Thursday, September 8, 2011
Micah 7:18
Thursday, September 08, 2011 |
Who is a God like unto thee?
What an outstanding question is asked in our key verse for our devotional reading today. The question goes along with the title of the book we have been looking at in our devotional readings. "Micah" actually means in the Hebrew, "Who is a God like Yahweh".
We have seen in Micah 1-3 that Yahweh "Proclaims" judgment on His chosen people because of their sin against Him. Chapters 4 and 5 give us the "Prophecies" for the Jews in the near future, in their day some 700 years before the birth of Jesus, and in these days as well.
Micah 6 is a "Plea" for the Jews to repent of their sins and become His people for the purpose that He brought them into existence in the first place. As we come to Micah 7 we see that He will "Pardon" the Jews for their sins when they turn to Him.
This brings us to our key verse, verse 18, that is the end result of Micah’s understanding of what Yahweh is and has been doing with the Jews. Starting in verse 7 we see the Prophet’s prayer for himself and his people to get their hearts right.
The prayer also reveals that the enemies of the Jews will pay a price when the Lord does pardon His chosen people and takes care of these enemies. Verse 16 even says that the enemies will be amazed at what the Lord is doing with the Jews and the judgment that comes upon them, as Israel’s enemies.
There is so much more here in our "extended reading" for you to study but let me point to the great promise that Yahweh makes to the Jews found in verse 20. He says He will perform all the truth that He gave in the promises to the Jews.
These promises are found in the four covenants that the Lord made with the Jewish people down through the years. The first was the "Abrahamic Covenant", Genesis 12, made to Abraham that Yahweh would make him a great nation through the "sons of promise", Isaac and Jacob.
The "Land Covenant", Deuteronomy 30, is the eternal promise for the Jews and the "land" that Yahweh will give them at the time of the Kingdom. Speaking of the Kingdom, it is to be an eternal Kingdom, headquartered in Jerusalem with the Messiah, Jesus Christ on the "throne" in a "Temple" on the Temple Mount, as promised by the "Davidic Covenant", 2 Samuel 7.
The "New Covenant" is given, not to the Church, but to the Jewish people, Jeremiah 31:31, and it will be fulfilled when the Lord puts His Word in the hearts of the Jews and they become His people and Yahweh becomes their God.
This is the answer to that awesome question found in our key verse for today, Micah 7:18, "Who is a God like unto thee?" Of course, the answer is found in the devotional readings from the great Old Testament Prophet Micah.
The prophecies of this book are at the point of being fulfilled, the stage is set, all the actors are in place and the curtain is about to go up for the last act. There is only one thing that must happen before this all happens and that’s the Rapture of the Church, which could happen today, keep looking up!
PRAYER THOT: Dear Lord, thank you for such a great book like Micah in which we can find the reality of a "promising keeping God" and the truth of where we are today, in your plan for the future in this world. Help me to live in light of these truths as I await the Rapture.
For further study –Micah 7:7-20
What an outstanding question is asked in our key verse for our devotional reading today. The question goes along with the title of the book we have been looking at in our devotional readings. "Micah" actually means in the Hebrew, "Who is a God like Yahweh".
We have seen in Micah 1-3 that Yahweh "Proclaims" judgment on His chosen people because of their sin against Him. Chapters 4 and 5 give us the "Prophecies" for the Jews in the near future, in their day some 700 years before the birth of Jesus, and in these days as well.
Micah 6 is a "Plea" for the Jews to repent of their sins and become His people for the purpose that He brought them into existence in the first place. As we come to Micah 7 we see that He will "Pardon" the Jews for their sins when they turn to Him.
This brings us to our key verse, verse 18, that is the end result of Micah’s understanding of what Yahweh is and has been doing with the Jews. Starting in verse 7 we see the Prophet’s prayer for himself and his people to get their hearts right.
The prayer also reveals that the enemies of the Jews will pay a price when the Lord does pardon His chosen people and takes care of these enemies. Verse 16 even says that the enemies will be amazed at what the Lord is doing with the Jews and the judgment that comes upon them, as Israel’s enemies.
There is so much more here in our "extended reading" for you to study but let me point to the great promise that Yahweh makes to the Jews found in verse 20. He says He will perform all the truth that He gave in the promises to the Jews.
These promises are found in the four covenants that the Lord made with the Jewish people down through the years. The first was the "Abrahamic Covenant", Genesis 12, made to Abraham that Yahweh would make him a great nation through the "sons of promise", Isaac and Jacob.
The "Land Covenant", Deuteronomy 30, is the eternal promise for the Jews and the "land" that Yahweh will give them at the time of the Kingdom. Speaking of the Kingdom, it is to be an eternal Kingdom, headquartered in Jerusalem with the Messiah, Jesus Christ on the "throne" in a "Temple" on the Temple Mount, as promised by the "Davidic Covenant", 2 Samuel 7.
The "New Covenant" is given, not to the Church, but to the Jewish people, Jeremiah 31:31, and it will be fulfilled when the Lord puts His Word in the hearts of the Jews and they become His people and Yahweh becomes their God.
This is the answer to that awesome question found in our key verse for today, Micah 7:18, "Who is a God like unto thee?" Of course, the answer is found in the devotional readings from the great Old Testament Prophet Micah.
The prophecies of this book are at the point of being fulfilled, the stage is set, all the actors are in place and the curtain is about to go up for the last act. There is only one thing that must happen before this all happens and that’s the Rapture of the Church, which could happen today, keep looking up!
PRAYER THOT: Dear Lord, thank you for such a great book like Micah in which we can find the reality of a "promising keeping God" and the truth of where we are today, in your plan for the future in this world. Help me to live in light of these truths as I await the Rapture.