IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

Look! the Lord is Coming.

Date: Feb. 14, 2020

Passage

Micah 1:1-16

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.

The Coming Destruction

2   Hear, you peoples, all of you;
    pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
  and 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,
    and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4   And the mountains will melt under him,
    and the valleys will split open,
  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 is the high place of Judah?
    Is it not Jerusalem?
6   Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,
    a place for planting vineyards,
  and I will pour down her stones into the valley
    and uncover her foundations.
7   All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
    all her wages shall be burned with fire,
    and all her idols I will lay waste,
  for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,
    and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
8   For this I will lament and wail;
    I will go stripped and naked;
  I will make lamentation like the jackals,
    and mourning like the ostriches.
9   For her wound is incurable,
    and it has come to Judah;
  it has reached to the gate of my people,
    to Jerusalem.
10   Tell it not in Gath;
    weep not at all;
  in Beth-le-aphrah
    roll yourselves in the dust.
11   Pass on your way,
    inhabitants of Shaphir,
    in nakedness and shame;
  the inhabitants of Zaanan
    do not come out;
  the lamentation of Beth-ezel
    shall take away from you its standing place.
12   For the inhabitants of Maroth
    wait anxiously for good,
  because disaster has come down from the LORD
    to the gate of Jerusalem.
13   Harness the steeds to the chariots,
    inhabitants of Lachish;
  it was the beginning of sin
    to the daughter of Zion,
  for in you were found
    the transgressions of Israel.
14   Therefore you shall give parting gifts
    to Moresheth-gath;
  the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing
    to the kings of Israel.
15   I will again bring a conqueror to you,
    inhabitants of Mareshah;
  the glory of Israel
    shall come to Adullam.
16   Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
    for the children of your delight;
  make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
    for they shall go from you into exile.

Daily Bread

Key Verse: Micah 1:3

For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place,
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.

1. "I will make Samaria a heap of rubble" (1-7).

The Sovereign LORD in his temple is coming to bear witness against all people, and we are calling to hear his charges. His coming as Judge is dreadful. Jacob's transgression is manifest in Samaria, where their kings plotted and schemed, with no fear of God. While Judah worshiped God in Jerusalem, Israel served its idols. God was coming to destroy all her images through Assyria.

2. Samaria's plague spread to Judah (8-16).

Seeing this impending disaster distressed Micah to the point of howling and moaning like an animal. The plague of Samaria had spread throughout Judah, and God's judgment would follow. Using wordplay on the names of his neighboring villages, Micah warns them of impending disaster: "shave your head in mourning!" Their children will all be taken to exile to Assyria.

Prayer: Prayer: Father, you are Sovereign God who judges heart idols: money, success, pleasure. Help me worship you alone, for only you are worthy of worship.

One Word: God judges idolatry

Daily Bread

The Lord Judges the Proud

Psalm 75:1-10

Key Verse: 75:2

“At the set time that I appoint
I will judge with equity.

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