Micah 2
COMMENTARY:
: 1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand. (2803 “devise” [chashab] means to weave, imagine, cunning, to plan secretly, to invent, consider, think, reckon, or calculate.)
DEVOTION: What brings sorrow to our life? We are supposed to be individuals who are following the LORD. The Israelites were supposed to be individuals who were following the LORD.
Thinking can be a problem. Our thought life can get us into more trouble than our actual life. Our thought can be controlled by the enemy. Our thoughts to hurt people are coming from the enemy. Remember that all those who hurt us are to be turned over to the LORD. HE is the one who deals with those issues.
Too often we know this fact but we take things into our own hands even if it is only in our mind. The Israelites were making evil plans at night and then carrying them out in the morning. This was wrong.
Why did they do it? The simple reason is that they were able to do it, so they did it. We have the same ability. It is not pleasing to the LORD but we sometimes feel better when we get our revenge on people who have hurt us. Sometimes we like doing to people who have never mistreated us and we still enjoy it. It is wrong.
CHALLENGE: Our actions should always be to encourage those around us to follow the LORD through our example. How is that working out in your life????
: 7 O you that are named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? Are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him that walks uprightly? (7114 “straitened” [qatsar] means to be short, be impatient, be vexed, be grieved, or discouraged.)
DEVOTION: Does the Holy Spirit every get impatient? Does the LORD every get discouraged? The answer to the question that Micah is asking the children of Israel seems to be NO. The Holy Spirit gives HIS message to the prophets and they give the message to the people. Now the people don’t want to listen to HIM. They told the prophets who told the truth to stop prophesying.
The LORD has given them every chance to repent of their sins and turn in a different direction. They have just told HIS prophets not to prophesy the truth. They have laid on their beds thinking of evil things to do to others. They have disobeyed the LORD’S command to love his neighbor. This whole chapter is dealing with their mistreatment of their neighbors in Samaria and Jerusalem.
The LORD has the attribute of being longsuffering. The New Testament tells us that we can grieve the Holy Spirit but sinning. Sinning is not the work of the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t cause anyone to sin or tempt anyone to sin. We sin on our own as we are drawn away from God and enticed by our flesh.
The Holy Spirit encouraged the children of Israel to do good, but they chose a different direction. Another sin against the Holy Spirit is to quench HIM. HE tells people what direction they should be heading and they chose to not listen to HIM.
Are we listening to the Holy Spirit with our actions? They received the chastening of the LORD after many warnings. Are we listening to the warnings of the LORD in our lives? Are we walking uprightly? Are we quenching the Holy Spirit by not doing what HE tells us to do? There are the sins of commission and the sins of omission. The sins of commission grieve the Holy Spirit. The sins of omission quench the Holy Spirit.
CHALLENGE: The LORD wants us to walk uprightly towards everyone we meet.
: 12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. (7611 “remnant” [sha’eriyth] means rest, residue, remainder, survivors, what is left, or those who had escaped.)
DEVOTION: Hope in the midst of judgment. Micah stops talking about captivity and speaks of a future that is bright for a group of people from Israel.
There is going to be an assembly of those who are faithful to the LORD in the future. They are going to be like a group of sheep that need a good shepherd. Sheep need a leader or they will fall into traps.
What would you think if I said that there is only a remnant in every church that is a true believer? There is a difference between being a follower or a fan. Many people are fans of Jesus as a current author states.
There is a definition going around of a “church attendee.” A church attendee is one who likes to hang around Christians. They have all the outward show of being a “Christian” but not the internal desire to exclusively following Christ.
Our responsibility as leaders is to train people in the difference between just an attendee and a participant. God wants us to lead the sheep in our care in the right path. Not just outward show but inner change.
CHALLENGE: Each of us has to encourage one another to grow in the LORD. Each of us needs to be part of those who are called to be survivors in our evil world.
: 13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them. (7218 “head” [roshe] means chief, top, captain, principle, choicest, or source.)
DEVOTION: The LORD is going to lead HIS people in the future. This will happen during the Millennial Kingdom of Christ.
Christ is described as the one who will break open the gate to allow the sheep to follow HIM wherever HE leads. They will go out of the protection of the fold to enter into the kingdom with peace. They will be led in again by the LORD.
HE is the king. HE is their leader. The future looks bright for Israel even when Micah is telling them that captivity is coming because of their sin. A remnant is always left that follow the LORD.
We have a bright future in heaven. What is going here on this earth is not always pleasant. Too often we are misunderstood by those around us now. Too often those who are genuine followers don’t understand their responsibility. We are to be followers of the Shepherd. HE is leading the flock even now.
HE wants us out in the world reaching everyone in our world. What should be our main concern on November 6 in our nation? It should be the salvation of souls. Sometimes our eyes are not fixed on the Shepherd so HE can lead us in the right direction. We get sidetracked so easy.
CHALLENGE: Follow the LORD where HE leads.
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