Who is Like Our God? - Pastor Tom Loghry
Because of the gift of Christ, we can be forgiven and brought back into relationship with our God.
Transcript:
If you've been paying attention to the news, you're familiar with the recent developments in Syria. The Assad regime, most recently headed by Bashar al-Assad, a regime that held power for some 50 odd years, has been overthrown. A dictator known for his cruelty and policy of torment is suddenly no longer in power. Videos can be found all over social media of Syrians tearing down statues of the Assads, of crowds singing in celebration, mothers lifting their children in the air with joy.
The Syrian people are filled with joy because the cruelty of Assad no longer hangs over their future. A new future has opened up before them.
They have a new future before them, the Syrian people. And we along with the rest of the world are waiting to see what that future will be. We have not suffered as they have. But we understand their reason for rejoicing. We can understand what it means to feel as though you are condemned, as though you are a dead man walking, and then to suddenly have everything change. It's the feeling of salvation. Joy reaches new heights when we are relieved of condemnation that we in fact deserve. The Syrian people didn't deserve everything they were suffering. But imagine you were suffering. Imagine you were under a state of condemnation and you deserved it all.
The story of humanity is played out under such a cloud of condemnation. The world is enveloped in a darkness of our own choosing. A life apart from the light of life. A life divorced from God. We live under God's wrath, reaping what we sow. And yet, we are invited to rejoice. Why? King David tells us in his invitation to praise in Psalm 30 verses 4- 5.
He says, Sing the praises of the Lord, you His faithful people. Praise His holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. God's people are invited to rejoice because condemnation is met with salvation. The tears are temporary, the celebration everlasting.
This morning I want us to turn to Micah 7 to consider this in more detail. So you can turn there in your Bibles. It will be on the screen as well. And to start, just so you have a bit of a background, we're going to look at a few maps. Because we're moving forward in the biblical story quite far from where we were just last week when we were talking about Joseph.
We're going about a thousand years into the future. From around 1800, 1700 BC to, it's estimated 701 BC when the book of Micah was written.
If you could put the map up, as you can see, Israel was, at a certain point, one kingdom. And it came to be that way, largely, in terms of the territory that we see here, this territory got secured during the time of King David. Now David wasn't the first king of Israel, but he was the most significant.
He was the first king to emerge from the tribe of Judah, fulfilling the prophecies that had been given that the scepter would come into Judah, that the throne would belong to the tribe of Judah. And, so he helped secure their territory and gave them a place from a time that had been under great chaos and from the time of Saul, under great threat from the Philistines, King David helped secure them.
But this united kingdom did not last. The kingdom was eventually split into two, into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Now, the northern kingdom was especially wayward in pursuing false gods and all sorts of other injustices. But Judah was not all that far behind. Besides idolatry, their crimes included things like abusing the poor, denying them justice, taking bribes, sexual sin, and even sacrificing their own children to idols.
On the whole, both were on a downward trajectory in terms of their devotion to God. And the ultimate outcome would be that both kingdoms would be conquered and large portions of their populations deported into exile. Now, Micah is writing at a time when the Assyrians have basically already done this to the northern kingdom and are threatening Judah.
His prophecy looks beyond their threat to the one that will be realized by the Babylonian empire in 586 BC. We turn to chapter 7 with this in mind, thinking about the conditions of his own time, and then also thinking about our own time. So let's look at Micah 7 verses 1 through 3. What misery is mine?
I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard. There is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave. The faithful have been swept away from the land; not one upright person remains. Everyone lies in wait to shed blood; they hunt each other with nets. Both hands are skilled in doing evil.
The ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire. They all conspire together. The best of them is like a briar, the most upright, worse than a thorn hedge. The day God visits you has come, the day your watchmen sound the alarm. Now is the time of your confusion. Do not trust a neighbor.
Put no confidence in a friend. Even with the woman who lies in your embrace, guard the words of your lips. For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter in law against her mother in law. A man's enemies are the members of his own household. Think about the experience that Micah is relating here in these verses.
He's trying to describe to us in very vivid terms of how miserable things are in the land. He says it's akin to going out to try to pick some fruit at the end of a harvest. You have a hankering for some sweet fruit, but if you go out to the field at the end of the harvest, you're not going to have that desire satisfied, because there's nothing going to be found there.
And the point that he's getting at, and bringing up this imagery, is to say that there is no one who is faithful, there is no one who is upright in the land. He comes up empty handed when he tries to find Instead, everyone is pursuing bloodshed. Their hands are full of evil. The rulers are interested in getting bribes.
The powerful people in society are conspiring together. Situation is so bad that he says, The best of people, the most upright, He says, kind of running with this vineyard theme, they're like a briar, or like a thorn hedge. In other words, they're not that great. If you think about our own times, I think some, we can kind of relate a little bit, where we've become accustomed in our society to judge people relative to other people as like, well, at least they're not as bad as this person, or as bad as that person.
That's kind of the situation for Micah here. He's like, The best of people, they're only relatively better than the worst. And the result is, is, of all this, is you can't trust anybody. You can't even trust your own family members.
You can expect that even your family would perhaps betray you. And, and the thing is, is the things that Micah's talking about here we could relate to today, but in fact they're, they're very timeless to the human condition. As Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1: 9, there is nothing new under the sun. Now, having heard all this from Micah, we'd kind of expect that he would just break down in despair at this point.
But that's not what happens. Look at the verse that follows. Verse 7. It says, But as for me, I watch and hope for the Lord. I wait for God my Savior. My God will hear me. Everything is going terrible. Nothing is as Micah would have it to be, nor is it the way that God would have things.
And yet Micah doesn't despair because he knows that salvation will come from the Lord. He knows that God is his Savior and so he is watching and waiting with hope, confident that God will hear him. That God will hear his cry about the condition of everything around him and bring salvation.
When we see how Micah responds to the conditions of his society at that time, it kind of prompts a little self reflection on our part in thinking about, where are, where are our eyes turning when we see everything going bad around us? Are we watching in hope? Are we waiting in hope? Are we confident that God does hear our cries?
We're going to turn to the next few verses here. Verses 8- 9.
We look at verses 8 9. He says, Do not gloat over me, my enemy. Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Because I have sinned against Him, I will bear the Lord's wrath until He pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light. I will see His righteousness.
What we see here on the part of Micah is kind of this defiant tone, but it's not one of pride in himself, It's a humble sort of confidence. It's a humble sort of confidence that's based on the goodness and power of God because what Micah says on his own part is, he says in verse 9, I have sinned against him. I'll bear the Lord's wrath But then everything turns in terms of what God is going to do until he pleased my case and upholds my cause he will bring me out into light and I will see his righteousness. So though he has fallen and he's, Micah is not just talking about himself here, he's really talking about Israel on a whole on the whole, Though they have all fallen they will rise because God is their Savior. Then turning to verse 10, he continues and says, Then my enemy will see it and will be covered with shame. She who said to me, Where is the Lord your God? My eyes will see her downfall.
Even now she will be trampled underfoot like mire in the streets. The day for building your walls will come, the day for extending your boundaries. And that day people will come to you from Assyria, and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as a result of their deeds. What Micah is telling here is a reversal of their fortunes. So, he's anticipating judgment, but then he's anticipating a time in which the walls of the city of Jerusalem are going to be rebuilt. A time in which their boundaries are going to be extended.
And he's also anticipating this international response of people going towards Jerusalem. Now what he's talking about is something that we're not going to see within the window of this age. This age in which we're living in. What he's looking forward to is the age to come that's going to be introduced at the return of Christ.
He's looking towards the end of the ages. But this is what he's fixing his hope upon, and it's the reason why he's rejoicing, because he knows this salvation is coming. Now, this idea about this kind of international response, this worldwide response to God, is revealed all the more as we get into verse 14.
Says, he says, shepherd your people with your staff. The flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasture lands. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in days long ago. And then, verse 15, this is as though God is speaking. You see, it's kind of a call and response thing. It says, the Lord responds, As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my wonders.
Nations will see and be ashamed. Deprived of all their power, they will put their hands over their mouths and their ears will become deaf. They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens. They will turn in fear to the Lord, our God, and will be afraid of you.
Micah is calling upon God to shepherd his people. And this is, in fact, the typical role envisioned for a king in the ancient Near East. Kings were often referred to as the shepherds of the people. And so, Micah is calling upon God as King to come and shepherd his people, to take care of them, to feed them in these fertile pasture lands.
To bring about a restoration so that they would feed in the fields of Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago. Now what's really interesting is this sort of language that Micah is using here, talking about, this one, about God coming and shepherding his people, is it connects with a prophecy that he gave a couple chapters earlier in Micah 5 verses 2 through 4.
Which has a very clear messianic connotation to it and makes us think about Jesus. There Micah says, 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. Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.
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. So, I mean, there's all kinds of things going off as kind of flashing lights that point us to Christ.
The fact that we're talking about Bethlehem, Bethlehem here, and of course Christ was born in Bethlehem, born of, from the tribe of Judah. And these verses are talking about a promised king who would come and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord and in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
So, when Micah's talking about this one who would come and shepherd the people of Israel, this coming king, and then he's calling upon God to come shepherd his people, he's not making two different appeals, he's making an appeal that is really one and the same, because this One who would be the Messiah, who would be born, is in fact the Son of God.
God Himself come in the flesh to shepherd His people and be their King.
It's also notable that here, how His greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And when we go back up to these verses that we're looking at in 14 through 16. In verse 16, it talks about how the people are going to, the people outside of Israel are going to be filled with remorse and respond with repentance, really, with fear to God.
And what this is really prophesying is the inclusion of the Gentile people in being brought to God and being joined to the people of Israel. And the reason why we have reason to believe this is when we go earlier in Micah 4, Micah talks about this. Micah 4 verses 1 through 2 says in the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as the highest of mountains. It will be exalted above the hills and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk His paths.
The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. So notice what Micah is anticipating here. Here in Micah 7 he's saying the world is going to be filled with remorse and repentance. But here in Micah 4 he's talking about how they're all going to be coming to Jerusalem. They're going to be streaming to Jerusalem because they want to know the ways of the Lord.
They're going to be desiring to walk in His paths. Now we don't see this happen in Micah's lifetime. We don't see this at any point in Micah's life before the time of Christ. But once Christ appears, what happens? The gospel goes out to all the nations and all the Gentile peoples begin responding and turning to God and repentance.
And this is exactly what Jesus says would happen. in John 12:32, he says, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. So if you're a student of history, and you look at, okay, this is what Micah said, you know, 700 years before Christ, and then you have this guy, Jesus Christ, who shows up, says he is the Messiah, this promised king, and then after the fact, you see people from all across the globe, from all different nations and tribes, turning to him, turning to God, turning to him.
Turning to Christ as their Savior. Well, it sure looks like everything that Micah has prophesied here is being fulfilled before our eyes.
Now, part of the reason why people would turn to God is out of remorse and repentance, a certain fear, because they've realized, wow, we've really messed up here, and we really do need to, honor and glorify the one true God. But Micah closes out his chapter here with a note that points out another reason why people are going to be turning to God.
Verses 18 through 19. 18 through 20, rather. He says, 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. You will again have compassion on us. You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
You will be faithful to Jacob and show love to Abraham as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago. And once again, it's just so incredible to me because at least 700 years before Christ, even if, you know, you're a different kind of biblical scholar and you're like, Well, I don't know if it was actually 700 years, we're still talking hundreds of years before Christ you have this prophecy given, anticipating this message of forgiveness being offered to all people.
If you took this and you didn't know what, where it was from, you'd say, oh, this is from one of the Gospels or from the New Testament or something. Now it is noticeable, notable here that it says, when it's talking about God pardoning sin and forgiving transgression, those who are forgiven, those who are pardoned, are not everybody.
Micah is not prophesying universal salvation here in the sense that everyone is just automatically forgiven. Everyone is automatically pardoned. There have been some people over the centuries, unfortunately, who have looked at the Scriptures and twisted them and said, Well, you know, Jesus is the Savior and He just automatically saves everybody, regardless of how they respond.
Well, if you look at the scriptures, we don't have any reason to think that. People need to respond in repentance, and faith. And if they do, if they do accept this gift of salvation that's offered to them, then they are included in this remnant. This remnant of His inheritance that are pardoned, that are forgiven.
I mean, this lines up with just what we hear in Revelation 20: 15 where there is a distinction at the end of the ages. It says, anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. There's an opportunity to be pardoned and forgiven and redeemed, but we need to accept it.
We need to turn to God and accept it in Jesus Christ. Now, the forgiveness that God is offering, and Micah is describing here, Is neither reluctant, nor is it any sort of just fake sort of forgiveness. God does have real anger towards sin, but Micah says he delights to show mercy. It's important for us to remember that.
Sometimes when we, we have these images in our minds about God, they're very inaccurate. They don't reflect the God of the Bible. Sometimes we have an image of God in our minds where He's just a very stern judge. And He just really wants to whack everyone over the head. God hates sin. But God does not hate you.
God's desire is to show mercy. And He delights in showing mercy. And when He forgives you, He truly forgives you. He doesn't keep a secret list of all your sins and say, Well, what about the time you did that, that, and this. When he forgives you, it's wiped away. And I love the imagery here, it's like it's tossed into the sea.
It's like, if you took your phone, and you tossed it out into the ocean, it would be like, good luck finding that thing again. That's what God does with our sins and with our guilt. He's like, this stuff, this stuff that, you know, all these things that you've done wrong, that make you feel terrible about yourself, these things that have in fact separated you from me, well, guess what?
They no longer separate us anymore. They're getting chucked into the middle of the ocean. Nothing's going to keep us apart any longer.
All of this, Micah says, is just God simply keeping his word of promise. It says, You will be faithful to Jacob and show love to Abraham as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago. You remember, we've referred to this again and again, and I'll refer to it again in Genesis 12, verses 2 through 3, God promised Abram, He said, I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. So if you just think of this kind of umbrella of, of promise. God said, He's gonna bless the children of Abraham. Well, critical to that, them receiving that blessing, there being the possibility of forgiveness.
If they cannot be forgiven, if they cannot be restored or redeemed, then they're only under a curse. But God promised blessing. And God also promised that the world would be blessed through them. That it wouldn't just be about the Jewish people, but rather through the children of Abraham, the whole world would be blessed.
And this is what Micah is anticipating. He's anticipating the appearance of this salvation. Maybe this Christmas season you feel like Micah. You feel miserable. Not just because of the sins of others, but because of your own sin. In the midst of this, you're invited to rejoice, to be filled with joy. It doesn't make a lick of sense.
In fact, it can kind of sound crazy unless you take Christmas seriously. If Christmas is about Santa, presents, ho ho ho, and Dominic the donkey, then yes, it is foolish to sugarcoat your sorrow. But that's not what Christmas is about. Christmas is the celebration that salvation has come. The birth of Jesus is the beginning of the end for sin, death, and the devil.
All of the rottenness that we see around us are Satan's pathetic last gasps before all evil is obliterated from the universe in Christ's return. Christmas is that time that reminds us that God delights in showing us mercy. He wants to forgive us, and in Jesus we can be forgiven. We can be accepted and embraced by the Father, we can belong to him.
The apostle John reminds us in 1 John 1:8-9, if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
The truth of Christmas is our cause for rejoicing. It is the truth of our salvation that gives us joy.
If you're not feeling that joy, then maybe you need to meditate more deeply on this truth. It is very easy to lose perspective. To allow all our problems to block out this reality. Kind of like how you take your thumb and you can use it and block out the sun. You think, especially when you're a kid, you think, Oh wow, my thumb's bigger than the sun.
That's how we treat our problems sometimes in life. Oh, this thing is so huge. We lose all sense of proportion. The reality is, is that nothing is too big for Jesus Christ. He's going to roll every stone away. So let us pray that God would help us see things as they really are. And to be filled with the joy He wants us to experience.
Let's pray.
Dear Father, Father, like Micah, we, we do confess our frustration with the condition of our world. Of our society. And Father, we confess our frustration with our own personal condition. How we recognizably come up short of who we're supposed to be, often on a daily basis, Father.
Father, we pray that, You would fill us with joy, knowing that this is not all there is. That our hope is not found in the status of this world, how things are going. Our hope is not based upon what we can do about it. That our joy can be found because you are our Savior. You are our King. You are our Shepherd.
And that this has been made utterly apparent and clear because you gave us your Son, Jesus Christ, to be our King and Savior. Father, help us to turn to Him, to trust in Him, to receive this gift of forgiveness, this gift that truly removes all guilt, and removes the divide between us. Help us to delight, Father, in this good gift, knowing that you also are delighting and filled with joy to give it. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hey there, Pastor Tom here. I hope you enjoyed this sermon I offered to Rockland Community Church. Rockland Community Church is located at 212 Rockland Road in North Scituate, Rhode Island, just around the bend from the Scituate Public High School. We invite you to join us in person or virtually this Sunday. It's our joy to welcome you into our community.
Intro/Outro Song
Title: River Meditation
Artist: Jason Shaw
Source:http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jason_Shaw/Audionautix_Acoustic/RIVER_MEDITATION___________2-58
License:(CC BY 3.0 US)