14 MAY 2006: You Have Been Told What The Lord Takes Delight In

TOPIC: Submission/Surrender; circumspection, humility, justice, mercy, sinful rebellion, unchanging love

TEXT: Micah 6:7-8 (1-8, a section of prophetic self-talk)

Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require (Lit. search for in) of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What does God delight in?

TRUTH/CONTEXT: Let’s review Micah, the sixth of the 12 Minor Prophets …

Name: means Who is like Jehovah? Michael has the same origins: Who is like God? Note the play on words in 7:18 (later).

Home: Micah is called a Moras-thite; Moresheth-gath is a small town about 20 miles south of Jerusalem, near Lachish (remember Isaac & Rachel).

Contemporaries: primarily Isaiah, but also Amos and Hosea, who both prophesied in Israel (the Northern Kingdom) Locale/rulers: prophesied in Judah during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (pre-Manasseh), but also pro­claimed the word of the Lord in Samaria as well (approx. 740-30 to 700-690 BC). [McGee, "Micah," Thru the Bible Radio commentaries, Pasadena, n.d., p. 290]

Theme: The judgment (scathing indictments against sin jux­taposed with dramatic panoramas of God's judgment against Israel's leaders - prophets, priests and kings) and the redemption of God.

[MINI-PROPHET] Some call Micah a mini-Isaiah or Isaiah in shorthand [Ibid]; sort of like Mini-me in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.”

Key verse:

Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. [Micah 7:18]

God hates sin, but He loves sinners' soul.

Form: Some say Micah's style is pungent and personal. At least one writer equates him with a war correspondent. The prophet combines tenderness and gentleness with rank judgment. [Ibid]

Israel was a center of influence in the region; much like the U.S. is in the world today. Its in­fluence created problems all over; the problems were curiously similar to those of contemporary American society, just disguised differ­ently. The prophet condemns violence, corruption, greed, robbery, covetousness, gross materialism, duplicity, injustice, oppression, and spiri­tual bankruptcy. And God's providential will is clearly seen in Micah …

2:12 The remnant will be gathered.
3:6, 7 The end of prophecy.
3:12 This verse brought about Jeremiah's preservation [Jeremiah 26:18]
4:1-8 One world government coming.
4:1-5:15 Bright but brief sketches of Israel's future hope.
5:2 Birth of the Messiah (Jesus) in Bethlehem; proba­bly the best known.
5:7, 8 Future ministry of the remnant.
6:1-7:7 A clear summary of God's requirements of Is­rael and how they had failed to meet them.
7:8-20 The glorious fulfillment of the Davidic kingdom, when God's love in faithfulness and forgiveness re­stores His kingdom. All of this looks forward to the church age, the end of the Age of the Gentiles.

[DIAMOND] Like a finished diamond, each wonderful and awe inspiring side of the final and glorious portrait of the Lord Jesus is developed in God’s word. Each facet shows a different aspect of His work or person or history or future.

Right now the Great Jeweler is still working on a diamond in the rough; no one but Him can see the finished product and what is required to get there; but has been trying to give us a glimpse through a glass darkly.

Who is a God like You (word play on the name of the prophet), who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea. [Micah 7:18-19]

[TEN BOOM] Said, “Then He put up a ‘No Fishing’ sign.”

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What does God delight in?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:

I. HE DOESN’T DELIGHT IN OUTWARD SACRIFICE! [6:7]

A. He doesn’t want our live stock (“thousands of rams”)
B. He doesn’t want our valuables (“ten thousand rivers of oil”)
C. He doesn’t want our offspring (“my firstborn”)
D. He doesn’t want anything we possess

II. HE DOES DELIGHT IN INWARD SACRIFICE! [7:18]

A. He delights in “unchanging love”

This is not toward others here, rather it’s Godward; the Israelites had a “changing love” for God … when things were good they claimed they loved Him, but when He chastened them for their sinful rebellion, they changed their love for Him because they didn’t see their sins.

B. He delights in our doing “justice”

1. Pictures accurate weights
2. Pictures fair prices

C. He delights in our loving “kindness”

1. aka “mercy”
2. Pictures not oppressing the innocent and defenseless
3. Genuine and proactive sorrow for others

D. He delights in our being “circumspect with [our] God”

III. HE DELIGHTS IN THE SACRIFICE OF SELF! [Romans 12:1]

A. A Holy sacrifice
B. A well pleasing (acceptable) sacrifice
C. A worshipful sacrifice
D. A sacrifice of service
E. He wants me, all of me, from the inside out

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: Prophecy is an interesting subject today; in retrospect prophecy seems clear. We say, “Why didn’t those idiots get it? Why didn’t they listen to the Lord when He spoke? It’s clear as mud to anyone with any brains.”
But when we look forward and are told that the prophecy has yet to be fulfilled, we fall all over ourselves trying to explain how it doesn’t apply to us, our nation, or our generation.

[BIGGER PICURE] Faith gets tested when a sense of God's presence fades or when the very ordinances of life make us question whether our responses even matter. We wonder, "What can one person do? What difference will my small effort make?"

Philip Yancey writes, “I once watched a series on public television based on interviews with survivors from World War II. The soldiers recalled how they spent a particular day. One sat in a foxhole all day; once or twice, a German tank drove by, and he shot at it. Others played cards and frittered away the time. A few got involved in furious firefights. Mostly, the day passed like any other day for an infantryman on the front. Later, they learned they had just participated in one of the largest, most decisive engagements of the war, the Battle of the Bulge. It did not feel decisive to any of them at the time, because none had the big picture of what was happening elsewhere.” ["Reaching For the Invisible God," Christianity Today (September 4, 2000)]

They knew they were in a war, a really big war. They had even been told the Germans were amassing to press the front in the area, but they were so close to the trees they couldn’t see the forest. Prophecy reminds me of …

[SPEECH] In my junior college speech class we had a hippie art student giving a final speech. Nice guy, but as a surfer I didn’t get too close. His speech was centered on a series of roughs, sketches, and watercolors, each one built up the idea he had in his head, one part at a time, until at the end he showed us the final oil. I didn’t care much for his art but I got the idea. The finished product was only attempted after all the concept had been worked out, piece by piece.

Old Testament writers (historians, narrators, poets, psalmists, and prophets), like artists, have built up the picture of our Savior, piece by piece, over time, each contributing his part. And just so, Micah paints his piece …

Let’s get back to the issue of sinful rebellion. America is like the Army during the Battle of the Bulge … we don’t want to see the big picture! It’s not that we can’t see it … we’ve been told … but, like the Jews of old, we don’t want to see it. If we did we’d have to admit we are like the Israelites … with a changing love, a lack of justice, unmerciful, and proud before our God.

You and I, though we are in Mexico, we can decide whether we’re part of the problem or part of the solution.

As a nation, America is already in the cauldron of chastisement … but it is not too late …

Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea. [Micah 7:18-19]

God remains to this day The Redemptive God.

TAGS: Bible, Homoletics, Micah,

Minor Prophets, Preaching, Sermons