Old Testament Vistas

Judgment is Coming

Judgment Because of Sin722 BC – Destruction of Samaria by Assyria586 BC – Destruction of Judah by Babylonia

Sin #1: Idolatry

“If one God is good, aren’t many better?”

Micah 1:7 NIVAll her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used."

Micah 5:10-15 NIV"In that day," declares the LORD, "I will destroy your horses from among you and demolish your chariots. I will destroy the cities of your land and tear down all your strongholds. I will destroy your witchcraft and you will no longer cast spells.

Micah 5:10-15 NIVI will destroy your carved images and your sacred stones from among you; you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands. I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles and demolish your cities. I will take vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations that have not obeyed me."

Sin #2: Injustice

“Because I can, that’s why!”

Micah 2:1-2 NIVWoe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning's light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance.

Amos 4:1-2 NIVHear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, "Bring us some drinks!" The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness: "The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks.

Isaiah 10:1-2 NIVWoe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.

Sin #3: Externalism

“I want my ‘Get out of Hell Free’ card”

Micah 3:11 NIVHer leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us."

Matthew 23:25-28 NIV"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Matthew 23:25-28 NIV"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.

Matthew 23:25-28 NIVIn the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

People: “God Won’t Judge Us!”

Micah 2:6-7 NIV "Do not prophesy," their prophets say. "Do not prophesy about these things; disgrace will not overtake us." Should it be said, O house of Jacob: "Is the Spirit of the LORD angry? Does he do such things?" …

God: “Oh, Yes, I Will!”Micah 2:10 NIV Get up, go away! For this is not your resting place, because it is defiled, it is ruined, beyond all remedy.

Jesus is Coming!

Good News for the Remnant

Micah 2:12-13 NIV "I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people.

Good News for the Remnant

One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the LORD at their head."

Messianic ThreadMicah 5:2-5 NIV "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." …

Messianic Thread… He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace. …

Genesis 3:15 NIVAnd I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

2 Samuel 7:13-14 NIVHe is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men.

Isaiah 11:1-3 NIVA shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD—and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. …

What God Requires

Micah 6:6-8 NIV 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? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Micah 6:6-8 NIV Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, 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.

Psalms 51:16-17 NIVYou do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Isaiah 1:11-17 NIV"The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?

Isaiah 1:11-17 NIVStop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates.

Isaiah 1:11-17 NIVThey have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean.

Isaiah 1:11-17 NIVTake your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

The Message of Micah

1. God eventually punishes sin

No one gets a free pass

LA Times, April 30, 2011Study links willingness to cheat, viewpoint on God“Mean Gods Make Good People”

1. No difference between believers & non-believers

2. Those who believe in compassionate God more likely to cheat than those who believe in punitive God

Paul Addresses this in Romans

Romans 6:1 NIV What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Romans 6:15 NIV What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

Romans 2:4-5 NIVOr do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

Romans 2:4-5 NIVBut because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

2. God always rescues His own

How do I become a part of the remnant?

Romans 6:3-4 NIVOr don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.