Advice to the ungodly

We're on Micah chapter 7. And I'm going to go over verse 7 through 13. I skipped covering verse 7 last week, but we'll hit it this morning. So let's do a review of Micah 7, 1 through 6. And this is just a thumbnail sketch. vernacular sketch. So of what we did last week, we were, we along with, you know, if we place ourselves in the story here in Micah, had a suffering with Micah. Woe is me. Micah begins chapter 7. He found that there is none righteous in Judah. No, not one. As Psalm 14, 1 through 3 says the same thing.

And it was, he described it as arriving in a vineyard, and that vineyard was picked over and gleaned completely of all the grapes and all the figs. And so, just like that, there were no righteous men in Judah. Moreover, the ones who were there were hunting with nets and lying in wait for the people, the Siddhansinri of Judah, and they were treacherous. And if we go back to Bob's lesson from a couple weeks ago about that, they would strip the skin and kind of boil them in pots and eat them as bread and things like that, very graphic. as to the evil of the rulers. They were good at performing evil with both hands, those set over the tribe of Judah or the kingdom of Judah.

More than that, yeah, there we go. They tear your skin from your bones because they're like briars, these men, thorns and briars, and coming into contact with things dangerous. That's a lot of stuff for just six verses, isn't it? Or seven verses, right? And it's a climate from which a watchman is set. And he's warning Judah of approaching danger and future defeat.

And then captivity and all the confusion that goes along with that. And they would be asking how and why did that happen to us? You know, why are we going off? Because they could have had false prophets who weren't telling them the news that they needed to hear.

Even worse, if you're in Judah, you have no allies. The world is against you. Even your family is against you, your husband and wife. They're working against you. Servants are against you. Your kids, your daughter-in-law, your son-in-law. So all the natural relations of life, familial relations are gone. And so confusion and uncertainty rule the day.

And, you know, in that second to last bullet point there, if you think about Israel and Gaza and what happened on October 7th, you know, Micah in chapter 7 there says that servants will be against their masters. Part of the thing was in these kibbutzes, they would hire gazans to come over and work, right, as in the yard and as housekeepers and stuff. But those workers, those Palestinians went back with intel, gave it to Hamas. And that's so they, they, they, uh, You know, they betrayed the people in those kibbutzes on October 7th, 2023. Really sad.

Very much like there what was described in Micah, isn't it? But in spite of all this, in spite of this, we go to verse 7, and it's positive news, and Micah says, But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord. I will wait for the Lord, for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. So he's positive here.

This is similar to, I thought of Joshua and his proclamation. And in Joshua 24, He's at the end of his time, he's about to die, and he gives a grand review of all God's faithfulness to that nation of Israel, if you remember, and he says, you know, God brought us out of Egypt and he protected us against, I didn't listen to Balaam, and we had all these victories, and it just, he recounted all the wonderful things that God had done for the Israelites. as they came to cross the Jordan after Moses.

And then he closes with, he says, now therefore fear the Lord. And this is excellent advice for the people that Micah was writing to, if they would listen to these words from Joshua. Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth. and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. And then he closes, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And that's very, I see it as a parallel to Micah 7, 7 there. But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord. And Micah is a watchman.

Here, as we saw last week, he's on the wall warning these people of Judah of the danger coming for them. But in spite of what's coming, he also sees in his prophetic vision deliverance, right? Deliverance from the Lord and salvation. He sees that coming. And that's what verse 7 says there. I will wait for that God of my salvation. My God will hear me. So he's confident. Now on to verse 8 in chapter 7.

He says, Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I will rise, though I fall, I will rise. Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me. So he pivots here from positive to negative. And it's a plea, as you can see in verse 8 here, for his enemies not to gloat over what's happening to Judah, or Israel, and the chastisement that Israel's enemies are seeing happening.

And it's very similar to what we saw in Micah 1.10, where Micah 1.10 says, tell it not in gaff, weep not at all. at Bethle Afra, Afra, roll yourself in the dust, is Micah 1.10. And that's, that's Micah saying, do not let the destruction or the siege of us from Sennacherib to, that news to carry over to the town of Gath, which is to the west. And it's in Philistine land, right?

The Philistines were there. Don't let them hear about it, because they'll gloat. And they'll celebrate. They'll have occasion to celebrate. And Gath is, G-A-T-H, is how it is in the Hebrew, and that means to tell. So it's a play on words, that poetic play on words there.

So tell it not in the town of Tel, is kind of what it says there. So he doesn't want his enemies to gloat over Israel's or Judah's destruction. In other words, hide your tears, right? There's a lot of pop songs about hiding your tears in the 50s, I'm sure. Of course. Don't let them see you cry. Yeah. You know? Yeah.

So now this Beth Ophrah. In verse 10, that means house of dust. So another play on words is essentially saying, at the town of the house of dust, roll yourself in the dust, is what that says. And you remember from what that handout Bob Wolfer gave us is each of those towns had a nickname or a, you know, one was to lie. This one was to house of dust. They all had these, these, these names for these towns.

But though God must punish Israel for their transgressions, and I've included 2 Chronicles 26, Jeremiah 25, Deuteronomy, especially Deuteronomy 28, where God lays it very clearly what will happen for their transgressions, Micah has this prophetic perfect vision and he sees their future and that they will rise again and that's what verse 8 above says that they will rise again he sees that and I just want to go I found this in Merriman's book on Habakkuk and he has I don't know if he came up with this but he calls it the prophets prophetic perfect advantage, or the prophetic perfect.

It's kind of like the perfect tense in the Greek, but what it says is, and this would be good for all of the prophets, the Books of prophecy you might look at but the Holy Spirit gives the prophet the ability to mentally Project into the future or he takes them into the future however, so he sees the future somehow and he writes about that future event as it's as if it's already been fulfilled so he writes it in the past tense as if he's looking back in time at this future event and And that's what Merriman calls the prophetic perfect. I don't know if he came up with that or, you know, he got that from somewhere else. But a good example is this from Isaiah 53, Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves were him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, but he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. the chastising of our well-being fell upon him." And all past tense, right? In the past tense. However, Isaiah is writing that, and that's way back before it happened. And it's in the future for Isaiah, and in the future for us even, but he's writing about it in past tense. And he goes on to say he was oppressed and he was afflicted. He did not open his mouth. He was like a lamb led to the slaughter.

So that's the prophetic perfect. And that happens a lot in Micah and all these prophets. I just thought that was an interesting kind of sidelight about how prophecy works. So it's writing about future events. as if they're past in the present, if that makes sense, if that doesn't bend your mind. That's kind of how it is.

So in verse 9, Micah says, I will bear. Now he's first person here for Micah. he interjects himself into the plight of Judah. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he pleads my case and executes judgment or justice for me. He will bring me out to the light and I will see his righteousness.

And this reminds me of, yeah. Could we say that verses 8 through 10 Wherever it says I or my, instead of talking about Micah, we could interject Israel there. I like that. We could, yeah. Yes, he's speaking for, and a lot of times he speaks for Israel or Judah, but he, is that clear what I'm saying? That he kind of projects himself into their situation? And so he writes in the first person.

And it's interesting because Micah was a good guy. He was righteous. He was a righteous prophet. He was set apart as righteous, but Judah and Israel was not. And, but yet he says, so it's not him. You're correct. He's talking about, he's talking about the nation here.

And it's, it's, it reminds me of this Isaiah 53 verse four, surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried. Yet we esteemed, ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. And that's Christ, sort of. So I have this statement here, Micah is Israel's sentinel, and he's offering himself up as a representative object of wrath on behalf of his erring kinsmen. And it's similar to that Isaiah 53 passage. Micah doesn't deserve what's coming. He's been faithful. But he knows the nation's downfall will bring him down too, much like, you know, Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a righteous prophet, but he got shipped off to Babylon, even though he was righteous. So Judah's sin affected Ezekiel.

Our Lord, yeah. So, I mean, in a sense, Micah is a Christ-like figure for the nation of Israel, right? I mean, I think Bob, I mean, we can't equate him with the Lord Jesus Christ, obviously. No, no, not at all. The parallel of the times in terms of him bringing, recognizing he was a sinner ultimately, but that really stood for the nation of Israel and Judah that had fallen far short, right? Yeah, and I'm not saying that like verse 9 is a Christological, I guess, example.

Not quite that strong of association with Isaiah 53, but I'm just saying it's similar in the way that Micah speaks of himself as the first person, in the first person speaking for the nation as a whole. And now I'm going into Isaiah 53 and our situation in this present church age with the Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't deserve the punishment due to us either, did he? He took on that scourging that he endured willingly.

And I have this statement about how poor Israel is in verse nine, because they are suffering these consequences of their national sin. And they'll really experience it in about a hundred years from what's being written now when they get carried off to Babylon. And then they have to wait for the Lord to finish his course of discipline with Babylon until God brings them back from Babylon and then he punishes the Assyrians I guess, the Babylonians, I should say, and brings about an end to them. And they have to wait for all this to happen.

But yet, with our situation in the church age, think of our advantage. We're far beyond this. We're far beyond pleading our case and waiting for deliverance. even though we sin, right? It's as if it's all in our past. It's a completed work at the cross, and we do not have to wait for this coming righteousness in the future. We don't have to wait around a hundred years, and you know, and then we get restored. We have it all now in Christ, and He's our righteousness. He's our deliverance.

But just keep in mind that what we're studying here in Micah, we're under this old economy, right? This old mosaic economy. And I just, oh, it's tough for Israel. I kind of felt for them this week. And you feel for them now in their present situation. What advantage we have in Christ, would you say, right? Wow.

Now this statement in verse 9 about he will bring me out into the light and I will see his righteousness. I looked this up and there's too many references about light to go through. There's over a hundred in the Old Testament. But I found that they start It doesn't occur in the first at the Pentateuch or the historical books of 1st and 2nd Samuels, 1st and 2nd Kings 1st and 2nd Chronicles, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah It talks about light, but it's always physical light in the early part of the Bible and starting with Job is the concept that light is a spiritual thing. It's a metaphor for righteousness, and Job talks about that a lot. And then all the prophets have this light, Christ's light, and the light of the righteousness of God.

So that's when it starts to appear after those books in the Bible. It's kind of interesting. But it's just too much to go over. I was going to look at it more, but I was like, wow, that's a big subject. So we'll move on to verse 10. Micah says, Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, and this is the Assyrian, or the enemy and shame will cover her who said to me where is the Lord your God my eyes will look upon her will look on her at the same time she will be trampled down like mire in the streets so the enemy of Israel will finally see this light this righteousness of God much like Isaiah 9 2 says In Isaiah 9 too it says, the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shone. So very similar to what Micah in verse 10 of chapter 7 is saying there.

Anyone recognize, that's actually as well, that Isaiah 910, it's a movement from Handel's Messiah. Very good. A movement from Handel's Messiah. So... All of the Messiah, that's all scripture. Yeah. You go through every part of the mail and find a scripture verse to back it up. Yeah, he got, I forgot who did the text for it, but the guy You know, Hamill wrote the music. The guy who did the text. Yeah, he just said, I'm just going to pull out my favorite scripture verses, and he pulled those out. You write some music, I'll get the words.

Yeah, yeah. And it's all over, too. It's the revelation, and it's the Old Testament. It's just, wow, it's really good. And then it's even Romans, too, and Corinthians and things, really interesting. So the enemy, And this is new and different, where he says, my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, that's the enemy, and it's personified as a woman, so female, so that's a new thing.

And what this enemy is doing is ridiculing Israel's predicament, as in Micah 2.4, where it says, on that day, they will take up against you a taunt. So they'll taunt you and utter a bitter lamentation. We are completely destroyed. And that taunt is more like, Oh, you, we are You're saying we are completely destroyed. Oh, man, man, man is what that that's kind of the tenor of that tongue there there there there and there Imitating Israel's complaint right that they're destroyed as a tongue.

So Feinberg has this This kind of rule here, which is good. And he says, deliverance for Israel is but one phase of God's dealings. The second phase is God's vindication of his righteousness in that he will destroy her enemies. They will be stomped underfoot by God's judgment. And you see that in the C part, 10C, they will be trampled down like mire of the streets. And it's true. It's a formula. It's formulaic.

Israel sins. God, because of his righteousness, he has to punish them. And he uses other nations as the instrument of his punishment. But then what happens is those nations get excited about it, and they exceed their bounds, and they become bent on annihilating Israel. Think of the Palestinians. And thereby, God says, whoa, and then he comes in, and then that angers him. So he comes back and he destroys that nation. And it's a cycle. It always happens. You don't see it.

And it's described really well in those passages in Zechariah 1, 2, and 15 that God is like, whoa, you guys are going way too, you know, because he puts them on a leash to punish Israel only so far, but they go beyond that and he has to destroy them. That's what Feinberg had, and I think it was pretty good. Okay, on to verse 11 in Micah chapter 7.

Now we have another pivot here. It'll be a day for building your walls. On that day, your boundary will be extended. Now we're back into positive territory again. And note that where it says, it will be a day. So we're in the mode of in that day and in that time here. And that began in verse 10. So that should clue us off on, we could be in the day of the Lord.

And we're in the day, like Isaiah 10, 6 here, where He's talking to Assyria. Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger, and the staff in whose hands is my indignation. I will send it against a godless nation, and commission it against the people of my fury, to capture booty and to cease plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. And if you remember back to Verse 10, at that time she will be trampled down like mire in the streets. Very similar to this Isaiah chapter 10, 5 and 6 passage. And that says that God is going to punish those nations who bring their wrath against Israel. So where are we in verse 11 as far as timeline?

And there's a couple... Would we be talking about a millennium here? Very possibly. That's a very good guess, Bob, I would say. And I would agree with you. But there's... Who was it? It was Feinberg who says that there's all these guys with PhDs, as I say here, they have different opinions on what... First, Feinberg says it's a very difficult passage. when it says where we're building these walls and what are these walls and when it is. So is it...

We do know that building of the walls, it's beyond the Babylonian captivity, as I say in that middle sentence. It's past that, so we're in the time of the Gentiles, and the time of the Gentiles began with Nebuchadnezzar, basically. And we're still in the time of the Gentiles, where Israel sort of set aside.

Yeah. It also goes on to say that all the nations of the world will be attracted towards Israel. And I think this is going to happen in the millennium. Yeah, amen. Yeah, right. But hold that thought, because we'll get there in verse 12 and 13. But yeah, you're going in the right direction. You know, I think some people think that this time is now because Israel has rebuilt, right, and they're doing really well. They're in sort of a peaceful time. They've got walls and they're well fortified, almost, but they still get bothered a lot. Or is it after the second coming of Christ and the establishment of the millennial kingdom, like Bob says, And I think he's right. So we're in the millennial kingdom time here.

But there's also others who say it's during this time, and I won't read this whole thing, but some of them think that it's from that decree of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, So he sent out a proclamation throughout his kingdom and also put in writing saying, this is the king of Persia. He has appointed me to build him a home in Jerusalem, a house in Jerusalem, and you know, and to rebuild the walls because that's what, that's what, who was it? Nehemiah, right? The cupbearer. to rebuild the wall, so some people think that verse 11 would apply to that.

But I think it's, as Bob says, the Millennial Kingdom. Yeah. If we're talking about now and what's going on in Israel, they're getting ready, they've got all the supplies, they're getting ready to build the kingdom, but A lot of people are thinking we are slowly moving up towards the millennium, but they're ignoring the fact of the seven years of tribulation. Hey man, not to disagree with Bob, he's a tough guy to disagree with.

But in verse 12, it does suggest that this may not be millennial. I like the reference to Nehemiah. I think that may be. I mean, that's an opinion only. It's not well-founded, you know, factually. I mean, Bob was talking about Assyria coming in here, but Nehemiah, that would be three centuries later. But then at 13, it goes on to say that the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants, on account of the further their deeds. Yeah. There was a remnant that went back to Israel back in Nehemiah's time. But still, I think we're still in that exile even today. Only a remnant went back.

Yeah, and they're definitely not under a millennial blessing right now. They've got control of their land. No, they don't really have control of their land, because they've got the Palestinians, they've got the Egyptians, who are now amassing tanks, and the Syrians, they're always in this state of flux, aren't they? So, yeah, they're not there yet.

I will say what I said to Bob. a year ago, when we get to heaven, I'm going to say I told you so. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All bets will be settled in heaven. That'll be good. All scores without, and you won't have to fight, too. You just, you know, no fighting. Well, maybe a plight thumb war in heaven. But that's about it. Jesus Christ has the last word. Amen. Amen. Yeah. Right. It will all become clear. Yeah, and prophecy is a chewy subject, isn't it? Very chewy. But hey, it's kind of interesting, it's fun too, to study it.

But look at this passage in Isaiah 19, 19 through 25, where Isaiah says, In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt. And this is different, new and different to me, at least. And the Lord near its border, and it will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they will cry to the Lord because of their oppressors, and he will send them a savior and a champion, and he will deliver them. And keep in mind, he's talking about Egypt. Now, if we inserted Israel, this would all make sense, right? He goes on to say, thus the Lord will make himself known to Egypt and the Egyptians and they will know the Lord in that day. And there's that phrase, in that day. They will even worship with sacrificing an offering and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing, so they will return to the Lord. He will respond to them and he will heal them.

And again, it's just mind boggling that this isn't Israel he's talking about. And he goes, in that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria and the Assyrians will come. Whoa, here we are with Assyrians coming along with the Egyptians. the Egyptians into Syria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians in that day. Israel will be a third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed. Listen to this, blessed is Egypt my people. Isaiah must have made a mistake here, right?

And Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance. So, with that, we keep in mind verse 12. In that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, from Egypt even to the Euphrates, even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain and 13 and the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants on account of the fruit of their deeds. So I think what it was, Darby who's about 13, he says kind of put 13 before verse 12. 13 is, yes, the earth will become, there's punishment there in verse 13. The earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants on account of the fruit of her deeds. That's a punishment, but it's kind of prior, it's strange, if you think about it prior to 12. is the best way to look at that.

And then it makes sense. Because it didn't make sense to me. But there will be a day, and I have this on this map, in Ezekiel's, this is Ezekiel's promised land. And you have, you see the 12 tribes here? Gad, Zebulun, all the way up. And this is the Millennial Kingdom land. And if you think, can you see my cursor? Yes. Okay.

So, Tyre is in Lebanon. Sidon is in Lebanon. So, the nation of Israel goes about to right here right now. Right about here. How much in the, look at all this. They go way up into Lebanon, way up into Syria. And then way over here, this is the Assyria. This is the Euphrates River. Kind of, it's kind of a general, I tried to place it as closely, but that's, we have in verse 12, even to the Euphrates, there's the Euphrates.

So their land is greatly increased. And it says that, you know, the Assyrians are going to come down to this, the holy portion here, Jerusalem, to worship. And the Egypt, they're going to come up from Egypt, and they're going to be blessed. And all the nations will pass through and come to Jerusalem to be blessed. And here's a little, this part is a little blowout of this holy portion. You know, the Prince David has his land here, the Levites have their portion here, the priests.

So that's, I think, without describing it, I tried to just put it on this map. And I think it's pretty representative of what verse 12 says. And with that strange, in verse 13, there's a little strange statement about first there must be judgment before this all comes about in the millennial kingdom. Does that make sense? Yeah, that's good. Clear as mud. And then if you guys lose track of me in the millennial kingdom, I'll be here. I'll be in these Yeah.

When I got this map, at first I said, I said, I thought I said food court. And I thought, oh, there's going to be food court. But it just, I don't know why they, I guess they store food there. So that's, that's where I'll be. In the pastry section, right?

So, come find me there. And yeah. Let me know how Bob and Echol and Wilford, what they came, what decision they came to. Yeah, so there you go. Say Andrew, no matter what's going on right here, in the next few verses, in the end of this chapter, we're going to be blessed in heaven. Amen. In the millennia. Yeah. Serving with God. Right. We'll be, yeah, we'll be, we'll be with Him.

And we'll have those glorious new bodies. And the people here, though, down on earth, they'll still be, you know, they won't have resurrected bodies. Well, some of them will, the Old Testament saints who are resurrected, but there's, but we're going to have such an advantage. I said heaven, but I meant we'll be on earth here, serving with Christ in the millennium.

Right, right. But we'll be heavenly, won't we? Yes. We'll sort of be this, and I don't know if we are going to be permanently there, or we're going back and forth. Aren't we kind of hanging out in the New Jerusalem? That's coming, haven't quite landed yet. Yeah, right. And it's going to be something to see. Okay, I'll close in prayer here quickly.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for Oh, you give us what is future in such detail and actually overwhelming detail that we can't quite make out what is placed where and what is what. But we know that It'll come to pass, and we'll see it when we are there, and we're thankful for that. But we're thankful for you, Father, for giving it to us, and you've laid it all out from Genesis to Revelation. We thank you for your Word, and we thank you for your Son and our salvation in Him, and we pray in His name. Amen. Amen.