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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
August, 1939
mouths, they even prepare war against him” (v. 5). .4. “Therefore . . . the sun shag go down over the prophets” (v. 6). These are terrible words, but they describe a fitting judgment upon prophets who pervert the message of God in order to bleed the people. The day becomes night. “There is no answer of God” ‘ (v. 7). 5. “For your sake” (v. 12). The verse sets forth the ruin which is to come upon Jerusalem for the nation’s sins. It will be plowed as a field, and the city will become heaps. Yet there is to be grace in the midst of judgment. ' The judgment is “for your sake.” Better far that a church should be “plowed as a field” than to pervert or lose its testi mony to the truth of God. He doeth all things well. Golden Text Illustration M icah 6 :8 “In two minutes I can tell you how to be a good lawyer—as good a lawyer as anybody,” said Governor Briggs, of Massachusetts. “Just look over your case carefully, understand it, and then do what you think is right, and in nine cases out of ten you will have the law on your side.”—Five Thousand. Best Modern Illustrations, by Hallock. At the City Gate M icah 6:6-11 MEMORY VERSE: “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). APPROACH: At the same time- that Hezekiah was king over Judah, and Isaiah was the prophet who stood be fore the king to tell him of the things
from God, but that He would not hear them, for His face would be hidden from them; and as they had behaved- toward His people, so He would act toward them. Micah then addressed the prophets (vs. 5-8). These leaders, who should have taught the truth of God to the people, were also bent upon receiving personal gain, and their messe^e 'was trimmed to suit the hearers. They spoke “peace” to such as offered them bribes, while speaking “war” against those who would not bribe them. Consequently, because of their sin, they would no longer have a vision from the Lord. When they sought to perform the work of a prophet, darkness would fall upon them, and they would have no message from God. Thus they would have the office, but no power to per form the duties of the office. On the other hand, without any conceit Micah could declare that he himself possessed the power of the Spirit of the Lord; he had the spirit of judgment and of might. And by that Spirit he was unafraid to proclaim unto “Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.” He was not the servant of the people but o f the Lord, and hence could speak without fear of man. When personal gain is the objec tive, the message must necessarily be suited to 'the hearers. n . T he R etribution (9-12) Micah denounced the heads of the people, the princes, the priests, and the prophets. It would appear that none of them honored God, that all of them sought personal benefit. But at the same time they hypocritically declared that they leaned upon the Lord, claimed the Lord was among them, and asserted that no evil would come to them. For these offenses, both their place and they themselves would come to utter destruc tion. Judgment would fall upon them without mercy. Zion would be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem would become heaps. n x T he R equirement (6:6-8) So far from God had the people gone 4that they even did not know what would please Him. They were so completely given up to their idols that they could think of nothing to offer the Lord ex cept that with which these idols sup posedly would be pleased. “How shall we come before God?” they asked in effect. “Shall be bring offerings of ani mals, or gifts of material wealth such as rivers of oil? Will He be pleased with the sacrifice of the first-born?” ' The prophet informed them concern ing what was required of them, although they already knew this stipulation be cause God had revealed it to them. God required justice, and mercy, and hu mility. Micah seems to summarize the truth which former prophets had de clared: Amos urged the importance of “doing justly”; Hosea had told them to “love mercy,” and Isaiah had revealed
BLACKBOARD LESSON
"UJHftT DOTH THE. LORD R.CQUIR.E OF THEE, but to Do eno to loue . ; justly, mERCw, ->
something of the divine majesty which should have led them to true humility. We must be careful lest we turn the truth of verse 8 into a requirement for the obtaining of salvation, as many to day would do. No meritorious behavior of any sort can procure salvation, which is all of grace. But saved people—those who belong to God through simple faith in Jesus Christ—are exhorted to “do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with . . . God” (Micah 6:8). Indeed, these are the practices which show -forth the salvation which is in- wrought. Points and Problems 1. Micah 3 draws a dark- picture of social and religious conditions in Israel. Both the civil and religious leaders were involved in the evil: the “heads” and the “princes”; the “prophets” and the “priests” (vs. 1, 5, 11). In all this corrupt mass of leadership only one bright spot appears. The prophet Mi cah was “full of power by the Spirit of of the Lord” (v. 8). The true prophets Of God have always been a minority so far as numbers were concerned, but they are a majority when it comes to the power of God. 2. The picture in verses 2 to 4 of the exploitation of the people by the ruling classes is couched in striking words. They plucked off the people’s “skin” first, then picked the “flesh” off the bortes, and finally even “broke” the bones and boiled them so as to extract the last bit of profit out of them. The language sounds almost modem. We would say that they “skinned”, the people. The only difference today is that the methods of modern politicians have become smoother and more effi cient. But the end is the same. And the terrible paradox Was that the very men who did the skinning were in the habit of crying “unto the Lord.” Like the Pharisees, they religiously “said their prayers.” 3. “Prophets . . . that bite with their teeth and cry, Peace” (v. 5). Serious as the situation, was, there is a hu morous irony in the divinely inspired description. At the very time the prophets were crying “Peace” to the poeple, they were biting them with their teeth! There is still a great deal of this spirit in the world. The prophets today who shout the loudest about “Love” and “Peace” are quite often the ones who bite the hardest. .And as the prophet says, “He that putteth not into their
of God, there lived another prophet in that country. H is name was Micah. LESSON STORY: Micah was bom in the country, in a little t o w n about twenty miles from the big city of Jeru salem. He .went to Jerusalem and talk
ed to the people there, but he loved the people in the country and was their good friend, too. He felt sorry for the people, and he had good reason to be sorry for them. The kings of the country of Judah, one after the other, had treated their people very badly. The people were like sheep being devoured by their shepherds, for their rulers, instead of protecting them, taxed them heavily and made them work long and weary hours and even took away from them the little that they had. All of this Micah well knew, for he was a simple country person himself. How could he help the people T This is the way. God had chosen him, as He had chosen Isaiah, to be His mouth piece. As Micah went about from place
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