Background of Obadiah
Setting: Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. Judah and Edom's proximity. Neighbors. Descendants of Esau and Jacob....twins.
Forefathers were Abraham and Isaac. Yet there was terrible distrust between them.
What did Edom do during the Babylonian conquest?
What was the root problem of Edom?
See vv 1-4
Pride. Play on geography of Edom. Look at the pictures of Edom (modern day Petra).
Humility is a positive attribute. It is the nature of God. God is our humble King. Jesus Christ epitomizes humility.
Removing the root of Edom from our heart.
Pride is the displacement of God from the center of our lives by the enthronement of self.
Humility is often identified with penitence and contrition. As a consequence, there appears to be no way of fostering humility but by keeping the soul occupied with its sin.
Humility is something else and something more than this. Often the virtue of humility is displayed in the New Testament without reference to sin. In the very nature of things, the the whole relation of the creature to the Creator, in the life of Jesus as He lived it and imparts it to us, humility is the very essence of holiness as of blessedness. It is the displacement of self by the enthronement of God. Where God is all, self is nothing.
Paul's clear grasp of his sinful past helped him maintain humility and grace.
ESV 1 Corinthians 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1Co 15:9 ESV)
ESV Ephesians 3:8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
(Eph 3:8 ESV)
ESV 1 Timothy 1:12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (1Ti 1:12 ESV)
These verses sometimes are used to claim Paul is confessing here that he struggled daily with sin. However, when we read them carefully, we realize that Paul is using this confession to recognize how very low he was, in order to maintain a grip on humility.
Gripping humility starts with something very important:
Heart Honesty. Humility requires honesty in our very inner being.
Others Over Self. Humility puts others before ourselves.
Need. Humility confesses that we need Christ Jesus and cannot do what is right on our own.
Offers Your Best. Humility offers to serve others.
Remember and Reward. Humility rewards Christ with the glory for any accomplishments we may make with His assistance.
Honesty. Start by assessing yourself not too lowly or too highly. Be accurate. You have incredible value. You have sinned.
Others. Secondly choose others before yourself. When Edom saw Israel coming out of Egypt, Edom refused Israel passage. Choosing self first closes off humility.
We can very practically involve ourselves in blessing others by giving to the Vineyard Helping Hands fund and getting involved in the lives of people who receive aid right here.
We can also give to missions. Our Hope For All Nations Fund will be our focus, Lord willing, in April this year.
We can also assist anyone the Lord leads across our path during our daily activities. Be ready to help others. Put others over yourself
We can do this around the church or around our house. Just picking up, or vacuuming or assisting with the dishes or whatever task is at hand. None are beneath us no matter how
great we think we are, nothing is too low for any of us to do.
Need. Thirdly, recognize that Jesus Christ is the ONLY one who can help you live the right way. Stay focused on Christ Jesus. Draw your life from Him. Learn utter dependence on
His nature.
Offer your talents to help in your family. Fourthly, Offer your talents and gifts in the church or even at work. Do we have to be paid for everything we do? Learn to take delight in helping
others with your very best. If you are a singer, sing with your whole heart. If you are an administrator, organize with your finest effort. If you are a leader, lead well. If you are a teacher, teach so they own the lessons in their heart and can do them. If you are a helper, help in a way that makes them glad you were there. If you are a mercy giver, demonstrate true kindness in your acts of mercy. If you are a financial supporter, give by faith so that the recipient feels honored.
Remember & Reward. Fifthly, Remember who you were. Then pass the trophies on to Jesus Christ. If you live for eternity, and all wise people do, then see yourself worshipping Jesus with your rewards.
ESV Revelation 4:10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." (Rev 4:10 ESV)
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Saturday, June 28, 2008
What does it mean 'watch in hope' for the Lord?
In Micah 6 & 7 we are shown that the Lord watches all of mankind closely to see who has three qualities. A friend mentioned yesterday that the eyes of the Lord are looking across the earth to see who is fully his. The verse ties in to this idea I think. "ESV 2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him."
Micah 6.8 gives three elements to what God is watching for. Do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. The term humbly is better translated as live your life 'paying attention' to God. So it is a direct response to this desire of God to see people who pay attention to Him that Micah ties into in NIV Micah 7:7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
What does this mean? I see hope and faith mixed together here. Micah says "My God will hear me". That is faith. Micah watches in hope. So there are faith and hope operating like two pedals on a bicycle driving the man of God forward. These are eternal qualities. Paul binds them together with love in ESV 1 Corinthians 13:13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
If we follow Micah's example, bearing Paul's word in mind, then we are looking with hope and longing to God. We watch with greater desire because we are not just hoping for something from God's hand. We are longing for God Himself because we love Him.
During your day as you let your heart turn towards the Lord. Let all you are doing be supported by a heart whose eyes are on the Lord. Maybe we could use the word gaze. Let your heart gaze on the Lord with faith, hope and love. Micah 7.7 and 1 Co 13.13.
Micah 6.8 gives three elements to what God is watching for. Do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. The term humbly is better translated as live your life 'paying attention' to God. So it is a direct response to this desire of God to see people who pay attention to Him that Micah ties into in NIV Micah 7:7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
What does this mean? I see hope and faith mixed together here. Micah says "My God will hear me". That is faith. Micah watches in hope. So there are faith and hope operating like two pedals on a bicycle driving the man of God forward. These are eternal qualities. Paul binds them together with love in ESV 1 Corinthians 13:13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
If we follow Micah's example, bearing Paul's word in mind, then we are looking with hope and longing to God. We watch with greater desire because we are not just hoping for something from God's hand. We are longing for God Himself because we love Him.
During your day as you let your heart turn towards the Lord. Let all you are doing be supported by a heart whose eyes are on the Lord. Maybe we could use the word gaze. Let your heart gaze on the Lord with faith, hope and love. Micah 7.7 and 1 Co 13.13.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
What does it mean to 'walk humbly with your God'?
The verse asks what God requires of man. The word for require means 'seek with care'. So you could say this...'what does God carefully look for in man'? One of the three things mentioned is that we would 'walk humbly with God'. As I've looked at this phrase, a sharper meaning has come into focus. The famous phrase 'walk humbly with your God' simply means (in the Hebrew) to 'allow yourself to be advised' by God. Or put another way, 'pay attention to what God is saying and doing'. It means 'keep your eyes on God while you live'. Let the eyes of your heart and your spiritual ears be sensitive to anything God says or does while you are living your life.
So that was last week, some meditation on Micah 6:8. Now this week I've been looking at Micah 7:7-20. And I found something related in Micah 7:7 that's interesting. In the verb tense used here for 'will look' to the Lord, it means to 'watch closely'. So Micah is saying 'I will watch for the Lord closely'...or I will look intensely to the Lord. When everything and everyone is falling apart, i won't look to humans or human institutions/governments.
So I see Micah 7:7 is the response to Micah 6:8. In Micah 6:8 God reveals three things He is carefully seeking from mankind. In Micah 7:7 we have the resolution to do the third one. God looks for those who will 'pay attention to what He is saying and doing. Micah shows us the way to respond...resolve to 'look to the Lord'. Resolve to watch closely for the Lord.
Sometimes I think this is my greatest failure. When I fail to watch closely for the Lord, everything is affected. Sometimes I think this is also our greatest breakthrough. When we stop and wait. Take time to turn the 'eyes of our heart' to the Lord, everything is affected.
ESV Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (to walk humbly means to live paying attention to what God is saying and doing')
ESV Micah 7:7 But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. (will look means watch closely)
So that was last week, some meditation on Micah 6:8. Now this week I've been looking at Micah 7:7-20. And I found something related in Micah 7:7 that's interesting. In the verb tense used here for 'will look' to the Lord, it means to 'watch closely'. So Micah is saying 'I will watch for the Lord closely'...or I will look intensely to the Lord. When everything and everyone is falling apart, i won't look to humans or human institutions/governments.
So I see Micah 7:7 is the response to Micah 6:8. In Micah 6:8 God reveals three things He is carefully seeking from mankind. In Micah 7:7 we have the resolution to do the third one. God looks for those who will 'pay attention to what He is saying and doing. Micah shows us the way to respond...resolve to 'look to the Lord'. Resolve to watch closely for the Lord.
Sometimes I think this is my greatest failure. When I fail to watch closely for the Lord, everything is affected. Sometimes I think this is also our greatest breakthrough. When we stop and wait. Take time to turn the 'eyes of our heart' to the Lord, everything is affected.
ESV Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (to walk humbly means to live paying attention to what God is saying and doing')
ESV Micah 7:7 But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. (will look means watch closely)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
How to please God (Micah 6)
ESV Micah 6:1 ¶ Hear what the LORD says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel. 3 "O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! 4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5 O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the LORD." 6 "With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Court Case:
The Lord's indictment against His people
1) Questioning God's people: How have I wearied you?
a) Brought up from the land of Egypt
b) Redeemed from the house of slavery
c) Sent Moses, Aaron and Miriam
d) Remember Balak (Moabite) & Balaam (Balaam's error was greed)
Israel has failed to cherish the saving acts of the Lord in her history.
We need to know the bible stories of the Lord's saving acts to bolster our own faith. We must recall and retell our own personal stories to avoid the failure Israel went through. As we work through the bible as a congregation, learn the stories of the bible. Learn them well. They are our heritage. They are there for us to learn the key lessons for our own lives!
Can you identify four or five times in your life when the Lord has acted on your behalf? Can you tell the stories? Have you remembered what God has done for you?
My stories: A) Selling my house in Olathe...painting it before someone comes to look at it. The rain stopped.
B) Purchasing a home in Normal 24 months later with only $50 in our hands. The church, family and bank all made special accommodations for us.
C) When we could not identify what was causing David's fever.
D) When I prayed for the money to go on a vacation in 2003.
E) When I asked God to provide the funds for two trees so I could fulfill our neighborhood covenant requirements in 2002.
F) Dave Park farm needed rain in the middle 90's. Needed it again several years later. The last time we spoke we asked a third time for rain for his farm, and rain was forming in the west before he walked out the building.
Mission stories: 8 times the Lord provided what I needed to go overseas on mission trips, exactly, on the last day that I needed the money. One time I need more than I thought and he provided exactly beyond what we thought...$300 from Arnold on our last Taiwan trip!
MEDITATE*REMEMBER*PROCLAIM
2) What is the Lord looking for?
a) Burnt offerings?
b) Thousands of rams, ten thousands of rivers of oil?
c) My firstborn? Molech worship in Israel
Israel thinks God is like the demonic idols of the land, that He needs something from us.
Reject any effort to bargain with God.
3) Here is what is good: What He requires:
a) Do justice... The special focus here is on the poor.
b) Love kindness...For those in trouble, for foreigners, for those who are alone.
"Hesed ahab" (Hebrew transliterated)--Hesed is translated mercy in the NIV, but it goes beyond that. Hesed is covenant love, being bound together in solidarity with both God and human beings so that community is established between poor and rich, weak and strong, female and male, slave and free, alien and Israelite (ESV Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.) All care for one another in mutual respect and protection and sharing. Hesed binds people together as one in the bundle of life, so that God is not worshiped and obeyed apart from concern for one's fellow human being ESV Matthew 5:23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
ESV Galatians 5:14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ESV Galatians 6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
This is the community solidarity that Israel is to love...the verb Ahab, which is used of the deepest love of a wife for her husband or of a child for his or her parent. (Achtemeier on Micah pg 353)
c) Live humbly...For those who do well in life, humble walk.
Walk here means constant communion. Humbly here includes the idea of paying attention to God...watching to see what He is saying right now....being attentive to Him.
Living a life FROM God's word, not from our own words....paying attention to His will. See ESV Psalm 123:2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us.
Recommended reading for growing in humility.
Humility by Andrew Murray
d) Sound wisdom
1) Fear His name is trembling at His greatness...not being scared.
ESV Psalm 2:11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
2) Hate evil
ESV Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Intimate Friendship by Joy Dawson
Israel needs a revelation of what God desires in His people most of all.
Merge justice with kindness & humility. Mix them all with sound wisdom!
Court Case:
The Lord's indictment against His people
1) Questioning God's people: How have I wearied you?
a) Brought up from the land of Egypt
b) Redeemed from the house of slavery
c) Sent Moses, Aaron and Miriam
d) Remember Balak (Moabite) & Balaam (Balaam's error was greed)
Israel has failed to cherish the saving acts of the Lord in her history.
We need to know the bible stories of the Lord's saving acts to bolster our own faith. We must recall and retell our own personal stories to avoid the failure Israel went through. As we work through the bible as a congregation, learn the stories of the bible. Learn them well. They are our heritage. They are there for us to learn the key lessons for our own lives!
Can you identify four or five times in your life when the Lord has acted on your behalf? Can you tell the stories? Have you remembered what God has done for you?
My stories: A) Selling my house in Olathe...painting it before someone comes to look at it. The rain stopped.
B) Purchasing a home in Normal 24 months later with only $50 in our hands. The church, family and bank all made special accommodations for us.
C) When we could not identify what was causing David's fever.
D) When I prayed for the money to go on a vacation in 2003.
E) When I asked God to provide the funds for two trees so I could fulfill our neighborhood covenant requirements in 2002.
F) Dave Park farm needed rain in the middle 90's. Needed it again several years later. The last time we spoke we asked a third time for rain for his farm, and rain was forming in the west before he walked out the building.
Mission stories: 8 times the Lord provided what I needed to go overseas on mission trips, exactly, on the last day that I needed the money. One time I need more than I thought and he provided exactly beyond what we thought...$300 from Arnold on our last Taiwan trip!
MEDITATE*REMEMBER*PROCLAIM
2) What is the Lord looking for?
a) Burnt offerings?
b) Thousands of rams, ten thousands of rivers of oil?
c) My firstborn? Molech worship in Israel
Israel thinks God is like the demonic idols of the land, that He needs something from us.
Reject any effort to bargain with God.
3) Here is what is good: What He requires:
a) Do justice... The special focus here is on the poor.
b) Love kindness...For those in trouble, for foreigners, for those who are alone.
"Hesed ahab" (Hebrew transliterated)--Hesed is translated mercy in the NIV, but it goes beyond that. Hesed is covenant love, being bound together in solidarity with both God and human beings so that community is established between poor and rich, weak and strong, female and male, slave and free, alien and Israelite (ESV Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.) All care for one another in mutual respect and protection and sharing. Hesed binds people together as one in the bundle of life, so that God is not worshiped and obeyed apart from concern for one's fellow human being ESV Matthew 5:23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
ESV Galatians 5:14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ESV Galatians 6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
This is the community solidarity that Israel is to love...the verb Ahab, which is used of the deepest love of a wife for her husband or of a child for his or her parent. (Achtemeier on Micah pg 353)
c) Live humbly...For those who do well in life, humble walk.
Walk here means constant communion. Humbly here includes the idea of paying attention to God...watching to see what He is saying right now....being attentive to Him.
Living a life FROM God's word, not from our own words....paying attention to His will. See ESV Psalm 123:2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us.
Recommended reading for growing in humility.
Humility by Andrew Murray
d) Sound wisdom
1) Fear His name is trembling at His greatness...not being scared.
ESV Psalm 2:11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
2) Hate evil
ESV Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Intimate Friendship by Joy Dawson
Israel needs a revelation of what God desires in His people most of all.
Merge justice with kindness & humility. Mix them all with sound wisdom!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
How to share your faith using Micah 5
Micah 5: How to inspire others to believe in Jesus Christ with Micah the prophet.
1) Define the issue "House of Bread Prophecy"
All of God's people have been proven to need someone to help them, to rescue them, to redeem them. The key question above all questions is this: Is Jesus Christ really the Messiah: The One who came from heaven to rescue mankind from sin and death?
Who is going to win the Presidency? Who will be the next Governor of Illinois? Who will lead Normal or Bloomington? Who's gonna win the World Series this year?
How is our economy going to fare in light of terrorism and an attack on our nation?
2) Describe the scripture's prophecy "House of Bread Prophecy"
ESV Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
From ancient times prophecies have been given by God in the scriptures
Time frame of Micah: 8th Century B.C. (A full 700+years before Christ's birth).
He is the first prophet to point to Bethlehem as the birthplace of the coming Messiah.
Bethlehem was a poor man's town. Nothing fancy there. It would be like claiming to be from a town like McLean, Illinois. McLean is a small town outside of Bloomington/Normal. Nothing fancy there in McLean. No rich people there.
Beth Lehem (House of Bread)
There were two Bethlehem's in ancient Israel. ESV Joshua 19:15 and Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem--twelve cities with their villages.
describes a Bethlehem that is in Zebulun. This Bethlehem is near Nazareth in Galilee. It is NOT the Bethlehem of Ephrath. That Bethlehem is Micah's Bethlehem
and was NOT in Galilee. The Bethlehem we are talking about in Micah 5 is the Bethlehem in modern Israel's west bank. It was originally built up by King Rehoboam of Judah.
This part of the west bank, not far from Jerusalem is under Palestinian Authority and control since 1995. Originally it was built to be part of a defensive network of cities near Jerusalem to help protect Jerusalem.
The people in the Jerusalem area had a specific dialect of Aramaic during Jesus day. In Galilee there was a different dialect. Perhaps like people from Memphis Tennessee who have a southern accent compared to people from central Illinois. When an Illinoisan goes to Memphis, everyone there knows the Illinois boy is NOT from Memphis.
So it was with people in Jerusalem's region when Galileans visited. The accent gave them away.
ESV John 7:37 ¶ On the last day of the feast (In Jerusalem), the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 40 ¶ When they heard these words, some of the people said, "This really is the Prophet." 41 Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" 43 So there was a division among the people over him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
Some people rejected Jesus because he had a Galilean accent AND they knew the prophecy of Micah was that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem near Jerusalem. They assumed that the prophecy would then be fulfilled by someone with a west bank accent....but Jesus had an accent from the land of Galilee. So many times a tiny assumption from a prophecy can become dogma. Dogma or a rigid expectation can cause us to miss God. Assumptions can do the same thing. Even worse, assumptions mixed with dogma can be fatal.
ESV Matthew 2:1 ¶ Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 "'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'" 7 ¶ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. 13 ¶ Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son." 16 ¶ Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more." 19 ¶ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: "He shall be called a Nazarene."
To be called from Nazareth would be akin to being called from the 'boondocks' today. It essentially meant you were from the sticks...or from nowhere special in Galilee.
The Nazareth connection to Bethlehem went back to Joseph and Mary's relationship as a betrothed couple before Jesus came.
ESV Luke 2:1 ¶ In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
So after returning from Egypt, Jesus was taken back to the land of Joseph and Mary's original dwelling...to Nazareth.
God will sometimes use authorities to accomplish His prophetic word. There is a lesson in this for us to respect God's authority and to pray for all those in authority. 1 Tim 2:1.
ESV Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
3) Detail Christ's fulfillment of that prophecy "House of Bread Prophecy"
Review the prophecy in Micah 5 with the person. Show how Christ fulfilled this prophecy when Joseph and Mary travelled to Bethlehem and found no room in the Inn.
This is just one of many, many prophecies that point to Jesus Christ. ESV Hosea 11:1 ¶ When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. (the son here is a metaphor for Israel coming out of Egypt the first time. However, Matthew sees it as pointing to the Christ also coming out of Egypt and links Jesus' time in Egypt prophetically with Israel's exodus out of Egypt). The combination of the spiritual meaning of Nazareth (boondocks), Egypt, and Bethlehem (from our Micah 5 passage) show us that Jesus Christ's chronology was tied in every way and every step to the prophetic history of Israel. Jesus therefore is the expected Messiah.
Our conclusion is that the ancient scriptures pointed to Jesus long before HE came to the earth. Therefore we should listen to Him and we should make Him our Lord and Savior.
Will you give your life to jesus today?
1) Define the issue "House of Bread Prophecy"
All of God's people have been proven to need someone to help them, to rescue them, to redeem them. The key question above all questions is this: Is Jesus Christ really the Messiah: The One who came from heaven to rescue mankind from sin and death?
Who is going to win the Presidency? Who will be the next Governor of Illinois? Who will lead Normal or Bloomington? Who's gonna win the World Series this year?
How is our economy going to fare in light of terrorism and an attack on our nation?
2) Describe the scripture's prophecy "House of Bread Prophecy"
ESV Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
From ancient times prophecies have been given by God in the scriptures
Time frame of Micah: 8th Century B.C. (A full 700+years before Christ's birth).
He is the first prophet to point to Bethlehem as the birthplace of the coming Messiah.
Bethlehem was a poor man's town. Nothing fancy there. It would be like claiming to be from a town like McLean, Illinois. McLean is a small town outside of Bloomington/Normal. Nothing fancy there in McLean. No rich people there.
Beth Lehem (House of Bread)
There were two Bethlehem's in ancient Israel. ESV Joshua 19:15 and Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem--twelve cities with their villages.
describes a Bethlehem that is in Zebulun. This Bethlehem is near Nazareth in Galilee. It is NOT the Bethlehem of Ephrath. That Bethlehem is Micah's Bethlehem
and was NOT in Galilee. The Bethlehem we are talking about in Micah 5 is the Bethlehem in modern Israel's west bank. It was originally built up by King Rehoboam of Judah.
This part of the west bank, not far from Jerusalem is under Palestinian Authority and control since 1995. Originally it was built to be part of a defensive network of cities near Jerusalem to help protect Jerusalem.
The people in the Jerusalem area had a specific dialect of Aramaic during Jesus day. In Galilee there was a different dialect. Perhaps like people from Memphis Tennessee who have a southern accent compared to people from central Illinois. When an Illinoisan goes to Memphis, everyone there knows the Illinois boy is NOT from Memphis.
So it was with people in Jerusalem's region when Galileans visited. The accent gave them away.
ESV John 7:37 ¶ On the last day of the feast (In Jerusalem), the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 40 ¶ When they heard these words, some of the people said, "This really is the Prophet." 41 Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" 43 So there was a division among the people over him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
Some people rejected Jesus because he had a Galilean accent AND they knew the prophecy of Micah was that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem near Jerusalem. They assumed that the prophecy would then be fulfilled by someone with a west bank accent....but Jesus had an accent from the land of Galilee. So many times a tiny assumption from a prophecy can become dogma. Dogma or a rigid expectation can cause us to miss God. Assumptions can do the same thing. Even worse, assumptions mixed with dogma can be fatal.
ESV Matthew 2:1 ¶ Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 "'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'" 7 ¶ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. 13 ¶ Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son." 16 ¶ Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more." 19 ¶ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: "He shall be called a Nazarene."
To be called from Nazareth would be akin to being called from the 'boondocks' today. It essentially meant you were from the sticks...or from nowhere special in Galilee.
The Nazareth connection to Bethlehem went back to Joseph and Mary's relationship as a betrothed couple before Jesus came.
ESV Luke 2:1 ¶ In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
So after returning from Egypt, Jesus was taken back to the land of Joseph and Mary's original dwelling...to Nazareth.
God will sometimes use authorities to accomplish His prophetic word. There is a lesson in this for us to respect God's authority and to pray for all those in authority. 1 Tim 2:1.
ESV Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
3) Detail Christ's fulfillment of that prophecy "House of Bread Prophecy"
Review the prophecy in Micah 5 with the person. Show how Christ fulfilled this prophecy when Joseph and Mary travelled to Bethlehem and found no room in the Inn.
This is just one of many, many prophecies that point to Jesus Christ. ESV Hosea 11:1 ¶ When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. (the son here is a metaphor for Israel coming out of Egypt the first time. However, Matthew sees it as pointing to the Christ also coming out of Egypt and links Jesus' time in Egypt prophetically with Israel's exodus out of Egypt). The combination of the spiritual meaning of Nazareth (boondocks), Egypt, and Bethlehem (from our Micah 5 passage) show us that Jesus Christ's chronology was tied in every way and every step to the prophetic history of Israel. Jesus therefore is the expected Messiah.
Our conclusion is that the ancient scriptures pointed to Jesus long before HE came to the earth. Therefore we should listen to Him and we should make Him our Lord and Savior.
Will you give your life to jesus today?
Sunday, June 8, 2008
How to make a difference! Micah 3:8
How to be a difference maker!
During the 8th century B.C. the curse of cannibalism as part of a siege strategy to make a city give up without a fight was more common than in other periods of history. (BBCOT-Walton)
2 Kings 6:24 ¶ Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver. 26 Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!" 27 And he said, "If the LORD will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?" 28 And the king asked her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.' 29 So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, 'Give your son, that we may eat him.' But she has hidden her son." 30 When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes--now he was passing by on the wall--and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body-- 31 and he said, "May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.
ESV Micah 3:1 ¶ And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?-- 2 you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones, 3 who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron. 4 Then they will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil. 5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry "Peace" when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. 6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; 7 the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. 8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight, 10 who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. 11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us." 12 Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.
1) Micah rightly predicted that the leaders of Israel were leading their people into destruction. The fear of cannibalism was directly connected to the final days of a siege designed to overthrow the city.
2) The prophets in Israel were predicting everything would be good, when things were going awry.
3) The leaders stood condemned because they loved evil and hated good.
4) Micah was different because he was full of the Holy Spirit
5) The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to bring conviction regarding sin, righteousness and judgment to come.
ESV John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
The delineating issue in Micah's ministry was that he was full of the Spirit of God.
ESV Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled (ongoing tense) with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 ¶ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Five characteristics of a Holy Spirit filled Christian.
Addressing...
Singing...
Making melody...
giving thanks...
submitting...
Note: 5:22 has no verb in the Greek..it is supplied in English to demonstrate the obvious link to 5:21.
The implication is that in the following household codes (husband/wife relationship), parenting and slave management (5:22-6:9) the difference maker is the Holy Spirit.
How do we receive the Holy Spirit?
Ask
Seek
Knock
5 ¶ And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; 7 and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Seek the Holy Spirit Schedule time to wait on God every day for the Holy Spirit to fill you up!
Pray regularly for the Holy Spirit to fill your soul and Press into God
Intensely focus your attention on God and Internally open up to God's Spirit
Repenting of any known sin & Renouncing any ground given to the devil
Inquire & Intercede for your own need.
Thanks and praise to God for what He has done in your life & Turn your eyes on Jesus Christ!
During the 8th century B.C. the curse of cannibalism as part of a siege strategy to make a city give up without a fight was more common than in other periods of history. (BBCOT-Walton)
2 Kings 6:24 ¶ Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver. 26 Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!" 27 And he said, "If the LORD will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?" 28 And the king asked her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.' 29 So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, 'Give your son, that we may eat him.' But she has hidden her son." 30 When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes--now he was passing by on the wall--and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body-- 31 and he said, "May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.
ESV Micah 3:1 ¶ And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?-- 2 you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones, 3 who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron. 4 Then they will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil. 5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry "Peace" when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. 6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; 7 the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. 8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight, 10 who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. 11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us." 12 Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.
1) Micah rightly predicted that the leaders of Israel were leading their people into destruction. The fear of cannibalism was directly connected to the final days of a siege designed to overthrow the city.
2) The prophets in Israel were predicting everything would be good, when things were going awry.
3) The leaders stood condemned because they loved evil and hated good.
4) Micah was different because he was full of the Holy Spirit
5) The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to bring conviction regarding sin, righteousness and judgment to come.
ESV John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
The delineating issue in Micah's ministry was that he was full of the Spirit of God.
ESV Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled (ongoing tense) with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 ¶ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Five characteristics of a Holy Spirit filled Christian.
Addressing...
Singing...
Making melody...
giving thanks...
submitting...
Note: 5:22 has no verb in the Greek..it is supplied in English to demonstrate the obvious link to 5:21.
The implication is that in the following household codes (husband/wife relationship), parenting and slave management (5:22-6:9) the difference maker is the Holy Spirit.
How do we receive the Holy Spirit?
Ask
Seek
Knock
5 ¶ And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; 7 and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Seek the Holy Spirit Schedule time to wait on God every day for the Holy Spirit to fill you up!
Pray regularly for the Holy Spirit to fill your soul and Press into God
Intensely focus your attention on God and Internally open up to God's Spirit
Repenting of any known sin & Renouncing any ground given to the devil
Inquire & Intercede for your own need.
Thanks and praise to God for what He has done in your life & Turn your eyes on Jesus Christ!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
P.A.C.E. Micah 1 & 2
Question: How can you believe that God would judge a nation by sending a foreign army to occupy them or destroy them? How can God be a good God and judge everyone in a nation like that....including women and children? Did God really judge Israel in the 8th Century B.C.? If so what can we learn from this?
ESV Micah 1:1 ¶ The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2 Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 3 For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. 4 And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. 5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? 6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations. 7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return. 8 For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. 9 For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. 10 Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all; in Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust. 11 Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame; the inhabitants of Zaanan do not come out; the lamentation of Beth-ezel shall take away from you its standing place. 12 For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem. 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. 14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel. 15 I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam. 16 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.
Key exegetical idea: God is sovereign over all of mankind. The God who made all of heaven and earth holds nations and His people accountable for choosing to follow Him or not. He freely pulls down nations and raises up new nations as He sees fit. His heart grieves when He has to pull down a people, like He did with Israel.
1) God claims to own the world and everyone in it. ESV Psalm 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
2) God actually does own the whole world and everyone in it....many of us just don't realize it.
ESV 1 Corinthians 10:20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 23 ¶ "All things are lawful," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof." 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.
3) God takes time to invervene in nations. He not only defines nations, but he also ends some nations. He measures their borders and length of existence.
ESV Jeremiah 1:9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."
4) All nations stand condemned in their sins. Not just individuals, but nations too. God ultimately will justly evaluate and reward or punish every nation in the world at the end of the age.
In the meantime God will not hesitate to affect nations. His key way of shaping nations is through His servants. Jeremiah pulled down or planted nations by his prophetic words. God releases real power through prophesy. No wonder Paul said we ought to all earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially prophesy. ESV 1 Corinthians 14:1 ¶ Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.
Principle: God is sovereign and will judge nations according to what is just and true. Therefore, we are all in trouble.
Applications: P.A.C.E.
1) Prayer & Fasting: Cultivate a God centered mindset and spirit of prayer. You can shape history through prayer and fasting. Bear this in mind when you are thinking about what to do with your time. When you think about whether to go to a prayer meeting or not, or to have a devotional time or to sleep in.
Visions of the Soviet Union being rearranged by the hand of God in the late 1980's early 1990's.
Set a day or two each week that you give at least part of it to prayer and fasting. You can change history this way! Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting by Derek Prince: Also the Kneeling Christian by an Unknown author.
2) Attitude: Learn from history to gaze into the future. Look to the future! Let an awareness of ancient Israel's judgment remind us all that everyone will be judged at the end of the age! Do not become doomy and gloomy. Become energized by the future that is coming. The key to this future thinking is to center your heart and mind on the coming of Jesus. This will transform your whole life!! Fascinate 2008. ESV 1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
Failing Forward by John Maxwell
3) Compassionate Leadership: Christ loves the world and does not want to see anyone perish apart from the knowledge of Him.
ESV 1 Timothy 2:3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Micah grieved over the vision of judgment coming to Israel and Judah. It broke his heart. The evil in his day grieved him, yet he loved the people and wept over them. Micah 1:8-9.
"Here is a leader who knew what to weep for. His people were being disciplined for their sin, but it still broke Micah's heart to see them suffer. Leaders who deeply value the worth of a human soul will build more humane organizations." The Leadership Study Bible notes on Micah 1.
4) Evangelism: Integrate the call to radical change in the sharing of your faith. Some will listen to the call, and some will reject it. But those who listen will become real believers in Christ.
Acts 17:22 ¶ So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' 29 ¶ Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." 32 ¶ Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, "We will hear you again about this." 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
ESV Micah 1:1 ¶ The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2 Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 3 For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. 4 And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. 5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? 6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations. 7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return. 8 For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. 9 For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. 10 Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all; in Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust. 11 Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame; the inhabitants of Zaanan do not come out; the lamentation of Beth-ezel shall take away from you its standing place. 12 For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem. 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. 14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel. 15 I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam. 16 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.
Key exegetical idea: God is sovereign over all of mankind. The God who made all of heaven and earth holds nations and His people accountable for choosing to follow Him or not. He freely pulls down nations and raises up new nations as He sees fit. His heart grieves when He has to pull down a people, like He did with Israel.
1) God claims to own the world and everyone in it. ESV Psalm 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
2) God actually does own the whole world and everyone in it....many of us just don't realize it.
ESV 1 Corinthians 10:20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 23 ¶ "All things are lawful," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof." 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.
3) God takes time to invervene in nations. He not only defines nations, but he also ends some nations. He measures their borders and length of existence.
ESV Jeremiah 1:9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."
4) All nations stand condemned in their sins. Not just individuals, but nations too. God ultimately will justly evaluate and reward or punish every nation in the world at the end of the age.
In the meantime God will not hesitate to affect nations. His key way of shaping nations is through His servants. Jeremiah pulled down or planted nations by his prophetic words. God releases real power through prophesy. No wonder Paul said we ought to all earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially prophesy. ESV 1 Corinthians 14:1 ¶ Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.
Principle: God is sovereign and will judge nations according to what is just and true. Therefore, we are all in trouble.
Applications: P.A.C.E.
1) Prayer & Fasting: Cultivate a God centered mindset and spirit of prayer. You can shape history through prayer and fasting. Bear this in mind when you are thinking about what to do with your time. When you think about whether to go to a prayer meeting or not, or to have a devotional time or to sleep in.
Visions of the Soviet Union being rearranged by the hand of God in the late 1980's early 1990's.
Set a day or two each week that you give at least part of it to prayer and fasting. You can change history this way! Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting by Derek Prince: Also the Kneeling Christian by an Unknown author.
2) Attitude: Learn from history to gaze into the future. Look to the future! Let an awareness of ancient Israel's judgment remind us all that everyone will be judged at the end of the age! Do not become doomy and gloomy. Become energized by the future that is coming. The key to this future thinking is to center your heart and mind on the coming of Jesus. This will transform your whole life!! Fascinate 2008. ESV 1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
Failing Forward by John Maxwell
3) Compassionate Leadership: Christ loves the world and does not want to see anyone perish apart from the knowledge of Him.
ESV 1 Timothy 2:3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Micah grieved over the vision of judgment coming to Israel and Judah. It broke his heart. The evil in his day grieved him, yet he loved the people and wept over them. Micah 1:8-9.
"Here is a leader who knew what to weep for. His people were being disciplined for their sin, but it still broke Micah's heart to see them suffer. Leaders who deeply value the worth of a human soul will build more humane organizations." The Leadership Study Bible notes on Micah 1.
4) Evangelism: Integrate the call to radical change in the sharing of your faith. Some will listen to the call, and some will reject it. But those who listen will become real believers in Christ.
Acts 17:22 ¶ So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' 29 ¶ Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." 32 ¶ Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, "We will hear you again about this." 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
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