7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me…
18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
20 You will be true to Jacob,
and show mercy to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our fathers
in days long ago.
My Understanding: Micah described, in verses 1-6, a scenario of total depravity. The godly were no more. The people were murderers. Those who were supposed to stand for the law abused the law. The powerful were dictators. The day of judgment the prophets had predicted had come. Neighbors could not be trusted. Confidence was not to be placed in friends. People even had to be careful of their words with their own spouses. A son would bring dishonor to his father. A daughter or a daughter-in-law would rise up against her mother or mother-in-law. A man’s enemies were the members of his own household.
Jesus Christ quoted verse 6 concerning a man’s enemies being the members of his own household when he gave instructions to his disciples, when he sent them out to be witnesses for him (see Matthew 10). They were to preach, “The kingdom of heaven is near.” He told them he was sending them out like sheep among wolves. They were to be on their guard against men, because men would persecute, physically abuse, arrest, bring to trial under false accusations, and even put them to death for their testimony for Jesus Christ.
Brother would betray brother to death. Children would have their parents put to death. They would be hated because of Christ, “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” If they accused Jesus of being of Satan, they would accuse his disciples of the same. Yet, they were not to be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. [I have quoted that one many times myself.] “So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Then Jesus said this in vv. 32-39 of Matthew 10:
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it…”
Persecuted for Christ
Some of us in this world of ours truly may be experiencing this kind of persecution for our faith in Jesus Christ right now. Some of us know very little of this kind of maltreatment for our testimony for Jesus Christ, yet a time is coming when this will be a reality in our lives (see Revelation 13), should we live that long. Yet, whether or not we are in the midst of this kind of extreme persecution right now, or we live in relative freedom of such oppression, there are some truths here that cannot be ignored, and that we need to understand, whether in the midst of persecution, or as preparation for such a time.
Man is sinful by nature. The Bible teaches that no one is righteous, no not one. So, we should never put our hope and faith in man, especially evermore so as the days get more and more evil. We have to know and expect, to some degree, that man will fail us and will disappoint us. Mankind may turn their backs on us, betray us, reject us, mock us, kick us to the curb, abuse us, and take advantage of us. Not all people will do this obviously, but if we are so naïve to think this won’t happen, we are just setting ourselves up for a fall.
Yet, this goes beyond just basic human nature and the sinfulness of man. This has to do with spiritual warfare. Satan does not like Christ and he hates his followers with a passion. And, he will do all he can to try to get us to forsake our faith in Jesus Christ, even turning members of our families against us, or even turning our fellow believers in Christ on us, too. Yet, we are to love Jesus Christ more than we love anything or anyone else, and we are to be willing to be hated and persecuted by those we love in order to follow Jesus Christ in complete surrender and total obedience. We must be willing to lose our lives, reputations, acceptance of man, friendships, family relationships, etc. in order to follow Jesus Christ.
Who can we Trust?
We can trust God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit. Micah said, “But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD…” Even though he could not trust man, because man is basically evil, he knew he could trust God, who was his Savior. “Who is a God like you, who pardons and forgives” sin? He knew he served a loving, patient, gracious, kind, merciful, compassionate and forgiving God. Even God’s judgments on his children are done out of love and mercy. He cares about us so much that he does not want us to continue in willful sin and rebellion. Jesus Christ died to set us free from sin! God knows how much sin hurts us and hurts those we love, and how much sin hinders our fellowship with our Lord. He is very patient with us, and he will gently instruct us for a while, but even the New Testament teaches us that the Lord disciplines those he loves, so we are to be earnest and repent.
God/Jesus loves to show us mercy and forgiveness. It brings him much delight. That is why God the Father sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins so that we could go free of the daily control of sin over our lives and so we could be free of the ultimate penalty of sin, eternal punishment in hell. Jesus Christ did tread our sins underfoot, and he did hurl our iniquities into the depths of the sea when he died for our sins and when he rose from the dead, triumphant over hell, Satan, death and sin. We appropriate to our lives what he did for us through his death and resurrection when we come to faith in Jesus Christ. We come to Christ in faith through repentance and obedience (see Eph. 4:17-24), which are both the working of the Holy Spirit of God within us, as we cooperate with that work.
We can trust God, not only with our salvation, but we can also trust him with our daily lives, relationships, circumstances, responsibilities, ministries, trials and tribulations. Micah described a period of time where evil was prevalent and where the godly were few to non-existent. Jesus Christ quoted part of this passage from Micah 7 when he was sending out his disciples into the world. Jesus was very honest with his followers in telling them what they could expect, so that they were prepared. We will face the same types of situations and relationships with people. Some will be positive. Some will be very, very bad (evil). Satan will fight hard against us. He will hurl insults, lies, doubts, etc. at us. Yet, we must persevere, but not in our own strength, but in the strength of the Lord within us. He will give us all we need to live godly and holy lives committed to Christ. Greater is Christ who is in us than Satan, who is in the world. We can be overcomers through Christ, our Lord.
Not By Might / An Original Work / March 29, 2012
Based off Zechariah 4
“Not by might, and not by power,
But by My Spirit,” says our Lord, God.
“Mighty mountain, O what are you?
Before Christ you will become level ground.”
The hands of our Lord, Savior God,
Formed the foundation of His church.
He alone will complete the work
He began in His servants’ hearts and minds.
Who despises small beginnings?
Much can be done in Christ’s strength within.
Be of courage, and trust your Lord.
All sufficient He is for all your needs.
Opposition and apathy:
Holy Spirit will set us free!
We can be overcomers in our faith
In our Lord, and our Savior, King.
Don’t be troubled by God’s timing.
He has ev’rything in His command.
Hasten to obey His commands fully,
Trusting Him to work all for good.
Not by might nor by human strength,
But by God’s power; strength within;
My dependency now on His working
His will in me in righteousness.
http://youtu.be/bX2houWB_HE
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