Sunday Service Online Stream

This page has the notes for the sermon and links for songs used during children’s music time each week. Scroll down to the bottom for the children’s info.

God’s Strange Work of Judgment

Sunday, October 13, 2024
Pastor Jojo Ma

 

8 For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. 9 For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. 10 Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all; in Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust. 11 Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame; the inhabitants of Zaanan do not come out; the lamentation of Beth-ezel shall take away from you its standing place. 12 For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem. 13 Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish; it was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel. 14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel. 15 I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam. 16 Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.

Micah loves God, but he also loves the people of God, his own people. And that is why his heart is hurting because he knows how good God is and also how bad the peoples’ choices and sins are.

It’s not just that the people have violated God’s law and He is an angry Judge. It’s also that the people have committed spiritual adultery and God is an angry Husband. It’s very personal.

8 For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. 9 For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.

Ez 18:23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?

Lam 3:32-33 though He cause grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love; for He does not afflict from His heart or grieve the children of men.

Thomas Goodwin, The Heart of Christ in Heaven towards Sinners on Earth [1651]

Do you know what is God’s heart towards you?

8 For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches.

Job 30:29 I am a brother of jackals and a companion of ostriches.

Isaiah 34:13 Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches.

Jeremiah 49:33 Hazor shall become a haunt of jackals, an everlasting waste; no man shall dwell there.

9 For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.

In vv10-15, Micah writes about God’s “strange work” of judgment in poetic form using wordplay and puns.

10 Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all.

2 Sam 1:20 Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice.

10…in Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust.

11 Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame.

12 For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem.

Ruth 1:20 Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath.

16 Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.

Job 1:20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.

This makes us really ask: Is sin worth it? Are the temporary pleasures of disobedience worth the consequences?

Does Christ-likeness characterize our everyday living? Are we repenting daily? Are we fighting the good fight and forsaking the idols of this world and of our own hearts? Are we going hard after Jesus and loving him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength?

Final judgment is coming to this world one day. Let’s be secure in Christ and leading others into his saving arms. He would rather save than condemn. That’s his heart for the world.