Part One
In the United States and many other cultures, it’s hard not to know that the annual celebration of Christmas is coming thanks to the retail industry.
Not to be outdone, the entertainment industry also makes sure the culture is aware.
But neither the retail nor the entertainment industry is what I’m referring to by asking, “Have you prepared your heart for Christmas?”
I’m desiring to look past the tinsel, gifts, and frivolity to something much more personal and enduring.
Join me in exploring some thoughts from Micah, where a promise was given regarding what our hearts need most.
Have You Prepared Your Heart for Christmas?
Part One
The book of Micah opens with the following verse:
The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. [1]
What do you learn about Micah from this verse? The Lord?
The timeline provided by the mention of who was ruling in Judah in this opening verse informs us that Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea, who also wrote books found in the Old Testament.
From the first verse, we know Micah is writing a message from the Lord concerning Samaria and Jerusalem, i.e., the entire nation of Israel. At the time he’s writing, Israel is divided into northern and southern kingdoms. Samaria refers to the northern kingdom and Judah/Jerusalem, the southern kingdom.
Hear, you peoples, all of you;
pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and let the Lord God be a witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple. [2]
Who does Micah say should listen to this message?
What is alarming about the message Micah is sharing?
For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place,
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 And the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
like waters poured down a steep place. [3]
What kind of power does the Lord have?
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 is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem? [4]
What motivated the Lord to come from his holy temple to tread the earth?
After Micah describes his depth of sadness for the nation of Israel, he describes the transgressions and sins that caused God’s judgment.
Micah’s message speaks out against the rampant idolatry in Israel (Micah 1:7; 5:12-14); illegal property seizures (2:2, 9); failures of both civil (3:1-3, 9-10; 7:3), religious (3:11) and prophetic leadership (3:5-7, 11); faulty thinking that personal sacrifice is the way to please God (6:6-7); along with corruption and violence (6:10-12).
Yet, even with this long list of failures, the message from God offers hope.
I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;
I will gather the remnant of Israel;
I will set them together
like sheep in a fold,
like a flock in its pasture,
a noisy multitude of men.
13 He who opens the breach goes up before them;
they break through and pass the gate,
going out by it.
Their king passes on before them,
the Lord at their head. [5]
Given the long list of failures, how do the verses above express a reason to hope in God?
Micah continues to describe reasons to hope in the Lord’s ability to rescue and establish His kingdom for all who will come to Him fully.
It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
2 and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. [6]
What is unique about God’s kingdom and the people who are a part of it?
Micah is the only prophet who tells where this promised deliverance from the Lord will begin. Confirmed later in the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days. [7]
Explain, “whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (Use Psalm 143:5; Isaiah 45:21, 46:9-10; Amos 9:11; and Malachi 3:4 to aid your answer.)
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel. [8]
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth. [9]
What does this shepherd king provide for the people of the earth?
And he shall be their peace. [10]
How is this described in Isaiah 9:6?
Have You Prepared Your Heart for Christmas?
Part One
Application
Review the following words Jesus spoke to his disciples.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.[11]
Keeping in mind that Christmas is an observance to commemorate the birth of Jesus, how does the peace Christ provides for you prepare you for Christmas better than anything else?
Warmly,
Barbara Lynn
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mic 1:1.
[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mic 1:2.
[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mic 1:3–4.
[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mic 1:5.
[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mic 2:12–13.
[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mic 4:1–2.
[7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mic 5:2.
[8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mic 5:3.
[9] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mic 5:4.
[10] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mic 5:5.
[11] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 14:27–29.