The Theme of Micah

We are going to take a look at the book of Micah today.  I am not going verse by verse thru it.  I just want to take a look at a principal shown in it.  But before we take a look at it, it would be helpful to remind ourselves of something first.

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Deceitful is tending to mislead, deceive or ensnare.  God says the human heart is full of deceit.

How deceitful is the heart?  Above all things God says.

Can the heart deceive you about others?

I think everyone has seen some lady think that she can change him if she can only trick him into marrying her.  She had deceived herself into believing that he is really good inside and only misunderstood, or he just needs my grooming.  O’ others can see that this is going to be a train wreck.  But not her.  Her heart cannot see it.

The heart is not a good measuring stick on things because it is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.  Does that go just for some people’s hearts?  Or does it only go for everyone else’s heart?

The end of the verse says who can know it?  That is a rhetorical question with the implied answer no one.  The Word of God says that it goes for everyone.  There is not a person alive whose heart cannot deceive them.

And it can be in all areas of life.  Some deceive themselves into thinking they are smarter than they are, or better looking than they are, or that constant credit card debit is not going to hurt them later on; that they will not pay for that when they get on a fixed income.  The list of things we can deceive ourselves about is incredibly large.

I am a big believer in context.  So while it is true that we can deceive ourselves in a great number of areas, let’s take a moment and look at the context of verse 9.

The verses before this talk about the sin of Judah, their wrong worship, and God said, “ye have kindled a fire in mine anger”.  The topic has been set as their relationship with God and how they are way off course.  The relationship is not good at all.

The people and the prophets were saying otherwise.  They had deceived themselves to the point that they thought they were ok.

Jer 17:5  Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

He is talking about the man that trusts in man and departs from the Lord.  Verse 6 is about the consequences of departing from the Lord so the context is still the same.

Jer 17:6  For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

Verses 7 and 8 we see contrasted to the man who departs, the man who trusts the Lord and how God will bless him.  So we are still talking about the relationship between God and man.

Jer 17:7  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

Jer 17:8  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

So the context is the relationship between man and God.  They had departed and broken the relationship.  God is angry.  God pronounced a curse for those who do not have a right relationship with Him and blessings to those who do have a right relationship with Him.

And then God says this.

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

While it is absolutely true that our hearts can deceive us in a great many things.  The direct context here is how our hearts can deceive us about our relationship with God.  While there is application that our heart can deceive us about a great many things.  The primary application given has to do with how our hearts can be deceitful in our relationship with God.

Can our hearts be deceitful and deceive us into thinking we are pleasing God when we are not?    That is what was going on in Jeremiah’s day and Micah’s day.  And you can see that all around today.

We don’t have time to go thru a list of examples.  There would be many.  From tongues, to forsaking the assembly, to how to treat people, to personal sins, lack of dedication, to lack of prayer.

Their hearts deceive them to thinking their relationship with God is great.  But God says you can’t use your heart as a measuring stick.

Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

He is going to search the heart, and try you, and it does not matter what your heart says or thinks about it.  God is going to give according to your ways.  According to your doing.

Do not misunderstand or jump to a false conclusion.  I am not talking about Salvation.  The topic is the quality of the relationship with God.  And how the heart is not a good measuring stick because the heart is deceitful and can deceive you.

I hope everyone understands the principal because we need to be moving on in our look at Micah.

After the kingdom split the north set up calf statues to be worshipped.  One in Bethel and one in Dan.  Jehoshaphat got some false priests and convinced the people to just worship here and not go to Jerusalem.  The people bought it; their hearts were deceitful and they deluded themselves into thinking it was ok and that they were good with God.

Once you start down that road things tend to get worse.  Accepting the next deception is easier than the first.  And things did get worse. Baal worship was introduced and accepted.  And the people’s hearts told them that they were doing ok.  Nothing wrong here.

So God sent Elijah, then Elisha, and then Joel.  There was a brief revival during Elijah.  It stuck with a few, but in a short while the masses were right back in their evil ways.  And in fact getting worse and worse.

The people refused to repent and receive God’s mercy.  So God does an object lesson with a huge heathen city.  God sends a hard hearted man named Jonah.  And he only preaches an 8 word sermon.  And only once.  God works, the heathen king has the message broadcast, and the city repents and receives God’s mercy.

What a great power object lesson for all to see.  But even that would not get thru to the deceitful hearts of those who thought they were ok.  Then God sends Amos, and finally Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah.

Micah preached from Approx. 740 BC to about 700 BC.  Near the end of Micah’s ministry he saw the northern kingdom get wiped out never to return.  Micah is going to preach some of the final messages that the north will ever hear.

The people are as bad as they have ever been.  Time is about out.  This is their last chance.

How is Micah going to deal with these people with deceitful hearts?  What yardstick is he going to use to deal with them and show them that they are not ok?

Verses from Micah

Mic 1:1  The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Notice who is Micah preaching to?  Both Samaria and Jerusalem.  Both the north and the south.   Some like Amos were just sent to the north.  Micah is to preach to both.  Samaria is the capital of the north and Jerusalem is the capital in the south.

Mic 1:5  For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?

Both the north and south are deep in sin.

Mic 1:6  Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.

Mic 1:7  And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.

Mic 1:9  For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

In verse 6 he starts with Samaria, lists their sin and then in verse 9 says it is come unto Judah.  Keep in mind as we go thru this that Micah is preaching the same thing to both kingdoms.  And what is the sin that Samaria and Jerusalem are both involved in.

Idol worship and are breaking the 10 commandments.

#1        Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

#2       Exo 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image

It does not matter how your heart feels about it.  Your feelings are not the measuring stick of the status of your relationship with God.  God said to not have any other gods and no graven images.  You have broken both.  Wake up your relationship with God is not right.

#3       Exo 20:7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Some people have the wrong idea of what taking the name of God in vain is.  They only think that it is when you use His name as a cuss word.  And that certainly does count.  But taking the His name in vain also includes any improper use of His name.  So when they set up calf statues and used God’s name in association with that; that was using His name in vain.  Using His name in vain includes any improper use of His Holy Name.

Mic 3:11  The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.

They are perverting judgment by taking bribes.  They judge for reward.  The priests and prophets are in it for fifthly lucre.  They teach for hire and divine for money.  Yet at the same time they say is not the Lord among us and no evil can come upon us.   So what they are doing is a bunch of evil stuff and attaching God’s Holy name to it.  That is an improper use of His Name.  That is breaking commandment number 3.

And it did not matter what they thought about it, or how they felt about it, or how much they liked it.  Look at what God is going to do to them because of this in the next verse.

Mic 3:12  Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

Micah does not specifically point out commandment number 4.

#4       Exo 20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

They were to not work on the Sabbath, but it was more than a rest day.  They were to keep it holy.  The Sabbath was to be used for spending time with God.  Worshipping Him.  It should be obvious that there is no way to break the other 3 and be doing number 4 right.  They were guilty of breaking this one as well.

It should be apparent by now that Micah is not using their hearts as a measuring stick.  Or philosophy, or conventional wisdom, or what is popular, or logic.  He is using the Word of God.  And he is going back to the basics here.  The Ten Commandments.  He is keeping it simple.

He is showing that to have a good relationship with God you need to walk in His light.  And how can you tell how well you are doing.  You can’t use your heart to tell you.  The only accurate measuring stick is the word of God.  And they were messing up on the first four commandments.

The first four commandments address how to treat God.  The last 6 commandments address how to treat man.  Some make the mistake thinking that if I get the first 4 correct then my relationship with God is great and it does not matter how I deal with the last 6.

No.  While the last 6 do deal with your relationship with man, they also greatly affect your relationship with God.

1Jn 2:9  He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

1Jn 4:20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

1Jn 4:21  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

You can’t be lying and hating man and have this great close relationship with God.  Remember we are not talking about salvation.  You can be lying and hating and still be saved, but you are walking in darkness.  No matter how much your heart deceives you into thinking you are walking close to God, the fact is you are walking in darkness.

Make no mistake the last 6 commandments do affect your relationship with God.  Micah understands this.  Look at what he does in chapter 2.

Mic 2:1  Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.

Mic 2:2  And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

Micah brings up how they are breaking commandment #10 Exo 20:17  Thou shalt not covet

#8       Exo 20:15  Thou shalt not steal.

They can deceive themselves all they want to.  The fact is they are not measuring up.

Mic 6:11  Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?       A reference to stealing.  Many of these Micah will mention several times, we don’t have time to look them all. 

Mic 6:12  For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

Here Micah brings up commandment #9 Exo 20:16  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

And God is not happy.  The relationship is not good.  There are going to be consequences.

Mic 6:13  Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.

Micah is showing them that not only is your relationship with God not what you think it is.  They had been saying is not the LORD among us? None evil can come upon us.  Micah is debunking both statements of theirs.  The Lord is not among you, you have deceived yourselves and bad things are coming your way.  Judgment is coming.

And he keeps piling it on.

Mic 3:10  They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.   A reference to murder.

Mic 7:2  The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

So Micah makes reference to Commandment #6        Exo 20:13  Thou shalt not kill.

Mic 7:6  For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

That is clearly commandment number #5        Exo 20:12  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

They had been saying that the LORD is among them.  But Micah refused to use the measuring stick of the heart and used the only one that matters.  The Word of God.  He exposed the deception of their wicked hearts.  And if you noticed there is only one Commandment that we did not talk about.

Only #7          is left out.  Exo 20:14  Thou shalt not commit adultery.   But we know from other books that there was plenty of that going on as well.

So he has made his case.  They are not in good standing with God despite what their hearts tell them.  And we did not read all of the verses but over and over again he tells them judgment is coming.

That is a great start.  But Micah does not stop there.  It has been well said, you have to get a man lost before you can get him saved.  It is also true that a saved person must realize that they are out of the way before they can get back on track.

Micah realizes this.  So he does not pull a Jonah.  Jonah goes into Nineveh and makes a short 8 word proclamation of judgment and walks out.  No except you repent.  No God delighteth in mercy.  No get right with God.  No turn and get the blessings.

The Bible gives us examples of how not to do things and the Bible gives us examples of how to do things.  Jonah’s message was given with the wrong heart and not with the goal of what is best for the people.  Jonah actually got mad when God over rode the bad job Jonah did and the city got right.

Micah had a different heart.  Yes he has been preaching hard to them.  No tiptoeing around.  It was straight to the point, and direct.  He had to get their attention.  He had to break thru the deception of their wicked hearts.

So he switches gears in Chapter 4 and starts working on the rest of the message.  He is going to preach a complete message.  So after he says Zion shall be plowed as a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps, he says.

Mic 4:1  But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

Mic 4:2  And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

God is not done with his people.  God still cares for us.  And Micah gives many verses of prophecy about the Lords millennial kingdom.  He talks about how the Lord will reign from Jerusalem.  He talks about how they shall beat their swords into plowshares.

In Chapter 5 Micah tells them about how Jesus is going to be born in Bethlehem.  And that God will give them the blessings of cutting off witchcrafts as well as curing them of worshipping graven images.

In Chapter 6 he says, “for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.”  Yes they are sinning, but God will plead with them.  God loves them.  Even after all they have done.  He is pleading for them to get right.

And he tells them what God wants.  And how it is so simple.

Mic 6:6  Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?

Mic 6:7  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

God is not pleased with thousands of rams.  He is not after works and offerings out of duty.  Or to try to buy Him off.  God is after something else.  God wants your heart.  God wants a relationship.

Mic 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

And how do you know if you are doing justly?  The Word of God tells you.  That is the measuring stick.

And once you realize you are not right, then what.  Look how Micah ends.

Mic 7:18  Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

Mic 7:19  He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Mic 7:20  Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

So the whole message he gave was, your heart has deceived you, you are not right with God.  You are breaking His commandments.  Judgment is coming.  God still wants you, he gives promises of the future.  He is pleading with you.  God is not going to accept your rituals or works.  He simply wants a relationship with you where you walk humbly with Him and do justly.  That is the theme of Micah.

Walk with God in a close relationship.  It is simple.  Get right.  God is waiting with open arms.

He pardoneth iniquity.  He will passeth by the transgressions.  He delighteth in mercy.

He will have compassion upon you; he will subdue your iniquities; He will cast all your sins into the depths of the sea.   He does it all.  No works required.  Just change your mind and take Him up on his offer.

Talk about the amazing, powerful, love of God.  Even after all they had done.

So what happened?  Did it work?  Did his message hit home?  Did it have an impact?

Well, remember Micah preached this message to both the north and the south.  There is nothing recorded in the Bible of any revival in the North.  Micah saw them taken out by the Assyrians.  There might have been a few that got right.  We just don’t know.

The south is a different story.  Remember when Micah was preaching he was preaching to both.  They were in the same state.  Doing the same things.  Living in the same deception.

Micah ends his ministry several years into the reign of Hezekiah.  And we do see a revival take place during the early reign of Hezekiah.  I am with those who believe that the preaching of Micah had an impact on many hearts in the south.

The Bible teaches that one plants, another waters, and another reaps.  But Micah’s very strong, Biblically based preaching both on sin, judgment, blessing, forgiveness and love of God did its work.  He saw change in his society before he died.

So what can we gain from all of this.  There is more here than we have time to go over.  But a few things would be.  We need to preach a complete message.  Don’t preach just on sin just to hammer on someone and leave out the love of God and His forgiveness.  And don’t just preach on the love of God and leave out sin.  Both are needed.

2. Preaching God’s complete message does not guarantee results. The north did not respond, but some in the south did. The results depend upon the individual and upon the working of God.  Like Micah we should preach it because God said to preach it and leave the results to God.
3. For a man to get saved he need to understand that he needs to get saved. And there is no better tool to show a man that he is a sinner than the Word of God itself.
4. The heart is not a reliable measuring stick of your relationship with God. The Word of God alone is the measuring stick that shows a man that He needs to be saved.
5. After you are saved, you are saved.  It is finished.  Can’t be changed.  Done deal.  But saved people can also deceive themselves about the quality of their relationship with God.  Saved people still sin.  And the Bible teaches Christians to examine their walk with God and get right.

A Christian is to walk worthy of God.  So how do you know when you get off track?  How do you know when you are not walking correctly?

Sadly today most use their heart.  If they don’t feel off, then they consider themselves ok and that their relationship with God is great.  But the heart is not a good measuring stick.  The heart of all men is deceitful.

There is only one sure way to know.  Only one perfect measuring stick.  And that is the word of God.

We live in an age of itching ears.  And many people used to understand that the same measuring stick that showed you that you need to get saved was the same measuring stick that tells a saved man how his walk with God is progressing.

2Jn 1:6  And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

See more lesson on Themes from Old Testament Books