Micah 1:2-7

All the high places that we have, our self righteousness in our cultural views and mans’ sense of entitlement to people and possessions, will mean nothing when Jesus reigns. The proud will be brought down and the humble lifted up…

until He comes whose right it is to judge the world.

Only by His grace does He delay His Judgement.

Micah’s prophetic oracle is addressed to the entire earth.

The idols of Israel are compared to the wages of a harlot. They had been made from the metal given to the temple by worshipers. Israel had accumulated wealth by engaging in idolatry, an act God regarded as adultery. These same wages will return to pay a harlot—the enemy soldiers who plunder the city will spend their loot on prostitutes. 

Yahweh’s judgment on Samaria was fulfilled in 722 bc when the city was destroyed by the Assyrians. Faithlife Bible.

The faithlessness of the people provoked the Lord God to enter into a judicial dispute with them.

This is the language of epiphany, the dramatic coming of God to earth, here in a solemn procession of judgment. In other texts the language of epiphany is used to describe God’s dramatic acts of deliverance.

Judah’s sins were centered in its capital, Jerusalem. In this verse, the intent of the term high places is made plain. Jerusalem, which was once “beautiful in elevation”, was nothing more than another platform of pagan worship, like the “high places” of the Canaanites.

Idolatry is often described in the Hebrew Bible as spiritual adultery. Israel is pictured as a wife who is unfaithful to her husband. This is not just a metaphor, however; the worship system of Canaan was sexual in nature. The word idols here has the sense of “disgusting images,” probably referring to the explicit sexual nature of these idols. NKJ Bible.

Micah 1:2–7 (NKJV)

² Hear, all you peoples!

Listen, O earth, and all that is in it!

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;

He will come down

And tread on the high places of the earth.

⁴ The mountains will melt under Him,

And the valleys will split

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 are the high places of Judah?

Are they not Jerusalem?

⁶ “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field,

Places for planting a vineyard;

I will pour down her stones into the valley,

And I will uncover her foundations.

⁷ All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,

And all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire;

All her idols I will lay desolate,

For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot,

And they shall return to the pay of a harlot.”

Isaiah 26:21 (NKJV)

²¹ For behold, the Lord comes out of His place

To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;

The earth will also disclose her blood,

And will no more cover her slain.

Ezekiel 13:14 (NKJV)

¹⁴ So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.

Micah 2:1-2

Be careful what you do, oh man! God is all seeing, all knowing and all powerful to correct His creation!!

Man with his half baked ideas will never succeed. 

With God’s will in our plans we will not fail.

These wicked individuals lay on their beds at night thinking of evil plots. They cannot sleep because they are consumed with wickedness.These evildoers were powerful, wealthy people with the ability to carry out their schemes and profit by them. Faithlife Bible.

The ethical teaching of the prophets regularly included oracles of judgment against greed, theft, and oppression, actions of the powerful in attacking the weak. NKJ Bible.

Micah 2:1–2 (NKJV)

2  Woe to those who devise iniquity,

And work out evil on their beds!

At morning light they practice it,

Because it is in the power of their hand.

² They covet fields and take them by violence,

Also houses, and seize them.

So they oppress a man and his house,

A man and his inheritance.

Hosea 7:6 (NKJV)

⁶ They prepare their heart like an oven,

While they lie in wait;

Their baker sleeps all night

In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.

Hosea 7:8 (NKJV)

⁸ “Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples;

Ephraim is a cake unturned.

Micah 1:2-5

Two of the biggest strongholds to growing as a follower of Jesus Christ are pride and arrogance. The Holy Spirit cannot work in us if we believe that we are all that. His first work in you will be to rid you of yourself.

We are in a dangerous place in America. 

God hates pride and arrogance. Until we realize that everything comes from Him and without Him we would have nothing… we will never mature as Christians.

God alone is all powerful.

The Hebrew word used reveals that what follows is an oracle. Micah’s prophetic oracle is addressed to the entire earth. It refers to both the mountains and the cultic high places, the idolatrous centers of pagan worship. Treading upon them indicates Yahweh’s sovereign omnipotence. Faithlife.

All the earth was to know that God was witnessing against His people. This announcement of judgment is based on the people’s breach of covenant. The faithlessness of the people provoked the Lord God to enter into a judicial dispute with them.This is the language of epiphany, the dramatic coming of God to earth, here in a solemn procession of judgment.

The expression high places is ironic. Jerusalem and Samaria were the “high places,” or elevated capitals, of Judah and Israel; but “high places” were also sites of idolatrous worship.Jerusalem, which was once “beautiful in elevation”, was nothing more than another platform of pagan worship, like the “high places” of the Canaanites.

Micah 1:2–5 (NKJV)

² Hear, all you peoples!

Listen, O earth, and all that is in it!

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;

He will come down

And tread on the high places of the earth.

⁴ The mountains will melt under Him,

And the valleys will split

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 are the high places of Judah?

Are they not Jerusalem?

Psalm 11:4 (NKJV)

⁴ The Lord is in His holy temple,

The Lord’s throne is in heaven;

His eyes behold,

His eyelids test the sons of men.

Acts 7:57-60

Extending mercy and grace to others is a big deal to the Father. He sacrificed himself in the Body of Jesus Christ to put an end to death and suffering in those who choose to accept His sacrifice. In His mercy we are saved.

Those of us who have been forgiven much…love much!

When the Spirit of God moves in everything changes. Every. Little . Thing. Just ask Saul!

In response to what the religious leaders see as the height of blasphemy—exalting Jesus alongside God—the trial becomes a mob scene.Death by stoning was the legal penalty for blaspheming the name of God.

Luke (the narrator) introduces the man who will eventually lead the church’s mission to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people)—he is later called Paul. In the meantime, he stands in approving witness of Stephen’s stoning. Faithlife Bible.

Stephen’s work was done. He was immediately ushered into the presence of Jesus. As Jesus had done, Stephen requested mercy for his killers. NKJ Bible.

Acts 7:57–60 (NKJV)

⁵⁷ Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; ⁵⁸ and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Matthew 5:44 (NKJV)

⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

Luke 23:34 (NKJV)

³⁴ Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

And they divided His garments and cast lots.

Psalm 31:5 (NKJV)

⁵ Into Your hand I commit my spirit;

You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.

Matthew 15:12-24

Out of our heart come our words and actions!

In that same manner our actions reveal our heart towards God!

 As a person thinks in his heart, so is he. How do thoughts get into the heart, the seat of reflection? Through the eyes, ears, and other senses. The raw material of our actions is what we take into our mind and allow to settle in our heart. NKJ Bible.

David put it this way: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” Psalm. 119:11.

The other side is seen in Psalm 101:3: “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.” 

Paul pictured the believer as “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”  2 Corinthians 10:5.

Jesus turns the confrontation with the Pharisees into a teaching opportunity for His disciples. He emphasizes the priority of the heart over external matters, such as handwashing and ritual purity. Faithlife Bible.

Matthew 15:12-24

Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”

So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

Hosea 11:3-5

We, in our worldliness, may deny God as our Father but He will never deny us as His creation. 

He is kind and gracious not wanting anyone to be separated from Him. But He will not force us to repent and accept His offer of salvation...He is the consummate gentleman.

He  loves us so!

Like a father teaching his child to walk, the Lord patiently gave the people of Israel direction and cared for them tenderly when they experienced pain or injury. Faithlife Bible.

 The Lord had placed restraints—cords and bands—on Israel, but His regulations, rather than being overly strict or harsh, reflected His concern for the people’s well-being. God did not drive them mercilessly but provided for their needs, like a farmer who periodically removes the yoke from an animal’s neck so that it can 

Yahweh was responsible for raising Israel from infancy as a nation, but they failed to acknowledge it. The prophet uses imagery of a farmer caring for his livestock. NKJ Bible.

one who lifted up a yoke Yahweh used cords, bands, and the yoke for gentle guidance—not oppression.

Hosea 11:3-5

“I taught Ephraim to walk taking them by their arms;But they did not know that I healed them.I drew them with gentle cords,With bands of love,And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck.I stooped and fed them.“He shall not return to the land of Egypt;But the Assyrian shall be his king,Because they refused to repent.

Hosea 32:10-11

He found him in a desert landAnd in the wasteland, a howling wilderness;He encircled him, He instructed him,He kept him as the apple of His eye.As an eagle stirs up its nest,Hovers over its young,Spreading out its wings, taking them up,Carrying them on its wings,So the Lord alone led him,

November 14th, 2017

Be careful what you ask for!

These regulations limited the power and splendor of the future king. He would not be dependent on military power and riches. He was exhorted not to entangle the nation in political alliances that would expose Israel to pagan worship. Faithlife Bible.

The laws concerning the king (rather than assigning specific roles and powers) are essentially negative; they forbid the king advocating for a return to Egypt and the acquisition of many horses, multiple wives, and great wealth. NKJ bible.

The only positive duty is to learn the law of Yahweh.

Deuteronomy 17:14-20

When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God

chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.

Isaiah 31:1

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,And rely on horses,Who trust in chariots because they are many,And in horsemen because they are very strong,But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel,Nor seek the Lord!

2 Timothy 4:17

We are safe in Christ and all things work out for our good. 

2 Timothy’s 4:17

But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

In spite of the failure of his friends, Paul was supported by the Lord, who always strengthens and empowers. Often people will fail us in troublesome times. The Lord, however, never fails His children, no matter how difficult the circumstances are. God had consistently empowered Paul during his life so that he could continue to preach the truth to the Gentiles. 

Deuteronomy 3:16

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

Colossians 2:6-8

Joy in the Lord gives us the strength to live out our lives in His mercy and grace. As we lift Him up for others to see they too will be drawn to His compassion in salvation. He died so that we could live!

We have been saved, not in the legalism of men but in the grace of God, in Christ Jesus.

The Greek word used here, paralambanō, can refer to the reception of a tradition—in this case, the message of the gospel handed down from the apostles. Paul urges the Colossians to continue in this tradition, which contrasts with the human traditions of false teachers. Faithlife Bible.

Just as the Colossian believers had begun with Christ, so Paul encourages them to continue in their walk with Him. Paul uses four words to describe the Colossians’ walk with Christ. The tense of the word translated rooted denotes a complete action; the believers have been rooted in Christ. The next three words, built up, established, and abounding, are in the present tense, showing the continual growth that should characterize every Christian’s walk with Christ.

This verse has been used at times to teach that Christians should not study or read philosophy. This is not Paul’s meaning. Paul himself was adept at philosophy, evidenced by his interaction with the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers in Athens. Paul was warning the believers not to be taken in by any philosophy that does not conform to a proper knowledge of Christ. The false teachers at Colosse had combined worldly philosophies with the gospel. It seems likely that the term principles refers to the elementary rules and regulations that certain teachers were seeking to impose on believers according to the dictates of human philosophies. Paul’s strongest indictment against the heretics was that their teaching was not according to Christ, and thus they were not walking with Christ. NKJ Bible.

Colossians 2:6–8 (NKJV)

⁶ As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ⁷ rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

⁸ Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; ¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Romans 6:4 (NKJV)

⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Ephesians 2:16 (NKJV)

¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Jesus Son of Mary

Jesus Christ the Word of God made flesh brought the offer of peace to the people of earth.

The Harmony of the Gospels.

harmony | ˈhärmənē |

noun (plural harmonies)

1 the combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords and chord progressions having a pleasing effect

• the quality of forming a pleasing and consistent whole:where old and new blend in harmony.

• 2 an arrangement of the four Gospels, or of any parallel narratives, which presents a single continuous narrative text.

Not everyone knew of Jesus’ miraculous conception, and people would have assumed that Joseph was His biological father. Nonetheless, Jesus is presented as Joseph’s rightful heir. Faithlife Bible.

People naturally assumed that Jesus was the physical son of both Joseph and Mary. Luke corrected this misunderstanding by emphasizing that Jesus was only apparently Joseph’s physical son. Luke’s genealogy is unlike Matthew’s, although both go back to David and Abraham. Luke traces Jesus’ line all the way back to Adam, showing Jesus’ significance for all people. Matthew provides the legal lineage from David through Joseph to Jesus, while Luke provides the physical lineage from David through Mary to Jesus. NKJ Bible.

Genesis 5:1 (NKJV)

The Family of Adam

5 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.

Genesis 11:10 (NKJV)

¹⁰ This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood.

Luke 1:1–4 (NKJV)

1 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, ² just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, ³ it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

John 1:1–18 (NKJV)

The Deity of Christ

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God.

The Preincarnate Work of Christ

³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Forerunner of Christ

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

The Rejection of Christ

⁹ That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

The Acceptance of Christ

¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Incarnation of Christ

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

¹⁶ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

Luke 3:23–38 (NKJV)

The Genealogy of Christ Through Mary

²³ Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, ²⁷ the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³² the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ³⁶ the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.