Nancy: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 200 and 48
immersed in Micah.
The name Micah means who is like Yahweh.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Micah's Short Book of Prophetic
Oracles focuses on God's unique character, especially in the context
of his covenant relationship with his people, because God is holy and wants
his people to be a light to the world.
Micah warns his compatriots in Judah that God is about to judge and
punish them for their unfaithfulness.
Like the people of the Northern Kingdom, the people of Judah were
also exploiting the poor, violating the protections for the vulnerable
built into the law of Moses.
How can I tolerate your merchants who use dishonest scales and weights?
God asks, through Micah, the rich among you have become wealthy through extortion
and violence, and so Micah warns.
Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field.
Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins, but Micah's messages do not end with judgment.
The Lord of the covenant is supremely the God of forgiveness,
compassion, and loyalty to his people.
Micah emphatically affirms that God will keep his promises to heal and
restore once again in the prophets hope.
Gets the final word.
Micah's collection of oracles is organized into three groups, not
chronologically, but thematically.
Each group begins with prophecies of ruin before presenting
hopeful promises of restoration.
An example of the message of judgment can be found at the beginning
of the third set of Oracles.
Here Micah uses the prophetic technique of the covenant lawsuit as Hosea did,
in which God brings the people to trial for breaking their covenant with him.
Listen to the Lord's complaint.
Micah says he has a case against his people.
God reviews earlier biblical stories to show that he has consistently protected
the people and provided for them.
In response, Micah wonders aloud what compensation they
can possibly offer back to God.
The people clearly believe that all they need to do is offer sacrifices and they
complain about even having to do that.
But what the Lord really requires is this, to do what is right, to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Disaster ultimately does arrive during the reign of Hezekiah as the Assyrians
invade Judah after conquering and destroying the northern kingdom of Israel.
In response to the Assyrian invasion, Micah declares
about King David's birthplace.
You oh Bethlehem Aha.
Are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel whose origins are in the distant past
will come from you on my behalf.
The immediate reference is to Hezekiah, a godly king in the line of David
whose trust in the Lord would turn back the Assyrian invasion in Judah.
But the author of the Gospel of Matthew looks back to this passage and sees
a reference to Jesus the Messiah.
Who was also born in Bethlehem, the city of David.
The prophets often speak to both the present and the future in
such passages, creating a longing for God's ultimate redemption and
the restoration of all things.
Micah speaks of a hope that looks beyond the current generation
and foresees that after Judah is exiled to Babylon, they will be
brought back in a great deliverance.
Not unlike the Exodus God promises.
I will do mighty miracles for you like those I did when I
rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
Perhaps the most marvelous oracle in the whole book is placed right
at its center in the middle of the second group of Oracles.
Just as the theme changes from ruin to restoration in the last days, the
mountain of the Lord's house will be the highest of all Micah Envisions,
and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.
People from many nations will come and say, come let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord, to the House of Jacob's God.
There he will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths.
Israel's story will determine the world's story.
The vision of God's salvation spreading over the whole earth is a bright light
that shines forth from the whole prophetic collection pointing to the glorious
culmination of the Bible's story.
In Jesus the Messiah,
the prophet Micah,
the Lord, gave this message to Micah of Moha during the years when Jotham.
Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.
The visions he saw concerned both Samaria and Jerusalem attention.
Let all the people of the world listen.
Let the Earth and everything in it.
Here, the sovereign Lord is making accusations against you.
The Lord speaks from his holy temple.
Look, the Lord is coming.
He leaves his throne in heaven and tramples the heights of the earth.
The mountains melt beneath his feet and flow into the valleys like wax in
a fire, like water pouring down a hill.
And why is this happening?
Because of the rebellion of Israel.
Yes.
The sins of the whole nation.
Who was to blame for Israel's rebellion?
Samaria.
Its capital city.
Where is the center of idolatry in Judah?
In Jerusalem, its capital.
So I, the Lord will make the city of Samaria a heap of ruins.
Her streets will be plowed up for planting vineyards.
I will roll the stones of her walls into the valley below,
exposing her foundations.
All her carved images will be smashed.
All her sacred treasures will be burned.
These things were bought with the money earned by her prostitution,
and they will now be carried away to pay prostitutes elsewhere.
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.
Don't tell our enemies in gath, don't weep at all.
You people in Bethle Afra roll in the dust to show your despair.
You people in Schaffer go as captives into exile, naked and ashamed.
The people of Zan Ann dare not come outside their walls.
The people of Beth Easel mourn for their house has no support.
The people of Marath anxiously wait for relief.
But only bitterness awaits them as the Lord's judgment reaches
even to the gates of Jerusalem.
Harness your chariot horses and flee you people of Laish.
You were the first city in Judah to follow Israel and her rebellion,
and you led Jerusalem into sin.
Send farewell gifts to Mohe Gath.
There was no hope of saving it.
The town of Ax IB has deceived the kings of Israel.
Oh people of Maritia.
I will bring a conqueror to capture your town and the leaders
of Israel will go to a dollum.
Oh people of Judah.
Shave your heads and sorrow for the children you love will be snatched away.
Make yourselves as bald as a vulture for your little ones
will be exiled to distant lands.
What sorrow awaits you?
Who lay awake at night?
Thinking up evil plans, you rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out simply
because you have the power to do so.
When you want a piece of land, you find a way to seize it.
When you want someone's house, you take it by fraud and violence.
You cheat a man of his property stealing his family's inheritance,
but this is what the Lord says.
I will reward your evil with evil.
You won't be able to pull your neck out of the noose.
You will no longer walk around proudly for it will be a terrible time and that
day your enemies will make fun of you by singing this song of despair about you.
We are finished completely ruined.
God has confiscated our land taking it from us.
He has given our fields to those who betrayed us.
Others will set your boundaries then, and the Lord's people will have
no say in how the land is divided.
Don't say such things that people respond, don't prophesy like that.
Such disasters will never come our way.
Should you talk that way?
Oh, family of Israel.
Will the Lord's spirit have patience with such behavior?
If you would do what is right, you would find my words comforting.
To this very hour, my people rise against me like an enemy.
You steal the shirts right off the backs of those who trusted you, making them
as ragged as men returning from battle.
You have evicted women from their pleasant homes and forever stripped their children.
Of all that God would give them up, be gone.
This is no longer your land and home.
For you have filled it with sin and ruined it completely.
Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you, I'll preach to
you the joys of wine and alcohol.
That's just the kind of prophet you would like someday.
Oh, Israel, I will gather you.
I will gather the remnant to our left.
I will bring you together again like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture.
Yes, your land will again be filled with noisy crowds.
Your leader will break out and lead you out of exile, out through the gates of
the enemy cities back to your own land.
Your king will lead you.
The Lord himself will guide you.
I said, listen you leaders of Israel, you are supposed to know right from wrong.
You are the very ones who hate good and love evil.
You skin my people alive and tear the flesh from their bones.
Yes, you eat my people's flesh, strip off their skin and break their bones.
You chop them up like meat for the cooking pot.
Then you beg the Lord for help in times of trouble.
Do you really expect him to answer?
After all the evil you have done, he won't even look at you.
This is what the Lord says, you false prophets are leading my people astray.
You promise peace for those who give you food, but you declare war
on those who refuse to feed you.
Now the night will close around you, cutting off all your visions.
Darkness will cover you putting an end to your predictions.
The sun will set for you prophets, and your day will come to an end.
Then you, Sears will be put to shame and you fortune tellers will be
disgraced and you will cover your faces because there is no answer from God.
But as for me, I am filled with power with the spirit of the Lord.
I am filled with justice and strength to boldly declare Israel sin and rebellion.
Listen to me, you leaders of Israel, you hate justice and twist all that is right.
You are building Jerusalem on a foundation of murder and corruption.
You rulers make decisions based on bribes.
You priests teach God's laws only for a price.
You prophets won't prophesy unless you are paid.
Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord.
No harm can come to us.
You say, for the Lord is here among us.
Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field.
Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins.
A thicket will grow on the heights where the temple now stands.
In the last days, the mountain of the Lord's house will be the highest of
all, the most important place on earth.
It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the
world will stream there to worship.
People from many nations will come and say, come let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord, to the House of Jacob's God.
There he will teach us his ways and we will walk in His paths for the
Lord's teaching will go out from Zion.
His word will go out from Jerusalem.
The Lord will mediate between peoples and will settle disputes
between strong nations far away.
They will hammer their swords into plow shares and their
spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation nor train for war anymore.
Everyone will live in peace and prosperity, enjoying their
own grapevines and fig trees.
For there will be nothing to fear.
The Lord of heaven's armies has made this promise.
Though the nations around us follow their idols, we will follow the Lord our God
forever and ever in that coming day says the Lord, I will gather together those who
are lame, those who have been exiles, and those who might have filled with grief.
Those who are weak will survive as a remnant.
Those who are exiles will become a strong nation.
Then I, the Lord will rule from Jerusalem as their king forever.
As for you, Jerusalem, the citadel of God's people, your royal might and
power will come back to you again.
The kingship will be restored to my precious Jerusalem.
But why are you now screaming in terror?
Have you no king to lead?
You have your wise people all died.
Pain has gripped you like a woman in childbirth, writhe, and groan like a
woman in labor, you people of Jerusalem.
For now, you must leave this city to live in the open country.
You will soon be sent in exile to distant Babylon, but the
Lord will rescue you there.
He will redeem you from the grip of your enemies.
Now, many nations have gathered against you.
Let her be derated.
They say, let us see the destruction of Jerusalem.
But they do not know the Lord's thoughts or understand his plan.
These nations don't know that he is gathering them together to be
beaten and trampled like sheaves of grain on a threshing floor.
Rise up and crush the nation's O Jerusalem, says the Lord.
For I will give you iron horns and bronze hooves so you can
trample many nations to pieces.
You will present their stolen riches to the Lord, their wealth
to the Lord of all the earth.
Mobilize marshal your troops.
The enemy is laying siege to Jerusalem.
They will strike Israel's leader in the face with a rod.
But you o Bethlehem Riha.
Are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel whose origins are in the distant past
will come from you on my behalf.
The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies until
the woman in labor gives birth.
Then at last, his fellow countrymen will return from exile to their
own land and he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord's strength.
The majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
Then his people will live there undisturbed for He will be highly
honored around the world and he will be the source of peace.
When the Assyrians invade our land and break through our defenses, we will
appoint seven rulers to watch over us.
Eight princes to lead us.
They will rule Assyria withdrawn, swords.
And enter the gates of the land of Nimrod, he will rescue us from the Assyrians.
When they pour over the borders to invade our land, then the remnant left in Israel
will take their place among the nations.
They will be like dew, sent by the Lord, or like rain falling on
the grass, which no one can hold back and no one can restrain.
The remnant left in Israel will take their place among the nations.
They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a strong
young lion among flocks of sheep and goats, pouncing and tearing as they go
with no rescuer in sight, the people of Israel will stand up to their foes and
all their enemies will be wiped out in that day, says the Lord, I will slaughter
your horses and destroy your chariots.
I will tear down your walls and demolish your defenses.
I will put an end to all witchcraft and there will be no more fortune tellers.
I will destroy all your idols and sacred pillars so you will never again
worship the work of your own hands.
I will abolish your idol shrines with their asherah poles and
destroy your pagan cities.
I will pour out my vengeance on all the nations that refuse to obey me.
Listen to what the Lord is saying.
Stand up and state your case against me.
Let the mountains and hills be called to witness your complaints.
And now, oh mountains.
Listen to the Lord's complaint.
He has a case against his people.
He will bring charges against Israel.
Oh my people.
What have I done to you?
What have I done to make you tired of me?
Answer me for I brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from slavery.
I sent Moses errand and Miriam to help you.
Don't you remember my people, how King beak of Moab tried to have you cursed, and
how Baum son of bor blessed you instead?
And remember your journey from Acacia Grove to Gilgal when I,
the Lord did everything I could to teach you about my faithfulness.
What can we bring to the Lord?
Should we bring him burnt offerings?
Should we bow before God most high with offerings of yearling calves?
Should we offer him thousands of rams and 10,000 rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins?
No.
Oh people.
The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you
to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Fear.
The Lord if you are wise.
His voice calls to everyone in Jerusalem.
The armies of destruction are coming.
The Lord is sending them, what shall I say about the homes of the wicked filled
with treasures gained by cheating?
What about the disgusting practice of measuring out
grain with dishonest measures?
How can I tolerate your merchants who use dishonest scales and weights?
The rich among you have become wealthy through extortion and violence.
Your citizens are so used to lying that their tongues can
no longer tell the truth.
Therefore, I will wound you.
I will bring you to ruin for all your sins.
You will eat but never have enough.
Your hunger, pings and emptiness will remain and though you try to save
your money, it will come to nothing.
In the end, you will save a little, but I will give it to those who conquer you.
You will plant crops but not harvest them.
You will press your olives but not get enough oil to anoint yourselves.
You will trample the grapes but get no juice to make your wine.
You keep only the laws of evil King Omri.
You follow only the example of Wicked King Ahab.
Therefore, I will make an example of you bringing you to complete ruin.
You will be treated with contempt, mocked by all who see you.
How miserable I am.
I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest, who can find nothing to eat,
not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig can be found to satisfy my hunger.
The godly people have all disappeared.
Not one honest person is left on the earth.
They are all murderers, setting traps, even for their own brothers.
Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil officials
and judges alike demand bribes.
The people with influence get what they want, and together
they scheme to twist justice.
Even the best of them is like a briar.
The most honest is as dangerous as a hedge of thorns, but your
judgment day is coming swiftly.
Now, your time of punishment is here.
A time of confusion.
Don't trust anyone.
Not your best friend or even your wife.
For the son despises his father.
The daughter defies her mother.
The daughter-in-law defies her mother-in-law.
Your enemies are right in your own household.
As for me, I look to the Lord for help.
I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.
Do not gloat over me my enemies.
For though I fall, I will rise again.
Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.
I will be patient as the Lord punishes me for I have sinned against him.
But after that, he will take up my case and give me justice for all
I have suffered from my enemies.
The Lord will bring me into the light and I will see his righteousness.
Then my enemies will see that the Lord is on my side.
They will be ashamed that they taunted me saying, so where is the Lord?
That God of yours?
With my own eyes, I will see their downfall.
They will be trampled like mud in the streets In that day is real.
Your cities will be rebuilt and your borders will be extended.
People from many lands will come and honor you.
From Assyria all the way to the towns of Egypt.
From Egypt all the way to the Euphrates River, and from
distance, seas, and mountains.
But the land will become empty and desolate because of the
wickedness of those who live there.
Oh Lord.
Protect your people with your shepherd staff.
Lead your flock, your special possession, though they live alone in a thicket
and the heights of Mount Carmel.
Let them graze in the fertile pastures of and Gilead as they did long ago.
Yes, says the Lord.
I will do mighty miracles for you like those I did when I
rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
All the nations of the world will stand amazed at what the Lord will do for you.
They will be embarrassed at their feeble power.
They will cover their mouths in silent awe.
Deaf to everything around them.
Like snakes crawling from their holes, they will come
out to meet the Lord our God.
They will fear him greatly trembling in terror at his presence.
Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant overlooking
the sins of his special people?
You will not stay angry with your people forever because you
delight in showing unfailing love.
Once again, you will have compassion on us.
You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them
into the depths of the ocean.
You'll show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised to our
ancestors, Abraham and Jacob Long ago.
This concludes today's immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.