Figs in the Shade
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Hard day (first world problems).
Cleaning up the old house. Setting up the new. Worked all day, then over and moved heavy stuff, then gathered kids, then helped Logan cook dinner, then kids to bed, then about to start working on some sermon stuff… when I realize I have to drive back to the old house to put the trash out.
It was just one of those “can I just stop adulting for a minute?” moments.
No matter how bad it is… not matter how good it is… the human heart is always longing for something. Some sense of home, of peace, of completion.
It is more pronounced when life gets hard, that desire is more desperate
George Washington
George Washington
Fought in the French-Indian war. Fought in the Revolutionary War, ultimately as the Commander in Chief.
Just wanted to go home… but they made him go join the Continental Congress and then, after the war, lead the Constitutional Convention.
He wanted to retire to Mount Vernon… but he was made president by popular demand.
He is called the “Man who could have been king” because he set the tone for the presidency, could have held on to power and gathered as much power as he probably wanted.
But he just wanted to go home. After two terms in the presidency he did.
Washington’s retirement speech/song in Hamilton:
One last time:
If I say goodbye, the nation learns to move on
It outlives me when I’m gone
Like the scripture says:
“Everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid.”
They’ll be safe in the nation we’ve made
I wanna sit under my own vine and fig tree
A moment alone in the shade
At home in this nation we’ve made
One last time
Recap:
Recap:
Judgment and Wrath and Destruction… but the day is coming.
But practice - what does the Lord require of us?
To do justice, to love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.
Micah offers words of encouragement. Yes, judgment is coming.
God will save the “lame remnant” (his strength is made perfect in our weakness). There is hope, there is beauty.
Micah looks forward to what is coming. He describes restoration, remnant… but what He starts to get at is what we usually call Heaven.
Sequence and Timing
Sequence and Timing
Not about sequence. Like looking at a far off horizon and the moon rising overhead. You may switch back and forth describing the scene… but they aren’t all equally far away. The moon cast light on the mountains, and reflects in the water of the lake… and they all have a beautiful impact in this moment. But if you are walking to the lake and then the mountaintop and then the moon, those are going to have some different time-spans.
The prophet sees all these things coming, but his purpose is not to give sequence. His purpose is to give hope to the “lame remnant” who are going to go through the days of judgment to come.
Book
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it,
and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; 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 anymore;
but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.
In that day, declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted;
and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.
So… what is heaven like?
Peace
Peace
He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; 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 anymore;
This famous phrase “beat their swords into plowshares.” It also shows up in Joel, but I think Joel is quoting Micah rather than the other way around.
Prosperity
Prosperity
Plenty. Peace and plenty.
Quoted almost fifty times. “eating figs in the shade”.
but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
(It also shows up in 1 Kings 4:25, and Zechariah 3:10)… I think both of those are picking up this phrase from Micah… and Washington is almost certainly quoting this particular passage from his phrasing.
“What if I don’t like figs?”
This is a model of plenty. Like “land of milk and honey” or “streets paved with gold.”
Is gold too soft a metal to pave streets with? Too reflective maybe for safe transit?
This is “take the things that are most delicious, most enjoyable, symbolic of abundance.”
And it isn’t the result of abundance - everyone will have wine and figs. It is connected to the source of abundance. Everyone will have vine and fig tree. Relax into that plenty, that provision...
and then it rolls back into the peace:
“and no one shall make them afraid.”
Presence
Presence
Why? Because of the number one most common, most prevalent, least metaphorical, most accurate depiction of heaven ever!
There’s tons of imagery that gets thrown around, but this is consistent. So consistent that this is my working definition of what heaven really is.
No one shall make them afraid - because the Word of the Lord has spoken.
“We walk in the name of the Lord...”
“YHWH will reign over them.”
It gets even more personal in chapter 5.
It’s personal. The ruler is born in Bethlehem.
Micah 5:1–5a (ESV)
Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace.
Who is their peace? He is.
Who is their plenty? He is.
The King of Kings, born in Bethlehem. This is 750ish BC!!! Micah is looking down the pipeline. “Oh LORD, He’s a-coming!”
This is so specific. Especially then, Bethlehem is a nothing town, a podunk town.
For reference, some archaeologist estimate Bethlehem to have a population of around 600 when Jesus was born. 6 miles southwest of Jerusalem, little baby suburb.
Micah sees heaven.
Full of peace. Full of prosperity, plenty. Micah sees the Presence and Person of the Lord - Jesus.
Heaven is where God is.
Heaven Bound
Heaven Bound
Put your trust in nothing else, in nowhere else.
As the world is full of sin and heartache - and as it gets worse, we should not be surprised.
In the midst of all the suffering, we wait upon the Lord.
Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms;
for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
This is the attitude the Israelites are to take as they face the coming days. This is way worse than my bad day, worse than my worst day… the least I can do is to take courage.
When sinners sin - and when society and culture continue to reward and encourage sinners sinning. It should not shock and offend us - it shouldn’t even surprise us. We aren’t expecting this life to “get better.” We wait for the God of our salvation.
When our political party wins or loses… or our nation rises and falls… I don’t look to the President, or a majority in Congress, or the vote, or America, or capitalism or communism, or any other thing… I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My confidence is not in my neighbors, my friends, my son, my dad… I will wait for the God of my salvation.
I am heaven bound. Heaven is my home. What is heaven?
It is peace, shalom, fulfillment.
It is prosperity, plenty, abundance.
But most of all, it is the presence of my Jesus.
Micah ends with this word.
In the end, it’s personal.
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.
He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.
Who is like our God? No one.
But we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Every man under his vine and under his fig tree… and no one shall make us afraid. Why?
For the YHWH - God of angel armies has spoken… and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever, amen.