13 minute read
My pulpit message notes: Hope of victory and peace
from TT 169
by TIMES TODAY
Hope of Victory and Peace
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It is the will of God that we should live in hope and that Scripture provides hope to us. Romans 15:4 says, “4 For everything written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
- We learn from Scripture endurance. We get encouragement from Scripture and have hope. - As we come to Micah 4 and 5, we have seen and heard that Israel has rejected the covenant of God. They have rejected the commandment of God and the counsel/advice of God.
- Micah 1,2,3 the LORD has laid bare His judgement to the nation of Israel. Micah 1:6 says,
Micah 1:9 says, Samaria which is a northern kingdom has a sickness/plague which is incurable and that same plague has spread to Judah, reaching the very gate of the people of God in Judah and so Jerusalem has a plague.
- Therefore in Micah 3:12 says,
- So this point the LORD is saying the prestigious cities of Samaria and Jerusalem are coming down. Included will be the magnificent city, temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, will also come down. In addition, the people will be exiled. I think that is enough doom. Many scholars call that part of the book, the book of doom.
- Micah 1,2,3, you can easily ask, is there hope for Israel? Is there a future for these two nations; the north and south?
- Is there hope for us today? Is God still at work? When we look around and see all the injustices and brokenness around us, is God still at work?
- Micah 4 and 5 tells us that amidst all these things there is hope of victory and peace because - God. Micah 4 and 5 could easily be broken into two things:
A promise of God
A plan of God to fulfil that promise.
A promise of God (Micah 4:1-4)
“In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains;”
- The promise is, in the last days in Jerusalem, YAHWEH will reign there. The soon to be destroyed, disgraced, desolate Jerusalem in the last days it will be an exalted, respected glorified dwelling place of the LORD.
- Vs 2-4 says many nations will come to Jerusalem. There will be pilgrimages to Zion. Sooner as we talk people will be looking at Zion/Jerusalem and maybe they will be taking a detour. Nobody is going to want to be associated with Jerusalem, but in the last days, people are going to take at tour to Jerusalem and when they go there they will be trained in the ways of the LORD. Jerusalem will be the centre of the universal activity and blessing of God.
- vs 3-4 says in that time, it will be a time of peace and prosperity. And this will not only be for Jerusalem and Israel, it will be for the nations of the world. “They will beat their swords into plowshares…” because they will to need their swords. “and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” It will be a time of peace and so the LORD will reign in Jerusalem, the nations will tour Jerusalem.
They will be trained in Jerusalem and there will be peace. - With the LORD, this is where the Kenyan proverb ‘Vindu vichenjanga’ , ‘things change,’ with the LORD. But when you listen to this promise, you can be a little doubtful and ask, ‘how authentic / legit is this promise?’
First; - Isaiah 2:2-4 gives the same exact words, almost word for word. Isaiah 11:6-9 speaks of a time when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. Scripture confirms Scripture. So we know it’s legit.
- Secondly and most importantly, this portion of Scripture is signed. Vs 4, the person who is promising this has signed their name there. It says, “for the LORD Almighty has spoken.” Anytime you read the English Bible and LORD is written in capital letters, that represents YAHWEH, the name of the LORD. So this is legit. It will happen because it is the LORD who has spoken.
- Heaven and earth will pass away, but the word of the LORD will never. His Word is forever settled in heaven and He will fulfil it. If He says dry bones will live, they will live. And if the LORD has spoken to you something, believe it.
Two questions:
a. When will what has been described happen? The text does not tell us, but we know it will happen in the future. You can read general eschatology and specifically look at the interpretation of Revelation 20 which talks of the thousands years when Christ will reign. Let us be on the right side of the equation when this happens.sb.
The LORD says He will reign in Jerusalem. Has the LORD forgottenthat Jerusalem is a bunch of idol worshippers as we talk? That they have ignored His covenant, commandments, counsel? Has He forgotten that they will soon be exiled and taken to captivity and then the city will be destroyed? No. So how is this going to happen.
A plan of God to fulfil that promise.
- The second portion of Micah 4 and 5 details to us how that is going to happen. The plan of God from suffering to salvation. It will happen in three ways:
The exiled will return from exile.
The Ruler will be born.
The remnants will be strengthened and purified.
The return of the exiled. Micah 5:6-7
- The children of Israel are not going to be lost in exile. He says,
- In other words, the people will be returned to the land, but at this point when Micah is speaking the people have not been exiled. They are still in the land, so maybe they will be asking, we will be restored from what?
- The second part of the text details the upcoming captivity, but the assurance of victory. Vs 9-14 vs 10
As if to say, you are my children. You are going to go out there, but from there I will redeem you.
- Have you wondered how the LORD has allowed some things to happen to you? Have you wondered how come you have gotten into a situation that you are in? If you trust in the LORD, the LORD would say to you, ‘Do not fear,’ the LORD is able to save even from the furnace.
- The He continues to give details in verse 11, “But now many nations are gathered against you. They say, “Let her be defiled, let our eyes gloat over Zion!” Micah 5:1 says, “They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod.” They will humiliate the leaders of Israel. The rod is a representation of leadership. Bible scholars think that the king who was humiliated like that is Zedekiah 2 Kings 25.
- Vs 12, These nations that are gathered against you, they do not know the thoughts of the LORD. They do not understand His plan. Then He commands that Israel strikes and breaks them into many pieces. -
There is no story where God is involved, when the end is tragedy or misery. It will always end in victory if God is involved. Even if it is death. The Lord has conquered death. There is life after death. -
Psalms 37:37 “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; For there is a happy end to the man of peace. (ASV). “37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. (KJV). -
Yes, the LORD will reign in Zion and the first part of that plan is He will bring the people back to the land.
The Ruler will be born. Micah 5:2-4
“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,”
- God promises Israel that they will have a ruler, the Messiah and because we have the advantage of the New Testament and historical insight, we know that the ruler has already come. Here He gives three characteristics of the ruler:
i. He will be from the old. The ancient times. John 1 and Colossians 1, clearly tell us that Jesus was from the beginning even before creation.
ii. He will be from Bethlehem. Matthew 2 confirms this. After the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the Magi came to Jerusalem and want to know where will he be born. And they came to king Herod who inquires from the chief priest and the teachers of the law where the Messiah would be born, and they quote this text of Micah 5:2
iii. He will be a Shepherd. He will Shepherd His flock in the name of the LORD and thus bring peace to the world. The last part of chapter 4 says, He will be great to the ends of the earth. And that’s how come we are worshipping Jesus today because His peace, His Words have reached us here even as part of the earth.
- Jesus confirms this part of the text in John 10 when He says, “I am the good Shepherd. I go ahead of my flock and through Me, the sheep find pasture.”
- Isaiah 9 tried to explain how this is going to fit in the larger plan of God of reigning in Zion. Isaiah 9:2 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;” Vs 6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,” vs 7, “He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.”
The remnants will be strengthened and purified.
- Micah 5:6 It says the children of Israel will be assured of victory agains their enemies. Micah 5:7-9, they will be assured of strength after restoration. Vs 10-15 it says that the LORD will get rid of military and false religion in Israel.
- In the last days, the LORD will purge Israel from anything that they probably saw as their security and purify them from false religion and so he says, he will destroys their houses, chariots, cities and their strongholds, their witchcraft, idols, sacred stones. He will destroy those ones and then they will trust in the LORD in the last days.
Application
One of the overarching themes of the book of Micah is the Sovereignty of God. The Holman's dictionary of the Bible defines the Sovereignty of God as the biblical teaching that God possesses all power and is the ruler of all things. i.e. God is firmly in charge. Even for events that seem to contradict or oppose His rule, He uses those for His eternal purposes. We have seen this in Micah chapters 1,2,3 and now 4 and 5.
- When Jeremiah in chapter 29 writes to the exiled, when they have just arrived in Babylon. He tells them, please settle down, build houses, plant gardens, marry, increase, seek the peace of the city and the prosperity of the city.
Pray that God would prosper the city (Babylon) and after seventy years the LORD will bring you back. Why should you relax even under such tense environments? Vs 11 ‘because I know the plans I have for you’, declares the LORD. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.’
- In other words God is telling guys who are in exile, I know the plans I have for you. I want to prosper you. Why did God add that part of the verse, ‘and not to harm you’? Because sometimes we find it hard to trust God. To give ourselves fully in the hands of God, we think, are we secure, are we safe? God says, ‘the plans I have for you are not to harm you, they are for your good.’
God is Sovereign and in charge. That does not mean that now we should not pray. The Biblical teaching of the sovereignty of God, the other part biblical scholars warn people very quickly, yes God is control of everything, but He desires that we come to Him and presents our needs to Him. Secondly He desires that we get out there and preach the good news. He can do it, but He has given us the opportunity.
Conclusion
- We just came out of the general election in Kenya and the people have varied opinions of where we are at right now. One group thinks that we are already in Canaan and so they are cheerful and singing praises. Another group thinks that we just arrived in Babylon and so they are mourning and in prayer. And there is a third group that thinks that we are about to leave for exile, because we have been in Canaan but the wickedness has abound in this nation.
Wherever you think we are, all is not lost. God is sovereign over this nation. Let us return to the LORD and seek the peace and prosperity of this nation and it shall be well. And when the nation prospers, we will prosper.
- Maybe as in individual you have been going through tough times. As Habakkuk 3:17-18 says, maybe your fig tree has not budded, and there is no fruit in the vines, the crops have failed for you and the fields yield no food, will you together with the servant of God Habakkuk exalt the LORD and rejoice in the God of your salvation, because God is at work in our lives/homes/children/ bodies even when we do not see it or feel it, our God, the miracles worker, the promise keeper never stops working. It shall be well. There is hope in the victory that is coming.
- May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
