Micah 7:1-7
America’s Moral decline is not a new thing and from this
writer’s viewpoint it did not begin in the 60’s, no we have been in a moral
decline much longer than we can grasp.
It reminds me of my first missionary trip as a new believer in Christ,
and our mission was to the interior of Mexico, with pastor Joe and my first mentor,
Jack Archer. In that I did not speak
Spanish and most of them did not speak English, I was more in the role of
observer, but as an observer it was clear that these people who lived in
cardboard shacks, knew and loved the Lord Jesus Christ in ways that I had no
understanding of at that point in my new faith.
But that was only a very small part of the lesson that the
Lord had prepared for me on that visit, in fact, the most important part of the
lesson came later in a café/bar in Matamoras, Mexico. When we arrived at the café/bar it was about
4 pm and the sun was full and bright and upon entering the café/bar it was as
if one had walked into a cave with no light source. I recall following the waiter to a table and
you could only see images of tables and chairs with people sitting in them, and
yet in only a few moments our eyes had adjusted to the darkness and we saw a
very large room with people sitting all around us. Pastor Joe then used that illustration to
make a lasting impression on me, he ask this question, when you came out of the
bright light into the darkness of the café, did you have any knowledge that the
room we entered was full of people? My
answer was a simple no, and this was his reply; that darkness is an example of
sin, when we as a people first enter into it we come out of the light and the
darkness is overwhelming, but the longer we stay in the darkness it becomes
less and less dark, it may even become enjoyable.
I believe the United States of America has experienced the
darkness and it has become acceptable, in fact, the enemy has set up diversity
training so that as a nation we have accepted whatever the world is promoting,
and the experience for many of us in the Christian faith is to feel as Micah
has stated in chapter 7:1-3, “How sad for me! For I am like one who—when
the summer fruit has been gathered after the gleaning
of the grape harvest—finds no grape cluster to eat, no
early fig, which I crave. Godly
people have vanished from the land; there is no one
upright among the people. All of them wait in ambush to shed blood; they
hunt each other with a net. Both hands are good at accomplishing evil: the
official and the judge demand a bribe; when the
powerful man communicates his evil desire, they plot it
together.”
And
though much of what Micah was experiencing was factual, because the majority of
leaders, priest, and prophets in Israel were corrupt, godly people had not
vanished from the earth, there were others who shared his spiritual
convictions; such men as his contemporary Isaiah. But his feeling of being alone was not incorrect,
in that all around him the people of God who had forsaken the standards of God,
had set up standards that made them feel good about sin.
Micah
comes to this understanding, that he should not put trust in a man, not his
close neighbor, or even a member of his own house; that only one person is
worthy of faith and that is God. Listen
to verse seven, “But I will look to the Lord; I
will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.”
We should never forget the account of the prophet Elijah
pleading with God against Israel, picking up the account in Romans 11:3-5, “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they
have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But
what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have
not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant,
chosen by grace.”
From
the Back Porch,
Bob
Rice
http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/
