Maranatha Baptist Church
Verdict: Guilty Sentence: Death
  • All Creatures Of Our God And King

      • Psalms 143:1-3ESV

      • Psalms 143:4-6ESV

      • Psalms 143:7-9ESV

      • Psalms 143:10-12ESV

  • Christ Our Hope In Life And Death
  • The Lord Is My Salvation

      • Micah 6:9-11ESV

      • Micah 6:12-13ESV

      • Micah 6:14-15ESV

      • Micah 6:16ESV

  • Back in May of 2002, the baptist preacher Paul Washer preached at the Youth Evangelism Conference in Montgomery, AL. His sermon was rooted in Matthew 7. Washer speaking to youth is addressing the heresy of easy-believism. This is the idea that the Christian faith is merely an intellectual ascent.
    The idea that saying a half-hearted prayer when you are 10 because some youth leader urged you to, or the moment felt right at came and all your friends were doing it and you didn’t really mean it. But the Bible is probably true so you’re a Christian kind of mentality. Or you must be a Christian simply because everyone in your family is a Christian.
    So he’s addressing high school students who claim to be Christian and yet are just as sinful as everyone in their school. No repentance, no discipleship, no desire to glorify God.
    “You will not find that in any place in Scripture. You will not find that anywhere in Baptist history until about 50 years ago. What you need to know is that salvation is by faith, and faith alone in Jesus Christ, and faith alone in Jesus Christ is preceded and followed by repentance, a turning away from sin, a hatred for the things that God hates, and a love for the things that God loves, a growing in holiness and a desire not to be like Britney Spears, not to be like the world, and not to be like the great majority of American Christians, but to be like Jesus Christ.”
    The crowd roars. There is immense applause. To which Washer responds with:
    “I don’t know why you’re clapping. I’m talking about you.” The silence is deafening.
    And that honestly, is the best way I can summarize this text. Especially when we remember how Micah opens. Micah 1 begins with the declaration that Samaria will be leveled. And while this chapter could refer to both cities, it seems to me that it closes by referring to the destruction of Jerusalem.
    So Judah don’t clap over the destruction of Israel, but also sinner do not clap over the destruction of Jerusalem.
    To look back at the previous verse, God has set up for them what he requires from them, and from all humanity. This was conclusion of the indictment. He sets up the question: What does God require of you?
    Micah 6:8 ESV
    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?
    God has told you what you ought to do. So how are you doing with those things? And when it comes to most of us with self-evaluation of our sins, most of us lean towards evaluating ourselves as better than we deserve. Though some of us may be harsher on ourselves, we are all far greater sinners than we realize.
    Consider Jesus’ conversation with the Rich young ruler. The man tells Jesus that he has kept all of the commandments since he was a child. But then when Jesus tells him to sell all that he has and give it to the poor - it is revealed that he his possessions meant more to him than God. He thought he was doing much better than he was.
    And yet when it comes to our obedience to God’s requirements -
    We are not the Judge, God is. And his standard for obedience is perfection. So our generous self evaluation, where we give ourselves extra points for trying will not help.
    Now let’s listen to the words of the Judge as he speaks to declare the verdict and the sentencing. He calls to the city.
    Micah 6:9 ESV
    9 The voice of the Lord cries to the city— and it is sound wisdom to fear your name: “Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it!
    There’s some debate over whether Samaria is consider as part of the city here, but it seems likely that this has Jerusalem in mind. If we remember Micah’s timeline from chapter 1 he starts writing before Samaria falls and continues writing for about 40 years after. Generally, the city refers to Jerusalem. This portion of the text is written to Jerusalem/Judah after the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
    The Lord speaks to the city - the capitol - so as to connect to the whole country. Hear of the rod, or tribe, and of the one who appointed it. Hear of the tribe and of the Lord who put the tribe there. Hear of the Tribe and how they have done in showing obedience to the Lord their God.
    But before the Lord speaks of the specific issues of the city. He asks them two questions.
    Micah 6:10–11 ESV
    10 Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed? 11 Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights?
    Should I forget about all of the wickedness that the wicked have done? They have storage units bursting that they have filled with things that they have acquired from their misdeeds. They used a shortened ephah, or as the ESV translates it here a scant measure. The ephah was about half a bushel.
    Which is like saying they used a light pound. A pound should be 16oz regardless of which scale you use. So saying a light pound should be an oxymoron. But when you are trying to cheat someone - that is what you do. You used a set of scales that say 1lb but really weigh 15oz. So the bag of grain you are selling is lighter than it is supposed to be. Kind of like how the scale the doctor uses ALWAYS says you weigh more than the scale at home.
    And that’s the question in verse 11, should God ignore the one who uses unjust measures.
    So answer in your own mind these questions…
    Should God allow the guilty to go unpunished?
    That is what he is asking them.
    Of course, the answer is no.
    If you know anything about the character of God, I hope that it is that he is holy, he hates sin, and he will pour out his wrath on sinners. So he must just the things that he is asking them about.
    When it comes to God’s justice we all desire that God would pour out his wrath on the worst of the worst.
    But God’s standard for obedience is perfection.
    The man with wicked scales is the one who has two different sets of weights - for the purpose of deceit. Both of the accusations in is specifically condemns in Deuteronomy 25, as well as in Leviticus 19:35-36
    Leviticus 19:35–36 ESV
    35 “You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. 36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
    A law that is not upheld is not a law. It is a suggestion. When a law is broken, it has an appropriate punishment.
    This is the man who charges one set of people with a lighter weight claiming it is heavier to sell them less for more. He’s a cheat. In modern day, this is the person who goes to a yard sale for a struggling widow who is selling off her late husbands belongings because she has to move. This person sees the woman selling her husband’s 1960 electric guitar. He knows it is worth tens of thousands of dollars because of it’s rarity. But tells the widow that because of the age, the scratches, the wear, she won’t get much for it - but tells her that he will give her $1000 because of her situation. She agrees. He then goes to brag to his buddies about his deal. He knew he was robbing the poor woman. I’ve read stories just like this more than once.
    While this might sound specialized to me swap out the guitar for the baseball cards, coins, stamps, etc.
    Or the accountant who has two sets of books.
    Or any instance where someone knows their numbers, or their reports, or whatever and their response is “so what if it’s not exact, it’s close enough.”
    And we’ve already seen in Micah how they were devouring widows houses. But here we see even more of their sins listed.
    The Lord is drawing out their sins as he is asking how he should punish. But now look at Micah 6:12. He makes it clear here that he is talking about them… this is that stop clapping I’m talking about you moment.
    Micah 6:12 ESV
    12 Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
    So the general direction of the text is: The Lord asking should I punish the guilty? Yes.
    Okay cool, next question… do you still think so when you are the one who is guilty.
    It is somewhat reminiscent of David’s interaction with Nathaniel in 2 Samuel. Nathan. Nathan tells him this story to see how he would punish the man who is guilty of stealing another man’s sheep. David gets angry and rightly asserts that this man deserves to be put to death.
    Then Nathan looks at him and tells him - David, you are the man. But it’s not a sheep you have stolen. It’s another man’s wife. If Nathan were to just come to him stating “Hey David, you’ve sinned.” David may not have realized the gravity of what he had done. So Nathan sets the stage with an illustration, David acknowledges that a crime was committed and understands that it should be punished. And Nathan is not intending to compare Bathsheba to a sheep - but demonstrate that if this is true for this story - how much worse is stealing a man’s wife and killing the man?
    (Possibly redundant: So God here in Micah, has begun with the question - should I just forget about the wicked who use false measures? Should I acquit those with wicked scales? To which the response would be no!)
    So verse 12 is that statement. These are your people.
    Your rich men are full of violence. Your inhabitants speak lies. The rot has infected the entire nation. We must be cautious not to look at the sins of Israel, the Pharisees, the democrats, the Russians, the Muslims, etc and think thank God I’m not like those guys, while ignoring your own sin. Do not ignore the log in your own eye.
    So the Lord turns to them in verse 13-16 to communicate to them what the punishment will be.
    Because of their sinfulness, God will strike them.
    Micah 6:13 ESV
    13 Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins.
    Because you have done these things I will afflict you. And the punishment that is listed should be of no surprise to them because it corresponds with the punishments that are listed in Deuteronomy 28. If you want to understand the Old Testament prophets you need to have an understanding of Deuteronomy 27-30.
    As a short summary, Deuteronomy is the last book of the books of Moses. it means second law. These are the laws that are given the people of Israel as they are about to enter into the promised land. This book contains the covenant stipulations. These are found in chs 27-28. In short, if Israel is obedient to God’s law they will be blessed, if they are disobedient to God’s law they will be cursed. In Micah we can easily see that it was the latter. They were disobedient.
    Just as God had long before told them what he expected of them, he also told them before they even entered into the land what would occur if they were disobedient to his laws. And this is what we read of it veses 14-15 - exactly what should have been expected from the curses Deut 28.
    Micah 6:14–15 ESV
    14 You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be hunger within you; you shall put away, but not preserve, and what you preserve I will give to the sword. 15 You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
    14-15: though you plant you won’t benefit from it. Famine is often the judgment that God promises on wicked nations. In the Old Testament, God often uses famine to get the attention of his people. His control over the food source are a demonstration of his sovereignty.
    The harvest was viewed as a celebration of God’s providence, so when they plant food and receive no food from it. It should have been a clear message to them that the Lord wants to communicate to them that they need to repent.
    And in verse 16, the Lord declares to them even further the gravity of their transgressions, and the sentence. 16: you have not kept the statutes of YHWH but of Omri. Omri is one of the Kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
    Micah 6:16 ESV
    16 For you have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels, that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing; so you shall bear the scorn of my people.”
    So in this closing verse there is this combination of God speaking of how the people have continued on into wickedness. They have become like the wicked kings.
    The story of Omni as King is in 1 Kings 16:15-26. Verse 25, tells us:
    1 Kings 16:25 ESV
    25 Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him.
    He is the father of Ahab, the king who is mentioned in the next part of the verse. Ahab is generally one of the more familiar kings as he is the king who is the husband of Jezebel, he promotes Baal and Asherah worship in Israel. He is the king who Elijah opposes.
    The text tells us that Ahab sees what Omni did and wants to outdo his dear old dad. So he does more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all of the kings of Israel who were before him.
    1 Kings 16:33 ESV
    33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
    So when Micah writes that they have followed in their statutes… he is asserting that not only have the rejected the ways of the Lord they have followed in the worst ways possible. It’s the follow up to verse 8, what has God required of you but to follow his law, and yet instead you have followed in the example of the most wicked of kings. And As the King goes, so goes the nation.
    But the indictment is spoken against the city of Jerusalem. “I will make you a desolation, and you shall bear the reproach of my people.” This is spoken to Jerusalem. This is speaking of the coming destruction of Jerusalem that will befall them in 586BC.
    Wicked rulers are often a form of judgment from God. However, wicked rulers are never an excuse for wicked actions.
    It could be really easy to look at a text like this one this morning and think one of two things. Either one, what on earth does this text in Micah have to do with me? That was Old Testament.
    Or well I’m glad I’m not as bad as them. And think I’ve never cheated anyone with uneven scales, or that I’ve always been honest in my business dealings, or that I’ve never worshipped Baal. But if we’re really being honest, the evaluation is not being better than what’s listed here - they are compared to two kings that are notorious for their wickedness. That’s a low bar.
    Follow the King… Follow King Jesus. And you will endure in righteous living.
    It appropriate that we are always questioning our actions to evaluate how they glorify God. Do my actions glorify King Jesus? It can be tempting to allow our actions to be aligned, or justified by other people. But those who share political views with us. Well they are doing this so it must be fine? Or even, well at least I’m not doing what the people who belong to that OTHER party are doing!
    The question that we have to answer is going back to Micah 6:8… how well have you done justice? how well have you loved kindness? How well have you walked humbly with your God? And if we return to the definition from last Sunday, we are reminded that these are ultimately another way of asking How well have you loved God, and how well have you loved your neighbor?
    If we evaluate ourselves. We’ll make excuses. But the standard is perfection.
    The people of Israel and Judah, they would go to war in the name of YHWH. They would boast of being his people. But they would not keep his commands.
    We’re not different.
    Verdict: Guilty, Sentence: Death
    Gospel.
    Our only savior before the holy Judge is Jesus.
    Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales.
    Jesus is punished on our behalf. That we might be forgiven.
    We are not acquitted by the Father. Jesus was punished so that we might be forgiven - not acquitted. He took our place. He took our punishment, because we are guilty. So that we might be declared innocent through his atoning sacrifice. Remarkably different than God ignoring our sins, or simply forgetting our sins, is Jesus satisfying the wrath that we deserved so that he might forgive us of our sins.
    A redeemed people, must act accordingly. The people of Israel did the opposite, God had purchased them out of slavery, and given them a land, but instead of obeying his laws they wandered off into idolatry.
    And to return us back to the beginning, what is our faith marked by? The Christian faith should have three basic attitudes: repentance, faith and obedience.
    Turn from your sins, confess that Jesus is Lord, obey his commands.
    What does God require? Love God, Love neighbor.
    What does it look like to love God? How do you demonstrate love of God? Obeying his commands? What has he commanded?
    How do we love our neighbor as ourselves? How do we act justly
    Not to earn salvation, but as a sign of salvation already received.
    Christians must aim to act like Christ. And when they fail they get back up, turn from their sins, turn to the cross, and seek to obey king Jesus.

      • Micah 6:8ESV

      • Micah 6:9ESV

      • Micah 6:10–11ESV

      • Leviticus 19:35–36ESV

      • Micah 6:12ESV

      • Micah 6:13ESV

      • Micah 6:14–15ESV

      • Micah 6:16ESV

      • 1 Kings 16:25ESV

      • 1 Kings 16:33ESV

  • I Will Glory In My Redeemer
Maranatha Baptist Church
info@mbcglobe.org
http://www.mbcglobe.org
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