Justice and Mercy: The Message of Micah (Eastside
Baptist/Wed PM/July 17, 2013)
The Message of Micah
Ø Setting
and Context
Ø Structure
& Message
Ø Important
Themes
Ø “Jesus
Lens” and New Testament Application
Setting and Context
Ø Micah
– prophet from Judah
§ From
Moresheth – 25 miles Southwest of Jerusalem.
Justice and Mercy: The Message of Micah (Eastside
Baptist/Wed PM/July 17, 2013)
The Message of Micah
Ø Setting
and Context
Ø Structure
& Message
Ø Important
Themes
Ø “Jesus
Lens” and New Testament Application
Setting and Context
Ø Micah
– prophet from Judah
§ From
Moresheth – 25 miles Southwest of Jerusalem.
Ø 740
to 686 B.C. during reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, & Hezekiah
Ø Final
decline and fall of Israel, defeated in 722 by Assyria.
Ø Judah
was characterized by:
§ Religious
corruption
§ Social
oppression
§ Economic
injustice
§ Personal
vice and deception
§ Political
intrigue and treachery
Structure & Message
Ø Heading
(1:1)
§ Micah
– “Who is like Yahweh?”
§ 7:18:
“Who is a God like you?”
Ø First
Series of Threats against Samaria and Jerusalem (1:2-16)
§ Yahweh,
the Divine Warrior
§ Samaria
destroyed for idolatry
- Judah
into exile for its sins
Ø Reasons
for Judgment (2:1-11)
§ Social
injustice
§ False
theology that gives the people what it wants to hear
Ø First
Word of Hope (2:12-13)
§ Regathering,
Messianic King
Ø Second
Series of Threats and Reasons (3:1-12)
§ Judgment
on leaders/prophets who helped to promote injustice
§ Judgment
on Jerusalem/Zion
Ø Second
Word of Hope (4:1-5:15)
§ Return
after exile, Messianic King born in Bethlehem (5:2).
Ø God’s
Case against Jerusalem (6:1-16)
§ Yahweh
takes Judah to court.
§ Religious
rituals will not be a defense against guilt of injustice
Ø Micah’s
Lament (7:1-7)
§ Micah
mourns the coming fall of Jerusalem, but ends w/ hope.
Ø Third
Word of Hope (7:8-20)
§ Hope
for the future
§ Return
from exile and center of hope for the nations
§ Prayer
for God to lead his people as a righteous Shepherd-King.
Important Themes
Ø God
will judge his people because of their covenant violations.
Ø God
will defend the poor and the oppressed, and those who take advantage of them
will be judged.
Ø God
expects his people to share his heart in his concern for the poor and
oppressed.
Ø Religious
rituals will not make up for lack of righteousness, justice, and love of
neighbor.
Ø God
will justly punish, but he is also merciful and will restore a remnant by grace
through his Davidic Messiah.
Ø Yahweh
is the God of all the nations.
“Jesus Lens” and Application
Ø God
mercifully did not abandon his people; he promised to restore them, forgive
them, bring them out of exile, and bless them with a Messiah King in the line
of David.
Micah 7:18
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.
Micah 7:19
You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our
sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:20
You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as
you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.
“Jesus Lens” and Application
Ø God
demonstrated his concern for the poor, oppressed, and weak by sending his Son
to minister among them and give his life for them.
Ø God
desires faith, true worship, love, mercy, humility, and obedience from his
people.
Micah 6:6
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?
Micah 6:7
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten
thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Micah 6:8
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.
