Micah’s message alternates between prophecies of doom and prophecies of hope; the theme is divine judgment and deliverance.  God sees, hears and knows all that is going on now and what will happen in the days ahead because He is in control.  We might be down currently in a current crisis of circumstances but we who believe are certainly not out for the count. 

Where does faith fit in with media reports of violence, corruption, war, and terrorism occurring around the world? The prophet Micah reminds us that even when God seems distant and uninvolved, he still cares and offers hope to those who choose to remain faithful to him. 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 He always has and always will make our paths straight—back to Him!  What wisdom and assurance!

Micah 4, The Message

The Making of God’s People

^1-4 But when all is said and done,
    God’s Temple on the mountain,
Firmly fixed, will dominate all mountains,
    towering above surrounding hills.
People will stream to it
    and many nations set out for it,
Saying, “Come, let’s climb God’s mountain.
    Let’s go to the Temple of Jacob’s God.
He will teach us how to live.
    We’ll know how to live God’s way.”

True teaching will issue from Zion,
    God’s revelation from Jerusalem.
He’ll establish justice in the rabble of nations
    and settle disputes in faraway places.
They’ll trade in their swords for shovels,
    their spears for rakes and hoes.
Nations will quit fighting each other,
    quit learning how to kill one another.
Each man will sit under his own shade tree,
    each woman in safety will tend her own garden.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so,
    and he means what he says.

⁵ Meanwhile, all the other people live however they wish,
    picking and choosing their gods.
But we live honoring God,
    and we’re loyal to our God forever and ever.

^6-7 “On that great day,” God says,
    “I will round up all the hurt and homeless,
    everyone I have bruised or banished.
I will transform the battered into a company of the elite.
    I will make a strong nation out of the long lost,
A showcase exhibit of God’s rule in action,
    as I rule from Mount Zion, from here to eternity.

⁸ “And you stragglers around Jerusalem,
    eking out a living in shantytowns:
The glory that once was will be again.
    Jerusalem’s daughter will be the kingdom center.”

* * *

^9-10 So why the doomsday hysterics?
    You still have a king, don’t you?
But maybe he’s not doing his job
    and you’re panicked like a woman in labor.
Well, go ahead—twist and scream, Daughter Jerusalem.
    You are like a woman in childbirth.
You’ll soon be out of the city, on your way
    and camping in the open country.
And then you’ll arrive in Babylon.
    What you lost in Jerusalem will be found in Babylon.
God will give you new life again.
    He’ll redeem you from your enemies.

^11-12 But for right now, they’re ganged up against you,
    many godless peoples, saying,
“Kick her when she’s down! Violate her!
    We want to see Zion grovel in the dirt.”
These blasphemers have no idea
    what God is thinking and doing in this.
They don’t know that this is the making of God’s people,
    that they are wheat being threshed, gold being refined.

¹³ On your feet, Daughter of Zion! Be threshed of chaff,
    be refined of dross.
I’m remaking you into a people invincible,
    into God’s juggernaut to crush the godless peoples.
You’ll bring their plunder as holy offerings to God,
    their wealth to the Master of the earth.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Wake up with thanksgiving to God for a new day with Him.

Ask God what He has planned for each day and do that because obedience gives us the gift of His peace and contentment.

When circumstances bring us down, look up to God who knows what we are going through and has already gone before us with His plan of learning and growing through it.

Focus on the benefits of knowing God through communication with God.  Our God bends down to hear every sincere word we say because of His great love for us.  There is no one like our God.

Thank Jesus daily for His work to redeem us, setting us free from the debt of our sins.  Thank Him by trusting Him.  Learn from His teachings that give us a plan for growing in God’s love and compassion for others.

Live, knowing where we are headed.  Jesus is currently preparing a “place” for us with Him in heaven, our forever home.  Don’t get to attached to where we are living right now for the best is yet to come. Be grateful but don’t hang on double fisted to what is temporary.

Believe.  Really believe that what God says is really real.  We can’t go wrong with what is true and right.  God is always up to something new!

Lord,

Thank you for reminding us of what is true about you and our relationship with you.  You are God.  You always were, is and will be God.  You know our comings and goings and you love us unconditionally.  You lift us up when we are brought low.  You take us by the hand and guide us through this life.  You saved us.  There is no one else I trust with my very life—for you are Life!  To you be the glory, honor, and praise!  Forever and ever!

In Jesus Name, Amen…Yes!