Sermon Tone Analysis

Please turn with me, in your bibles to Micah 1.

As you turn, let’s pray together.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

Charles Dickens wrote those words as the opening to what some consider to be the greatest novel ever written in English.

As he was detailing the ongoing French Revolution near the end of the 18’th century, one could try to make the case that he may have started writing with Samaria and Jerusalem of the 8th century BC in mind, rather than London and Paris.

One commentator has pointed out that the themes Micah deals with, wisdom - folly, belief - unbelief, light - darkness, hope - despair, heaven -hell, are the very themes that Dickens picks up on as he wrote “The Tale of Two Cities.”

As we begin a series, walking through the book of Micah, we will see that this is no novel, but rather an inspired and inerrant account, a word of judgement and yet hope given to Israel and still relevant for us even today.

Let’s turn our attention to the first verse of the book.

I’d like to make a few remarks concerning the author of the book we’ll be studying, before breaking down chapters 1 and 2 into one main point for today.

Then we’ll turn our attention forward to the New Testament to find our application from the Lord Jesus, Himself.

Again, looking at Micah 1:1:

Who is Micah?

Scholars tell us that throughout the Old Testament, there were 14 different men named Micah, but only two references are made to a prophet in Jerusalem with that particular name: There is one made here in Micah 1:1, regarding one who prophesied in the late 8th and early 7th centuries B.C., who came from a town called Moresheth.

The other reference comes from Jeremiah 26, written nearly 100 years later where Jeremiah informs us that Micah was the prophet who warned Israel and convinced King Hezekiah to turn to the Lord in repentance.

In fact, it was Micah’s prophecies that ended up saving Jeremiah’s life.

There were some who wanted to have him killed because of his words of judgement against the king and the nation, but when he pointed back to Micah having done the same thing and the King’s eventual seeking out of the Lord, he was spared.

Back to the question of who is Micah, though.

His name has significant meaning.

As we’ve mentioned several times as of late, Names in the Old Testament actually meant something and care was taken in choosing a name.

The name Micah comes from a longer Hebrew word that means “Who is like the Lord?”

An intentionally rhetorical question, because the obvious answer is no one.

There is no one quite like God Himself.

Micah actually uses his name near the end of his book as he praises God, saying in Micah 7:18, “18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?

He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.”

So then, Micah is a prophet of the Lord, who takes great joy in the saving grace of God.

His writings were against the corruption and sin of the nation of Israel.

Though the nation was split between two kingdoms, He desired to see all of Israel and Judah repent, and to see the Lord glorified above all.

He came from a town out in the middle of nowhere, but wasn’t distracted by the hustle and bustle of the big City of Jerusalem.

In his neck of the woods, which was about halfway from Jerusalem to the sea, shepherds, farmers, and small-time land owners were being unfairly and sinfully taken advantage of by the rich and the powerful of the capital cities.

He wrote after the ministries of Jonah, Hosea, and Amos, prophesying at the same time as the much more famous Isaiah.

We know this, because the first verse tells us (Micah 1:1 “1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.”)

The Old Testament writers (after Samuel) preferred to keep time by mentioning who was king at the time of the ministry or writing.

That being said, it’s very important that we understand that Micah’s book was not all written at one time, nor were his prophecies all delivered in quick succession.

In our time together, Lord willing, over the next several weeks, we will discuss these prophecies that came over a 30-50 year period.

In doing so, there will be some overlapping, and what seems like repetition.

To put it simply, the people of Micah’s day were similar to us today in that neither of us rarely get it figured out and handled right the first time we’re told.

Because of the nature of the writing of the book, it is difficult to outline, as many of the minor prophets tend to be.

If you go and look up Micah in 4 or 5 commentaries, you will probably find 4 or 5 different outlines.

We understand that the outlines are not inspired, but we trust that the Holy Spirit is directing our path as we study the word together.

One last point before we get into the text.

This book is written in a way that if we look past the content, the superpower of the day may seem like the main antagonist.

Assyria, and her destruction and captivity of much of Israel was seen by the prophets as a symptom of a problem, and not the problem itself.

Micah will show us that the central issue is that Israel had wandered away from her religious foundations.

Israel had turned her heart away from God and the fruits of unrighteousness were beginning to ripen in the forms of corruption and injustice.

As we begin we have to ask, why this book?

Why study this now?

The answer is simple.

While MBC is not Israel, and America is certainly not God’s chosen people we are experiencing the effects of a turning away from godly, Christian principles.

We are seeing, all around us, what happens when the moral foundations of a true religion - that cares for the orphans and widows in their affliction, and remains unstained by the world - are thrown away and trampled over.

As one commentator writes:

“The Old Testament prophets as a group were greatly concerned with societal standards of justice and mercy.

But Micah is particularly pronounced in his concern for civic godliness.

In his day the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, often by the most violent and ungodly means.

Micah is sometimes considered a defender of the poor, but really he particularly defended what we today call the middle class.

Their land was unlawfully seized (Mic.

2:2); deceitful business practices were rife (6:10–12); community and family life had broken down (7:5–6).

Above all, Micah denounced the corrupt leaders and false prophets.

Leslie Allen writes: “Even religious leaders—priests and prophets—did little more than echo the spirit of the period, buttressing the society that gave them their livelihood.”

Richard D. Phillips, Jonah & Micah, ed.

Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Iain M. Duguid, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2010), 138.

That is to say, the religious leaders were complicit in the corruption because they had no trouble receiving funds in exchange for preaching only favorable messages to the people who were paying them, as we’ll see later in the book.

I once had a pastor who said something I hope I’ll never forget, he said, “As ministers, we must never do our jobs so as to keep our jobs.

We must be willing to speak truth and do right no matter if it costs us everything.”

Dear friends, as believers in a fallen world that’s no longer ashamed of its depravity, we must find the courage to stand up and speak truth and do right no matter if it costs us everything.

If we want to be frank about why we’re studying this book, it’s because we as believers have not yet learned our lesson and God will not be mocked.

We must stand for truth.

If we are simply going along to get along, we are part of the problem.

This prominent concept that’s so widely accepted, of “live and let live” misses a crucial truth that the Gospel points out: This world and the people in it are dead apart from Christ’s saving work, and if we just go with the flow, they may never know of the love of a Father that can turn a dead heart of stone into a living heart of flesh.

At MBC we want to be a loving family of believers, who together worship, share, connect, grow, and serve.

Without a proper understanding of how to be in the world without being of the world - the opposite of what the kings and religious leaders of Micah’s day were doing - then we will never fulfill the mission God has given us.

We must learn to walk humbly with the Lord, and that’s the whole message of Micah summed up, as he wrote in Micah 6:8.

So now, in the time we have remaining let’s look to the words of judgement coming to Samaria and Jerusalem.

From there, we’ll cover our main point for today, which is that we must Hear the word of the Lord.

Let’s quickly look at Micah 1:2-5

We Must Hear the Word of the Lord.

Notice Micah begins with the word “Hear.”

It’s a word he uses in each of the three cycles of judgement and hope throughout the book.

Micah is saying listen up, I have a word from the Lord, and y’all better hear it, and take heed.

I only assume he would have said “y’all” since he was from the southern Kingdom.

Most likely, this was preached early in his ministry, Micah wrote these words that would have shocked the people.

In the Southern kingdom, they had experienced peace and prosperity during the reign of Uzziah.

Things were pretty good for people, and in the North, Samaria - the capital city - was becoming an incredibly rich area.

Though Assyria was gaining strength, all seemed like it was fine, yet it was at this point that Micah cried out for the people to hear the word of the Lord.

Micah tells all people of the earth to hear this message directed at Jerusalem and Samaria: Pay attention to God.

If we are too focused on our own pursuits to hear the Lord, we will be caught by surprise and lost in our folly.

Like Israel, it is our tendency to forget God when times are good.

He was warning them that judgement was coming, and he painted a vivid picture.

The idea of the mountains melting like wax should remind us of the Greek mythology character of Icarus who flew too close to the sun and his wax wings melted.

In this case, God is the sun and He’s coming down to earth and it will melt before him, in His anger.

These cities were seemingly successful and wealthy, but only as a result of doing what was wrong in the eyes of the Lord.

Their punishment was going to be unavoidable and painful.

Sometimes our accomplishments will be the source of our downfall.

When Micah highlights the lament he will make on behalf of the cities, later in verse 8, he’s echoing the lament made by David for King Saul’s death.

David wept bitterly over a king show could have been saved if he would have just listened to the consistent warnings from Samuel.

Likewise, Micah was weeping for a nation that could have avoided destruction if she would have just heard the word of the Lord and obeyed.

May God grant us enough grace to hear Him and obey.

Chapter 2, verses 1-11 tell us that the Hebrew people were being led by people whose motives were not acceptable to God.

The religious leaders had allowed various religions to be syncretized with Judaism, and the result was leading people astray.

They were refusing to preach truth because, essentially, it was bad for business, so to speak.

They knew what God wanted from them, but their own interests got in the way.