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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
“In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will gather the
lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make
the lame My remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The Lord will rule over
them in Mount Zion from that day and forever. As for you, watchtower of the
flock, stronghold of Daughter Zion, the former dominion will be restored to
you; kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.”
“Why do you now cry aloud—have you no king? Has your
ruler perished, that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor? Writhe in
agony, Daughter Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you must leave the city to
camp in the open field. You will go to Babylon; there you will be rescued. There
the Lord will redeem you out of the hand of your enemies.”
Micah 4:6-10
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks
be to God.
God is a God of judgment. This is clear in the scriptures
as we find Him sending consequences on those who would choose to sin against
Him.
But to see God as only a God of judgment would be missing
a whole other side of Him, a side that is the polar opposite of judgment, a
side that is grounded in redemption.
In today’s verses from our continuing study of Micah 4,
we see both sides of God come to the forefront. Look again at those words now:
“In that day,”
declares the Lord, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and
those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame My remnant, those driven
away a strong nation. The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day
and forever. As for you, watchtower of the flock, stronghold of Daughter Zion, the
former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to Daughter
Jerusalem.”
“Why do you now
cry aloud—have you no king? Has your ruler perished, that pain seizes you like
that of a woman in labor? Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion, like a woman in
labor, for now you must leave the city to camp in the open field. You will go
to Babylon; there you will be rescued. There the Lord will redeem you out of
the hand of your enemies.” Micah 4:6-10
Before people can be redeemed, they need to be in a place
where redemption is needed. We see this place in the latter paragraph of this
passage as Micah speaks to the people of Israel and in particular, the Judeans.
“Why do you now
cry aloud—have you no king? Has your ruler perished, that pain seizes you like
that of a woman in labor? Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion, like a woman in
labor, for now you must leave the city to camp in the open field. You will go
to Babylon; there you will be rescued. There the Lord will redeem you out of
the hand of your enemies.”
The Judeans had been disobeying God on a lot of levels,
chief of which was their decision to worship false gods and idols. God had
commanded them to not have any other gods before Him but His people did it
anyways. And so God sent a punishment to His people which fit the crime. If the
people wanted to live apart from God, then they could do so for seventy years once
taken away into captivity in Babylon.
Indeed, God showed Himself as a God of judgment.
But don’t get lost on the closing words of Micah which
served as a preamble to the words the Lord spoke. For once the Israelites were
in the midst of God’s consequences, they would need rescued once the seventy
years were through. They would need redemption from God to be restored back to
their homeland to rebuild their cities and towns, their dwelling places, and
their relationships with God.
And as we see in the first paragraph of our scriptures,
God had a plan for that redemption:
“In that day,”
declares the Lord, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and
those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame My remnant, those driven
away a strong nation. The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day
and forever. As for you, watchtower of the flock, stronghold of Daughter Zion, the
former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to Daughter
Jerusalem.”
After their long exile, the remnant of Israelites who
survived would be allowed to return home, redeemed from their captors and under
the rule of God from that point until all eternity. Those who once were
experiencing grief and anguish would now have hope and peace restored through
God’s amazing act of grace and mercy. He could have allowed all His people to
simply perish and fade away while in captivity but He did not wish for them to
perish but rather to have a chance to be under His authority forever.
The same applies for us today. For despite our
inclinations to sin and separate ourselves from God as a result, despite the
fact that God still judges us and sends correction when needed, despite the
fact that God could just allow for us to die hopelessly in our sins, He still
so loved all of us that He did not desire for any of us to perish but rather to
live with Him forever. The scriptures tell us as much:
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
God’s ultimate plan for redemption was centered on His
Son Jesus, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. In
order for us to be pardoned, an atoning sacrifice was needed unlike any other
before it, a sacrifice that would cancel the sins of all mankind once and for
all.
Jesus was that sacrifice. He bore the pain and suffering
we deserved. He died in the place we should have. His shed blood washes us
white as snow and in Him we are all justified before God the Father.
And here’s the kicker:
He did it all out of love for you and me.
Friends, God rescues and redeems His people through Jesus
His Son. His plan of redemption is at the heart of the Gospel message and all
anyone needs to do to receive the blessed assurance of eternal life is accept
Jesus as their personal Savior. There is no other way to the Father except
through Him (John 14:6).
Have you committed yourself to receive God’s redemption
today?
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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