The Prophets

•Over the last several weeks we have been looking at the section of the Old Testament known as “The Prophets.”
• Our habits of worship shape who we are. Who or what we worship will influence what we value, what we believe, & how we act.
• This morning, if you are struggling with the thought that God is about to give up on you or that maybe you think God is

with you. This morning you need to hear that God is a God of mercy & patience. He is slow to anger & abounding in steadfast love.
• But He is also a God of

. He is the God who would love at you today & say: You have heard of my love & my grace, now go & sin no more.
• As we hear the message of the prophet Micah today, my prayer is that the Spirit of the Living God would call to you wherever you are & that you would

to Him knowing that He loves you with a patient, everlasting love.

Who was Micah?

• Micah 1:1 | The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
• Micah was a prophet in Southern Judah, from a town of Moresheth. Just like his contemporary, Isaiah, Micah saw specific problems with Israel that God strengthened him to address.
• False worship or

makes you a part of the world’s problems rather than a part of the solution.
• Leadership is typically a

of the values of the people.
• Israel’s leaders were unjust,

& power hungry. Even some of their prophets could be bought for the right price. But these realities were the product of generations of half-heartedness & covenant disobedience.

Micah’s Message

• Micah uses familiar

of Israel’s history to provoke images of judgment.
• Sin always

>> Micah 3:4, 6 >> No prayer, no wisdom…God has been & will be silent; a different kind of Passover; If you would repent, you could experience the presence of God, but because of your sin He will pass over you
• But He will not break His promises. End of chapter 2 & beginning 4:1 >> Micah speaks of a day in the future where He will bring to pass His promises. A “house of the Lord” shall be established on the mountains that will cause the nations to come near & find the blessing of God. It will be a place of justice & pure worship. This “city on a hill” or New Jerusalem will be ruled by a different kind of

.
• God must judge His people now, so that this new kingdom & new ruler can come later.

A Consistent

Reveal Answer

• God desires obedience and He is consistent and clear about what He desires from us.
• Jesus’

is helpful >> Matthew 22:37-40 | “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
• Micah 6:8 is the equivalent of Matthew 22:37-40
• What is the summary and end goal of the Law? What does

look like? What does repentance look like? What does faithfulness look like?
• Micah 6:8 | 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?

Justice

• Justice is

// Emotional validation
// Equity (replaces equality of opportunity with equality of outcome)
// Retribution of past wrongs (oppression olympics) and redistribution of moral authority and power

• The idea of justice is rooted in a recognition that there is

right and wrong in the world.
• To pursue justice is not

. It is driven by God’s standards being lived out in the world.
• Justice is proactive

reactive. It seeks to create structures to protect and then respond where injustice occurs.
• Justice is oriented towards individuals receiving what they are

—whether protection, accountability, or care—guided by both truth and love.
• Doing justice means moving in step with God’s heart to uphold His standards— especially in places where they are devalued or

• There are those who would look to redefine the biblical view of

and replace it with empathy. Compassion is sympathy, which is caring for someone else in meaningful ways and informed ways. Empathy is putting yourself in the feelings of someone else so that their feelings determine reality.
• Biblical justice is truth-centered, compassionate without being co-dependent, insists on

while showing mercy, is socially aware, yet spiritually anchored, is impartial and principled