Coming Judgment

Micah 1:1-16 

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.

2 Hear, all you peoples!
Listen, O earth, and all that is in it!
Let the Lord GOD be a witness against you,
The Lord from His holy temple.

3 For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place;
He will come down
And tread on the high places of the earth.

4 The mountains will melt under Him,
And the valleys will split
Like wax before the fire,
Like waters poured down a steep place.

5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob
And for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what are the high places of Judah?
Are they not Jerusalem?

6 "Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field,
Places for planting a vineyard;
I will pour down her stones into the valley,
And I will uncover her foundations.

7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
And all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire;
All her idols I will lay desolate,
For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot,
And they shall return to the pay of a harlot."

8 Therefore I will wail and howl,
I will go stripped and naked;
I will make a wailing like the jackals
And a mourning like the ostriches,

9 For her wounds are incurable.
For it has come to Judah;
It has come to the gate of My people—
To Jerusalem.

10 Tell it not in Gath,
Weep not at all;
In Beth Aphrah
Roll yourself in the dust.

11 Pass by in naked shame, you inhabitant of Shaphir;
The inhabitant of Zaanan does not go out.
Beth Ezel mourns;
Its place to stand is taken away from you.

12 For the inhabitant of Maroth pined for good,
But disaster came down from the LORD
To the gate of Jerusalem.

13 O inhabitant of Lachish,
Harness the chariot to the swift steeds
(She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion),
For the transgressions of Israel were found in you.

14 Therefore you shall give presents to Moresheth Gath;
The houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

15 I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah;
The glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.

16 Make yourself bald and cut off your hair,
Because of your precious children;
Enlarge your baldness like an eagle,
For they shall go from you into captivity.

The coming judgment on and mourn for Israel and Judah (Samaria) were given through the words of the prophet Micah.  The LORD called the entire world as a witness for His coming down from heaven to judge the nations, especially His own people.  All this destruction on the earth stemmed from the sin and transgressions of Israel and Judah centered in what should have been the center of worship in the beauty of holiness from Jerusalem where sacrifice and atonement were found.  Instead, altars to non-existent gods of wood and stone from man’s hand and imagination were bowed down to as they ignored the LORD.  God would reduce their idols to rubble and bury them in it to reveal their faulty foundations of spiritual adultery and immorality.  The prophet went about in mourning of sackcloth and ashes over the incurable wounds of their sin as disaster loomed over the people of God in impending judgment.  Still there was a promise of God’s glory to shine through on His people as they went into captivity to discipline and correct them in His steadfast love.  There is hope in the face of judgment still for those who find rest in Christ with His righteousness and grace to forgive and accept those who have opened ears to hear and hear the Shepherd’s winsome voice as His needy sheep.  There is a still coming judgment, yet there is also still the steadfast hope of reconciliation and restoration in God’s work on behalf of His chosen children. This is the gospel hope of good news in the face of bad.  Hear, receive Him (John 1:12) and believe His work (John 6:29), and live!  Amen.