Hi, friends! Today we begin the book of Micah. Micah is much like other prophets spelling out doom and gloom. However, since we will be in the prophets for a little while I encourage you to read them through a somewhat different lens as it can be easy to feel down about reading the Bible when everyday is full of such doom and gloom. Consider reading the prophets as if it were a story being re-told after the fact. While some of the language is still disturbing, it's easier when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and the passages that speak about deliverance have a bit more of meaning behind them when the delivery has already happened. Does this make it easier for you to read, or no? Should the scriptures be made to easier or the "grayness" of them more authentic? What are your thoughts?
Overview of Micah:
Scripture to Read
Audio Bible
Questions to Consider
What does this teach me about God?
What does this teach me about humanity?
Would Jesus say amen to this?
- My Thoughts -
I find Micah to be a pretty strong book for prophecy about Jesus and based in historical truth. Micah's version of deliverance is that someone will deliver people through the very gates of Babylon itself. In other words, they will walk right out the front door of their captives. That is true historically. Cyrus the great of Persia comes to the rescue and liberates the people. The Biblical authors clearly show great respect to him as he is one of the only few leaders in the Bible who retain the title "great".
But this also is a solid nod to Jesus too when they talk about people returning their spears to pruning hooks and their swords to plowshares, something that was just referenced a few books ago. It speaks about a time when nation will no longer war with nation and peace will win the day. That's a pretty prophetic message to give to a group of people that just spent a few hundred years as slaves. Much like yesterday's blog post, the message here is not retribution but justice and peace. To imagine a world like that gives me hope that only God can give. Come Lord Jesus, come!
Prayer:
Our prayer today is from 135 in our hymnal. I invite you to either sing along to the tune provided by the video or simply pray the words of the hymn. I'm not going to copy the exact lyrics from our hymnal as I can't find the version so the words are found on the screen of the video:
I like that quote Mary, it's really hopeful :)
I am responding to Pastor Nick’s question/about whether seeing the Old Testament as very grey (I’d edit that and bleak and bloody) or as part of the past to understand.....or something like that Makes it easier to read. Well, I think it is helpful to read/or listen to it being read; regardless, because we hear or see so much scripture from the Old Testament from the prophets that quite frankly when pulled out of context is quite beautiful and hopeful. But I still think understanding the context is important. In fact as abismal as Micah is, one of my favorite Bible verses is from Micah 6:8. Shame on me for never reading the rest🙃.
Also, I read a quote from…