Micah 1:1-4:13, Revelation 6:1-17, Psalm 134:1-3, Proverbs 30:1-4
Today is the 15th day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it’s, like always, a joy to be here around the Global Campfire together with you as we move forward to take the next step into and through the Scriptures. And in the Old Testament we have been moving rapidly through some of the shorter books in the Bible, known as the minor prophets, which we’ll continue to do today and just by way of reminder the minor prophets aren’t because they’re less important it’s because there shorter. And so, on the number of days now, we have read books in their entirety in one, in one day.
Introduction to the Book of Micah:
Today we will be capping out for two days in our next book in the Old Testament and it is known as the book of Micah and this is the sixth of the 12 minor prophets and there is very little known about who Micah was, outside of the book but the book gives plenty of clues for scholarship to be done. Micah, the name Micah, means who is like God and we’re told in the book that he’s from the town of Moresheth which can be somewhat confusing but many scholars associate Moresheth with Moresheth-Gat and this would place Micah in the low lands, what’s known as the Shefalah, the low lands in the southern kingdom of Judah, which would be southwest of the city of Jerusalem, so that gives us a sense of location. The book tells us that God gave Micah the message during the years that Jothem, Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings of Judah and that the visions that God gave him concern both Samaria and Jerusalem. And that gives us a lot of clues. Samaria was the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel, Jerusalem was the capital city of the southern kingdom of Judah. So, we know that what Micah is prophesying is to the entire people that came out of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites, even though they have separated themselves and their allegiances into two different kingdoms or two different countries, nations. Because the names of the kings are mentioned that would date Micah somewhere in the early decades of the eighth century BC and there’s another clue that is outside of the book of Micah because Micah is mentioned in the prophecy of Jeremiah and Jeremiah would be like a century later than Micah and so if Jeremiah is mentioning Micah a hundred years later than the prophecies of Micah were preserved and carried forward and held in high regard. And so, we know that Micah, as a prophet, had some authority as he spoke and had some trusted credibility. The prophecies in Micah aren’t unlike other prophetic messages that we have heard as we’ve been moving through the major and minor prophets, right. The prophecies often start with words of caution and then judgment, followed by words of hope and restoration, that is true of Micah. It’s just that this happens three times in a short amount of time because Micah is not that long. So, this kind of three times judgment and restoration pattern has been noticed and it seems like this is an intentional thing about the book of Micah and within the book of Micah we see promises of a coming deliverer, a Messiah, an expected anointed one. This would be one of the passages than that are referenced in the New Testament to reveal to the readers in the first century, about Jesus that this was expected which is one of the main things about the early church among the Jewish population. This was expected, this was supposed to happen, we were waiting for this to happen. That resonated with many people, of course, many people rejected that because the Messiah doesn’t get crucified, the Messiah takes over at least in their way of thinking and we spent plenty of time talking about that through the journey that we’ve been on, but Micah is quoted in Matthew referencing Jesus but…but you O Bethlehem are only a small village among all the people of Judah, yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past will come from you on my behalf, and even Jesus himself during his ministry quoted from Micah when he said don’t think that I came to bring peace on the earth, I came to bring a sword. So, that tells us Jesus of course knew of the writings of Micah, understood them, quoted them during his ministry and we’ll see what God is displeased with as he speaks through Micah is the corruption and idolatry and rebellion and those who exploit the less fortunate, which brings social justice back into the mix, which was one of the major themes of the book of Obadiah which we read just a few days ago. And it’s not as if we had never heard that God is displeased with this kind of activity but this is one more iteration where he is displeased with this activity because it leads to destruction but because of the re-repeated pattern of hope and restoration following judgment we see that God hates the corruption but he’s very passionate about the restoration for those who keep his covenant. And so, with that we begin our journey through the book of Micah. We’re reading from the New International Version this week, Micah chapter 1 through chapter 4 today.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. Thank You for another day as we continue step-by-step day by day forward, and we thank You for bringing us into the book of Micah and once again through the prophets, we see that the crossroads is before us always and it’s basically that we can choose life or death. We can choose destruction or redemption and so often the words come to warn us, You’re going in a direction that will lead You to destruction, come back, return, repent, don’t go that way and we see this pattern repeated over and over, over many generations in the Bible. We see that this is a common and constant message that You kept before Your people and we take to heart the fact that this has been given to us as a tangible gift in the Bible. And so, we too are continually reminded and warned and when our spirit bears witness to the fact that we are going in the wrong direction, we know that, we just don’t always count the cost and understand that this leads to destruction, and that we can turn around and go in a different direction and so we’re praying for that, Holy Spirit that You would convict, that You would make us aware, that we would pay attention to You, we would see the regions and portions of our heart and lives that are not gonna work, that are leading us down a path that is only going to hurt us, help us to see this so that we don’t have to experience it, so that we can heed Your counsel and retreat and return to You, we ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
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And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Good morning family this is Hope in Nebraska. And I just felt lend to call and and just share with you, you know, God of Hope. How mighty, how mighty God is. You know, I became a believer when I was a teenager. You know, I grew up in a house believing in perfectionism. You know, being in the church and I just felt like having to do everything a certain way. And mental illness took a grip of me, I battled that for many years and had strayed away from God. But he never left, he never does, he just always there. And I just, in many ways, you know, He had been working on me to bring me back and I had just woke up one morning and didn’t want to die without seeing the face of God without having his arms around me. Without feeling his love and to know that ….
Hi, this is Jon Rising in Michigan. And this prayer goes to Eyes of a Dove for your son, I’m just broken to hear that he is going through this struggle. I rebuke any evil that comes against him and is tormenting him. Satan is just wreaking havoc in our kids and schools and I just rebuke all of that. So, I ask protection around your son. I stand in agreement with you on this prayer and I will be praying for your son as well. Take care and know that you’re being lifted up and people are standing in the gap for you and praying and holding your family up.
Dear Jesus, I lift up to you Braden. I ask speak prayers of life over his body. He is a son of a one true God, the bride of Christ. He is wanted and not rejected. He is loved and not hated. Satan, you have no authority over Braden’s life in Jesus name. I plea the blood of Jesus over his life. I speak against the spirit of suicide. Flee back to the pit of hell where you belong. Braden, you were created for purpose, you were bought for, with a price and your name has been written in the book of life. You will live and not die. We, your brothers and sisters in Christ, love you so much. In Jesus name. Amen.
Good morning, everyone, it’s Susan from Canada, God’s Yellow Flower calling and I want to lift up Eyes of a Dove today. Dear Sweetheart, you have so much going on right now, it’s unbelievable. And my prayer for you is that God, you will clearly see God’s plan as you fast and pray, I know it’s so hard to fast with a house full of people but I pray that God will strengthen you and walk alongside you and give you insight and give you courage to face each and every day, and that His name be praised through all this that’s going on in your life. Trust in him my Lord, sorry trust in Him my sweety and He will direct your path. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Hi DAB family just want to call in and ask for prayer for all those out there who are struggling during this holiday season. I know it’s so difficult for so many people while others find so much joy in this season and so it’s hard. I have a nephew, a daughter-in-law, an employee, a brother-in-law, so many people I personally know that just really struggle during this time and I just ask the DAB family to lift these people up. I know you, so many of you probably already are because that’s what we are is prayer warriors. I just ask that these things drive people into the arms of Jesus where they can find that peace that is available. Thank you. This is Child of God.