our country. For the sins  of the people give plenty of material for them. 

But there is a remnant of God’s people who have lamented to the point of no more tears, who still believe we must continue to be a light in the darkness of depravity. For God is still desiring for people to turn, repent of their sinfulness, but the door may be closing, as was the case in Noah’s days, "And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in" Gen. 7:15 

Jesus told us that the times of His coming would be like the days of Noah.  “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time…Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.” (Matt. 24:37-39; Gen. 6:5,11)

So let us be sober as Paul told the church, “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes. 5:6-9)

I’m again including the ABC’s of salvation for all those who have not yet received Jesus Christ for salvation. For Jesus, God the Son, came to this world to save all who would believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He will answer you if you will truly believe. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

 First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third, 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis

I have revised my webpage on Spiritual warfare. Please give it a look. Thank you. http://uss-warfare3.webnode.com