Micah Nahum Judgment Restoration John Stevenson 2010 Maps

Micah & Nahum Judgment & Restoration © John Stevenson, 2010 Maps by David P. Barrett, used by permission

Micah 1: 1 The word of the LORD which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Jehoash Jonah Jeroboam II Amos (793 -753 B. C. ) Hosea 4 th Dynasty (798 -782 B. C. ) Zechariah Shallum Menahem Amaziah (796 -767 B. C. ) Azariah (Uzziah) (790 -740 B. C. ) Pekhaiah Isaiah Micah Pekah Jotham (742 -732 B. C. ) (750 -731 B. C. ) Hoshea (732 -721 B. C. ) Ahaz (735 -715 B. C. ) Hezekiah

Micah 1 -2 Micah 3 -5 Micah 6 -7 First Oracle Second Oracle Third Oracle Judgment of idolatry Promise of eventual regathering Judgment against rulers Promise of future glory Judgment against disloyalty Promise of future restoration

Micah 1: 2 -3 Hear, O peoples, all of you; Listen, O earth and all it contains, And let the Lord God be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple. 3 For behold, the LORD is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.

Micah 1: 4 The mountains will melt under Him, And the valleys will be split, Like wax before the fire, Like water poured down a steep place

Micah 1: 5 All this is for the rebellion of Jacob And for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the rebellion of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?

Micah 1: 6 For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country, Planting places for a vineyard. I will pour her stones down into the valley, And will lay bare her foundations.

Micah 1: 7 All of her idols will be smashed, All of her earnings will be burned with fire, And all of her images I will make desolate, For she collected them from a harlot's earnings, And to the earnings of a harlot they will return.

“Tell it not in Gath” Tell it not in Gath, 19 Your beauty, O Israel, is slain on your high places! Weep not at all How have the mighty fallen! (Micah 1: 10 a). Tell it not in Gath, Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon; Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. (2 Samuel 1: 19 -20). 20

Micah 1: 10 Tell it not in Gath, Weep not at all. At Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust. “House of Dust”

Micah 1: 11 Go on your way, inhabitant of Shaphir, in shameful nakedness. The inhabitant of Zaanan does not escape. The lamentation of Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its support. ” “Beauty”

Micah 1: 11 Go on your way, inhabitant of Shaphir, in shameful nakedness. The inhabitant of Zaanan does not escape. The lamentation of Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its support. ”

Micah 1: 11 Go on your way, inhabitant of Shaphir, in shameful nakedness. The inhabitant of Zaanan does not escape. The lamentation of Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its support. ” “House of joining”

Micah 1: 12 For the inhabitant of Maroth Becomes weak waiting for good, Because a calamity has come down from the LORD To the gate of Jerusalem. [r' “Bitterness”

Micah 1: 12 For the inhabitant of Maroth Becomes weak waiting for good, Because a calamity has come down from the LORD To the gate of Jerusalem.

Micah 1: 13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses, O inhabitant of Lachish– She was the beginning of sin To the daughter of Zion– Because in you were found The rebellious acts of Israel.

Micah 1: 14 Therefore you will give parting gifts On behalf of Moresheth-gath; The houses of Achzib will become a deception To the kings of Israel. “Possession of Gath”

Micah 1: 14 Therefore you will give parting gifts On behalf of Moresheth-gath; The houses of Achzib will become a deception To the kings of Israel. 15 Moreover, I will bring on you The one who takes possession, O inhabitant of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will enter Adullam.

Micah 1: 14 Therefore you will give parting gifts On behalf of Moresheth-gath; The houses of Achzib will become a deception To the kings of Israel. 15 Moreover, I will bring on you The one who takes possession, O inhabitant of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will enter Adullam.

Tell it not in Tellington! Wail not in Wailing! Dust Manor will eat dirt, Dressy Town will flee naked. Safefold will not save, Allchester's walls are down, A bitter dose drinks Bitterton. Toward Jerusalem, City of Peace, The Lord sends war. Harness the war-steeds, O men of Barstead! Zion's beginning of sinning, Equal to Israel's crimes. To Welfare a last farewell! For Trapping trapped Israel's kings

Dade is browbeaten by Broward County But the wise avoid Miami’s Vice And the homeless stay in Homestead Instead of Fort Lauderdale’s louder fails to judgment’s hails. Wilton Manors have guilty manners And Davie’s workers call for lazy shirkers When the sun sets in Sunrise.

Micah 2: 2 They covet fields and then seize them, And houses, and take them away. They rob a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.

Micah 2: 8 -9 “Recently My people have arisen as an enemy– You strip the robe off the garment From unsuspecting passers-by, From those returned from war. 9 The women of My people you evict, Each one from her pleasant house. From her children you take My splendor forever. ”

Micah 2: 12 “I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold; Like a flock in the midst of its pasture They will be noisy with men. ”

Micah 2: 13 “The breaker goes up before them; They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it. So their king goes on before them, And the LORD at their head. ”

Micah 3: 1 -2 And I said, “Hear now, heads of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know justice? 2 You who hate good and love evil, Who tear off their skin from them And their flesh from their bones,

Micah 3: 3 Strip off their skin from them, Break their bones, And chop them up as for the pot And as meat in a kettle.

Micah 3: 5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; When they have something to bite with their teeth, They cry, "Peace, " But against him who puts nothing in their mouths They declare holy war.

Micah 3: 6 Therefore it will be night for you-- without vision, And darkness for you-without divination. The sun will go down on the prophets, And the day will become dark over them.

Micah 3: 7 The seers will be ashamed And the diviners will be embarrassed. Indeed, they will all cover their mouths Because there is no answer from God.

Micah 3: 8 On the other hand I am filled with power– With the Spirit of the LORD– And with justice and courage To make known to Jacob his rebellious act, Even to Israel his sin.

Micah 3: 9 -10 Now hear this, heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel, Who abhor justice And twist everything that is straight, 10 Who build Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with violent injustice.

Micah 3: 11 Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, Her priests instruct for a price, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD saying, “Is not the LORD in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us. ”

Micah 3: 12 Therefore, on account of you, Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, And the mountain of the temple will become high places of a forest.

Micah 4: 1 And it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it.

The Mountain Theme • “The Mountain of God” (Exodus 3: 1). • The Song of Moses. You wilt bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, The place, O Lord, which You have made for Your dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established. (Exodus 15: 17).

The Mountain Theme • “The Mountain of God” (Exodus 3: 1). • The Song of Moses. • The Mountain of God and the Covering Cherub (Ezekiel 28: 14 -16).

Micah 4: 2 And many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths. ” For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Micah 4: 3 And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war.

Micah 4: 6 -7 “In that day, ” declares the LORD, “I will assemble the lame And gather the outcasts, Even those whom I have afflicted. 7 I will make the lame a remnant And the outcasts a strong nation, And the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on and forever. ”

Micah 4: 9 Now, why do you cry out loudly? Is there no king among you, Or has your counselor perished, That agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?

Micah 4: 10 Writhe and labor to give birth, Daughter of Zion, Like a woman in childbirth; For now you will go out of the city, Dwell in the field, And go to Babylon. There you will be rescued; There the LORD will redeem you From the hand of your enemies.

Micah 5: 2 But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.

Micah 5: 3 Therefore He will give them up until the time When she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brethren Will return to the sons of Israel.

Micah 5: 4 And He will arise and shepherd His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, Because at that time He will be great To the ends of the earth.

Micah 6: 6 With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves?

Micah 6: 7 Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Micah 6: 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

God is after a personal commitment to imitation rather than a public display of affection (Page 64).

What are some ways the church can address specific social issues found in the Minor Prophets?

Micah 7: 18 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: 19 -20 He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, Thou wilt cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea. 20 Thou wilt give truth to Jacob And unchanging love to Abraham, Which Thou didst swear to our forefathers From the days of old.

The Prophet of Nineveh’s Destruction

Nahum and Jonah • Both Nahum and Jonah focus upon Assyria and their capital city of Nineveh. • Both Nahum and Jonah contain prophecies of Nineveh's destruction. • Both Nahum and Jonah close their books with a question.

Nahum 1: 1 The oracle of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

Nahum 1: 2 A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies.

Nahum 1: 3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.

Nahum means “comfort” And it will come about that all who see you Will shrink from you and say, “Nineveh is devastated! Who will grieve for her? Where will I seek comforters for you? ” (Nahum 3: 7). ~x; n" Nacham

The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him. (Nahum 1: 7).

Lessons from Nahum • God is concerned with politics and political happenings • God takes it seriously when anyone hurts His people • When God shows compassion, He demands that compassion is shown to others.

Lessons from Nahum • Grace is able to reign even in the setting of judgment.

What are the specific sins for which God’s judgment is said to come? Micah 1 -3 Nahum Micah 4 -7

The nations are also regularly condemned for their acts of violence and their idolatry… But the crime most often emphasized by the prophets is the sin of pride (Page 119).