Tag Archives: Micah

September 26, 2024 Bible Study — Those Who Are Truly Humble Love Mercy and Act Justly

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Micah 3-7.

Usually when I read the prophets of the Old Testament condemning false prophets I think of people who use religion for their own benefit, but don’t actually believe in God.  I think that at the beginning of today’s passage Micah is referring to people who think they are preaching God’s message but have allowed their self-interest to distort what, and to whom, they preach.  Micah warns them that if they do not stop telling people what they reward them for saying rather than God’s message, God will stop speaking to them.  That would not be a punishment for those who do not believe in God.  Which causes me to think differently about a quote from an Old Testament prophet which I really love:
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.
All too often, those to whom God has given a message, or who think that God has given them a message, fail on that last line.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, those who seek to serve God all too often fail on the entire requirement, but it seems to me that it starts with a failure to walk humbly with God.  When we lose our humility it is not long until we stop loving mercy and acting justly.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

September 25, 2024 Bible Study — Bad Things Will Happen to Us if We Refuse to Speak the Message God Gives Us to Speak

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jonah 1-4 and Micah 1-2.

Reading Jonah’s story today reminds me of a video I watched a few weeks ago where Jordan Peterson talked with Bill Maher about the story of Jonah.  What Jordan Peterson said gave me new insight into the message of Jonah.  He said that the first part of the Book of Jonah tells us what happens to us if we see others doing things which will lead to their suffering and we refuse to speak to them about it.  Jonah didn’t want to tell the people of Nineveh that their actions would lead to bad consequences.  He recognized that if he stayed where he was, someone might hear him speaking God’s message about Nineveh and take it to them, even though he himself did not go there.  So, he got on a ship and tried to go as far from Nineveh as he could imagine being.  Jordan Peterson points out that by trying to avoid letting God’s message getting to Nineveh, Jonah put not just himself in danger, but everyone around him in danger.  At that point, Jonah had a choice, he could allow everyone around him to suffer along with himself, or he could sacrifice himself for them.  Jonah chose to sacrifice himself, and ended up in the worst place he could imagine, a place that was far from God, and from all human interaction.  Only when Jonah surrendered to God and resolved in his mind to do as God had instructed him,  had decided that he would take God’s message to Nineveh, did Jonah come back from that place of torment.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to write anything about Micah, but after I read these first two chapters I felt like I should add a comment on them.  First, Micah tells the people of Israel and Judah the Lord is coming to judge them for their rebelliousness.  He writes that sorrow awaits those who think that because they have the power to do something they have the right to do so.  Then he writes about those who tell him not to make such prophecies.  In Jonah we learned that if we do not speak the message God gives us, we will suffer, as will all of those around us.  In Jonah, the people of Nineveh were receptive to God’s message.  Here, the people do not want to hear it.  Nevertheless, Micah spoke God’s message, and despite most of his audience not wanting to hear the message a few listened.  Micah assured those who listened that God would redeem them in His time.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

September 26, 2023 Bible Study — God Requires Three Things of Us: That We Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly With Him

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Micah 3-7.

Micah warns Israel, both the Northern and Southern kingdoms, that God will bring judgement on them because their leaders hate what is good and love what is evil instead of embracing justice and because their religious leaders teach what those who are willing to pay want to hear while condemning those who will not bribe them.  But Micah also has a message for those who sincerely want to know what they should do in order to please God.  Micah tells us that God has shown us what is good, we have no excuse.  Let us act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.  I want to take a minute and go over what those three things mean.  To act justly means that we apply the same rules to those people we don’t like as we do to the people we do like.  To love mercy means that we forgive those who repent.  To walk humbly with our God means that we accept His judgement of ourselves and of others.  That one requires a little more because some of us struggle with this next part of its meaning: to walk humbly with our God also means that we recognize that we are not God, and that God is greater than we are.

 

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

September 25, 2023 Bible Study — We Cannot Escape God’s Plans for Us

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jonah 1-4 and Micah 1-2.

God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and prophesy that it would soon be destroyed.  However, Jonah did not want to preach this message to the people of Nineveh because he wanted them to be destroyed and was afraid that they would listen to his prophecy and repent.  So, in order to avoid inadvertently delivering God’s message to the Ninevites, Jonah decided he would go in the opposite direction.  However, when God brought misfortune upon Jonah, Jonah surrendered and agreed to deliver God’s message.  When the Ninevites repented, Jonah was angry that God chose to withhold the destruction He had Jonah prophesy.  Finally, Jonah gets angry because a vine which had grown up to give him shade died.  God uses the death of this vine to point out to Jonah that he was more concerned with his own comfort than the lives of thousands of people.  Ultimately, the Book of Jonah has two vitally important messages for us:

  1. There is no place to which we can run to escape God’s plans for us
  2. We should value others more than we value our comfort

I was not sure I was going to write about Micah, but after reading it I had some thoughts I wanted to write down.   Micah prophesies that God’s judgement is about to pour out against Israel, the Northern Kingdom, and against Judah, the Southern Kingdom.  The sins of the people of both kingdoms will result in terrible destruction for them.  Micah tells us that the sins of these nations spread out from their capitals.  Samaria and Jerusalem were to blame for the people of Israel and of Judah sinning in ways which led to invasion and desolation.  As we read on into chapter two we realize that Micah’s prophecy against Samaria and Jerusalem is not specific to those geographic locations.  Instead, Micah tells us that the leaders of the people were responsible for their sins.  Micah’s message here is twofold.  First, the rich and powerful will suffer the same desolation from their sins that the common people will experience.  Second, if we allow our leaders to lead us into sin, we will suffer the consequences.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

September 26, 2022 Bible Study — Act Justly And Walk Humbly With Your God

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Micah 3-7.

Micah condemns the people of Jerusalem because their political leaders made decisions based upon the bribes they received, their religious leaders taught what they were paid to teach, and those tasked with predicting the future did so on the basis of what they were paid to predict.  Despite this, they believe that God will support them and that they will suffer no disaster.  Such behaviors, Micah tells us, will lead to the destruction of a nation.  From there Micah goes on to prophecy that God will raise up a redeemer to bring His people back to Him so that He can bless them once more.  Then God asks why we find it so hard to do as He asks of us.  After all, what has God asked of us other than that we act justly, love and show mercy, and walk humbly with God?  Walking humbly with God means recognizing that we are not God and that He has the right to tell us to do certain things and not do other things.  Actually, it is more than that.  Walking humbly with God means recognizing that doing the things which God tells us to do, and not doing the things He tells us not to do, will bring us greater contentment and pleasure than acting contrary to His commands.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

September 25, 2022 Bible Study — Jonah Wanted The People Of Nineveh To Suffer For Their Sins, But Was Not Willing To See Others Suffer For His Own Sins

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jonah 1-4 and Micah 1-2.

I had a couple of different thoughts about the Book of Jonah today.  As I started to try to put those thoughts into words a question occurred to me: why does God seem to hound certain people until they, like Jonah, stop running from His will and consent to fulfill it?  And I think Jonah illustrates at least part of the answer to that question.  Jonah ran from God’s will, but when the judgement God brought down upon him threatened to fall upon those around him, Jonah offered himself up as a sacrifice to turn God’s wrath aside from them.  And that seems to offer up the difference between Jonah and those whom God allows to run away from Him.  God sent destruction in the form of a storm upon the ship Jonah was on until He got Jonah’s attention.  Then, when the people around him, had done everything in their power to escape the storm, only then did they allow Jonah to “take the fall”.  Perhaps, if Jonah had continued to deny God, God would have allowed everyone on board to go on their way, even Jonah.  We do not know, but I have seen people who have turned from God suffer many things until a time comes when God seems to give up on them and allows them to live in peace.  On the other hand, I have seen people who have turned from God suffer one thing after another year after year, until finally they give up and acknowledge God.  One other point, Jonah denied God because he was afraid that the people of Nineveh would turn from their sin and God would forgive them: he wanted them to suffer.  However, Jonah was unwilling for the people on the ship with him to suffer for his sins.  That also plays a roll in why God went so far to bring Jonah back to Him.

I want to contrast the way the people of Nineveh responded to Jonah’s prophecy of destruction to the way the people of Israel responded to Micah’s prophecy (or, at least the way that their response is recorded in today’s passages).  When Jonah prophesied to the people of Nineveh that God would destroy the city in 40 days because of their wickedness, they repented of their evil and began to fast and pray.  On the other hand, Micah tells us that when he told the people of Israel that God was going to destroy Samaria and Jerusalem, they told him to shut up.  When a prophet of God speaks to us, let us respond like the people of Nineveh did here, not the way the people of Israel did.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

September 25, 2021 Bible Study — While Jonah Was Running From God, God Still Revealed Himself Through Him

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jonah 1-4 and Micah 1-2.

Usually when I read the book of Jonah I focus on Jonah and God’s message to us through Jonah, but today something else caught my eye.  Let’s look at this, God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and prophesy against it, sdo something and he didn’t want to do it. So, he went the opposite direction, because Jonah knew that if he went anywhere near Nineveh God would use him to accomplish His purposes.  There are some things in there that deserve a little attention, but I am not going to go there today.  What I want to focus on is what happened on the ship, and not the part we normally look at.  So, after the sailors threw Jonah overboard and the storm abated, they worshiped God and vowed to serve Him going forward.  Think about that, Jonah did not intentionally witness to those men.  He was not there because God sent him there.  Jonah was there running away from God, and God was STILL able to use him to reveal Himself to those who did not know Him.  Think about it: God can, and will, use us to make the world a better place, even when we are resisting Him.

In many ways the Book of Jonah is an excellent precursor to the opening of Micah.  When Jonah preached in Nineveh that God was about to bring judgement on that city, the people of that city repented of their sins in sackcloth.  They mourned their sinfulness and turned to God. When Micah prophesied about the judgement coming against Samaria and Jerusalem, the people of those cities told him not to say such things.  Then he says something I think we should take to heart: those who do what is right find his words comforting.  Think about that.  In the middle of his fire and brimstone message about the doom and disaster which are looming over the nation, Micah tells us that those who do right are comforted by his words, why?  Because his words mean that those who abuse others, who oppress the poor, who perform various wicked acts, will suffer for the suffering they have caused.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

September 26, 2020 Bible Study

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

So, leading up to our anniversary, I wished my wife happy anniversary for 20 days culminating on our anniversary yesterday.  I was tempted to continue for 20 more days, but decided not to do so.  However, since I am writing these a few days in advance, I am going to thank my wife on here every day until I am writing on the day after our anniversary

Thank you for marrying me. Darling!

Today, I am reading and commenting on Micah 3-7.

Micah continues his prophecy against those who have positions of leadership, religious and secular and those who have become wealthy through dishonesty, violence, and extortion.  He condemns the government officials whose rules and regulations serve only those who bribe them, the preachers and teachers who only provide their services to those who pay them, and then tell them what they want to hear rather than teach God’s word.  I read Micah’s condemnation of these people and see it happening again today.  God will bring His judgement down on those who twist justice and hate what is good.  Yet, for all of the fact that humans keep doing these same things, Micah prophesies that the day will come when God will call all nations to Him.  In that day, God will mediate between nations and peoples.  He will bring peace to the earth so that no one will train for war anymore.  For all the terribleness we see in the world around us, God promises that one day He will bring about peace, prosperity, and justice.  We need not fear the terrible times which come first if we put our faith in God.

September 25, 2020 Bible Study Desire That Sinners Repent, Not That They Be Punished

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

So, leading up to our anniversary, I wished my wife happy anniversary for 20 days culminating on our anniversary yesterday.  I was tempted to continue for 20 more days, but decided not to do so.  However, since I am writing these a few days in advance, I am going to thank my wife on here every day until I am writing on the day after our anniversary

Thank you for marrying me. Darling!

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jonah 1-4 and Micah 1-2.

First Jonah 1-4

Often times when I read the story of Jonah I want to break it down into parts.  In fact, many times when I have heard sermons based on Jonah they are only on one part.  There is nothing wrong with that, but the Book of Jonah is short and we should, from time to time, look at it as a whole .  When God gave Jonah a message for Nineveh Jonah did not want to deliver it because he did not want the people of Nineveh to repent and be saved from God’s judgement.  Later he felt more grief over the death of a plant which had provided him shade than he felt over the possible suffering and death of the people of Nineveh.  The message of the Book of Jonah is that we should desire that sinful people turn from their sins and be saved, even if they have caused us, or others we care about, to suffer.  We should not desire that those who sin suffer for their sins.  We should desire that they cease to sin, and thus avoid that suffering.  As followers of Christ, we gain more when sinners repent than when they are punished.

Then Micah 1-2

I take Micah’s prophecy as being directed at those whose livelihood is dependent on the government.  Reading Micah’s condemnation of Samaria and Jerusalem I am reminded that the five richest counties in the United States are those surrounding Washington, DC.  I do not think this means that this passage is only of relevance to those who live in those counties.  Rather, it is a warning to those who make their living from managing the levers of power.  Micah’s message is not that it is wrong to make one’s living from managing the levers of power, after all, someone must do so.  No, Micah is condemning those who use their access to the levers of power to defraud and oppress others.

September 26, 2019 Bible Study — Do What Is Right, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly With Your God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Micah 3-7

Micah condemns government officials who make their decisions based on what is in it for them, and religious leaders who only preach God’s word to those who pay them.  Further, he writes that the latter alter what God’s word according to what those who pay them want to hear.  Despite the fact that they base their lives and wealth on lies and corruption, they believe that God will protect them and their patrons.  Micah warns us that such a society cannot stand.  Those who rely on fraud and deception to steal wealth from those who produce it will find that all of the wealth is gone and destruction is upon them.  The warning Micah issues here applies today, when so many leaders seek leadership positions in order to build power and wealth for themselves rather than in order to serve those whom they lead.

Micah writes that despite the destruction which will come, God will rebuild Jerusalem.  God’s teaching will go out from that rebuilt Jerusalem and draw people from all nations to Him.  Those drawn to God will learn from Him to walk in His ways and follow His paths.  They will learn to live in peace with each other, with each person thriving from the work of their own hands.  Micah tells us what encompasses walking in God’s way: 

to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Let each of us strive to walk humbly with our God.