Bulletins - Saint Albans Union Church

Everlasting God
Forever
God Of Wonders
I Will Rise
It is one thing to be accused of evil, and quite another to know the specifics of the evil of which you’ve been accused.
I recall once when an individual asked me a very accusatory question, How can you have such hatred in your heart? You can imagine my total shock, as I stood there completely flabbergasted by this strange question. I could only answer at the time, What are you talking about? To which the individual stated that I must have hatred in my heart if I am unwilling to ignore the terrible things someone else was doing to their own family members. At this point, I asked the accuser, How is it hatred when I’m trying to get that individual to seek reconciliation and stop the attacks upon others in his family?
You see, I could not even attempt to respond to the accusation, which was extremely generic, unless I had more specifics. In Micah, God is making accusations against His chosen people, but He provides some very specific information. The people could not pretend ignorance as to what God was stating. No longer are the accusations rebellion and sin, as pointed out last time. God is going to be quite specific about what this is. Not only will God show that their sins have earthly and social ramifications, it has theological ramifications about what they think about God.
We’ll see in these verses, how they wronged people from an earthly perspective, as they took from others what did not belong to them, simply because they could. We’ll also see how they mistakenly thought they could do this since they believed the land belonged to those who had the power and wealth, instead of realizing that the land belonged to God. They had a wrong understanding of Who God was.
Here, in today’s passage, we’ll see that the Israelites were not truly loving God, nor were they loving their fellow Jews. Instead, they were loving themselves, placing themselves first, instead of caring for other.

What we do on earth towards others is a direct link to what our relationship with God is like.

God Opposes the Greedy. - 2.1-5
Whenever you see a verse beginning with the words, Woe to . . . , you know that it’s not introducing good news. Someone is in trouble now. In fact, the picture presented is absolutely disgusting. At night, when people were supposed to be resting and preparing to serve the Lord the next day, those in power were plotting and planning evil. And when it’s time to get up and go about their day, their plotting the night before gets carried out during the day. When the courts are open, as it were, they do their deeds of darkness, supposedly legally.
Why would they do that? Because they have the power and the means to do it. They have learned how to use the corrupt legal system to get whatever they want. Might is right, seemed to be their motto. They know that the people from whom they’re going to take are powerless and can’t stop them.
What exactly are these people in power doing? If they want property that belongs to someone else, they merely take it for themselves, by hook or by crook. If they want more houses, they simply take them away. Whatever someone else has that could be passed on as an inheritance or that they received as an inheritance, the rich and the wealthy, so full of greed, take it for themselves. Coveting seems to be the stimulus to practice multiple acts of evil.
Wait! Is God okay with this? Absolutely not, as we see in verse 3 and following. The greedy had been planning to wrong others to benefit themselves. Now, the Great I Am is planning a calamity . . . The purpose is not for evil, as God cannot do evil, but His attempt to cause the greedy to recognize what they’re doing and how wrong it is. This eventually takes place against Israel by the Assyrians, though they’re not specifically mentioned here.

My friends, we understand that the Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death. There is a price to be paid for rebellion against God. Israel is about to experience this. Those greedy individuals who acted in evil and oppressive ways, simply because they had the power to do so, were about to undergo the experience of another people enslaving them because they were even more powerful than the wicked in Israel.
You see, God had blessed the nation by providing for them the land and had blessed it. However, God was now about to remove the nation from the land and give it to their enemies because of Israel’s blatant evil.
My friends, I encourage you to remember that God is still in control of the nations of this world. Even though there are individuals who are practicing evil, simply because they can, God is still sovereign. At His choosing, He can establish, as well as destroy any nation. Sadly, in verse 5, we see that many in Israel will find themselves in complete helplessness in exile.
If, perchance, you find yourself scheming in your mind as to how to take advantage of someone else or their situation, stop and remember who you are and to Whom you belong. Whenever we allow Satan or our culture to cause us to think about doing that which is questionable, solely to get ahead, regardless of the people we might hurt, then we must seek God’s forgiveness and get back into a proper relationship with Him. The powerful and corrupt leaders in Israel thought that because they were part of God’s chosen nation, they could do whatever they wanted to do.

What would cause these people to think all of this evil was okay?

False Prophets Support the Greedy. - 2.6-11
In these verses, Micah exposes the false prophets as to who they truly are. Instead of proclaiming the truths of God’s Word, they actually oppose God’s Word to the people. Instead of warning the Jewish people to repent, the false prophets don’t even tell the people that judgment is right around the corner. As a result, Micah shows that the proud Jewish people are going to end up being completely shamed.
There were, however, prophets who were proclaiming repentance or else judgment. Even in the use of the plural verb, we see that there is a remnant who were true to God. But they were ignored. The powerful and wealthy ignored that and chose to listen to the false prophets who supported their evil, instead of staying true to God’s Word. Sadly, verse 6 makes it clear that the false prophets were so evil, they would actually try to shut up the true prophets.
In verses 7-9, we see how the false prophets actually promoted a false theology which caused the people to act so unethically. Actually they weren’t prophets at all; they were fake prophets. They had appointed themselves to make proclamation to the people; they were not appointed by God.

It is suggested even today that we have no business talking about the need to repent of our sin. Some even go so far as to suggest that mankind is innately good and we just have to bring that good to the surface. This is completely contrary to what the Bible teaches. The Gospel message must first point out the reality of sin in our lives, then present the message of grace so that others might believe in Jesus Christ.
What was some of the false theology? One issue was that they taught that God never would become impatient nor would He actually judge sin. This is still being proclaimed by many self-appointed preachers and teachers. Some of what they teach may be true, but they are very intentional in focusing only on God’s love, while completely avoiding the fact that God will judge, and those who reject Christ will suffer eternal death, complete and total separation from God and a life suffering in hell.
Another is that the powerful pit themselves against those who cannot defend themselves. This is a natural following of a false perspective of God and the teachings of His Word. Bad theology leads to bad living. How we see God and our relationship with Him directly impacts how we treat others on this earth. Here we see that the powerful have been given a free pass to take the clothes of those passing by, causing shame. They kick out the women from their homes. They attack and take away the inheritance of the family, including the children. Look at the evil steps; attacking the men, then the women, then the children.
There are many who suggest that its loving to take from the wealthy and spread that wealth to everyone. Of course, what they have is to be untouched. That is not what is being taught. One commentator explained it this way, which I believe is completely in line with the Bible’s teachings. When a person becomes impoverished through his own lack of character or prudent action, he needs the Savior to change him. When poverty comes through a hostile environment, such as drought, he needs the Creator’s intervention to restore life. When tyrants spoil him, he needs the Judge to punish them and deliver him. The latter situation is in view here. God will judge these tyrants in the same way that they tyrannized their subjects.
Just as was done in Micah’s time, continues in the present day. We have individuals who claim to speak for God, dealing in half-truths in order to have a more appealing, more palatable message. Our culture doesn’t care to hear that they are living sinful lives. Our culture doesn’t care to hear that the only answer to their emptiness is found only through believing in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. As a result, we have proclamations of works requirements, feel good social issues being promoted, a calling to accept and tolerate sin as if God’s standards have changed, various alternative options to consider in order to get a person to heaven, etc. Dear Church, our lives must be based upon the truth of God’s Word alone.
A true prophet always was able to be known by two things. One is that there was always a total commitment to God and a calling of the people to repentance and to following His ways. Second, whenever they made a prediction, unlike the weather people, it was always going to be one hundred percent accurate.
As a result of the disobedience of the people, and the promotion of it by the leadership, God is going to cause the nation to go into exile. Sadly, the cause is that the leadership not only promoted evil, but they actually got the people to practice evil. They had become an enemy, not only of God, but of their own countryman, from whom they robbed.

Conclusion
All the promises found in the Bible for blessing and for eternal life are not given for the unsaved. They are not for those who willingly practice or promote sin. Not everyone is going to heaven, for the road is narrow. Those promises are only for those who are saved and who choose to live their lives for God.
A person who was circumcised, for instance, was not guaranteed to be a permanent part of God’s chosen people. There had to actually be a living out of their faith in God. Likewise today, a person who states that they’re born again, maybe even having been baptized, is not guaranteed eternal life if they have not genuinely surrendered their lives to Christ. And if they have genuinely turned their lives over to Jesus Christ, it will be seen in a continual desire to live their lives in obedience to Him. They will not be promoting this culture’s worldly philosophy which stands in opposition to God.
These people of Micah’s time desired to live the good life, to enjoy the affluence of the day. It’s not much different today, as there seems to be a deep desire for health and wealth. So these types of messages and messengers are sought after by many. This stems from greed, a desire for personal benefit and not being a blessing to others.
Understand this, church; God is completely opposed to the greedy who would take advantage of others. God is also opposed to spiritual leadership who promote a theology of greed while proclaiming a false spirituality.
We must be a people after God’s heart; seeking a deeper relationship with Him daily, wanting to live in such a way that glorifies our Lord. If we have that type of relationship, then we’ll also have a loving, compassionate relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as those who are being misguided. In that way, our impact for the cause of Christ will be much more effective.

What we do on earth towards others is a direct link to what our relationship with God is like.
- - Micah 2:1–5NASB95
- - Micah 2:6–11NASB95
Give Us Clean Hands

God Opposes the Greedy. - 2.1-5

False Prophets Support the Greedy. - 2.6-11

Conclusion

Micah 2:1–5NASB95

Micah 2:6–11NASB95