DESTRUCTION CAN LEAD TO RESTORATION
Micah 2:4-11
GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES
V:4. In that day men
will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: 'We are utterly
ruined; my people's possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our
fields to traitors."
A. Lack of love for the brethren and the lust for gain will
lead to personal destruction.
1. No corrupt
person, will ever see the kingdom of God
of God.
2. Self
destruction is a voluntary action that begins with the violation of God's
greatest
commands.
a. Love the
Lord God with all your heart, mind, soul
and strength .
b. Love your
neighbor as yourself.
3. Upon these two
hang all of the Law, the writings of the prophets and Psalms.
Matt 22:39
4. Upon these two
hang the successes and failures of life.
5. Upon these two
hang all the blessings and punishments of God.
B. God set the boundaries of the Promise
Land
1. God preserved
the Promise Land Israel
grew to be a nation in 430
years of
slavery.
2. God freed Israel
under Moses leadership and gave them His commands.
3. Israel
took possession of the Promise Land
a. The Promise
Land was divided among the 12 tribes of Jacob.
b. The
boundaries of the land of each tribe was set by God and never to be changed.
C. The Promise Land
is Zion , the Holy Land .
1. Israel
is God's first chosen people and were to be an example of God's power,
glory and
supreme Love.
2. After taking over the Promise
Land Israel
openly and
publicly promised to keep God's commands.
Joshua 24:21-24
3. Israel
failed to keep God's commands and they failed God.
D. Through Micah the
prophet, God promised the destruction of Israel
for their sins.
1. The Promise
Land was given to the Nation of Israel and not specifically to any
particular person.
2. The Land was
given to all generations of Israelites and to keep the promise made to
Abraham.
GOD CLEANS HIS HOUSE
V:5. " Therefore you will have no one in the assembly
of the Lord to divide the land by lot. "
A. Sometimes, God has
to clean house and start over with a new generation of His
chosen people
who will worship Him.
1. He made his
creation perfect, but it was corrupted by the sin of Adam.
2. One simple
disobedient act affected all generations on earth.
a. Adam and
Eve disobeyed one command; not to eat from the tree of Knowledge
and of Good and Evil.
b. That one
sin is infectious throughout all mankind.
B. God destroyed the
earth and all its inhabitants with the great flood.
1. Noah and his
family and all the animals placed in the Ark
were saved because
of one man's
faithfulness.
2. During the
prophet Micah's time, God again promised
the destruction of His people.
C. Sin is really the
hatred of God's commands.
1. Because of
their lack of love and respect for God and their neighbors, they
divided,
brought and sold land that was not theirs to sell.
2. The rich showed
no compassion for the poor, the widowers and orphans.
THE RESULT OF LISTENING TO THE WRONG VOICE
V:6. "Do not
prophesy," their prophets say. "Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace will not overtake us."
A. Sin left unchecked
is progressive.
1. One sin will
lead to other sins that are worst than
the first.
2. Our
unrighteousness will affect the unrighteousness of generations to come.
B. The first
generation of Israelites worshipped God according to His commands
and made
sacrifices for their sins.
1. They worshipped
God religiously but not with their hearts.
2. Generations
later, they rejected God, His Word and His prophets,
a. They rejected
the truth and accepted the lies of Satan.
b. They
worshipped the things God created rather than God Himself.
3. They had a
history of God keeping His promises, but they refused to believe the
promises. They refused to live by God's
commands.
V:7 Should it be said, O house of Jacob: "Is the Spirit
of the Lord angry? Does he do such things?" "Do not my words do good
to him whose ways are upright? "
A. The people of Israel
chose false prophets over God's prophets.
1. False prophets
never talk about the consequences of sin.
2. False prophets
tell you what you want to hear.
3. False prophets
never tell you that what you have gained in life belong to God.
4. False prophets
never tell you that you have what you have not just for your benefit,
but for the
benefit of all believers.
B. A false prophet
will never tell you that God is angry with you for your sins.
1. A false prophet
will never tell you that there are consequences for disobedience.
2. A false prophet
will tell you that God wants you to enjoy life.
3. A false prophet
will tell you that God will continue to
bless you no matter what you
do.
4. The prosperity
message is popular, because it does not offend anyone.
BECOMING YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY
V:8. " Lately my people have risen up like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe from those who pass by without a care, like men
returning from battle."
A. When we go against God's commands, we eventually turn
against ourselves.
1. All things work
together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called
according to
His purposes.
2. When we mistreat and abuse others we set ourselves up to be
mistreated .
B. Some Israelites made themselves rich by taken from others
by ungodly means.
1. What goes around
comes around.
2. When you fail to
show compassion to others, there will come a time when
you will need
that same compassion but will not receive it.
3. When you
mistreat others, there will come a time when you will be mistreated
in a similar or
worst way.
V:9. " You drive the women of my people from their
pleasant homes. You take away my blessing from their children forever. "
A. Jesus said what
you do for the least of these, you do for me.
1. In reverse,
what you do against the least of these you do against God.
2. God commands
us to look after widowers and orphans.
3. It is our
responsibility to take care of our own people in need.
B. The sins of Israel
caused them to be engaged in wars that God did not intend
for them to
fight.
1. The battle is
not yours, it is the Lords.
2. As a results of
the wars against their enemies, many men were killed and their
families left
without a male head of the household.
3. The rich made
it their business to defraud the women of their homes and land.
a. As a
result, the children of the widowers were left without their rightful
inheritance.
b. We have to be
conscience that any actions we take against one family member,
affects
other family members.
c. We have to
understand that any evil done to another person is a sin against God.
RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME
V:10. " Get up, go away! For this is not your resting
place, because it is defiled, it is ruined, beyond all remedy."
A. Like the garden of Eden, the Promise
Land
Nation of Israel .
1. As in the Garden
of Eden, God intended that His people would worship Him only.
2. As in the Garden
of Eden, God spoke to His people through His Word.
3. God made the
Garden of Eden perfect. He made the Promise
Land
dwelling place
for His people.
B. The Israelite's took what God had prepared for them and
defiled it with their worship
of idol gods made
with their hands.
1. They defiled the
Promise Land
2. Instead of being
a light to the nations around them, they became the darkness that
engulfed them.
3. Their sins were
more horrendous than their neighbors, because they had God's
commands, which
they disobeyed.
4. The Nation of Israel
ruined themselves with their sins against God.
5. Sin can ruin a
happy home.
6. Lasting Joy can
only be found in the righteousness of God.
V:11. " If a liar and deceiver comes and says, 'I will
prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,' he would be just the prophet for
this people! "
A. The Nation of
Israel rejected God's prophets because they told the truth.
1. The truth
includes promises of God's favor for obedience and promises of
chastisement
for disobedient behavior.
2. Israel
wanted only to hear the blessing of God without the consequences of their
sins.
B. Satan came to
steal, kill and destroy.
1. Satan seized
the opportunity of the evil desires of Israel
and gave them what they
wanted to hear
from his agents; false prophets.
2. Satan is a
master deceiver.
3. Satan is the
father of all lies.
4. He disguises
himself as an angel of light.
5. If you want to
hear a lie, Satan is only a thought away.
DOWN BUT NOT OUT
Even though Israel
angered God to the point of their destruction, He still will keep
the covenant He made with Abraham.
In 586 BC, Jerusalem
and the Temple was destroyed. Many
Israelites were killed and
others taken captive.
70 years later, those taken captive by the Babylonians were
released by the hand of God and the city and the Temple
rebuilt.
In 70 AD, after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Jerusalem
and the Temple was
again destroyed. God is now gathering Israel ,
in the Promise Land
come.
Notice verses 12 and 13 is the promise of the second coming
of Jesus Christ.
Those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior have
already been redeemed
Micah 2:12-13
12 "I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will
surely bring together the remnant of Israel .
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.
13 One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they
will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before
them, the Lord at their head."
BY THE GRACE OF GOD WE ARE SAVE FROM OUR SINS
Rev. M. Mitchell, Asst
Pastor of Greater Macedonia Baptist
Church
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