Micah 3:5 5Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths.
phylacteries (Tefillin: small square leather boxes containing slips inscribed with scriptural passages and traditionally worn on the left arm and on the head by observant Jewish men and especially adherents of Orthodox Judaism during morning weekday prayers)
We go through the motions with unlit lamps, and we think we have fooled God. In truth, we fool no one except ourselves and even then, just for a little while until the truth sets in. We run, we hide, we feel afraid and alone. The answer escapes us, yet the answer is simple. Repent and turn to God in knee bending prayer, confess, ask for forgiveness, and know God’s forgiveness is yours. God is slow to anger and quick to forgive anyone and everyone who turns to Him for help. For when we ask for help, we believe.
Many so-called Christians put on a front. Some know they are faking it; some even believe their front is impenetrable, but the truth will come, and all will be revealed. One day, and that day is near, all will believe in God, whether they know God or not. One day some will be joyful they know Jesus Christ and others will wish they had taken the time to know the Son of God.
Many then and many now think that religion is all about the motions of ceremony. Many are serious while they go through the motions but drop their seriousness as soon as they are not being watched. This is not about devoutness to Jewish practice or about Christian practice; this is about where your heart is every minute of every day.
Micah 3:6–7 6Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; 7the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.
If you want to stay in the dark, don’t worry, you can stay there, at least until the light comes. When the light comes, and it will, it will reveal everything, even those things tucked away in secret cubby holes and hard to reach crevasses. But what is darkness will be destroyed by light and all that remains will be what is of the light.
We might wait in the dark or we might not think we are in the dark; this is why it is so important to know the light. We are born from the light, and we will return to the light; for the light is Jesus Christ our Lord. And Jesus Christ has come and is coming again soon to shine His light for us to see the way.
Micah 3:8 8But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
The self-righteous have no business to govern anyone, for the self-righteous can’t see their true reflection in the mirror. The Pharisees were blind to Christ because they thought they knew everything and knew what the people they governed needed, but this was based on the Pharisees desires. Jesus came to shine His light and the people started to see through the veil of darkness the Pharisees draped over the people. But now the light is in the world, and all is revealed.
The light shows us our sinful nature for we needed the light to see our reflection in the mirror of the law. Now we see the darkness within us, and we start to walk toward the light. The closer we come to the light the more our darkness subsides. The light is salvation, and the light forgives the darkness in us, and the darkness has no more control over us. The veil is lifted, forgiveness abounds, and we have life in the light and the light is life in us.
Micah 3:9–10 9Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight, 10who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.
The ruling powers are of the world and therefore they are ruled themselves by the world. But we are not of the world but of the light and therefore we are ruled by the light. The world cries hate and calls it peace, and we have felt the hate, and we long for the promised peace. Our peace is not in this world because it does not come from this world. Our peace is Jesus Christ and the promise made from Him who died on the cross is meant for us, that is, those who believe.
As the world has built itself with the spilled blood of many, our salvation was built on only one person’s blood. The blood of Christ was spilled for our salvation and our salvation was won through one body giving up life from this world. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice so that no other blood should have to be lost for our salvation. Though many have died to give us our freedom we claim as citizens of this Untied States of America, their blood does not buy us eternal life, only the blood of Christ saves.
Micah 3:11 11Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.”
The world wants to get rich on the rubble of many who slave for the world. Jesus made us rich through the undying love of God our creator. The world wants to leave legacies, but there are no true legacies to be made for when this world is destroyed it will be as if the legacies never existed. So rather than a legacy there is one who is glory, and the glory belongs to our God and savior we call Jesus Christ.
Disaster will come, pain will be felt, tears will run out, and famine will destroy all. But Jesus Christ will come again and take us away, wiping away our grief, our tear reddened eyes. When this day comes, we will forget those who tried to veil us with their darkness, and we will see Jesus only.
Micah 3:12 12Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.
What becomes of the world will not matter, for we will live in a new world. What shape our bodies were when we passed won’t matter for, we will live in new bodies. What will matter is that we will recognize our new life and being swelled up in the joy of our salvation we will shout glory to God in the highest and true peace has come for the multitude saved. The worship and songs will be heavenly and music to the ears of our Lord Jesus Christ as He looks at His handy work, that is, all who are saved. Amen.
Written by Pastor Curtis A. May
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