Micah 1:1-16.  If you pay attention to the dates on the Reading Schedule you will see that this has not been much of a “daily” lately.  I actually wrote most of the “Intro to Micah” during the Junior High Retreat the first weekend in February.  I had a paragraph to go and ran out of time.  After the retreat I got sick, nothing serious but enough to slow me down for the last four weeks, that along with a very demanding work schedule.  That does not means that I have been out of touch with God for the last four weeks.  I have still done Friday Night Alive and Sunday Scripture Exploration, which require prayer, time considering what God wants us all to learn, and Bible study.  I have also been spending some time with an old friend while at work and we have talked a great deal about God.  Finally I am very thankful for Christian radio.  My current project requires about two hours of driving a day and I have been encourage by listening to both sermons and music on KWVE (107.9), KFSH (95.9), KKLA (99.5), and a new Christian music station in our area Air1 (92.7).  Although I am not completely well hopefully today will mark the beginning of a new series of daily posts.

If you read the “Intro to Micah” you know that the times in which Micah lived were very troubling.  There was basically a war between two groups of the Israelites, the Northern and Southern kingdoms, Israel and Judah.  Bible experts sometimes call this war the Syro-Ephraimite Crisis.  Syria was an ally of the Northern kingdom in this war against Judah.  Ephraim was one of the larger tribes of the Northern Kingdom and here represents the whole kingdom.  In addition the Northern Kingdom had made up their own way of worshipping the one true God (Yahweh or Jehovah) and was also worshipping false gods like Baal.  The Southern Kingdom on the other hand wasn’t fully trusting God to care for them and was making alliances with various foreign powers.  Israel was supposed to be an example to the nations around them, a place where all the people on the earth could look to learn about the one true God and his dealings with mankind.  The were an example, but unfortunately an example of our failure to honor God with our lives.  On the other hand the world God to see not just the purity and holiness of God but also his love and patience.  All of these attributes of God are seen in the words of his messengers, prophets like Micah.

This first chapter is pretty gloomy.  After introducing himself Micah declares a judgment or punishment on the Northern Kingdom.  But the words are not just for the Northern Kingdom, verse 9 tells us that the effects of the rebellion have been felt as far south as the gates of Jerusalem.  Also we see that Micah calls the whole world to check out what God is doing.  The judgment of the Northern Kingdom is supposed to be a warning to the rest of the world.  God has standards and when you break God’s rules there is a price to pay.  When we read through the book of Isaiah we saw God using Assyria to discipline the Suothern Kingdom but when Assyria took the invasion too far Isaiah told them God would judge them too.  In verse 5 Jacob is mentioned.  Jacob was the name of Israel before God changed his name to Israel (see “What’s in a Name”).  In verse 5 we are told tht Jacob has rebelled, this is probably a reference to the whole nation, both kingdoms.  Israel (the nation) had ‘sinned”.  The word sin means to “miss the mark”, like missing the bull’s-eye in archery.  The end of verse 5 helps us understand that the whole nation has missed the mark when Israel is linked with the city of Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom and place of false worship and when Jerusalem, the capital of the Southern Kingdom is referred to as a “high place”, a term often referring to a place of worship of false gods.

Although the whole nation is being warned only the Northern Kingdom will pay with destruction at this time (well actually 20 years in the future).  Verses 6-7 tell us that Samaria will be destroyed.  In verses 8-9 Micah mourns because the Northern Kingdom is beyond hope and also because he sees Judah (the Southern Kingdom) in trouble too.  In verses 10-16 Micah lists the names of several towns in the Southern Kingdom which will ultimately suffer too.  What is interesting about this list and the trouble coming their way is the irony in what will happen.  Verse 15 is a good example.  Mareshah means “to posses or own”.  The trouble that will eventually come to Mareshah is that they will be taken over by a “possessor”, they will be owned by one who conquers.  The same sort of statements are made about the other towns in this list.  Verse 13 tells us why Judah will suffer too, because they followed the Northern Kingdom’s example of rebellion.  In verse 16 the people of Judah are told to shave their heads.  Shaving your head was a sign of sadness or a way of showing you wanted to change.  Here Micah is telling Judah to be sad because their children will eventually be sent into exile.

I like it that the “punishment” matches the attitudes and actions of the people.  That shows me that God is personally involved in our lives and that he is fair and consistent.  It’s a scary thought that God is watching me but it’s comforting too. The reason it’s comforting is because I see not only punishment in the Old Testament but also mercy.  Of course the mercy part becomes more clear in the New Testament as we see Jesus coming and taking our punishment but the story of mercy goes all the way back to Adam and Eve when God promises that a descendant of Eve will crush the devil.  And the very fact that God sent messengers like Micah tells me of his mercy too.  There isn’t a lot of guess work in the Old Testament about what God wanted the Israelites to do and there is a lot of warning and second chances.  No matter how many chances we a re given though we continue to fail, like Judah did.  But God is faithful and forgiving and even Judah and Israel will be given another chance during Jesus reign on earth in the future (See Revelation 19-20).  But that will be an Israel sold out to Jesus, one that stops missing the mark with the help of God.  We too must “make ourselves bald” before God, we must be sad and return to him, we too need to be sold out to Jesus, wee too need his help.

God help me honor you today.  Let me be sold out to you.  Let me mourn my own sins.  Thank you for your mercy.