Series in Micah - The Light of God Breaking Through - Part 2

 

The Light of God Breaking Through - Part 2

Micah 7:11-20

God is always at work through His Word and His promises to His people, His light is breaking through to the darkness of the hearts of mankind and societies, ”The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”(John 1:5), and His ear is always attentive to the cry of the faithful. Micah is again receiving foresight into the future glory of Israel. Though he has been in grief over the judgment of the nation of Israel and Judah. He knows that God hasn’t forgotten his people or His covenant. So let’s read the first portion of the lesson. “The day for building your walls will come, the day for extending your boundaries. In that day people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates and from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the result of their deeds.”

Micah probably couldn’t imagine that the Mede-Persian empire would be the agent of God for the rebuilding of the temple and the rebuilding prophesied by Isaiah his contemporary prophet, “This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him…For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me.” (Isa. 45:1,4) or the rebuilding of the broken walls of the city of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1-3). But Micah saw beyond this restoration of Israel in the nearer future, to a time when the borders of Israel would extend to those proclaimed by God to Moses, “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you.” (Ex. 23:31 NIV) 

The nations of Assyria and Egypt had been the home of those exiles after the judgment by God, even to those taken as far as the wilderness of the Euphrates river (Babylon), but the greatest dispersion of the Israelites would happen by the Roman empire and they would be scattered to ends of the world. “Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.” (Deut. 30:4-6)

 The persecuted remnant would come back and Jerusalem would become the center of influence in the world, as the Messiah King in the lineage of David, who was born in Bethlehem, would be reigning. And the gentile world would come and be partakers of the promise through faith in the King. “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” “ “In that day ‘I will restore David’s fallen shelter— I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins— and will rebuild it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name, declares the Lord, who will do these things.(Gen. 12:3; Amos 9:11-12)

For Micah sees a revived Kingdom of God and a world that God has judged and it will be desolate. The “earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the result of their deeds.”

Application - There will come a day, maybe in the near future when the Lord Jesus will sit in the temple spoken by (Ezekiel 40-43). But as we who have the privilege of looking back at history, have read about the second temple, the rebuilt walls of Jerusalem and the later total destruction of Israel, Jerusalem and the temple by the Roman empire (538 BC-AD 70). Today God has restored the Jewish people back to their homeland and is bringing the Jewish people back from the farest part of the world. And in the future there will be another temple in Jerusalem, for it will be built for the antichrist during the times of Jacob’s trouble. (the tribulation) And the earth will be left barren and desolate from God’s final judgment and the promised return of the Son of David, the Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to reign victorious from a final temple (Ezekiel’s temple) for a thousand year reign upon the earth.

Now let’s look at the last portion of the text, “Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago. ‘As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my wonders.’ Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears will become deaf. They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to the Lord our God and will be afraid of you. ”

Micah calls for the Lord God to shepherd his sheep as it was written in His Word. For he understands the renewal of the land and its people will come, and the Messiah King will reign and shepherd His people, the flock of his inheritance from the Father. 

Following the judgment of God, the nations of the world that had fought against God will be ashamed and stripped of all their power and prestige, their pride and arrogance will have been suppressed. For they will be shocked, and humbled to the point of bowing lowly to the ground in submission and in fear of the King of Kings and afraid of the people of God.

For Jesus will live with them in a revived land of forests and fertile fields and pasture lands. As Israel and all mankind will no longer have war, and all the beasts and people will live in harmony and peace. For it is God who will show His wonders of restoring creation and bringing glory to His marvelous and wondrous name.

Application - The world is always looking for a leader who can bring peace and security, but since man is sinful by nature, they are bound to men who can never live up to the promised hype and rhetoric of the media and societies. They will not have the peace and security they clamor for until sin is dealt with and the enemy of God subdued. Then Israel and the rest of the world will see and experience peace and security, and safety and prosperity they desire. For Jesus, the Messiah Christ, the true King of kings will reign from a restored Jerusalem and Israel, and a world that has been ravaged by sin and the judgment from God will be restored. 

As Micah used metaphors of pastoral pleasures, “Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago.” The land of Israel and the surrounding countries will again be prosperous and bountiful. And God will show himself in the wonders that he does and has done. The world will be in shock, bewildered, and ashamed for now they will bow in fear and timidity as animals who are cringing and trembling as they submit before the Lord. “Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears will become deaf. They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to the Lord our God and will be afraid of you.” 

To be continued next week

With all the chaos in the Middle East today, God has a plan and a purpose for it all. He will bring all that He has said in His word to perfect completion. We can trust in Him to fulfill His word.

As always, I want to end with presenting the gospel in the form of 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