Douglas Wilson

The Prophecy of Micah #8

Christ Church on September 26, 2021

INTRODUCTION

We are still in the middle of one of Micah’s consolation sections, and we have come to the passage where the birth of the Messiah is promised.

THE TEXT

“Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: He hath laid siege against us: They shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, Until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: Then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, In the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; And they shall abide: For now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall be the peace, When the Assyrian shall come into our land: And when he shall tread in our palaces, Then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, And eight principal men. And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, And the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: Thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, When he cometh into our land, And when he treadeth within our borders” (Micah 5:1–6).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Israel and Judah are told to muster the troops because they will be under siege (v. 1). Not only so, but they will be apparently humiliated in that the judge of Israel will be struck on the cheek with a rod, as happened to Christ in His trial (Matt. 27:30). But the prophet is about to instruct us not to go by surface appearances. Bethlehem was an obscure little town. It was famous because Rachel was buried there, and because David was from there, but it was still an obscure little town. Most places could raise a thousand men for battle, but apparently not Bethlehem (v. 2). Nevertheless, just as Bethlehem had once produced the greatest king Israel had ever had, so she would do so again. This king would be even greater—His goings forth were from of old, from everlasting (v. 2). God was not going to undertake on Israel’s behalf (for a good six centuries) until the time this ruler was eventually born (v. 3). It was a long gestation, and a hard delivery, but then the remnant would return. But at this point the Messiah would stand, and He would feed the people in the strength of Jehovah (v. 4), and they would be enabled to abide by Him. This Messiah would be able to deliver us from all the enemies of God, who are presented here under the figure of the Assyrians and Nimrod (vv. 5-6).

COMMON KNOWLEDGE

The rabbis of the first century knew that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:4), which is the answer they gave to Herod in response to his inquiry (Matt. 2:5-6). That answer might be different now, now that Bethlehem is so closely associated with Jesus.

And the same thing was common knowledge on the streets as well.

“Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, this is the Christ. But some said, shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Beth-lehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him” (John 7:40–43).

Jesus was a Galilean. He had arrived in this world at Bethlehem, but He also departed from Bethlehem as a baby. Although He might well have gone back later in His life, we have no indication of that in Scripture. The appearances would seem to indicate that God moved the heart of Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1-4) simply in order to touch that base. The point was prophetic and typological only.

LITTLE AMONG THE CLANS

God loves underdog stories, and He loves to deliver His people using unlikely means. Bethlehem was a hamlet, just a bend in the road. And yet . . .

Not only so, but David was from a family of shepherds, and he was the youngest son, out tending sheep while his brothers were inside with the prophet Samuel at the big kids’ table.

“But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

God loves this way of doing things so much that He does it over and over again. And man loves looking on the outward appearance so much that he misses it, also over and over. The lesson should be straightforward. It is quite possible that you might be too big for God to use, but it is not possible for you to be too small for God to use.

HOUSE OF BREAD

The name Bethlehem means House of Bread, and this is the place where the line of David was going to be restored. The king who was going to feed Israel was to be born in the House of Bread.

When this king was raised up, what was He going to do? His goings forth were from everlasting, and in this new station, He was going to “stand.” He came from the eternal realms, and His kingdom was going to last forever. He was going to “stand.” From that place, as a Shepherd King, He was going to feed His people, doing so in the strength of Jehovah. This is something that the Lord Jesus most clearly did—He not only healed the people of their diseases, but He also fed them.

In that same verse, it says that we will abide, and we will abide as a result of this feeding, and in the majesty of the name of Jehovah God. There is as much strength in you to abide in Christ as there is majesty in God. This is another way of saying that although you are charged to abide in Christ (John 15:4), you are not able to do this in your own strength. You are kept by the power of God. “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:29).

The Prophecy of Micah #7

Christ Church on September 19, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

We are continuing to work through the consolation section of the second cycle. As this section encompasses two chapters, we are tackling it in pieces. Today we will be working through the latter half of chapter 4.

In this section, God promises the restoration of Israel’s fortunes, and that this deliverance will come through the midst of great difficulties. We will consider some of those difficulties, along with our triumphs, as we work through these verses.

THE TEXT

“In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, And I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: And the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; The kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. Now why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee? Is thy counseller perished? For pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: For now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; There the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: For he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: For I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: And thou shalt beat in pieces many people: And I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth” (Micah 4:6–13).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Remember that this great deliverance does not land in one swift moment. Recall that the kingdom grows gradually, steadily, and inexorably. When the process begins, God will gather those who are limping (v. 6), and God will assemble those whom He afflicted (v. 6). The battered people of God will be made into a strong nation (v. 7), and Jehovah Himself will reign over them in Mount Zion forever (v. 7). Remember that He will reign in Mount Zion because His law goes out from Mount Zion (back in v. 2). The kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem (v. 8). But this restoration will not be trouble-free (v. 9). The daughter of Zion will have a hard delivery (v. 10), and will be delivered from Babylon. Our deliverance will not look like deliverance, because many nations will be gathered against us (v. 11). They taunt us because they do not know the Lord’s methods and ways (v. 12). They gathered around to destroy us, and found instead that they had actually been gathered by God in order to be threshed (v. 12). So, daughter of Zion, arise and thresh (v. 13).

REMEMBER WHAT IS COMING

We know that this consolation is fulfilled in and through the Messiah because just a few verses down we are told that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2). These latter days begin with the return from exile in Babylon, but they continue on in the days of the Messiah.

THE NATURE OF DELIVERY

When a woman is about to give birth, we call what is coming to her delivery. We call it this, knowing what is to come. But imagine going through childbirth not knowing that a child was involved in it, and simply assuming that you were suffering an attack of some kind. You, not knowing that key piece of information, would radically misinterpret every wave, every contraction, every pang. You would naturally assume that this was the worst thing that had ever happened to you when it was about to be the best thing that had ever happened to you.

Christians who do not have a strong view of God’s sovereignty, a biblical view of His methodology, and an optimistic view of His purposes, are in this position. They misinterpret everything.

NOT ONLY SO…

Not only do Christians misinterpret how the kingdom grows, the unbelievers do as well. They surround us, and declare their intention to gobble us up. And we, for our part, say oh no!

But notice how this goes. These nations gather all around you. They assemble themselves together. They say of the Church, let her be devastated. Let her be defiled. They cast their eyes over the people of God, and think to themselves that they will just take us. But what are they leaving out of their calculations? They do not know the thoughts of the Lord. They do not understand the wisdom of His counsel. They do not get the fact that our Lord conquered them by dying, and that we are privileged to imitate Him in this. Have they completely surrounded us? Have they gathered to overwhelm us? Well, then, arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion.

Are things hopeless? Then this is our moment. Rise up, o men of God.

THE HANDS OF THE LORD

When we doubt that our afflictions and chastisements are from the Lord, it is consequently easy to doubt that He has the capacity to deliver us. But if in the first place the tribulation was laid on us from His right hand, then why would it be difficult to believe that He can lift that affliction with His left hand? All things are from God. We do not live in a godless world.

And we know that we do not live in a godless world because we do not live in a Christless world. The Christ has come. Messiah the Prince was born in our midst, which is why we call Him Immanuel, God with us. In fact, we even know His birth place—Bethlehem, little among the clans of Judah.

“And the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever” (v. 7). This is Yahweh, the Lord. This is Jehovah. This is the Christ—He is here with us, ruling from Mount Zion, through His holy word. And because Jehovah rules from Zion, this is why the daughters of Zion can rise up and thresh. How long? Forever, the prophet says.

How to Move to Moscow

Christ Church on September 5, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

As you all know, we have seen a steady stream of folks moving to Moscow, and, as you might not know, it shows no sign of letting up. Up to this point, we have all been pretty flexible, constantly dealing with a new situation. This has been true of those of you who have moved, and it is also true of long-time residents—pretty much everyone is a member of a very different church than you were in two years ago. And when confronted with a new situation, like this one, our reflexive action should be to turn to the Scriptures for direction.

THE TEXT

“Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:21–23).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

I want to follow a typical Pauline pattern with this Petrine text. What is the basic doctrinal foundation upon which we are to build, and then, after that, what is it we are supposed to do? First, what are we to believe and trust? And second, how are we supposed to act?

This passage begins with a sincere trust in God. You have believed in God, who raised Jesus from the dead, and who gave Him glory (v. 21). He did this so that your faith and hope might be in God (v. 21). You have been born again, not with perishable seed but rather with imperishable seed (v. 23), an eternal seed. Seeing that you have purified your souls in this way, obeying the truth through the Spirit, what are you then to do?

Because all of this is true, because you have embraced this truth, the thing you are to do is love one another with a pure heart, and make sure that the love is unfeigned. A literal rendering of unfeigned would be “non-hypocritical.” Love one another with a cleansed heart (katharos). And the word for fervently means eagerly, like you are running toward something with outstretched arms.

Because you have obeyed the truth, and trusted God, and have been blessed with the new birth, your love for one another needs to be all in.

LOVE REQUIRES DATA

Of course, love wants to do the right thing, because the motives are right, but because we are limited and finite, we need to be taught by the law of God. Say you borrow your neighbor’s lawn mower, and it blows up while you are using it. You want to do the right thing by your neighbor (love), but what does that look like? Scripture tells us. If you borrowed, you should pay him for the lawn mower. If your neighbor came over and was pushing it when it blew up, you don’t. If you rented it, you don’t owe him a lawn mower. That’s what love looks like.

SOME SCATTERSHOT EXHORTATIONS

With that in mind, this will be my best attempt to imitate the very end of one of Paul’s letters, when he was running out of papyrus.

Conduct all your business in the sight of God. Cut no corners. Do not expect anyone to cut you slack because you are “a brother” or a “kirker.” Remember that regeneration does not make anyone’s memory perfect, so write your commitments down (Ps. 15:4). Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Matt. 7:12), which is not the same thing as waiting for others to do unto you as they would have you do unto them. That’s not in there.

Be warm and friendly toward everyone, but do not make fast friends too quickly. Do not glom onto anybody. If you make friends too quickly, you will tend to do it on the basis of personality, instead of on the basis of character. Bad companions corrupt good morals (1 Cor. 15:33), and sometimes these bad companions aren’t necessarily bad, just bad for you. Navigating friendship is a big deal (Prov. 18:24)

Get your bearings slowly. There is an awful lot going on, and give yourself time to acclimatize before making any major life-changing decisions. We assume that you newcomers will be pitching when the time is right, but if you jump in too quickly, you greatly increase the chances of a misfire (Prov. 18:13).

Here is a delicate one. Be grateful for what the Lord is doing here in Moscow, without in any way feeling superior over it. “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (1 Cor. 4:7). And do everything you can to avoid disparaging the places you came from. The same goes for your previous spiritual leaders, even if they let you down. Especially if they let you down. Spiritual pride is insidious, and it would be easy to let gratitude morph into pride. But also take that your battle against pride not lure you into ingratitude.

If you were to move to Sri Lanka, you would expect things to be different, and so you would be in some measure prepared. But if you move to Canada or the UK, you are constantly thrown by things being almost what you might expect, but which are somehow not. Within the continental United States, there are significant cultural differences from region to region, and then we have our own kirker culture layered on top of that. As Moses knew, it is tough being a stranger in a strange land (Ex. 2:22).

Returning to the passage from Peter, be quick to forgive. Love is the only oil that can make this machinery run smoothly. Check that oil regularly. Cultivate your relationship with God the Father through Christ, in the power of the Spirit, because our fulfillment of the second greatest commandment is going to be the direct result of our zeal to fulfill the first.

“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? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:20–21).

Pure Religion

Christ Church on September 2, 2021

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Collegiate Reformed Fellowship is the campus ministry of Christ Church and Trinity Reformed Church in Moscow, Idaho. Our goal is to teach and exhort young men and women to serve, to witness, to stand fast, and to mature in their Christian Faith. We desire to see students get established in a godly lifestyle and a trajectory toward maturity. We also desire to proclaim the Christian worldview to the university population and the surrounding communities. CRF is not an independent ministry. All our activities are supplemental to the teaching and shepherding ministry of CC & TRC. Students involved with CRF are regularly reminded that the most important student ministry takes place at Lord’s Day worship.

The Prophecy of Micah #6

Christ Church on August 29, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

The consolation section of the second cycle is long, encompassing two whole chapters—chapters four and five. We will therefore be working through this section over the course of a few weeks.

Remember that Micah was a younger contemporary of Isaiah, and was probably his disciple or protégé. His dependence on Isaiah can be seen in our text this morning, in the passage about beating swords into plowshares.

THE TEXT

“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. 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. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; And none shall make them afraid: For the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever” (Micah 4:1–5).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

So what will happen in the “last days”? We come now to a word of consolation for the faithful. All the warnings and judgments will fall upon Israel and Judah, but what should the faithful Jews cling to? After all the judgments, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established, above the hills, and people will flow there (v. 1). Many nations will stream to the mountain of the Lord, and they will encourage one another to do so. Let us go there, and learn obedience (v. 2). The elevation of Zion is a figure of speech indicating that the throne of the God of Jacob will be established there. Jehovah will rule, judging many people, governing strong nations, and they will not learn war anymore (v. 3). They will beat their swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks (v. 3). No longer will a man lock his house at night, and no longer will men have to lock their cars (v. 4). Men can sit under their own vines and fig trees without fear of danger. The mouth of God has spoken it (v. 4). The next verse looks back over the whole process of this happening. It will not happen all at once—there will be a time when the nations will continue to walk in the names of their gods, but the faithful will walk in the name of their Lord and God forever and ever (v. 5).

FULFILLMENT IN THE CHRIST

We know that this consolation is fulfilled in and through the Messiah because later in this section we find the prophecy that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2).

We can also ascertain this by comparing Micah with his mentor Isaiah. Our text this morning is basically a verbatim citation from Isaiah 2: 2-4. But what will happen according to Isaiah in these last days, and when are these last days? In Romans, Paul defends his mission to the Gentiles by citing a battery of Old Testament passages (Rom. 15:9-12), the last of which is Isaiah 11:10.

But the verse just before it (Is. 11:9) says that the earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And then what?

“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; To it shall the Gentiles seek: And his rest shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10).

In that day, the day when the earth is filling up with the knowledge of the Lord, Paul will be defending his mission to the Gentiles.

CONSOLATION FOR THE FAITHFUL

God always reserves a remnant for Himself, and when they are done listening to Micah’s fulminations, they might be quite dismayed. And so Micah turns to reassure them that it all has a point—all the drama of the Old Testament era, all these judgments, and the vast expanse of blue ruination have a telos. God is up to something, and what He is up to is the coming of the Christ.

HOW IT ENDS, HOW IT GOES

Those who love God and His law want Him to come down in one fell swoop, and start taking names.

“Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence” (Isaiah 64:1).

We look at the high impudence of man, and we know how insolent it is, and so we are often exasperated with how patient God is. And so God reminds us that His sovereignty extends over more than just ethics. He is the sovereign of time and of history. He tells us not to steal and commit adultery, but He also tells us to wait patiently as He defers judgment.

He defers judgment in His mercy. “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:8–9). Where would you have been if God had listened to all the saints and ended the world two years before your conversion?

As this is developing, the peoples will walk in the name of their gods (v. 5). Let them. The time is coming when they will be jostling each other to get to the mountain of the Lord (v. 2). They will be taught, and will walk in obedience (v. 2), and they will be obedient to the point where the nations will study war no more (v. 3). God has said it (v. 4).

THE MOUTH OF THE LORD OF HOSTS HAS SPOKEN

Jehovah has spoken it. This is going to come to pass. But when Yahweh speaks, what does He say? What is the Word of God? The gospel answer is that Christ is the Word of God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1). That Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).

The spoken Word that conquers everything is Christ. Christ is the crucified Word, and He is the buried Word. He is the Word that rose from the dead, and who sits at the right hand of the one who speaks a new world into existence. And as He speaks, that new creation takes shape. But only in Him, only in Christ.