Have Good Data

Micah 7:11-20

As I was reading the verses of Micah the prophet, it is clear that for anyone to come to the correct conclusion they must begin with truth.  If my desire is to understand the simplest equation, it requires that my data must be sound, so if my concept of knowing God’s only Son is flawed, what hope do I have of understanding the prophesy of a man from 750 BC?

Micah is telling the people of his time about something that will happen in the future, and it is not clear if the people of Micah’s day believe what the prophet was telling them or if Micah and the few that did believe tied a timeline to the prophesy.  It would be wise of us to look at verse 12-13, “In that day they will come to you, from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the River, from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.  But the earth will be desolate because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their deeds.”  Now the environmentalist may say, see I told you mankind is destroying the earth, and once more we must look at the premise and ask the question, is mankind great than it Creator? 

To solve any problem we must begin with the correct information, an as we look to the Manufacturer’s handbook on life, we find this fact over and over telling us that sin will result in desolation.  We have stated that the prophet Isaiah was also prophesying at this same time line and one would be wise to read chapter 24 of the book of Isaiah.  It begins in this manner “Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.  And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress;
as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor.  The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the Lord has spoken this word.”  Now skip to verses 5, and 6, “The earth lies defiled
under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.  Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.”

This information must be entered into the equation and it requires a question; is this referring to judgment on the whole earth, and if the answer is correct, then has anything close to this taken place since the time of Noah?  The answer is not even close, so because of sin; mankind living independent from God’s laws, statutes, and breaking His everlasting covenant, a curse will devour the earth and its inhabitants. 

When beginning your equation with wrong data, your only hope is to begin a new with data that has not been compromised, and our world has taken deceitful information, and this is what Hosea, the son of Beeri, a contemporary of Isaiah and Micah had to say to the northern kingdom; “But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception.  Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors, the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated—as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.  So will it happen to you, Bethel, because your wickedness is great?”  (Hosea 10:13-15)

Now look at Micah 7:11, “A day for the building of your walls!  In that day the boundary shall be far extended.”  A promise that you can bank on, the chosen of Israel will once more rebuild and extend their boundary, for God has spoken of this time in His love letter to the people of planet earth.  And now the rest of the story, as it was told to Micah from God; “As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things.  The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hands on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf; they shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds; they shall turn in dread to the LORD our God, and they shall be in fear of you.  Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression

for the remnant of his inheritance?  He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.  He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot.  You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.  You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers

from the days of old.” (Micah 7:15-20 ESV)

Make sure you begin with good data, for only then will your problem be solved.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice