Prayer 101 - Part 71: Christ In Micah
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Outline
Micah was a prophet of Judah. Micah means ‘Who is like YHWH?’ He was a younger contemporary of Isaiah, a contemporary of Hosea and Amos, and a native of Moresheth of Gath, 32 kms south west of Jerusalem. His prophecy was recorded in the latter half of the 8th century B.C. He prophesied over a period of 40 years during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah over the Southern Kingdom(Judah) and Pekaniah, Pekah and Hoshea over the Northern Kingdom(Israel). Micah’s prophesy was heeded to - like Jonah - and as a result of the recipients response to his prophesy he was instrumental in changing history.
Chapter 1: Sins against God
Chapter 2: Sins against each other
Chapter 3: Sins by their leaders
Chapter 4: The Coming Kingdom
Chapter 5: The Coming King
Chapter 6: The Coming Judgment
Chapter 7: This chapter is similar to Jeremiah’s Book of Lamentation. It also echoes the prayer of the repentant remnant in the ‘Days of Jacob’s Trouble’.
As we are focussing on ‘Christ in Micah’ we will take a closer look at Chapters 4,5 and 6.
Chapter 4: The Coming Kingdom
Micah 4:1-3: The first three opening verses of this chapter are just about identical to Isaiah 2:2-4. The mountain is profiled in Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream in Daniel 2.
Mountain is an idiom of government. Jesus is the stone that the builders rejected that became the headstone of the corner
Zion will be the governmental and spiritual centre of the world. The temple will be rebuilt
There will dramatic physical changes to the region
There will be a spontaneous flow of the people
Nations will come and be ruled by a rod of iron
Weapons will be converted to peaceful uses
Most of what we know about the Millennium comes from Isaiah 65:17-25 rather than Revelation 20
Micah 4:6: Israel must be regathered from her worldwide dispersion and settled in her own land. May 14, 1948, against all odds, saw that happen.
Micah 4:11,12: This speaks of Armageddon. The gathering of the nations is nothing less than the Lord’s assembling of them as sheaves to the threshing floor. This is often used as an idiom to the Great Tribulation. Yet it is also suggested that Micah spoke of the threat by the armies of Sennacherib of Assyria which forced King Hezekiah to seek the Lord. A revival followed and God delivered Jerusalem by having an angel kill 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Sennacherib withdrew and no one from Assyria ever attacked Jerusalem again.
Chapter 5: The Coming King
Micah 5:2 There were other Bethlehems, but this makes it specific to the one south west of Jerusalem and the birthplace of David. It means ‘House of Bread’ and it brought forth ‘the Bread of Life’. Announced 700 years before the event.
Jesus’ First Coming Prophesied
He would be born of a virgin in Isa 7:14 and fulfilled in Matt 1:18-25
He would be born in Bethlehem in Micah 5:2 and fulfilled in Matt 2:1-6
He would be taken into Egypt in Hosea 11:1 and fulfilled in Matt 2:15
He would heal the sick and make people whole in Isa 53 and fulfilled in Matt 8:1-17
He would be crucified in Ps 22:14-17 and fulfilled in Matt 27:31
He would die for our sins in Isa 53 and fulfilled in Jn 1:29; Jn 11:49-52
He would be raised from the dead in Ps 16:10 and fulfilled in Matt 28:1-10
Chapter 6: The Coming Judgment
Micah 6:1-7
Israel was surrounded by pagan nations who offered human sacrifices to Molech and Baal. Two of the most godless kings of the Southern Kingdom indulged in human sacrifices: Ahaz & Manasseh. Child sacrifice was expressly prohibited. The only firstborn every requested to be offered was Isaac, the prophetic type offered on the very same spot that our Father offered His Son 2,000 years later. Even here God intervened by raising Him from the dead.
Micah 6:8
You and I are not saved by good works. God requires three things:
1. To do justly - to be honest and true
2. To love mercy - to show mercy when dealing with others
3. To walk humbly before God
But can we do these in our own might?
No!
These are the fruit of the Holy Spirit - Gal 5:22,23
What is the law? - Acts 15:10,11
The Spirit of God - Rom 8:5-9
How does the Spirit dwell in us? - Jn 3:7
We are to become the sons of God - Jn 1:12
Jesus is coming soon and will establish His kingdom for a Millennium from Jerusalem, and his final judgment will be performed before we see the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.
2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
NATIONAL PRAYER
Father. You most high God are worthy of our praise and honour. We worship you in spirit and in truth. We glorify you in the name of Jesus. Father, such wickedness is rife in our nation. Such depravity. Such godlessness. Such total disregard of who you are. False religion. Blatant debauchery. Total disregard of your Word. An absolute disdain for the Name of your Son Jesus. Apathetic. Depraved. Worshipping the gods of money, technology and self sufficiency. Forgive us I pray Lord. We humble ourselves before you oh God and ask for your forgiveness for the murder of the unborn, the complete disregard of marriage, the rejection of your Gospel, the very fact that there are many who in their form of religion they deny the power thereof. Forgive us for the corruption in our hospitals, our police force, our defence forces, our educational institutions, our financial institutions, our businesses, our media, our families, our government - local, state and federal, our many churches where Jesus would be a stranger, and where the truth of your Word is disdained and disregarded; where other gods are given pre-eminence over you the Creator of both heaven and earth. Father we seek your forgiveness and we look forward with great anticipation to the imminent return of your Son Jesus. Come Lord Jesus!