December 30, 2019 - Reflections on the God revealed in Nahum

“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 4:16-21(NIV) 

This well-known account of our Lord Jesus identifying Himself as the One whom Isaiah prophesied about, is very specific in its description of our Lord’s use of the Old Testament. He doesn’t identify chapter and verse before He read the passage He was looking for, but our bibles have a text note that links back to Isaiah 61:1,2.
There are two questions that come to mind as we lay our English translations of Isaiah 61:1,2 and Luke 4:18,19 beside each other;
Our first question is - why would the scroll our Lord read have “recovery of sight for the blind” when it doesn’t appear in our English translations of the Hebrew text? The answer is simple, for the scroll our Lord read from is the Greek translation of the Hebrew called the Septuagint or the LXX (the 70). If you Google “Septuagint Isaiah 61:1,2” you will find an English translation, and this question is answered.
Our second question is - why would our Lord stop His recitation of Isaiah 61:2 mid sentence? Our Lord was proclaiming “the year of the Lord’s favor” and yet the Isaiah text has 3 parallel statements of the proclamation;
            the year of the Lord’s favour
            the day of vengeance of our God (day of recompence in the LXX)
            the comfort of all who mourn.
Why would our Lord not quote the entire verse?
This second question is a little harder to answer, for it requires us to think theologically and consider the wider teaching of Scripture about our God. 
I believe Nahum 1 sheds some light for us, for we see two descriptions of God in Nahum 1 that many people think are contradictory, for how can God be both avenging and good at the same time? God is good to those who take refuge in Him, who trust in Him, and yet He pursues His foes into the realm of darkness. He is both because people take two different positions with God - some draw near to Him through Christ Jesus and yet more refuse to bow their knee and are His foe.
According to Nahum 1 God is also slow to anger and mighty in power. This age or year that we are in right now - the year of the Lord’s favour - will end with a day of vengeance, but only when God comes to the end of His patience. On that day only those who have taken refuge in Christ will be spared, all others will be utterly and completely destroyed. Christ came to usher in this age of grace in which we live, when all who call on the Lord will saved, for the Spirit is poured on all who believe.
Our Lord will come back in power and when He comes back He will finish the sentence of Isaiah 61:2.

December 20, 2019 - Suggested Reading Colossians 1 for the December 22nd message on Isaiah 9:1-7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Colossians 1:19-20 (NIV)

As we read the first chapter of Colossians, I am struck by how Paul weaves the power of the Mighty God through the opening of his letter to this Gentile church, and yet what caused me to pick this chapter as part of the Scripture that brings understanding to Isaiah’s prophecy in 9:6, is Paul’s description of Christ’s work on the cross in verses 19 and 20. Surely Paul understood our Lord Jesus Christ as being the Prince of Peace that Isaiah saw!

Notice that just as a prince is subordinate to the king in our world, in this chapter our Lord is subordinate to His Father God.

Notice also that the mission of this One who had all the fullness of God, was reconciliation of all things on earth and heaven to God, by making peace through His blood on the cross.

The greatest dispute in history - the dispute between the Creator and His rebellious creatures was settled by Christ Jesus on the cross. He made peace through His blood - not just an ending of conflict but true peace where Creator and creature live together in harmony.

We were enemies in our minds because of our evil behaviour - oh that I would live as a child of God and not an enemy of God!

But now we are holy in His sight without blemish - oh that I would live my life as how my Heavenly Father sees me!

IF – a small Word with a large meaning that millions who celebrate Christmas miss.

IF we continue in our faith, established and firm, not moving from the hope held out in the gospel. It is faith that connected us to the grace in which we now live - a full understanding of the message of the gospel brought to us by the apostles, a belief in that understanding, and a life that reflects that belief. Faith comes from hearing the gospel, we hear, we believe, and we worship, and out of that worship our life flows as Creator and creature live together in harmony.

Oh, Friend this Prince of Peace we worship is alive in us, which is our hope of glory.

I wonder does this peace we have with God bring us peace with those around us?

December 19, 2019 - Suggested Reading Hebrews 2 for the December 22nd message on Isaiah 9:1-7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.”

Hebrews 2:11-13 (NIV) 

(Ps22:22) And again, “I will put my trust in him.” (Isa 8:17) And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.” (Isa 8:18)

Of the four titles given to our Lord Jesus by Isaiah 9:6, Everlasting Father seems confusing because we wonder how our Lord could be known as Father. Some answer this question by referring to the Trinity, and attempting to show that Isaiah was revealing Jesus as God through this title, but it seems like the title Mighty God covers that task quite well, and that the title Everlasting Father might have a different revelation in mind.

It seems to me that another aspect our Lord’s reign as King is in view here, for although it is hard for us to relate in a family way to the Lord Jesus. He is family! This King of kings, Lord of lords, who brings counsel and power and peace into our lives is family.

Not family of our doing- but what love God has lavished on us that we would be called the children of God, born again not of a human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

Not family as we understand family, for we all recognize that there is nothing everlasting about our family- we mourn the loss of our loved ones, but we will never mourn the loss of our Everlasting Father. Rather we will enjoy sweet, sweet fellowship with this Everlasting Father - our Lord Jesus Christ.

Not father as we understand father, for we all recognize that human fathers are at best a shadow of the image of our Heavenly Father, and at worst a grotesque distortion of all that a father is supposed to be. But Father in the sense of Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God forever! Dad’s are to be wise and mighty, and this Dad is both – forever.

Friend I long to walk with my Everlasting Father and to bask in the privilege of being in the family of God, seeing Him in His glory and sharing in His glory.

The wonderful truth is that I can experience this familial kinship now, this side of glory, as I seek His face, listening to Him, worshipping Him and experiencing the wonder of the wisdom and protection of my Everlasting Father.

December 18, 2019 - Suggested Reading Luke 9 for the December 22nd message on Isaiah 9:1-7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39 (NIV) 

Isaiah saw that our Lord Jesus was more than a Wonderful Counselor like other wise men in the world, for Isaiah saw Christ Jesus in His glory and declares Him to be Mighty God in Isaiah 9:6.

Surely more Christians have found encouragement in the 8th chapter of Romans than in any other Scripture text. After confronting the demoralizing truth of chapter 7 that there is a battle being waged in my inner person, Paul turns to the truth that we are no longer under condemnation and are not alone in our battle, but are united with Christ and indwelt by the Spirit, and bound for glory once the struggles of this life are over.

Paul then turns His attention to the question that comes to all true Christians (false believers don’t ask this question), “Am I still in the love of God through Christ Jesus?”. The answer according to Paul is a resounding YES!

Paul declares what Isaiah could see - simply that our God is Mightier than any other power in creation. Paul does it in a dramatic, poetic fashion ensuring that all the powers are covered and yet I wonder if we truly believe it.

Do we see Christ Jesus as greater than our sin?

My assurance of the hope I have in Christ does not rest on me and my efforts, but rests solely on the Mighty God, who saved me from my sin, anointed me with His Holy Spirit and who will bring me to His side in glory because of His unfailing love for me.

It is true that when I am in a period where I wander from Him, clutching unconfessed sin to my heart- it is true in those times that I don’t hear the assurance of the Spirit (vs16), rather what I hear is repent John repent for that is what I need to hear. Yet it is also true that the presence of that convicting voice is a reminder to me that I am His and that nothing can separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

Surely He is a Mighty God.

December 17, 2019 - Suggested Reading Luke 9 for the December 22nd message on Isaiah 9:1-7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.””

Luke 9:35 (NIV) 

Isaiah prophesied that our Lord Jesus would be called Wonderful Counselor, and it seems like this first Name is the bedrock upon which the righteous rule of Christ is established in a person’s life, and it seems that the other 3 Names proceed from this Name.

I wonder if you are like a dear friend of mine that would become passionate about this text and loudly declare that there are 5 Names not  - Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace? My dear friend is with His Lord now and no doubt uses all 5 Names to address his Lord, but for those of us here on this earth- the scholars tell us that the Hebrew contains 4 Names, not 5.

This first Name reveals His primary role in our lives, if we would willing seek His face, and listen to what He tells us- we would recognize Him as a Wonderful Counselor, for His counsel is wonderful in every way.

The lords of old told us serfs who to marry, where to live, what job to take up – they managed every aspect of the lives of the serfs. How much more should we the servants/slaves of the Risen Lord follow His instructions in every aspect of our lives?

We can read of the kings of Israel and their counselors, and see that a kingdom is established through a multitude of wise counselors. Now if a king needs wisdom outside of himself than surely, we need wisdom outside of ourselves. Of course, we all know people who only listen when they speak, and perhaps we find ourselves engaged in that prideful, self-centered behaviour but I hope that we all know the importance of listening when our Lord speaks, and have experienced the wonderful results of following His counsel.

It is how we came to faith- by hearing His voice above all other voices- for His sheep recognize His voice. It is how His kingdom came to our lives, and how we entered His kingdom, and it is how we see His kingdom and righteousness expand in our lives. How do we recognize His voice above all the other voices this day? It starts with deliberate action on our part to LISTEN. We find His voice in His Word, and that inner voice that tells us to go right or left (Isa 30:21) will never contradict His written Word, and actually I seem to hear that inner voice clearer in direct proportion to the time I spend in His Word.

We will never see Him revealed as Mighty God in our lives, until we accept Him as Wonderful Counselor, listen to what He tells us, and apply it in our lives.    

December 16, 2019 - Suggested Reading Psalm 110 for the December 22nd message on Isaiah 9:1-7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!””

Psalm 110:2 (NIV) 

This little psalm is a powerful Messianic psalm that is all about the rule of our Lord Jesus. For not only is Psalm 110:1 quoted by our Lord in Matthew 22:44, by Peter in Acts 2:34, and by the writer to the Hebrews in 1:13, as well as verse 4 in Hebrews 7:17, but the concept of Christ seated at the right hand of God is repeated over and over again in the New Testament. This is a powerful Word from God regarding the present state of our Lord - He is right now at the right hand of God.

I wonder if you can find encouragement in the truth that He rules in the midst of His enemies?

People scoff at our belief that our Lord is ruling now in heaven, and point to everything that is bad and the evil happening around us as proof that He doesn’t reign.

Oh friend He reigns in the presence of His enemies.

Just think about our state as a Christians - we are saved through the sanctifying Presence of the Holy Spirit, brought to life - alive in Christ. Yet that life of Christ within us - that precious reign of His happens inside of sinful me - is a reign surrounded by His enemies. Make no mistake - my flesh is the enemy of Christ. My eyes, my ears, my mind, my hands, my feet, my heart - oh my heart - my deceitful and wicked heart. Yet He reigns within me and He will reign in every part of me, in direct proportion to my willingness to declare Him King and go forth in holy battle.

I wonder if you can find encouragement in the truth that He is a priest forever?

Do the Words of Paul in Romans 8:34 bring encouragement to your heart? As he meditated on the truths in Psalm 110 Paul wrote; Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Interceding for us – FOREVER! Wow!

I wonder if you can find encouragement in the last Words of this Psalm, as it describes the future Day of Wrath where our King and Priest will come in judgment and destroy all those opposed to Him. What a glorious Day that will be, when my King destroys my sinful flesh and cloths me in immortality!

Oh friend be encouraged today in your faith in our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

May we be among the young men coming to the Lord like dew from the morning’s womb.

December 14, 2019 - Suggested Reading Zechariah 7 for the December 15th message on Isaiah 9:1-7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“This is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.”

Zechariah 7:9 (NIV) 

When we think in courtroom terms we tend to think that mercy and justice are opposite to one another. This verse teaches us that mercy and compassion are an integral part of true justice. Zechariah was a prophet to the people whose story is told in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. These Jews who had returned from Babylon, and rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls and temple came to Zechariah with a worship question - should we mourn and fast in the fifth month? God’s answer given to Zechariah reiterates once again that true worship is a matter of life. Our natural tendency is to separate our worship time from how we live - but that is a false separation and will lead us into ruin. The LORD reminds the people that the prophets told their parents not to pretend to worship God while suppressing God’s people and because they wouldn’t stop that foolish practise God ruined their land and cast them out into Babylon. The Law tells us to love your neighbour as yourself, however our Lord Jesus tells us to love each other as Christ has loved us. This is true worship! It honours our Lord and His love for us, and it is a reflection of His heart.

How can we hurt those whom God loves and still expect that we are right with God?

How can we say and do hurtful things to our family while in the car on the way to church, and yet come inside and think that we have pleased God and are right with Him because we participate in a worship service for 70 minutes?

The apostle Paul in his charge to the elders at Ephesus tells them to shepherd (govern) the people in their church who were bought with Christ’s own blood.

I have found it helpful in my dealings with other Christians to tell myself “Watch yourself John, that person who is about to receive your vent – was bought with the blood of Christ - careful what you say and what you do.”

December 13, 2019 - Suggested Reading Zephaniah 3 for the December 15th message on Isaiah 9:1-7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“The LORD within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.”

Zephaniah 3:5 (NIV) 

I prefer to see myself in the restoration promise of this chapter found in verses 9 thru 20, I am after all a Gentile, one of the worshippers God has purified through His Spirit and brought to Him from beyond the rivers of Cush. Praise His holy Name!

I don’t want to see myself in the first 8 verses of this chapter - yet how many times have I known no shame as I did what was wrong, refused to be corrected and did violence to the Law of God, in how I treated the people around me. From where I sit it seems to me that most of my brothers and sisters in Christ are on occasion in the same boat that I too readily occupy.

The LORD was within Jerusalem, being righteous and doing justice - never failing them- yet they failed Him – instead of His righteousness and justice being revealed through their lives, they oppressed the people around them.

The LORD is within us through His Spirit, being righteous and doing justice - never failing us - yet we fail Him we fail to love those people around us.

May God show us our true state.

May we feel shame.

May we run to Him confessing our sin - for He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, cleansing us from all unrighteousness - for faithful, just and righteous is He!

December 12, 2019 - Suggested Reading Micah 4 for the December 15th message on Isaiah 9:1-7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”

Micah 4:3 (NIV)

Micah and Isaiah ministered to the same people at the same time, though Isaiah’s ministry was longer and seemed to be centered in Jerusalem, whereas Micah ministered in the countryside.

The message of Isaiah 9 and Micah 4 are so similar that people who think the bible is created by human reasoning might wonder which prophet copied the other. Of course, you and I know that God says the same things through His many different apostles and prophets, and that a wise person pays special attention to those things that are repeated by our LORD. He is saying it again for a reason - He wants us to learn something, to see Him more clearly and to worship Him.

In Micah the weapons of war are broken down, whereas in Isaiah the boots and cloaks of warriors are burned, and yet both images convey the message that the rule of the King will eliminate war. 

I enjoyed history class in school, especially the parts about our wars, and when you study how they get started you realize it doesn’t take much! Disagreement over a boundary, over an insult, over a woman, over just about anything will get a war going- and those root causes is what Micah is addressing here in Micah 4. The King of kings settles disputes between people, which Christians who follow our Lord and His apostles’ teachings realize quickly for His righteous rule in our lives, makes it possible to live in peace with one another. Yet there is still war to this day, we still train for war and go to war, even Christian fighting Christian, and so we know that while we taste this righteous rule in part now, the full reality of a world with many people from many nations and tribes and languages living in peace without dispute is yet to come. 

Until it comes each of God’s children are called to live their lives without dispute. How can we dispute with each other while living in the grace of our Lord Jesus who settled the great dispute between us and God on the cross through His body and blood? 

When it does come, through the glorious return of our Lord to this earth, what we call social justice will not be an abstract idea but will be practised by all.

Come Lord Jesus come

December 11, 2019 - Suggested Reading Amos 5 for the December 15th message on Isaiah 9:1-7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.”

Amos 5:7 (NIV) 

These two biblical Hebrew Words (sdq and mispat) when they appear together form a hendiadys – which is the expression of a single idea by two words. The single idea expressed is what we call social justice. The English Words are justice and righteousness; justice having the sense of settling disputes and righteousness having the sense of being right in my actions towards God and my
fellow humans.

Amos uses the expression “there are those who” in verses 7, 10 and 12, and a look at those verses paint a picture of a terrible state for anyone to live in. It seems as you read about bribes and lies and courts that don’t deliver justice, that their situation in the Northern Kingdom of Israel is not much different than our modern western society, nor if we can believe reports from around the world, much different from any other society in existence. Humanity shares a common problem when it comes to justice and righteousness, for there seems to be an inexorable move in every society towards turning justice into bitterness and casting righteousness to the ground.

How can we possibly see justice rolling on like a river and righteousness like a never failing stream as the LORD calls us to in verse 24? 

I love the language of a river when it comes to God and His grace - you can dam a river, but you can’t stop it, it is inexorable. You can divert a river, but you can’t stop it, it is inexorable. There is pressure from on high, and so it flows. God’s grace is being poured out from on high, He pours out into His people as they seek His kingdom and His righteousness in their lives.

How can we possibly see justice rolling on like a river and righteousness like a never failing stream? Only by breaking up the dam of pride and envy and conceit, by seeking His face in humility and repentance will that dam be broken and social justice flow out of my life. As each child of God does this, our lives will be marked by social justice - in our families, our schools and our communities.   

December 10, 2019 - Suggested Reading Hosea 2 for the December 15th message on Isaiah 9:1-7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.”

Hosea 2:19 (NIV) 

I chose Isaiah 9:1-7 as a passage for Parkdale to meditate on as we approach Christmas because this historical Christmas passage features in its language about Christ Jesus, the emphasis the Minor Prophets place on righteousness and justice. This emphasis by the Minor Prophets is rightly taught in our day and age as the duty of Christians to engage in social justice, in terms of defending the weak and standing up for the rights of the oppressed, and  restraining our natural inclination to lie, defraud and kill one another. However, in a country like Canada where our laws and society are heavily influenced by the Gospel and therefore have 200 years of public discourse about these duties- our public sense of what justice and righteousness are seems to differ somewhat from the biblical sense. However slight that difference may appear on the surface it will be good for us to examine the passages in the Minor Prophets that mention righteousness and justice, in order that we might be careful to have God’s understanding and not our culture’s understanding.

Hosea chapter 2 is a difficult chapter to sit and read, because of the graphic comparison between how God’s people treat God and how an adulterous spouse treats their faithful spouse. Adultery is ugly, the ramifications and consequences of adultery are uglier - especially the effect upon the children involved(vs4). How wonderful it is to finally arrive at verse 19 and hear our God speak to us about the wonderful future (for the Jews) which is our present situation in Christ Jesus! Our relationship with God through our union with Christ Jesus, is better in every way than the relationship between the Jewish people and God. It’s a different marriage because God has made it different – He has taken the responsibility for both sides of the marriage – it seems that our part is to acknowledge the LORD. So let us acknowledge Him today, let us meditate on and thank Him for the righteousness, justice, love, compassion and faithfulness that he has brought into us - into our relationship and into us. We have all that we need to be the people that He desires us to be. The first step to being righteous and just and loving and compassionate and faithful in our lives today, is to acknowledge that we are in spiritual union with the One truly righteous and just and loving and compassionate and faithful.

Praise His holy Name for betrothing us.

December 6, 2019 - Suggested Reading Luke 1:39-56 for the December 8th message on Micah 7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

Luke 1:54-55 (NIV) 

I never tire of reading the account of a young Mary travelling to her older cousin Elisabeth’s house, receiving Elisabeth’s blessing, obviously taking it to heart for she breaks into a wonderful song of praise. What a work of the Holy Spirit!

I want us to notice that the language in Mary’s song echoes the last verse of Micah’s prophecy - “You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.” – Micah is convinced that God will act in the future to forgive His people and bring about that time of rebuilding prophesied in verse 11. Now Mary saw the arrival of Jesus as God’s mercy arriving to earth as a result of God’s faithfulness to an oath He swore long ago. She sees in the birth of Jesus the fulfillment of Micah’s words of faith.

I wonder friend if you believe that today - right now – this moment - on the part of the earth that you occupy, that the time for rebuilding in your life has come. That’s how Mary saw the arrival of Christ to her and to her people, do we see the arrival of Christ in our life the same Mary did?

If we believe this, and admit that for many of the Jews in Mary’s day, the arrival of the Christ brought destruction, then we must believe that how we respond to Christ determines whether or not we will rebuild or as Micah says “lick dust”.

May the Holy Spirit fill each of us with His Presence, a sense of His holiness that shows us our sin, and drives us to flee to our God for His mercy and forgiveness. For all who respond to Christ in this way, today is the first day of the rebuilding of their lives.

What is my response to the Christ?

December 5, 2019 - Suggested Reading Psalm 113 for the December 8th message on Micah 7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high”

Psalm 113:5 (NIV) 

Just a little psalm - surely we could memorize this little psalm?

Praise the LORD is how the psalm starts and ends, and we could say that the application of this psalm for a child of God is to open our mouths, let loose our tongues and let the praise that is in our hearts come out into the air. The amazing reality of this age of grace we live in is that every moment somewhere around this globe praise is rising towards our God from the mouths of His children, because daylight is 24/7 as the earth spins, and because there are Christians all over the face of this earth waking up and praising God. The only question is
– will my voice join in with this blessed choir.

This psalm gives us the reasons to join that choir - for our God is sits above the heavens and stoops down to the heavens and the earth - raising the poor from the dust - the needy from the ash heap, taking them from disgrace into palaces AND He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children.

Oh friend - why shouldn’t we praise the LORD?

Praise Him, Praise Him all ye little children - God is love  - God is love…

December 4, 2019 - Suggested Reading Psalm 89 for the December 8th message on Micah 7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?”

Psalm 89:6 (NIV) 

Oh friend can you imagine standing in the throne room of God, with arms raised, a heart burning within, a face that glows and a mouth that sings - beautifully sings - the praises of our Lord?

Can you imagine gazing upon His holiness, looking towards God and seeing Him surrounded by holy wondrous creatures that sing Holy, Holy, Holy? We might on this side of heaven wonder at the descriptions of these creatures that surround Him, but surely there in His Presence, we will see them in their glory, and marvel.

Ethan the Ezrahite envisioned the Lord in His holiness surrounded by great and holy creatures who make us look smaller and weaker than ants, and yet those creatures are nothing compared to our God!

Surely Ethan and the Jewish people needed this vision of God, as they endured the reality of their situation on earth. Thrown out of their land, with their temple in ruins, held captive by foreign nations, they needed to see God high and lifted up, and they needed to say with their mouths that this mighty God is surrounded by faithfulness (vs8) and that not only is His arm powerful, strong and exalted (vs13), but He sits on a throne that rests on a foundation of justice and righteousness from which love and faithfulness flow (vs14).

Oh friend can you see this God today?

Can you see Him high and lifted up?

Can you see His eyes of love turned towards you?

Yes He has allowed this situation you are in, He has the power to fix it, to heal it and yet He doesn’t.

We don’t know why He won’t use His power this way -  BUT we do know that it is not His lack of faithfulness nor His lack of love RATHER it is His love, His faithfulness, His justice, and His righteousness that keeps Him from snatching us out of the situation until … until … 

Then one day we won’t have to imagine - for we will see Him with our own eyes, we will behold His beauty and we will sing at the top of our voice to the God who delivered us.

December 3, 2019 - Suggested Reading Psalm 74 for the December 8th message on Micah 7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“But God is my King from long ago; he brings salvation on the earth.”

Psalm 74:12 (NIV) 

The psalm is the prayer of the people of Judah while in the darkness prophesied by Micah in verses 8 thru 10 in chapter 7. The temple is destroyed, their enemy mocks their God, they have no signs from God, nor do they have a Word from God through a prophet. But they do have the words of Micah and Isaiah and Jeremiah and the other prophets of long ago, and so they know and believe that God will save them - as verse 12 of this Psalm states so emphatically. They believe and yet while they are in the midst of the darkness it feels like forever - “O God, why have you rejected us forever?”

Now we know looking back by reading the birth account of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke that God did not reject them forever. We know by reading the crucifixion account of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel that God did not forsake His Son forever, but raised Him from the dead and we know from the Gospels and the Epistles that those of us who believe in Christ Jesus are  born again into His life, and we are in Him, never to be rejected again. So we know in our heads that the trouble that come to us, the darkness that overwhelms us at times is not forever and has a perfecting purpose- but our souls need to be told what our heads know.

Don’t miss this in the Psalms - don’t miss the truth that the psalms are songs, meant to be sung, for our souls need to hear in the midst of the trouble that has come upon us that -“God is my King from long ago, He brings salvation on the earth.”

Most of the time we can listen to music as David did and have our souls comforted, but there are times when we need to say the words with our own lips, when our soul desperately needs to hear what our head already knows.

December 2, 2019 - Suggested Reading Psalm 30 for the December 8th message on Micah 7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

Psalm 30:5 (NIV) 

All of us who write (emails, letters, texts, all forms of writing) understand something about structure, or the arrangement of words, in order to convey an intended message. The bible is written in a specific way, by God through His prophets in order to convey a specific message. We can see that Micah 7 contains a simple, easily discernible structure; 

a statement of misery over sin and a description of that sin in verses 1 thru 6, 

a statement of hope in the midst of darkness and a description of that hope in verses 7 thru 10, 

a prophetic utterance that a day (time period) of expansion will come for God’s people, and a description of that day vs 11 thru 17, 

and then a statement of God’s character and a description of how He deals with all of us
(vs 18 thru 20).

Micah is conveying the message that Judah’s sin will bring about a time of darkness brought about by foreign nations, and yet there will come a day of expansion for Judah which involves the nations coming to Judah through God’s miraculous intervention in the world according to His character of a God who forgives sin.

Psalm 30 was written for the dedication of the temple - which was called “a house of prayer” that place where God would hear from heaven and bring help to His people. This psalm is a song of a person who was delivered from sickness and death, and it contains praise for God’s actions and a description of the prayers the sinner offered to God while being afflicted. The sinner felt secure until the LORD hid His face, and then the sinner cried for mercy, and God turned his wailing into dancing through God's action in his life.

The truth that links Psalm 30 and Micah 7 together is found in verse 5 - for the anger that burns against Judah for their false worship and lack of love will only last for a moment compared to the favour of God that lasts a lifetime. The misery Micah experiences, the darkness the nation will go into is not comparable to the favour and love and blessing that will be their end state.

This eternal favour of God comes to the Jews and to us the nations in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, and becomes real in this life, when we pray the prayer of Psalm 30. 

Oh friend let us end the night that grips us, let us cry out for mercy, confess the sin of pride and self reliance and enter into the rejoicing of the morning, living in the light of His favour.

Let us sing the praises of the Lord, praise His holy Name.    

November 30, 2019 - Suggested Reading Philippians 1 for the December 1st message on Micah 7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

Philippians 1:9-11 (NIV) 

God’s people are called to live lives of love.

Micah knows that his people are not prepared for God to visit them, for their unloving lives will bring about God’s punishment on them, and the words of the prophets (watchmen) will come true. This knowledge causes Micah misery as he realizes the truth of the situation, and all he can do is decide for himself to hope in God and wait for God to move in answer to the prayer of his heart.

Paul wants his people in Philippi to be prepared for the Lord’s return, so he prays that they will love with an abundance of knowledge and insight, so that they can discern what is best and be blameless and pure on the day the Lord comes back.

I think this is a timely prayer for us to consider at Parkdale today.

There is much talk these days about love in our Christian community, with some accusing us of lacking love because of positions we might take on certain types of behaviour carried on by people identifying themselves as Christian. Notice that according to this prayer in Philippians, love is not to be a blind love, but a knowledgeable love, a love that has insight and discernment, and a love that leads to purity and blamelessness. Paul’s goal is for us to be filled with the fruit of righteousness, the very metaphor that Micah can’t find in his people. The metaphor of fruit is used throughout Scripture- simply put- you reap what you sow.

The fruit of righteousness is behaviour that is exhibited by people who are in right standing with God, these behaviours flow from our right relationship with God - right relationship 1st, behaviours 2nd. We know how a Christian sows righteousness by that verse in 1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Yes, we are righteous through faith in Christ Jesus - His righteousness becomes our righteousness, at the point of conversion - Praise God!! Yet we allow unrighteousness to crash the party by refusing to confess our sins. To confess sin is to admit that a behaviour is sin. Those who say to us that Christian love means we recognize people as righteous who refuse to admit their behaviour is sin – are rejecting the prayer of Paul for a life of love for the Philippians. It is impossible to be filled with the fruit of righteousness without righteousness in our lives. If there is no fruit of righteousness in our lives, then we are in the same state that people of Micah’s day were in- we are not ready for the Lord to appear in power.

November 29, 2019 - Suggested Reading Luke 12 for the December 1st message on Micah 7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Luke 12:53 (NIV) 

What do you think?

Do you think our Lord is using the words of Micah 7:6 as he tells His disciples what to expect in this world as they make Him their priority?

Could it be that our Lord is quoting Micah 7:6 as He instructs His disciples on what family life will look like for a true worshipper of God during the “church age” – or the “day of grace” – or the “age of the Spirit” – that is the time between the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost and the triumphal return of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Whether your answer is “yes” or “no”, the similarities between Luke 12:53 and Micah 7:6 must cause us to wonder if the prophet Micah was given a glimpse into the church age by the Holy Spirit.

Could it be that verses 1 thru 7 describe Canada in 2019?

It sure seems like the faithful are disappearing from our land - the latest statistics show that evangelicals are shrinking as a percentage of the general population.

It also seems as if we are in a trend where children of Christians are leaving the faith at a greater rate than previous generations.

Our Lord told us that His presence as Lord in our lives would bring division into our families.  

May we be the ones who watch in hope for the LORD and wait for God our Saviour!

November 27, 2019 - Suggested Reading Isaiah 57 for the December 1st message on Micah 7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.”

Isaiah 57:1 (NIV)

Micah is in misery in chapter 7 because the faithful have been swept from the land - it is worth the time reflecting on whether Micah speaks on God's behalf here- could God be in misery? is being grieved the same as being in misery? - or is the prophet speaking of his own heart as he sees the faithful dying off?

It can be a terrible thing when the one who is faithful to God is removed from a family. We have all seen it - the family might all come to church and no one seems more spiritual than the other, but after a death the family drifts away and you realize that the one who died was the faithful one.

It happens in a community as well, there is one who is shining like a light, and who is the salt of the earth, God sweeps them out of a community through death and the community flounders.

What we see in Micah 7 is the regular way God deals with a community, for He removed Lot and his family from Sodom, He removed Noah and his family from the flood, and He removed Joseph and his family from the famine in Canaan, while Jeremiah 24 tells us that the exile to Babylon was God’s way of protecting the “good figs” while destroying the idolatrous community. It sure seems that Matthew 24, I Thessalonians 5 and Revelation 11 speak of God removing the righteous at the end of this age, before dealing with the final judgment of all the wicked and the renewing of the heavens and the earth.

Although we can acknowledge a general sense of how God operates in judgment, we still experience misery over the faithful being swept away. Part of that misery is the scorn we feel from the world around us typified by the popular song by Billy Joel called “The good die young”, as he tempts a young Catholic girl into sin by pointing out that sinners have more fun.

The first verse of Isaiah 57 is so helpful for those of us who find ourselves in this type of misery, for it raises a point which is never raised by those in the world. The righteous are taken away for their good, to spare them from evil. We focus on our loss and on our community’s loss- God asks us to focus on their gain, and on the truth that when the righteous start to disappear you can be sure that the evil days of judgment are coming, for He will spare the righteous the punishment of the wicked.

November 26, 2019 - Suggested Reading Job 19 for the December 1st message on Micah 7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

Job 19:25-27 (NIV) 

As we get ready to examine Micah’s great declaration of hope in the LORD in the midst of misery and family division prophesied in Micah 7:7, it will be good for us to consider for a moment- the oldest recorded emphatic declaration of hope in the LORD issued by a true worshipper in
abject misery.

Job’s statement in chapter 19 of what he knows, is an amazing declaration of the hope we have in Christ Jesus. We might wonder how someone could hope in Christ Jesus before our Lord was even born, and that wonder should lead us to worship a God above time, who only had 1 plan to save His people, and revealed that plan to prophets and worshippers in small glimpses thousands of years before our Lord was born in Bethlehem.

Job knows – his redeemer lives - to know that someone has paid the price for your sin and that your redeemer is alive – now that is hope!

Job knows – at the end he will stand on the earth – to know that there is an end to life as all humans to date have experienced it, and that when that end comes our Redeemer will stand on the earth (notice the word earth, not a cloud or heaven, but the earth) – now that is hope!

Job knows - after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God – that his body will be destroyed by death, and yet he knows that he will see God within his body, with his own eyes - the glorious truth of resurrection- now that is hope!

Job knows - I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another – to believe the doctrine of the resurrection is encouraging and brings hope BUT to know personally, that you will be welcomed by God, that you will be able to gaze upon His beauty and holiness is to have a wonderful assurance of your own salvation and standing with God - now that is hope!

Job knows - How my heart yearns within me! –We can fool others about our inner desires- but I hope we work hard at identifying what our heart longs for. Our final destination will be wherever our desires rest.

Do I long for the day I gaze on my Redeemer Christ Jesus?

Do I long for that day when the world as we know it will come to an end?

Do I long for the day when I will have a heavenly body instead of the earthly one I have now?

– now that is hope!

November 25, 2019 – Meditations on Micah 6:8

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

As we leave our time in Micah 6 in our AM service, I have been reflecting on the importance of the message of Micah 6:8 to everyone who calls themselves Christian.

That the Jewish people knew these requirements should be apparent to any reader of the Bible, especially in light of our Lord’s answer to the question about the greatest commandments - to love God with all that you are, and to love your neighbour as yourself - which is obviously a parallel of Micah 6:8. They knew that sacrifices were secondary and that receiving mercy from God and extending mercy to one another was primary, yet they persisted in their folly of going through the motions of observing corporate worship without any sign of worship in their everyday lives.

This behaviour of engaging in corporate worship without holiness in a person’s life is deadly. It not only destroys us, as we can see clearly in Micah it destroys our families, our churches and
our communities.

The Word our Lord used to describe this type of behaviour is hypocrite – for instance in Matthew 23:23 He says; “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” Clearly our Lord is telling us to observe corporate worship AND live a life of worship, but hypocrite is a nasty word that can throw Christians into a spiral of self destruction- and some feel like they have to stop involving themselves in corporate worship in order to not be a hypocrite.

Now there is a trap of the devil’s making! The only way that I can ever live the life of worship that I have been called to live is through genuine worship, how in the world am I going to worship God genuinely apart from attending corporate assemblies that gather in His Name?

We forget that it is only people who don’t believe in anything who can confidently claim not be a hypocrite – are we willing to drop our belief in God? I would say that being apostate is worse than being a hypocrite. At least a hypocrite can humble themselves and seek God’s grace to enable them to live the life God has planned for them.

As our Lord said - we should practice the latter without neglecting the former, and praise God –
He will give us the grace to do both!

Let us seek His face and His ways today, and before we know it the tag of hypocrite will slide off us into the dustbin of history.

November 6, 2019 - Suggested Reading 2 Samuel 24 for the November 10th message on Micah 5 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.””

2 Samuel 24:17 (NIV) 

What was the shepherd’s sin?

Where is the sin in taking a census of the fighting men?

It seems clear that taking the census was the sin – but I don’t remember seeing “Do not count your fighting men.” listed in the 10 commandments.

Consider Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” and Isaiah 31:1 “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.” and Micah 5:10,11 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will destroy your horses from among you and demolish your chariots. I will destroy the cities of your land and tear down all your strongholds.”

Self reliance - which is linked to pride – is trusting in human strength instead of the Lord’s strength and is a dreadful sin against God. God delivers us from this state of pride by stripping away all those things we rely on. He brings us into a place where we trust in Him and Him alone, the place that David was in on that threshing floor all those years ago, the same place that Paul was in as he pleaded for God to take away the thorn in his flesh, and received an answer that God’s power is made perfect in weakness. He brings us to this place of pure trust by stripping away those things we rely on.

As we consider this passage which describes the sheep suffering for the sin of the shepherd let us turn our minds towards the Great Shepherd who suffered for the sin of the sheep, and let us trust Him and only Him to equip us with what we need to do His will. Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen

November 5, 2019 - Suggested Reading Numbers 27 for the November 10th message on Micah 5 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

Numbers 27:21 (NIV)

I love Moses’ response to the LORD telling him that he would die outside of the promised land!

No whining or whinging for Moses - he had his eyes on God (who gives breath to all living things) and his eyes on God’s people (so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd) - so he asks God to appoint a leader over God’s people.

It is amazing how a focus on God and His people keeps us from whining - may God keep our eyes on Him and on His people.

For us as we prepare to experience the message of Micah 5, I picked Numbers 27 to expose us to one of the biblical definitions of a shepherd. Psalm 23 gives us a wonderful picture of the pastoral role of a shepherd, and Numbers 27 gives us a governmental picture of a shepherd.

In Numbers 27, in answer to Moses’ concern about God’s people not having a shepherd - God directs Moses to ensure that Joshua receives the spirit of leadership from Moses in a public ceremony so that the people will obey him, and that Joshua is to be the one who goes before the priests to seek direction from God, so that He would know what to command the people.

Joshua's shepherd role  for Israel is one of direction and government

My Baptist understanding of the role of pastor is formed primarily through the instructions given to Peter to feed God’s sheep and care for them. I don’t believe a pastor in a local church has any authority apart from the Word of God, and that there is no place for a pastor to direct a person in their life decisions. Though I have pastoral brothers who try to 'enlighten' me into taking on the mantle of authority over God's people.

It is Jesus who was given this mantle of authority - it was given to Him publicly at the Jordan in His baptism, again at the cross in His death and again in His tomb at His resurrection and again in a public heavenly ceremony at His ascension. Being an undershepherd in a local church does not place this mantle of authority over people's lives on my shoulders.

It is the Lord Jesus who is the One we are to obey, and it is the Lord Jesus who gives us the commands to go in and to go out.

You can put a man in our Lord’s place if you want - millions do it.

Why would you?

Why would you settle for a human giving you direction when the Lord Jesus Himself stands and shepherds you?

Seek His face. Seek His direction.

November 4, 2019 - Suggested Reading Matthew 2 for the November 10th message on Micah 5 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.”

Matthew 2:4 (NIV) 

We should have no doubt regarding the identity of the ruler and the remnant, as we read Micah 5 because the answer given to King Herod was Bethlehem in Judea, for the chief priests and teachers of the law knew that the prophet Micah wrote in 5:2 thru 4 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labour bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of
the earth."

The ruler that Micah sees and describes is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ, which means the remnant must be all of us who have placed our faith in Him as our Lord and Saviour. The use of Micah 5 by the chief priests should change the way we read and understand Micah 5.

How crazy was Herod’s response to the wonderful news from the wise men and the prophecy of God’s Messiah being born in Bethlehem.

The pride of a human - I will destroy God’s ancient plans – I will raise my fist to the God who rules the stars- I will kill this one sent from God.

In some ways Herod had more belief than the vast numbers of people today who yawn and laugh at the story of the King of kings being born in Bethlehem – he killed those babies in Bethlehem because he believed the Word of God. Far better to have believed and humbled himself before the King, as the wise men did.

What will we do this day? 

Raise our fist to God or bend our knee?

October 5, 2019 - Suggested Reading Jeremiah 26 for the October 6th message on Micah 1 &2 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“ “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: “‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.’ ”

Jeremiah 26:18 (NIV) 

We can see from this passage that the prophetic ministry of Micah preceded the ministry of Jeremiah, and that both of their ministries were aimed at the southern kingdom of Judah. It is true that Micah addresses the capital city of Northern Israel which was Samaria, and it appears he did so as a way of reaching the people of Jerusalem with the prophetic message of false worship. We can say that he led with a jab at Samaria to set up the knock out punch to Jerusalem.

The elders in Jeremiah’s day were wise in their comparison of the repentance that happened as a result of Micah’s ministry, to the rejection of God’s message through Jeremiah. Unfortunately for the elders though, the kings and priests of Jeremiah’s day refused to repent and their people were snatched from their land.

What is being revealed in verse 19 is that Micah’s prophecy did not come to pass in Micah’s day because of repentance, but did come to pass in Jeremiah’s day because of their stubborn refusal
to repent.

Micah’s message was powerful among God’s people and I wonder if it will be powerful among the people of God at Parkdale, as we expose ourselves to his message. Some people think that the OT has nothing to say to a NT believer. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit who is present in us and amongst us, will use Micah’s message in an even more powerful way in our lives, then He did in the lives of the original audience. 

Now I know that God will answer that prayer - but the question for each of us is; "When we hear, will we repent?"

October 4, 2019 - Suggested Reading Isaiah 57 for the October 6th message on Micah 1 &2 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly  and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Isaiah 57:15 (NIV) 

The lives of Isaiah and Micah overlapped, for they prophesied together under the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. So, the themes of Micah’s shorter prophecy are very similar to the themes of Isaiah’s longer prophecy. In Isaiah 57 we can see that Isaiah is treating with great detail the problem with high places that Micah identified in Micah 1:5. Verse 7 of Isiah 57 – “You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices.” - is an example of Isaiah’s exhaustive approach. Not only is he identifying the idol worship that occurred in the forests and on the high hills as sin, but it reveals that God’s people are in an intimate relationship with those idols to such an extent that behind the doors and doorposts on which they have the Law written (Dt 11:20), are the symbols of those idols they worship on the hills.

We love to believe the lie that we can separate one area of our life from another. 

We love to believe that God is interested in us when we are at church, and what we do away from church has no effect on us and God.

No!

What we do away from church reveals whom we worship.

Whoever we worship while away from our church is who we are really worshipping while we
are at church.

Do you get the point from Isaiah about sexual intimacy here in verses 5 thru 12?

If we are engaged in sexual immorality away from church then we are engaged in idol worship, and when we come to church to worship God without repentance – we are actually worshipping idols instead of God.

The high places seem to represent our natural tendency towards pride and self elevation, that place where we do what we want, no matter what God has said.

Isaiah reveals the falseness of this high place concept when he speaks the truth about where God dwells;

For this is what the high and exalted One says—

    he who lives forever, whose name is holy:

“I live in a high and holy place,

    but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,

to revive the spirit of the lowly

    and to revive the heart of the contrite.

The only true high place is the place where the LORD lives, and we have the promise of the One who lives in that high and holy place to come and live with those who are lowly and contrite!

So why will we not humble ourselves before this wonderful God, and be revived?

October 3, 2019 - Suggested Reading Psalm 78 for the October 6th message on Micah 1 &2 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols.”

Psalm 78:58 (NIV)

The first verse of Psalm 78 identifies it as a teaching psalm, it’s lesson seems very similar to Micah’s and very similar to Stephen’s message recorded in Acts 7. 

According to Psalm 78, when God’s people worship idols at their high places and then go to worship God at the temple, God’s jealous anger is aroused.

According to Stephen in Acts 7:39-43, the people of God were worshipping idols all the time they were in the wilderness, although they were engaged in religious activity towards God.

According to Micah 1, the people of God have turned religious activity in the temple into one of their high places where they worship idols.

The lesson for us seems to be that the Living God is no idol - don’t treat Him like one, and don’t mistake outward religious activity as true worship.

In some ways, Psalm 78 is very discouraging, for although it tells us to teach our children the Way, it seems clear from the content of the psalm that there is no hope for the children to be different from their ancestors. 

Especially discouraging if we ask ourselves; "How actually are we different from our ancestors?"

If we can pull ourselves up to the top edge of the pit of discouragement and fix our eyes on the God described in Psalm 78 encouragement begins to build and praise starts to flow.

What an awesome God!

Yet again what a hopeless people.

What will God do with a people like this?

He will give them a king, not from the strongest tribe of Israel whose capital is Samaria but from the tribe of Judah whose small towns are listed in Micah 1.

What has God done for a people like us?

He has given us a King from the tribe of Judah the Root and Offspring of David.

Our only hope to not repeat our ancestor’s behaviour is submission to the King!

Bow before Him- His kingdom come and His will be done in my life today.