Will you please turn to the book of Micah—if you can find it.
Micah, Chapter 1, verses 1 through 7:
The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Hear, ye peoples, all of you;
hearken, O earth, and all that is therein:
and let the Lord God be witness against you,
the Lord from His holy temple.
For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of His place,
and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
And the mountains shall be melted under Him,
and the valleys shall be cleft,
as wax before the fire,
as waters that are poured down a steep place.
For the transgression of Jacob is all this,
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria?
and what are the high places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem?
Therefore I will make Samaria as a heap of the field,
and as places for planting vineyards;
and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley,
and I will uncover the foundations thereof.
And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces,
and all her hires shall be burned with fire,
and all her idols will I lay desolate;
for of the hire of a harlot hath she gathered them,
and unto the hire of a harlot shall they return.
Micah, Chapter 3, verses 1 through 4:
And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob,
and rulers of the house of Israel:
is it not for you to know justice?
Who hate the good, and love the evil;
who pluck off their skin from off them,
and their flesh from off their bones;
who also eat the flesh of My people,
and flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones, and chop them in pieces,
as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
Then shall they cry unto the Lord,
but He will not answer them;
yea, He will hide His face from them at that time,
according as they have wrought evil in their doings.
Micah, Chapter 6, verses 1 through 5:
Hear ye now what the Lord saith:
Arise, contend thou before the mountains,
and let the hills hear thy voice.
Hear, O ye mountains, the Lord’s controversy,
and ye enduring foundations of the earth;
for the Lord hath a controversy with His people,
and He will contend with Israel.
O My people, what have I done unto thee?
and wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against Me.
For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,
and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage;
and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
O My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him;
from Shittim unto Gilgal,
that ye may know the righteous acts of the Lord.
Finally, Micah, Chapter 7, verses 18 through 20:
Who is a God like unto Thee,
that pardoneth iniquity,
and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?
He retaineth not His anger for ever,
because He delighteth in lovingkindness.
He will again have compassion upon us;
He will tread our iniquities under foot;
and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob,
and the lovingkindness to Abraham,
which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers
from the days of old.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, as we gather together again in the name of Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus, we know that we are in Thy presence.
We pray that Thy word will come forth from Thy throne to Thy people. We pray that Thou wilt open our ears and our understanding, that we may hear Thy voice.
We pray that we may repent and return to Thee, as Thou wilt return to us. We pray that we may know Thee in a way that we have never known Thee before.
Lord, we want to know Thee. In Thy precious name, amen.
Micah is the combination of three Hebrew words, which means, “Who is like the Lord?” Who is like the Lord?
He is of Moresheth, a village in the plain of Judah, near the border of the Philistine city of Gath. This is to distinguish him from the many Micahs you find in the Bible, and especially from one Micah, a very famous one: Micaiah, the son of Imlah.
I wonder if you still remember that during the time of Ahab and Jehoshaphat, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, was the only true prophet of God who prophesied the death of Ahab. But he lived about one hundred and fifty years ahead of the Micah of this book.
He prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Now, these were the kings of Judah, the southern kingdom.
His contemporaries were Isaiah in the south and Hosea in the north. We know the prophet Hosea started prophesying very early, and he prophesied for a long period. But he lived in the northern kingdom of Israel.
Now, in the southern kingdom of Judah, Isaiah was prophesying. Micah actually began his prophetic ministry a little later than Isaiah, and, as a matter of fact, he concluded his ministry earlier than Isaiah.
The reason why we know this is because, as you read the book of Micah, you find that he prophesied of the destruction of Samaria. That is to say, to him, the destruction of Samaria was something yet in the near future.
But we know that in 2 Kings 17, Samaria was destroyed by the Assyrian Empire in the fourth year of King Hezekiah. So that is the reason why we know that his prophetic ministry closed earlier than that of the prophet Isaiah.
But in a sense, he combined the dominant notes of both Isaiah and Hosea. That is to say, he agreed with Isaiah in denouncing the moral corruption of the people and the nation, and also in the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, as Isaiah was noted for.
Yet, at the same time, you find he actually had the compassion of the prophet Hosea.
In the book of Jeremiah, he was mentioned in Jeremiah 26:18-19. You remember, that was almost toward the closing of the nation of Judah, in its closing days.
There was Jehoiakim, a wicked king, and the priests wanted to kill Jeremiah because he prophesied against the nation. But there were some princes there who were God-fearing.
You remember how they mentioned to the king that, during the time of Hezekiah, Micah of Moresheth had prophesied that Jerusalem would be plowed like a field. Hezekiah did not kill him; rather, he listened to his prophecy.
That was about one hundred and twenty years later. So we know that the prophecy of Micah occupied a very important place in the word of God.
First of all, we would like to know: What is the theme of his prophecy?
Now, some people think that as you read the book of Micah, the theme of his prophecy is arraignment—that is, calling the people to come and hear the judgment of the Lord. It is true that you do find in his prophecy the calling of His people to come and hear the judgment of the Lord.
But if you read very carefully, you will find that the theme of his prophecy actually is not negative at all. It is very positive.
As a matter of fact, at the close of his prophecy, the last three verses actually sum up his prophetic message. These three verses constitute the theme of this book: “Who is a God like unto Thee?”
We mentioned at the very beginning that Micah means, “Who is like the Lord?” That is his name. Here you find how he ends, identifying himself with his message.
His name means, “Who is like the Lord?” There is no one, nobody, like the Lord. The Lord is incomparable. He is unique. He is all by Himself. He is different.
That is his message, and that is the God that Micah knew. He knew God as a God who is unique, who is different from all gods. He is all by Himself. He is wonderful, glorious, loving.
You know, in a sense, the messenger must identify himself with the message. Otherwise, that message will not be true.
Here you find a prophet whose whole life, as represented by his name, is one with the message that he delivered. He not only delivered a message from the Lord, but he himself was the very evidence of that message. That is why his message was so powerful.
“Who is a God like unto Thee?”
Our God is the Almighty God. He is the One who created the heavens and the earth. But to Micah, he did not mention God in that aspect. In other words, he knew God in a very particular area: He is a God who forgives iniquity.
Now, of course, our God is the Almighty God. Of course, He is the Creator of the heavens and earth. Of course, He is the all-powerful God, the Mighty One.
And yet redemption is greater than creation. God as the One who forgives is greater than God as the One who creates.
He forgives iniquity. Now, brothers and sisters, this makes our God so unique.
All the gods that are created by man are formed, defined, and confined by human concepts. Now, in man’s concept, there is not the thought of free pardoning mercy.
That is the reason why, when you look at all the gods that man has created, they are hard, harsh, cruel, demanding, and revengeful. There is no mercy, no forgiveness, because this is not in human thought.
Therefore, our God is unique, because the very nature of God is mercy.
Now, it is true: sometimes He does judge. But He does not delight in judging. His delight is in lovingkindness.
When He does judge, it is His strange work. When He judges, He wants to do it very shortly and quickly. His normal work is to show mercy, because that is what God really is.
So here He says, “Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity?” God loves to forgive and passes by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage.
Now, how could God pass by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? God, being just, has the duty to punish transgression. It may not be His liking, and surely He does not like it, because our God loves to bless and not to judge.
But if there is transgression, if there is sin against His law, it is His duty as God to judge. Now, how can He pass by our transgressions without making Himself unjust? He has to judge in order to vindicate Himself.
But how can He pass by our transgressions? Thank God, He made the provision. He sent His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus, into this world to die for us, to pay our debt, and to receive judgment on our behalf.
Because of this, those who believe in the Lord Jesus, those who have faith in His beloved Son, God can pass by their transgression.
So He says He passes by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage. In other words, those remnants are all those who believe in what God has provided for them in the Savior.
“He retaineth not His anger for ever.” It is true: God has to be angry with us because we have sinned against Him. But He will not retain His anger forever, because that is not like Him.
On the contrary, He delighteth in lovingkindness. That is what the Lord delights in. That is what His nature really is.
“He will again have compassion upon us; He will tread our iniquities under foot; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
To tread underfoot our iniquities means our iniquities have been judged and solved. To cast our sins into the depths of the sea means that they disappear—not only forgiven, but forgotten altogether.
“Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the lovingkindness to Abraham.” God shows lovingkindness to Abraham by giving him promises, and God keeps truth with Jacob because God has a covenant with them.
“Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” So, dear brothers and sisters, what is the message of Micah? It is a message of forgiveness. It is a message of lovingkindness. It is a message of compassion. It is a message of what a God we have.
If we really see this, we cannot help but bow and worship our God.
The messages of Micah are all in three parts. You can very easily notice it, because you find that they all begin with the word, “Hear.”
The first message is from Micah 1:2: “Hear, ye peoples, all of you.” That includes Chapters 1 and 2.
The second message begins again with “Hear” in Micah 3:1: “Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel.”
The third is from Chapter 6 to Chapter 7: again, “Hear.” “Hear, ye mountains, the Lord’s controversy.”
Now, you will find that in these three messages there are similarities. If you read them, you will find they all begin with a kind of indictment, an arraignment, and judgment—telling them what is wrong with them. Then there follow the threatenings of judgment that will come upon them. But they all end with promises.
Now let us go into these three parts. The first part is Chapters 1 and 2.
Hear, ye peoples, all of you;
hearken, O earth, and all that is therein:
and let the Lord God be witness against you,
the Lord from His holy temple.
For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of His place.
Here you find that the Lord is calling all peoples of the earth to come and hear—not just Israel, not just Judah, but all peoples upon earth.
What they hear is God’s arraignment of Israel and Judah, especially Samaria, the capital city of Israel, and Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah. Sin seemed to concentrate in the capital cities and spread over the nations.
But in God’s judging of Israel and Judah, He wanted all the peoples of the world to hear about it. Why? Because Israel and Judah were to serve as examples to the whole world.
If God would judge His own chosen people, would He spare the rest of the nations if they sinned against Him? Because Israel and Judah were God’s chosen ones, God’s judgment came to them first, and more severely, because they were supposed to represent God.
So the whole world is a witness to what God was going to say.
When the Lord was in His temple, that was His normal place, and that was the place of blessing. But here you find, “Behold, the Lord cometh forth out of His place.” In other words, He came out of His normal place of blessing. He came out to judge.
Here you find that Micah was more attentive to the moral corruption and social decay of the nations.
Why? Because you find the people, in their beds, plotting and planning in the night. In the day, they began to do the wicked work that they had in their minds.
You find the whole nation of Israel—and the whole nation of Judah too. It began with Israel, and it began to influence Judah. They departed from God. They worshiped Baal.
Because of their departure and their religious corruption, moral corruption quickly followed. People began to be immoral, greedy, to gather wealth for themselves, to oppress people, and to shed blood. All kinds of things began to happen.
The nation had fallen, and because they had fallen, God could not help but judge.
At the same time, you find false prophets rising everywhere. When people’s ears are itching to hear what they like to hear, surely there will be plenty of supply. So false prophets were everywhere. They did not hear the word of God.
Because of this, in Micah 1:6, Micah prophesied that Samaria would become “as a heap of the field, and as places for planting vineyards.” The Lord said, “I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will uncover the foundations thereof.”
This prophecy was very quickly fulfilled. In the fourth year of Hezekiah, the Assyrian king came over, and they destroyed Samaria.
As a matter of fact, Micah’s prophecy was literally fulfilled. Why? Because the stones were poured down into the valley. We know that the city of Samaria was built on a hill. When Samaria was destroyed, the stones of the walls were thrown down the valleys, and the foundations of Samaria were laid bare. It was literally fulfilled.
But even so, you find that mixed with judgment, there are indications of God’s promise.
If you read Chapter 1, you will find it very interesting because Micah plays with words. He mentions many cities, and you find it is a play on words. It is called paronomasia, a playing with words.
But in this playing with words, he was talking about destruction. Yet suddenly, you find in Micah 1:15:
I will yet bring unto thee an heir,
O inhabitant of Mareshah:
the glory of Israel shall come even unto Adullam.
Now, in between all the judgments, suddenly he mentions an heir who is coming. Who is the heir that is to come? The Son of God. God has made Him heir of all things.
He speaks about the glory of Israel. What is the glory of Israel? The Messiah is the glory of Israel. So, even among this judgment, you find that he puts in suggestions and hints that God will yet bring in the glory of Israel.
Again, you find the same thing in Chapter 2. For instance, in Micah 2:12-13:
I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee;
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;
I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah,
as a flock in the midst of their pasture;
they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
The breaker is gone up before them:
they have broken forth and passed on by the gate,
and are gone out thereat;
and their king is passed on before them,
and the Lord at the head of them.
So, in other words, you find there are promises. That is like our God.
Now, in the second part, you find again the word, “Hear.”
Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob,
and rulers of the house of Israel.
Instead of calling all peoples to come and hear His judgment, as well as His promise for Israel, now He calls directly the rulers of Israel and Judah—the princes and the heads of the house of Israel.
Later on, in Micah 3:5, He calls the prophets, and He mentions the priests. In other words, these are the leaders of the nation.
“Is it not for you to know justice?” Now, brothers and sisters, God does raise up rulers and leaders. But those leaders and rulers are God’s servants.
If you read Romans 13, you find that rulers are God’s servants. They are supposed to serve God’s purpose. They are supposed to do God’s will. They are supposed to judge with God’s judgment.
But instead, you find how these rulers and leaders had fallen. The princes judged for reward. The priests taught for hire. The prophets divined for money.
Those who were supposed to be rulers and leaders, leading the people to God and to do the will of God, had so fallen that they misrepresented God completely. They were the people who led the people away into corruption and decay. So the judgment was upon these people.
In Micah 3:12, he said:
Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field,
and Jerusalem shall become heaps,
and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
In Chapter 1, there was prophecy against Samaria, and we have said that it was literally fulfilled in the fourth year of King Hezekiah. Now here you find a prophecy against Jerusalem.
We know that about one hundred and thirty-six years after that prophecy, Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon. The nation of Judah was destroyed, and the people were taken into Babylonian captivity.
But strangely, we do not find that Jerusalem was plowed as a field at that time. It was destroyed, but not plowed.
But do you know? Eight centuries later, in A.D. 70, when the Romans besieged Jerusalem and finally broke in, they not only destroyed the temple. Not one stone was left upon another, literally fulfilling what our Christ had prophesied.
History tells us that the Roman general, Turnus Rufus, under orders from the throne, plowed Jerusalem as a field. This was the expression of utter destruction of a conquered city.
Why did it wait until eight centuries later for this prophecy to be fully fulfilled? It is because the sin of rejecting God’s beloved Son is the fullness of all sin.
So, actually, you find what Micah prophesied was literally fulfilled to Jerusalem.
But at the same time, you find God’s promise. Is it not wonderful? In Micah 5:2, you find this prophecy:
But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
which art little to be among the thousands of Judah,
out of thee shall One come forth unto Me
that is to be ruler in Israel;
whose goings forth are from of old,
from everlasting.
You find that in the very context of judgment, there is that wonderful promise that One will be born in Bethlehem. He is One whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity.
In other words, unto us a Child is born, a Son is given. You know this was fulfilled in Matthew 2.
As a matter of fact, the Pharisees and the scribes knew the Old Testament so well that when Herod heard from the wise men that the King of the Jews had been born, he gathered the scribes and Pharisees and asked where the King of the Jews would be born.
These Pharisees and scribes knew the Scripture by heart. They did not need to go back and search. They did not have a concordance that they could look into. Right away, they said, “The Messiah shall be born in Bethlehem,” and they quoted Micah 5:2.
Now, we cannot even find where Micah is. Yet it was literally fulfilled.
Not only that, but in Chapters 4 and 5, you find that He will lead the world. He will bring in peace because He is peace.
Dear brothers and sisters, there will not be peace upon this earth unless the Prince of Peace returns, because His name is Peace.
Also, in Micah 4, there are those very much-quoted verses:
But it shall come to pass in the latter days,
that the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established on the top of the mountains,
and it shall be exalted above the hills;
and peoples shall flow unto it.
And many nations shall go and say,
Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
and to the house of the God of Jacob;
and He will teach us of His ways,
and we will walk in His paths:
for out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem;
and He will judge between many peoples,
and will decide concerning strong nations afar off:
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
Now, I made a mistake earlier. The prophecy that uses the exact same words as Isaiah is this one, not the prophecy that Jerusalem would be plowed as a field.
In Micah 4:1-3, you find the exact words that are used in Isaiah 2:2-4. If you look into Isaiah, you will see it.
This will yet come into this world. There will come a day when all the swords will be forged into plowshares, and all the spears will be turned into pruning-hooks. There will not be war. People will not learn war anymore. There will be peace over this whole earth.
We know this will come when the One who is called Peace shall return. So, brothers and sisters, again you find how marvelous it is that in the midst of judgment there is such wonderful promise to the world.
This shows that our God is different. Who is like our God?
Then, in the third part, in Micah 6 and 7, again you find the word, “Hear.”
Hear ye now what the Lord saith:
Arise, contend thou before the mountains,
and let the hills hear thy voice.
Hear, O ye mountains, the Lord’s controversy,
and ye enduring foundations of the earth;
for the Lord hath a controversy with His people,
and He will contend with Israel.
The first “hear” is, “Hear, all peoples of the earth,” what God has to say against Israel and Judah. The second “hear” is, “Hear, ye leaders of the nation.” Now you find God calling the mountains and the hills to hear.
It is as if human ears are so deaf. The ears of the people do not hear, and even the ears of God’s own chosen people do not hear. So God is forced to call the mountains and hills to hear what He has to say.
You remember Luke 19:40. When our Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem in that last week, the disciples saw what God had done through Him, and they began to say, “Hosanna! Blessed is the King that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
The Pharisees told the Lord Jesus, “Silence them. Do not let them say that.” The Lord said, “If these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out.”
Here you find the same thing. It is as if human ears are also deaf. So the Lord says, “Now, mountains and hills, hear the controversy that I have with My people.”
It is sad that there should be a controversy between the Lord and His covenanted people. His covenanted people ought to obey Him and do His will, but here you find there is a controversy between the Lord and His covenanted people.
God pleaded with His people. He said:
O My people, what have I done unto thee?
and wherein have I wearied thee?
Testify against Me.
You know, the spirit of the Lord is not a spirit of anger. Even though He has to judge, even though He has to be angry, you find the spirit is a spirit of grief. It is a spirit of love being hurt.
“O My people, what have I done? Testify against Me. If I have done anything wrong, testify against Me.” What humility. What love.
Even when God had a controversy with His own people, He reminded them how He led them out of Egypt, how He gave them leaders like Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, and how He turned curse into blessing out of the mouth of Balaam.
In other words, He reminded them how God had loved them and provided for them in everything. Why was it that they rose up as His enemies?
Here you find the people. There was no godly one among them—not even one. You could not even trust your friends. He said, “Trust ye not in a friend: put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.”
In other words, everyone was selfish to the uttermost. You could not trust anybody. Bloodshed was everywhere. That was what had happened. It forced God to judge, but it was not His pleasure to judge. It was His delight to show lovingkindness.
Thank God, His pleadings seemed to open some ears, if not all ears. Here you find the answer in Micah 6:6-8:
Wherewith shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before the high God?
shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
shall I give my first-born for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He hath showed thee, O man, what is good;
and what doth the Lord require of thee,
but to do justly, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with thy God?
In other words, His pleading touched some of the hearts of His people. These were the remnant of the people. They turned to the Lord and said, “Lord, what shall we do? Shall we bring offerings to Thee, sacrifice to Thee? What shall we do? What can we do?”
The Lord said that what He wants is not the outward thing, but it is worthy to do justly, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God.
In other words, what He desires is repentance. If we repent and return to Him—yes, it is true, He had to judge—but those who really respond to God’s pleading will find mercy.
In Micah 7:7, the remnant answers:
But as for me, I will look unto the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation:
my God will hear me.
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy:
when I fall, I shall arise;
when I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be a light unto me.
I will bear the indignation of the Lord,
because I have sinned against Him,
until He plead my cause,
and execute judgment for me:
He will bring me forth to the light,
and I shall behold His righteousness.
In other words, those who repent submit themselves under the mighty hand of God with humility until God’s work is done. Then light will come upon them, and salvation will come to them.
God will bring even their enemies to them, and the whole world will come under the reign of the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Brothers and sisters, these are the messages that God gave to Judah and to Israel through the prophet Micah.
What is this to us today?
You know, when we study prophecy, it is not just to study partly history and partly prophecy. When we study prophecy, it is for our admonition, because all the Scripture is given to us for our admonition, that we may learn something.
Now, brothers and sisters, what are we to learn from Micah? Does it sound familiar to you when God says, “Hear”?
In Revelation 2 and 3, seven times you find these words:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
God is speaking. God is speaking to His people. Why? Because He loves His people. He loves them, and because He loves them so much, He speaks to them.
But unfortunately, His people’s ears are stopped with something—with oil. They cannot hear. So the Bible says, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”
Not only in the old days did the Spirit of God speak through the prophet Micah; not only in the time of John the apostle did the Spirit speak to the churches in Asia; but, brothers and sisters, even today, the Spirit of God is still speaking to us through His written word.
There is a word for us in Micah. Are we not His chosen people? He has chosen us even before the foundation of the world in Christ Jesus. He has called us in Christ Jesus.
Israel represents the apostate church. Judah represents the faithful church. But here you find not only the apostate church, but even the faithful church has fallen.
Is it not true in Christianity today? Not to speak of those who have departed from the truth altogether in apostasy, but even among those who have been faithful, brothers and sisters, at the end of these days, do we not see that love has grown cold?
Do we not see that truth has been departed from? Do we not see that God’s people have become worldly? The world has come and taken over. It has become a worldly religious system.
Even with the faithful, you find: How many are still faithful to the Lord? How many are still faithful to the testimony of Jesus?
Are we not in the same position as Israel and Judah in those days?
Is God angry with us? Judgment begins with the house of God. Why? Because the house of God is supposed to represent God in this world.
The world is looking to the church to know who God is and what kind of God He is. But, dear brothers and sisters, how the church today has misrepresented God.
“Who is like the Lord?” Does the world see that our God is different? Does the world know that our God delights in lovingkindness? Does the world know that our God has compassion, that He loves to forgive, that His anger is but for a night?
Does the world know that He is the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His truth? Does the world know about that? How do we represent God? Where is the testimony of Jesus to the world?
The cry is: Repent. Return. Return to the beginning. Return to the simplicity that is in Christ.
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”
Brothers and sisters, it is true: judgment will come. It will not be spared. It will come to the church. It will come to the whole world.
But God is looking for a remnant among His heritage. In New Testament terms, God is looking for overcomers.
“He that overcometh.” Now, who is he that overcomes? Not super-Christians, but normal Christians—no better than anybody else—but we repent and return in humility. These are the overcomers.
They are willing to submit themselves under the mighty hand of God until the indignation of the Lord passes over, and light will shine, and salvation will come upon this earth.
So, dear brothers and sisters, in these last days, God needs many Micahs.
God needs many brothers and sisters whose very name, whose very being, is a testimony to the world: “Who is like our God?” Our God is different.
God needs many who will bring into this world the message that Micah brought. We want to tell the world that our God is incomparable. He is the only One. He is the only hope.
You remember, when Israel sinned in worshiping the golden calf, Moses went up to the mount to atone for the children of Israel. God forgave them.
Moses pleaded with God, “Show me Thy glory.” God said, “Thou canst not see My face: for man shall not see Me and live. But I will let thee see My back.”
You remember in Exodus 34, Moses was in the mountain, and God was passing by. God covered him with His hand until He passed by, and then God declared His name.
In Exodus 34:
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed,
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth;
keeping lovingkindness for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin;
and that will by no means clear the guilty,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
and upon the children’s children,
upon the third and upon the fourth generation.
And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
Brothers and sisters, this is the message of Micah. This is what God declares of Himself.
If we really hear and know who He is, we will be like Moses: bow down and worship God.
Shall we pray?
O God, O Lord, Thou art all in all. There is none like Thee.
Thou art merciful, gracious, and delightest in lovingkindness. Thou lovest to forgive, and yet Thou art righteous and just.
O, how we praise and thank Thee. It is because of what Thou art that there is hope for us. It is because of what Thou art that Thou hast provided the Redeemer for us.
It is because of what Thou art that we are here this morning. We do worship Thee. Thou art the only God. Thou art the one true God. There is none else.
Praise the Lord. Amen.