Justice and Mercy: The Message of Micah (Eastside Baptist/Wed PM/July 17, 2013)
The Message of Micah
Ø Setting and Context
Ø Structure & Message
Ø Important Themes
Ø “Jesus Lens” and New Testament Application
Setting and Context
Ø Micah – prophet from Judah
§ From Moresheth – 25 miles Southwest of Jerusalem.
Ø 740 to 686 B.C. during reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, & Hezekiah
Ø Final decline and fall of Israel, defeated in 722 by Assyria.
Ø Judah was characterized by:
§ Religious corruption
§ Social oppression
§ Economic injustice
§ Personal vice and deception
§ Political intrigue and treachery
Structure & Message
Ø Heading (1:1)
§ Micah – “Who is like Yahweh?”
§ 7:18: “Who is a God like you?”
Ø First Series of Threats against Samaria and Jerusalem (1:2-16)
§ Yahweh, the Divine Warrior
§ Samaria destroyed for idolatry
- Judah into exile for its sins
Ø Reasons for Judgment (2:1-11)
§ Social injustice
§ False theology that gives the people what it wants to hear
Ø First Word of Hope (2:12-13)
§ Regathering, Messianic King
Ø Second Series of Threats and Reasons (3:1-12)
§ Judgment on leaders/prophets who helped to promote injustice
§ Judgment on Jerusalem/Zion
Ø Second Word of Hope (4:1-5:15)
§ Return after exile, Messianic King born in Bethlehem (5:2).
Ø God’s Case against Jerusalem (6:1-16)
§ Yahweh takes Judah to court.
§ Religious rituals will not be a defense against guilt of injustice
Ø Micah’s Lament (7:1-7)
§ Micah mourns the coming fall of Jerusalem, but ends w/ hope.
Ø Third Word of Hope (7:8-20)
§ Hope for the future
§ Return from exile and center of hope for the nations
§ Prayer for God to lead his people as a righteous Shepherd-King.
Important Themes
Ø God will judge his people because of their covenant violations.
Ø God will defend the poor and the oppressed, and those who take advantage of them will be judged.
Ø God expects his people to share his heart in his concern for the poor and oppressed.
Ø Religious rituals will not make up for lack of righteousness, justice, and love of neighbor.
Ø God will justly punish, but he is also merciful and will restore a remnant by grace through his Davidic Messiah.
Ø Yahweh is the God of all the nations.
“Jesus Lens” and Application
Ø God mercifully did not abandon his people; he promised to restore them, forgive them, bring them out of exile, and bless them with a Messiah King in the line of David.
Micah 7:18
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
Micah 7:19
You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:20
You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.
“Jesus Lens” and Application
Ø God demonstrated his concern for the poor, oppressed, and weak by sending his Son to minister among them and give his life for them.
Ø God desires faith, true worship, love, mercy, humility, and obedience from his people.
Micah 6:6
With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Micah 6:7
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
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