About a year ago Lili and I were settling on the name “Michael” for our son. We had a number of girl names and no boy names when we found out that we were going to have a boy. Thus, for months when we found out that we were going to have a boy we began coming home with different names. We put combinations of first and middle names on the computer and kept switching them around. Then, finally, we found out that the name Michael means, “Who is like Yahweh?” and determined that that’s what we would name our son.

Months later as I held him in my arms I indeed said to myself, “Who is like Yahweh?” because I couldn’t believe I was holding this little boy in my hands. And now as I watch him grow and develop and smile at everyone and everything (we thought the mobile was his best friend for a while), I say to myself again and again, “There is none like our God!”

The name “Micah” means “Who is like Yahweh?” as well, and as I read through this book in the Old Testament, I can imagine Micah asking this question to himself over and over as he spoke the words of his prophetic message. For the book of Micah communicates to us the unfathomable majesty of God, both in his judgment and in his redemption.

The book breaks down into three portions (1-2, 3-5, and 6-7) each communicating a message of judgment followed by a message of hope. Therefore, we will look at chapters 1-2 this morning and the others two portions of the book in the coming two weeks.

Micah prophesied at a point in history when the Assyrian empire was expanding and was presenting a threat to Israel. Thus as Assyria begins to press in on Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, and Judah, the capital of the southern kingdom, looks like they too might come under attack, Micah proclaims that this is the hand of God. Therefore, he proclaims that Samaria will be destroyed (1:6), and it was indeed destroyed a few years later in 722 B.C., and he proclaims that Judah will go into exile in Babylon, which occurred after Micah’s death in 586 B.C. But his proclamations were not simply what he thought would occur, but (as verse one tells us) were from the Lord himself, and therefore they indeed did occur.

Therefore, Micah is a book that proclaims God’s coming judgment on both the northern and southern kingdom. But what do we see here of God that is so remarkable? That is what I want to point out from these first two chapters.

We see that God hates our sin

I want to use this language because I think many times we too lightly consider God’s stance toward our sin. We might say that it displeases him or does not honor him, and all that is true. But Micah presents a clearer picture of God toward the sin of his people. He hates it. In this book God presents himself as a little more than displeased; he is angry.

We’ll talk about what actions he takes in bit, but let me first show you from the text that the reason he is coming against them is because of their sin. He writes in verse 5, “All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel.” And again in 1:13, “Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish; it was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel.” Then in chapter two their sins are more specifically identified. They were engaged in covetousness. Thus Micah remarks, “Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance” (2:1-2). They were engaged in theft. Thus we read in Micah 2:8-9, “Lately my people have risen up as an enemy; you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly with no thought of war.” And they were lying about the Lord and gathering for themselves false prophets. Therein we read, ““Do not preach"—thus they preach—"one should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us." Should this be said, O house of Jacob? Has the Lord grown impatient? Are these his deeds? Do not my words do good to him who walks uprightly?” (2:6-7).

Do you see? The people were sinning and were gathering for themselves prophets who would tell them that the God they served was not one who becomes angry at sin or hates the sin of his people. Therefore, let us not dare make the same mistake and confuse ourselves that God is indifferent about sin. He hates it and it brings righteous anger from him.

But what will God do concerning sin? This is clear from the text as well.

God will judge sin, for he is holy, and none will escape his judgment

The entire first chapter of Micah gives us a picture of God stepping out of his holy temple (thus acting within his holy nature) and coming to earth to judge the people for their sins. And it is a horrible picture. The scene is one of God breaking through all the barriers that are put up for Israel’s defense. The mountains are crumbling and melting before him like hot wax as he is coming to lay them bare before him and bring to them great judgment.

The picture is much the same as the other night when tornadoes tore through our city. Lili and I sat in the closet as hail beat upon our house, knowing any minute that the winds could have demolished us. And so we waited helplessly in our closet at the mercy of this great power. Our defenses and protection all of the sudden would have seemed so puny had the winds turned strongly our way. In the same way, the Israelites are just sitting in their puny houses, as it were, waiting for the onslaught that is coming from the invading judge (1:1-4).

He will make Samaria a heap of ruins (1:6). There is no turning back now as we read in 1:9, “Her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.” In fact, judgment will be so great and humiliating for the Israelites that the people of Gath (Israel’s historic enemies) and others are commanded not to mock them in this time of great disaster in verses 10-12.

They are told to flee to Adullam (as it was a cave at Adullam to which David fled as a fugitive during the days when Solomon pursued him) from the invading conqueror that is to come (1:15). Their children will go into exile. Thus we read, “Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile” (1:16). Just as the people had devised plans of destruction against others, now God is devising plans of disaster against them (2:1-3).

God hates sin, and God greatly judges sin. Therefore, just as it was sure that Samaria was going to be destroyed and Judah sent into exile as a judgment of the Lord, so it is reflective of the surety of the final judgment in which all those who have not believed in Christ will be thrown into the lake of fire, which is hell.

So do not think God to be indifferent about sin. And yet so many times that’s how God is presented. Lili recently saw a church sign that said, “Be glad only you and God know what you’ve done.” And there’s a sense in which I think that’s right. However, I hope the message being conveyed is not, “Be glad that only you and the one who simply sits in the heavens, never gets angry, and only exits to bless us like a cosmic Santa Claus knows what you’ve done.”

I mean, it should cause us to shudder when we realize that God knows what detestable sin we have in our lives. It is but trivial that man knows what we’ve done in comparison to the reality that God knows what we’ve done.

Too often we think that we can sin and shrug off obedience because God is in the heavens and we do not have to confront him face-to-face concerning our sin. But God hates sin and will not allow even/especially his children to trifle with it. Therefore, in light of our Lord’s stance toward sin, we should make great war against it in our lives. Do not trifle with sin.

And for those who are unrepentant and unbelieving in the gospel, do not think you will somehow escape that great and terrible day if you reject Christ.

But is this it? Is this the message of Micah 1-2 – that our God is a God of judgment? No, there is more.

For finally we read that:

The Lord is both our judge and our redeemer

The ending note of Micah 1-2 is that there is hope amidst God’s great judgment. “But” we might ask, “who can provide us security and deliverance from God’s judgment?” For if the judgment is from God, who can deliver individuals from it.

That is a good question. Who can shield anyone from God’s wrath? It would seem that there is no one who could. And yet one is spoken of in 2:12-13. There is a Shepherd who is also a King that is spoken of in these verses.

Micah writes, “I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob; I will gather the remnant of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture, a noisy multitude of men. He who opens the breach goes up before them; they break through and pass the gate, going out by it. Their king passes on before them …”

So stop just for a second and get this in your head, for the scene is a bit odd. It reminds me of a highlight that I saw after the 1998 NCAA men’s basketball tournament where Kentucky came back to beat Duke after being down 19 points with not much time to go in the second half. The key play came when Scott Padgett hit a three pointer from the top of the ark in the final seconds to give Kentucky a lead they would hold to a victory, helping to erase a memory of a shot by Christian Laettner six years earlier to beat Kentucky with 2.1 seconds left – that they show every year!

Anyway, after that tournament I watched a video highlight of the 1998 tournament set to music. Those things are always great. I was getting to see all the highlights of the entire tournament and was loving it. However, all of the sudden, in the middle of this video piece, the music stopped and you heard an announcer. He was saying, “With 2.1 seconds left Grant Hill will inbounds the ball …” And I thought, “What? Even in a year when Kentucky won the title and they’ve put together a video of our run through the tournament they have to interrupt it with this play again!?” Then they showed it. Hill throws the ball down the floor, Laettner catches it, dribbles, fakes one way, turns the other, shoots, and the ball goes in the basket as the cameras zoom in slow motion until you can only see the ball going through the basket.

Then, however, the music starts and the camera backs out as they show Padgett celebrating hitting the three pointer that had helped Kentucky beat Duke in this year’s tournament. And I thought to myself, “That was so deceiving and it was great how they changed from one perspective to another to maximize what had occurred in that one shot.”

Well, as I was saying, a similar thing happens here in these last two verses of Micah 2. Chapter one had made clear that the invading army of Assyria was being led by the hand of God. God was judging his people. He was invading them. However, in chapter 2:12-13 the scene changes and now the view is the city as Assyria has laid siege to it and this Shepherd-King breaks the enemy’s siege and leads the remnant forth victoriously. As he marches forth and makes a breath, he leads them out victoriously.

But who is this Shepherd-King? Micah writes at the end of 13, “Their king passes on before them, the LORD is at their head. Thus, it is God whose wrath and judgment are coming, and it is God who is protecting a remnant of people from his wrath.

This is most definitely foreshadowing the gospel which is made clear and accomplished in the work of Christ. For in our sin, it was God’s wrath that was burning against us, and in our redemption it is God – God, the Son – who bears God’s wrath, as he was sent from the Father, so that we might be saved. Thus, the one who is our judge, is our redeemer. God’s wrath burned against us, but he has redeemed, us – at a great cost to himself. Indeed, “Who is like Yahweh?”

Therefore, we may say with the apostle Paul, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against the elect of God? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31-39).

Therefore, this morning do not be deceived, God hates our sin and judgment is real. If you do not believe in Christ for your salvation you will taste the merciless, eternal judgment of God in hell. All you will know after this life is his eternal, merciless wrath. However, he has made a way for you to be saved from that judgment. He sent his own Son to die on the cross, pouring out his wrath on his own Son for all who will repent and believe. Therefore, this morning I urge you, if you do not know Christ to turn from your sins and place your faith in Christ as your only hope for salvation. The scripture says, “He who believes has eternal life, but he who does not believe shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36).

And if you are a believer, do not trifle around with sin. God takes it very seriously and will not simply ignore your sin but will discipline you if you are his. If he does not discipline you, then it may indeed show that you are not his. Therefore, repent this morning and fight sin in your life.

And be encouraged that you can fight sin and that you are forgiven if you are his child, for the one who judges is the one who redeems. So as we come to the table this morning, let it bring us to repentance and serve as a reminder to us of our forgiveness. Let it remind us that God takes sin so seriously that he sent his Son to die in order to remove sin from our account. May we treat it seriously as well. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

JUDGMENT AND DELIVERANCE BY THE SHEPHERD-KING