In his book, The Weight of Glory C. S. Lewis, reflecting on the promises of eternal reward that Jesus often mentions, writes, “Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.” ¹

Every time I read that imagery of that little boy wanting to remain in a slum making mud pies instead of going to the beach because he cannot imagine what the other is like, I am amazed at how true and telling that picture is concerning our lives in so many different areas. Not the least of these areas is in our view of who God is, what he is like. For, the case with most of us, no doubt, is that we have formed a picture of God in our heads that we are comfortable with, and are resistant (if not completely unwilling) to depart from – even should the Scripture demand such – because we cannot imagine anything being better than the image of God we have developed. And because of this (as with the little boy), we may be found fighting against a true vision of who God is when we read the Scripture simply because it’s not the one we know, the one that we have grown to accept. For by necessity, if the boy is going to know the holiday at the sea, he will have to leave the slum where he is making mud pies, and in the same way, we (if we are to know God truly) will have to leave our false conceptions of him with which we are very comfortable if we are to grasp a true conception of him from the Scripture. However, just as the boy will look back and wonder why he ever fought against this decision, so will we as we allow ourselves to receive our conception of God from his Word alone.

Thus, with this task, a great place to start is with the book of Micah. For as I have read this book over and over for a couple of weeks now, I am constantly amazed at the vision of God’s majesty, greatness, holiness, and love. And yet, at the same time, as great as this sounds, you may find yourself resistant to receive this truth of God’s majesty communicated in this book because it is only as Micah highlights God’s holiness and consequent wrath toward sin that you are able to see the depths of his mercy and love.

Therefore, as we look at Micah 3-5 this morning, I want us to see first of all an aspect of God that may be difficult to receive and then, as we let that reality soak into our hearts, see the depths of God’s mercy and love. And we want to do it for this purpose: that we might rightly adore God as we should. Thus, my prayer this morning is that God would allow our hearts to see him as he is, that we might adore and worship him as we should.

And with that said, let me highlight some things that Micah teaches us about God in chapters 3-5 of this book.

The Lord is not obligated to do good to anyone and is just to punish everyone for his sins

This is quite clear in chapter three of Micah. For the leaders, prophets, and all people in the city are full of sin. In 3:1-4 we read that the leaders hate justice, and in fact hate good and love evil. Thus Micah paints their actions not as shepherds tending the sheep but as shepherds eating their sheep, ripping them apart and eating the pieces of flesh (3:1-3). Thus, must God do them good? No. They will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them and will hide his face from them (3:4).

Again, in 3:5-8 the prophets are prophesying falsely. They tell them what they want to hear so that they will get their money (3:5). They were using divination, forbidden means to find out future events. Therefore, God will not answer them and will show them nothing (3:6-7). And by Micah using himself as a contrast in verse 8, we see what he is saying about these prophets, namely, that they are not filled with power or the Spirit of the LORD, that they have no justice, and that they are declaring falsehood which is not from the Lord. So, again, is God obligated to do them good? No, rather, God will show the prophets nothing but only darken their understanding. He will disgrace them, put them to shame, and shut them up, as God will speak nothing to them (3:6-7).

Finally, the leaders and the people of the city are perverting justice in every way possible. They “detest justice” making “crooked all that is straight” (3:9). They pervert everything. They are shedding innocent blood and filling the land with sin (3:10). They take brides when judging cases, teach and practice forbidden means of finding out future events for money (and are therefore willing to speak what others want to hear), and they do all of this basing their false security in the Lord’s presence and kindness to them (3:11). Yet is God obligated to do them good because they are his creation? No. God says that “Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins”, and the mountain of the house will become an unholy height. The most holy city will become the most unholy place. God was going to level the city.

And the picture painted here of their sins and deserved punishment can be painted of all men everywhere. Those in Samaria and Jerusalem were in no way an exception from those in the rest of the world. In fact, Paul, looking at teaching throughout the Old Testament, declares in Romans 3:10-12, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Therefore, we can safely say that everyone in the world is in a similar position to those described in Micah 3 and only deserve God’s wrathful judgment. And we can add that God would have been in no way unjust to judge everyone, throwing him or her into hell for all eternity.

This is where we all nod and say, “Amen.” But when we do, I wonder if we really catch the weight of this. I mean, do you realize that God did not owe salvation from his wrath to anyone. He could say, “There is none that is good, they all desire evil, and so I will turn everyone over to his own way and condemn them all to hell.” So, this morning, if none of you were Christians, I could say, “God is under no obligation to save any of you and you justly deserve his punishment.” “But,” you might ask, “what if I decide I will pray?” He is not obligated to hear. “But what if I decided to feed the poor? be a good husband/wife? be a good employee? care for the elderly?” He is not obligated to do anything, and all of those actions would still come from a heart that has turned aside from God. “But isn’t God good?” Yes, but if he were to judge the whole world in their sins, he would remain good.

Just as we read of the justice of God in Micah 3 toward those who justly deserve it, we could place ourselves in the position of those to whom this prophecy was spoken and be an “acceptable” audience. We have only merited God’s wrath and God is not obligated to do us good simply because he created us – for we are a creation that has rebelled against its Creator.

Therefore, let that sink in before we get to chapter 4. Because too often we speed right past this reality following with a statement that contrasts it so that we never really receive the weight of it. That would be like walking up to a person and saying quickly (in one breath), “You have been condemned guilty and the just punishment is that you are condemned to death and are to die in the electric chair, but you’ve been pardoned.” I guarantee you the person would be thankful for the pardon, but he would not appreciate it as much as the guy who was walking toward the chair, in the eleventh hour, knowing this was his just punishment, with his heart racing, sweat dripping off his face, as he feels like he is going to pass out from the gravity of the moment pressing on him and finally receives his pardon as he is strapped into the chair. So, don’t hear this too quickly and dismiss it with a contrasting statement. For no matter what else we hear and know, this first reality is true: God is not obligated to do good to humanity but would be just were he to condemn all men to hell.

Yet, God declares that he will gather a remnant of people and show them great mercy and grace

As we saw last week in 2:12-13, the Lord promises that he will gather a remnant from Israel and deliver them from his judgment. Now, in chapters 4-5 gives details of the mercy he is going to show to them.

He says in 4:1-7:

“It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
and many nations shall come, and say:
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths."
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide for strong nations afar off;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore;
but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
For all the peoples walk
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
forever and ever.
In that day, declares the Lord,
I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away
and those whom I have afflicted;
and the lame I will make the remnant,
and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
from this time forth and forevermore. ”

Therefore, were we to list the things he says he will do, we might come up with the following:

1. The Lord’s house will rise above the surrounding mountains (4:1).
2. Many nations will come to know and worship the Lord (4:2).
3. Teaching of righteousness will go forth from Jerusalem to the entire world (4:2).
4. The Lord himself will judge the nations (4:3)
5. The Lord will bring peace to the nations (4:3-5).
6. The Lord will gather a remnant from those scattered over the earth to reign over them (4:6-7)

But how will all of this be fulfilled? This is the question that is asked all through the Old Testament in regards to a number of promises God makes. Yet the mystery is solved in the promises we read in 4:8-5:6, namely, God will bring to them a King, the Shepherd-King. He will do these things and deliver his people from captivity.

We read this promise of a king in 4:8. Yet, now they mourn because they have no King and are going into exile (4:9-10). But the promise is that there will come one from Bethlehem, of the tribe of Judah, whose origin is from ancient of days, who will be their king and deliver them from captivity as we read in 5:7-15.

Now in 539 B.C. the Israelites were allowed to come back and rebuild the Temple and worship the Lord as we read in Ezra-Nehemiah. But there is no king there, and these promises seem quite unfulfilled. So, when does this happen? The answer is that these promises find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

God fulfills the promises in Jesus Christ

Jesus is born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1-6; John 7:40-44). He is from the tribe of Judah (Matthew 1:1-17). His origin is from Ancient of Days, even as he claimed himself (John 1:1-18; 8:48-58). He is rightfully a king, descending from David, the this was the charge hanging over his head as he was crucified, for the sign read, “This is Jesus, King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37).

“Fine,” someone might say, “but are the promises really fulfilled in him?” Yes. He not only brings peace, but is himself our peace, reconciling even Jew and Gentile despite their former hostility. Thus Paul writes in Ephesians 2:11-22, “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

But what about the promise of the mountain being lifted up so that men from many nations might come to the Lord and learn from him? The author of Hebrews writes, “For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned." Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear." But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:18-24). How can he say that they have come to Mount Zion? He can say it because we have been given a means by which we can approach God – Jesus Christ. Thus, the promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

And indeed because of his work, teaching has gone forth from Jerusalem and is going to every nation as Jesus told his disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

And the promised deliverance is greater than simply deliverance from Babylonian captivity or conquering any human enemy. Rather, he has conquered our the enemy of sin, death, and Satan and has delivered us from our state of being under God’s wrath so that Paul writes of Jesus in Colossians 2:11-15, “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

Therefore, we know see that there will be one people of God from every tongue, tribe, and nation, who have been delivered from sin and God’s wrath and can approach him as our Father. These indeed are the promises that are pointed to in Micah, promises brought about by the work of Christ. To say less than that, I think, is to miss the one storyline of Scripture, concerning God’s redemption of his people. The mystery is simply answered in Christ.

And yet, we wait for the completion of Christ’s kingdom, don’t we? These promises are not yet perfectly realized. For though there are no necessary divisions between believers, we battle with sin and see it often. And though we have been delivered from sin so that we are no longer slaves thereto, it still wages war within us, and at times can be exhausting. And though we can approach God and worship him, there is still a closeness that we desire and greater knowledge of him. These are the very reasons we fast, for example. So is there more? Is there a day to which we still look? Yes, our hope is not yet fully realized, but there is a sure and coming day when Christ will return and our salvation will be fully realized.

Our hope is not yet fully realized, but it is sure and will one day be complete

We get a picture of this throughout Revelation. Thus, we read of men in heaven from every tongue, tribe, and nation, as 5:9-10 declares of Jesus, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our god, and they shall reign on the earth.” That is the completion of the promise.

Again, we read in Revelation 21:1-5 of being in the very presence of God on that day. And it is sure, for our Lord tells us that he is indeed the promised one and that he will come as he says again and again, “And behold, I am coming soon … Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end … I, Jesus, have sent my messenger to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star … Surely I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:7, 12-13, 16, 20-21).

Therefore, that which is promised in Micah and is realized in Jesus Christ will be complete as he returns to judge the earth. And all of this mercy and hope to those to whom God is in no way obligated to do good but would have been just in condemning us to hell.

So what should we do in light of this reality that we have discussed today?

I will list a few things.

1. Be intentional about speaking the gospel to others (your neighbors, co-workers, etc.) so that we might be God’s means by which he brings many nations to himself through Christ.

2. Live holy lives, making war with sin, realizing God’s hatred for such and punishment of such.

Specifically, we might say, look at the things addressed in Micah. Treasure nothing above God, do not covet, end hostility with brothers in Christ, do not steal, and expose yourself to truth. These are all things the people were disobeying in the book of Micah.

3. And, finally, keep in mind our sure hope so that you might find strength to persevere in obedience.

Even this morning be strengthened as we come to the table, remembering that this is not our end, but we wait for a day when we will share this meal with our Lord in his kingdom. It is sure. Come Lord Jesus. Amen.

¹C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 1-2.

THE PROMISED RULER AND OUR HOPE IN HIM