Micah

Micah 1: The LORD comes down to judge

Begin in prayer

Before we hear Micah say that the LORD comes down to judge sin, even among His own people, please stop with your children and ask Him to open your ears. Ask Him to show you your sin and your need of Christ.

Yahweh is in his holy temple. Yahweh is on his throne in heaven. His eyes observe. His eyes examine the children of men.

Psalm 11:4

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that You see all sin and come down to judge it, and show us Jesus, who took judgment for sinners. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Micah came from the town of Moresheth, and the LORD gave him this word in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. The word was about two capital cities, Samaria in the northern kingdom of Israel and Jerusalem in Judah. First the LORD calls the whole earth to listen, and then He comes down from His holy temple, and the mountains melt like wax. The reason is the sin of His own people, above all the idols of Samaria, which He says will be beaten to pieces. Micah mourns, because the wound that began in Samaria has spread to Judah and reached the gate of Jerusalem. Micah names the towns of Judah one by one, and tells them to shave their heads, because their children have gone into captivity.

As you read Micah 1, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD sees every sin and comes down to judge it, even the sin of His own people.

Micah spoke when Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and the northern kingdom of Israel still had its capital at Samaria. Both kingdoms belonged to the LORD, who had brought their fathers out of Egypt, so idol worship was a turning away from Him. That is why He calls every people on earth to hear Him as a witness (verse 2) and then names Jacob’s sin (verse 5). He says Samaria will become a heap of rubble in a field, and her idols will be beaten to pieces (verses 6 and 7). He calls the wealth of the idol temples “the hire of a prostitute”, a picture of a people who sold their love to idols. In Hezekiah’s days Assyria took Samaria, and later its king took the fortified cities of Judah (2 Kings 18 verses 10 and 13). Because no one can stand when He comes down, Christ went under the judgment for His people (Galatians 3 verse 13).

How does Micah 1 show us that the LORD sees every sin and comes down to judge it, even the sin of His own people?

The LORD comes down and the mountains melt.

The LORD calls every people on earth to listen, and He stands as a witness against them (verse 2). Then He leaves His holy temple and comes down (verse 3). The mountains melt like wax before a fire, and the valleys split apart (verse 4). Nothing on earth is strong enough to stand in His way.

He judges the idols His own people made.

He names the sin of His own people and says it starts in their capital cities, Samaria and Jerusalem (verse 5). Samaria’s idols and temple gifts will be broken and burned, and her images destroyed (verses 6 and 7). An idol cannot save its worshipper from the God who made the earth. Only Christ has stood under this judgment and borne it for His people (1 Peter 3 verse 18).

Micah weeps because the wound reaches Jerusalem.

Micah takes no pleasure in this news. He howls like a jackal and goes without his clothes as a sign of grief (verse 8). Samaria’s wounds cannot be healed, and they have reached Judah and the gate of Jerusalem (verse 9). Lachish was where sin first spread to Judah, and shaving the head was a sign of mourning (verses 13 and 16).

Memorise

For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place, and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.

Micah 1:3

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what do I love more than God, and what must I bring to Jesus?

Micah heard the LORD say that He “will come down and tread on the high places of the earth”, and that “the mountains melt under him”. If the mountains cannot stand when God comes, then no sinner can stand, and no idol can speak up for us.

But God did not leave sinners to face this alone. His own Son came down from heaven and went to the cross, where He took the curse that sin brings. He suffered for His people, and the anger of God against their sin fell on Him. Then God raised Jesus from the dead, and what He did is enough once for all.

So do not hide behind anything made by human hands. Turn from your sin, and put your trust in Jesus. Come to Him, and you will find forgiveness with the God who sees you.

Parent's note

Tell your children that the LORD sees all sin and judges it, and that Jesus bore that judgment on the cross. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Parents, please explain verses 7 and 8 in your own words, as they mention a prostitute’s pay and Micah going without clothes.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that He sees every sin and judges it, and that Jesus bore that judgment, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

1 Thessalonians 5:9

Holy Lord, thank You that You see every sin and judge it with justice. Thank You for sending Jesus to take the judgment for sinners. Please turn each of us from every idol to trust Him. Help our family to love You above all things. Amen.