The Gospel According to Micah
Rev Austin Reifel, Indy Reformed:
Resources:
Zeltenreich Reformed Church: https://youtu.be/FBiKUt6u15M
Calvin’s Commentary: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/calvin/micah/7.htm
Notes from 01 May sermon: People in the church are wrapped up in worshiping anything other than God – preachers, even other laymen, their own denomination’s power or perfection, politicians or even ideologies that are completely opposed to the truth of the Word. Indy Reformed 01 May https://www.sermonaudio.com/solo/indyreformed/sermons/51222137257315/
7-8 – Confidence in God’s provision for his faithful saints. Micah is personally demonstrating what the remnant will do – trust in the promises of God, in who he is and what Micah’s end will be. This is trusting in God’s power to save men – even his enemies. Micah is confessing his faith.
9 – Christ our intercessor. Merit is all God’s (Christs), and we have no righteousness. See Heidelberg Catechism flow from Misery to Deliverance. Belgic Confession 15 and 20.
Calvin: When any one is seriously touched with the conviction of God’s judgment, he is at the same time prepared to exercise patience; for it cannot be, but that a sinner, conscious of evil, and knowing that he suffers justly will humbly and thankfully submit to the will of God.
… also manifest how God is light to the faithful in obscure darkness, because they see that there is prepared for them an escape from their evils; but they see it at a distance, for they extend their hope beyond the boundaries of this life.
10 – The adultress (in the dark of night) of Proverbs 7, false wisdom, Ashirem of Micah 5
11-14 – From Christ’s ascension to his return, this is the Ephesians 3 prayer, prayed for those who do not believe.
11-12 – The Gospel goes to the world, or Israel is freed from the bonds of Babylon. Trans is unclear, but reads as if the True Israel/True Jerusalem will attract people from all the world. God is building his kingdom from every tribe, nation and tongue.
13 – Spiritual wasteland as well as a cultural demise, where justice is destruction
14 – Pilgrims in the wilderness with a hope for what will come (Abraham looked forward to a promise that is eternal). I think it might be that this is declarative as well, “God will shepherd his people” even when they are dispersed and remote from each other (sounds like local church to me). Micah is praying here, praying in God’s will, knowing that he is repeating God’s promise from of old.
“I am the good shepherd. I will lay my life down for the sheep” – Christ is the fulfillment of that promise.
15-17 – God is pronouncing his plan. The Gospel goes to the world. Misery is known, and people come out repentant in dust. Also, promise to the church that her enemies will be deaf, mute, miserable and like fools, ultimately impotent and justice will be dealt. Thinking also of Nebuchadnezzar – how he is relevant to this passage with his evil, repentance and potential belief, changing his kingdom in the process. People repent in dust and ashes – just as they die in dust and ashes. This isn’t just a random coincidence. God’s judgement is even more pronounced and glorious when he judges sinners in their repentance. The Christian takes part in this judgement, wielding the sword given them at the moment of their own belief – the Holy Scriptures, which render the soul unto faith in Christ. This is the holy war in which we find ourselves, not some epic physical combat with the armies of Satan at the end of the ages, and not either with the God-haters of these latter days. We are to glorify God in his wondrous judgement of mercy where his justice is applied to Christ in the place of those who have hated him.
NEXT WEEK
18-20 – Gospel. The actual Gospel is here – it’s not completely hidden in the OT, but just openly revealed in the NT. Direct comparison with the pagan gods who have no Word upon which the believer can rest. There is no legitimate claim against a God who does not or cannot keep his promises. Our God does precisely that – he gives his Word and keeps it. God is steadfast in his love and faithfulness. We are his image-bearers, and in our redeemed state, our love and faith are made steadfast by him, through the Holy Spirit. This is assurance, sanctification, hope.
Calvin: The faithful take for granted that God had promised to the fathers that his covenant would be perpetual; for he did not only say to Abraham, I will be thy God, but he also added, and of thy seed for ever. Since, then, the faithful knew that the covenant of God was to be perpetual and inviolable, and also knew that it was to be continued from the fathers to their children, and that it was once promulgated for this end, that the fathers might deliver it as by the hand to their children; they therefore doubted not but that it would be perpetual.
Rev Robert Godfrey (Zeltenreich): “We need to hear this, because what does Satan try to do every single day, but attack us with the power of sin and misery? He tries to convince us that our sins are too great to be forgiven, that we can’t repent enough, that temptation will win the day yet again. He keeps trying to stir in us the thought that sin has won the battle. So we need to hear these victorious words at the end of Micah, that the Savior has won, that sins aren’t just being fought against, sins have been cast into the sea, into the depths…”
18 – “Who is a God like you” – Micah’s name in pun. Only one God, of all the gods, forgives.
We have to grasp the goodness, favor, steadfastness of God in true religion. The Gospel moves us.
19-20 – Micah is making statements of fact. This is not hopeful prayer, but confident statements.
19 – The day of atonement when the sin is cast upon the goat which is summarily banished. This is Christ on the cross. Heidelberg Catechism 60
Exodus 15: the fate of Pharaoh’s army
20 – Translate: “You will give steadfast life and faithfulness to the True Israel
Cold Coffee and Flannel 