Someday

One Year Bible: Dec. 15

Micah 1:1-4:13

Someday

The book of Micah points us to a “Someday” that the people of Israel cannot begin to fathom…

“For my people’s wound is too deep to heal. It has reached into Judah, even to the gates of Jerusalem.”(Micah1: 9). This “WOUND” is “TRANSGRESSION,” and because of their waywardness, there has only been judgment and discipline. But Micah reminds us of a new hope, a new plan, a “SOMEDAY.”

“SOMEDAY, O Israel, I will gather you; I will gather the remnant who are left. I will bring you together again like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture… Your king will lead you; the Lord himself will guide you.” (Micah 2:12-13)

The prophetic books of Jonah, Micah, and Nahum point us to underlying truths about God, ourselves, and life. The books of Micah and Nahum deal with the judgment and rescue of God’s people. Just talking about judgment is a difficult thing. I am so glad that the book of Jonah gave us a “face” and a “living person” that we can relate to in Jonah. This person, “Jonah,” is the back story of Micah’s story of hope found in that “SOMEDAY.”

The “SOMEDAY” is when God will open the kingdom to the Gentiles, and it is why God sent Jonah to do this unfathomable thing that the Jews can not begin to comprehend. He is to preach repentance to the Gentiles, who were God’s people’s enemy.

The truths that we learn from how God handled this weak, self-centered prophet will help us to better understand the next two prophetic books of Micah and Nahum, and they will all point us to God’s rescue of his people through His son, Jesus.

So, Let’s take a little closer look at the “back story” of Jonah again and see how the principles we learned about his life can help us understand the teachings of Micah and Nahum.

The theme is judgment, rescue, and atonement.

Who is worthy of God’s rescue and forgiveness, and who receives His judgment?

Right now, we find ourselves studying the final five prophets in the Old Testament. These are the FINAL warnings to God’s people before He sends them into exile.

This is a big TRANSITION time!

The prophecies of Jonah and Naum were VERY unusual because their message was for a GENTILE KINGDOM! This was unheard of…unfathomable.

The GENTILES were the enemies of God’s chosen people and often were their enemies taking God’s people captive. How could God choose to use pagans?

The book of Micah fits into this final period or transition, and it points to the Messiah in unbelievable ways. You will see this for yourself in tomorrow’s reading, where Micah actually tells us where the Messiah will be born.

These final prophets are here to open our eyes to a “Grander Plan” than God’s people could possibly fathom. That “Grander Plan” is a means of salvation that will no longer “roll back sins every year” as the Jewish sacrifices did. Instead, it will provide a complete atonement through the long-awaited Messiah.

Before we go on to Micah’s startling proclamation of Messiah and where he will be born, let’s look at the Jewish mentality of the Gentiles…

Jonah is the embodiment of this unsavory sentiment.

Jonah was sent to Ninevah, a GREAT CITY filled with GREAT WICKEDNESS, and he carried a GREAT MESSAGE… There is only one problem… Jonah didn’t want to take God’s message of Repentance to a WICKED GENTILE nation.

After the “Three Day Tour” in the giant fish, Jonah was literally EXPELLED into ministry. God had rescued him, and he was thankful. However, in the very next breath, he is NOT thankful that God would rescue the likes of these wicked GENTILES!

So, Jonah gave these wicked people the SHORTEST SERMON in the books, “Forty Days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” (Jonah 3: 4) That was it, folks! Not even an offering was taken!

Nineveh, however, gave the greatest response to a sermon in all of history!

“From the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow. When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city….” (Jonah 3: 4-7)

Immense repentance fell upon the entire city of Nineveh. They were to mourn, repent, pray, and turn away from evil… AND THEY DID!!!

Jonah was the most successful, miserable minister in the history of prophets!

“This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So, he complained to the Lord about it: ‘Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, LORD? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a MERCIFUL and COMPASSIONATE God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, LORD! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen!”

(Jonah 4: 1-3)

I am so happy that we have a record of Jonah’s ministry to better understand these final prophecies of judgment. They give us amazing insight into who God is, how He judges and forgives, and a glimpse of the transition to “The Kingdom of God.”

It is “at hand.” However, like the story of the prodigal son, Jonah is the son that has “gone astray” and also the son that is “resentful” of their father’s mercy. Both sons all rolled into one angry package, and Jonah represents that… That, my friends, is the “back story.”

This nation has been WRONG and RESENTFUL. They have RUN AWAY and been RESCUED.

They found God to be Merciful, Compassionate, and Just. But how can this HOLY GOD rescue GENTILES too?

But then comes along the book of Micah with a message to these very people. His message is simply this, “Someday,”...Wait for it!