Micah 2:1-5; God Lets Evil Stand in the Way of Your Blessings.

Class Outline:

Sunday November 24, 2024

 

Judgment oracle:

Address, Accusation, Judicial sentence, Conclusion.

 

Woe to greedy land barons MIC 2:1-5

False prophets who support them MIC 2:6-11

God preserves a remnant in Zion MIC 2:12-13

 

Everything is for the Lord’s glory, and in that glory, only the believer is blessed.

 

MIC 2:1

Woe to those who scheme iniquity (get rich by violence),

Who work out evil on their beds!

When morning comes, they do it,

For it is in the power of their hands.

 

Opening theme: darkness and light.

Deception vs. true hope.

 

That they plan on their beds means they plan at night. Their plans are their elaborations of their goals. When the day comes they set into practice what they planned.

 

God created the morning to be a time of dispersing the wicked.

 

JOB 38:12-13

"Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,

And caused the dawn to know its place,

13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,

And the wicked be shaken out of it?

 

PSA 90:14

O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,

That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

 

But instead of finding hope in the morning, the irony is that they found the injustice of evil, greedy rulers whom God installed to protect them.

 

The theme of darkness and light is a major one in Scripture.

 

The next line shows us that it is in their power to do it. The power is in their hands.

 

The next lines expand on their character.

 

MIC 2:2 They covet fields and then seize them,

And houses, and take them away.

They rob a man and his house,

A man and his inheritance.

 

They covet and they rob (defraud).

 

Coveting, right from the Ten Commandments strikes right at the heart of man’s malady - he is never satisfied.

 

In an agrarian economy, a person’s life was tied to his fields. So when God protected his land by covenant, God was protecting his life and his inheritance (all in the Mosaic Law).

 

MIC 2:3 Therefore thus says the Lord,

"Behold, I am planning against this family a calamity

From which you cannot remove your necks;

And you will not walk haughtily,

For it will be an evil time.

 

As the land barons plotted evil so now the Lord plots against them, both to their persons and their property. Because Micah wants us to know that the Lord is the one, the owner of them, who is placing His yoke on them, we can almost forget that it is the crack troops of the Assyrians who is going to do the heavy work.

 

Hence, we were all made to delight in and depend on God. Seeking control and the power of self will always end up under the control of another person or thing, certainly under the control of sin.

 

“Evil time” the evil find themselves in something they never expected, something like evil. We never have to worry about evil people getting away with it.

 

In addition to personal servitude, the wicked land barons are going to lose their land.

 

MIC 2:4 "On that day they will take up against you a taunt

And utter a bitter lamentation and say,

'We are completely destroyed!

He exchanges the portion of my people;

How He removes it from me!

To the apostate He apportions our fields.'

 

MAT 26:52

all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.

 

LEV 26:27, 33

'Yet if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me,

 

I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste.

(Also DEU 28:49-68).

 

I think we all, in the church, understand that this is a universal law, meaning that it is true throughout all ages, dispensations, and generations.

 

MIC 2:5 "Therefore you will have no one stretching a measuring line

For you by lot in the assembly of the Lord.

 

We see the despicableness of evil greed and we should be so far from greed as to not even think or speak of it.

 

Renounce ownership of your things! They belong to the Lord.

 

Main idea: God allows evil to stand in the way of (some) His blessings to you.

 

But the sun is going to rise. That is a promise. What do you do in the meantime? Nothing? Just wait? Be patient and live the life of light and be a light in a dark world? You are a heavenly Kulak. What will you do until the time you get your land back (enter heaven NJ)? How will you treat your enemies? How will you help the others? How can light flow from you despite the rule of the evil wicked and their lying priests?

 

2PE 1:19-21

So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

 

Wait patiently. Do not ever be disappointed in life. Shine the light of Christ in every situation / to everyone.

 

Few know how beautiful the city of God is. Like the wonderful allegory, The Great Divorce by CS Lewis, some never know of it, some see it in the distance but will not walk towards it, and some, by faith, risk the loss of all that they know as old life and make a start of the journey - they find the hard, solid reality of divine life and then see beauty. You can see it before you get there.

 

LUK 1:76-79

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS;

77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation

By the forgiveness of their sins,

78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,

With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,

79 TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH,

To guide our feet into the way of peace."

 

Seek the way of peace. Live forgiven and forgive. Look ahead to the kingdom and live its light now / today. Be like the Lord who lived in this world without His kingdom. He had to wait. You have to wait. He shined. You can shine.

 

EPH 5:11-21

Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this reason it says,

 

"Awake, sleeper,

And arise from the dead,

And Christ will shine on you."

 

EPH 5:15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

 

Shine in the church. Rejoice with one another. Lay aside all petty differences and love like you never have. We are all members of a future kingdom of light and peace.

 

Think and pray on the image of “the morning star arising” in your heart.

 

NUM 24:17

“I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not near;

A star shall come forth from Jacob,

A scepter shall rise from Israel,”

 

MAT 2:10

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

 

REV 22:16, 20

“I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.

…Yes, I am coming quickly.”