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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.
Listen to what the Lord says:
“Stand up, plead My case before the mountains; let the
hills hear what you have to say.”
“Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you
everlasting foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against His
people; He is lodging a charge against Israel.”
“My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened
you? Answer Me. I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of
slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. My people, remember what
Balak, king of Moab, plotted and what Balaam, son of Beor, answered. Remember
your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of
the Lord.”
“With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before
the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a
year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand
rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit
of my body for the sin of my soul?”
“Listen!
The Lord is calling to the city—and to fear Your name is wisdom—Heed the rod
and the One who appointed it. Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures,
you wicked house, and the short ephah, which is accursed? Shall I acquit
someone with dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights? Your rich people
are violent; your inhabitants are liars and their tongues speak deceitfully.”
“Therefore,
I have begun to destroy you, to ruin you because of your sins. You will eat but
not be satisfied; your stomach will still be empty. You will store up but save
nothing, because what you save, I will give to the sword. You will plant but
not harvest; you will press olives but not use the oil, you will crush grapes
but not drink the wine. You have observed the statutes of Omri and all the
practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their traditions. Therefore I will
give you over to ruin and your people to derision; you will bear the scorn of
the nations.”
Micah 6:1-7, 9-16
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks
be to God.
Have you ever gone to court before?
Maybe you have or maybe you haven’t but I bet if you
haven’t, you have at least watched a program where a court scene was played
out, whether on television or in a movie.
Typically, you find a standard scenario that includes an
accused who will be on trial for an offense. The accused will usually be
defended by a lawyer while another lawyer prosecutes the case with the sole
intent of obtaining a guilty verdict against the accused. Both the defense and
prosecution may call forward witnesses to support their argument against
conviction or acquittal as the trials process plays out and the accused future
hangs in the literal balance of the justice system.
With this imagery fresh in mind, now imagine a court
scene where the Lord God Almighty is bringing charges against someone. I mean,
how scary would that be? You see, the Lord is never wrong. He is perfectly
right and righteous and just. So if the Lord levies charges against anyone,
there is no need to defense because the accused has no defense against a
flawless indictment.
Think about that for a moment, how it might feel to stand
before the Lord in His court, being accused and knowing you are automatically
guilty without chance of pardon. This is where we find the Israelite people as
we look at nearly all of Micah, Chapter 6. Read again about their plight here:
Listen to what the
Lord says:
“Stand up, plead My
case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say.”
“Hear, you
mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the
earth. For the Lord has a case against His people; He is lodging a charge
against Israel.”
“My people, what
have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer Me. I brought you up out of
Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also
Aaron and Miriam. My people, remember what Balak, king of Moab, plotted and
what Balaam, son of Beor, answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to
Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”
“With what shall I
come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him
with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with
thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my
firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
“Listen! The Lord is calling to
the city—and to fear Your name is wisdom—Heed the rod and the One who appointed
it. Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house, and the
short ephah, which is accursed? Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales, with
a bag of false weights? Your rich people are violent; your inhabitants are
liars and their tongues speak deceitfully.”
“Therefore, I have begun to
destroy you, to ruin you because of your sins. You will eat but not be
satisfied; your stomach will still be empty. You will store up but save
nothing, because what you save, I will give to the sword. You will plant but
not harvest; you will press olives but not use the oil, you will crush grapes
but not drink the wine. You have observed the statutes of Omri and all the
practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their traditions. Therefore I will
give you over to ruin and your people to derision; you will bear the scorn of
the nations.” Micah 6:1-7, 9-16
Here the Lord is bringing His case against His people and
the prophet is a member of His prosecution team participating in levying
charges against the Israelites. We see the Lord wonder why His people would
ever disobey and break His commands because all He had ever done is take care
of them and their ancestors.
Note that the people of Israel begin to wonder what they
might be able to do to make amends with the “exalted God”. Would burnt
offerings appease Him? Would “thousands of rams” or “ten thousand rivers of
olive oil”? Would it take offering up a firstborn child in order to provide
recompense for the sins of their souls?” Essentially, the Israelites are hoping
that there might be something God would accept to avoid His judgment. This was
their attempt at getting exonerated in the court of the Lord.
Unfortunately, it was all for not because the Lord had
made up His mind and nothing was going to change it. With deft skill, God
prosecuted His people on cross examination, reminding the Israelites of their iniquities
which included “ill-gotten
treasures”, the running of a “wicked house”, dishonest trade practices, the violence
of the rich people, and the general dishonesty and deceitfulness of the
Israelite people at large.
In
the end translation, the Lord was completely unwilling to forget any of these transgressions.
His people were guilty of their sins as charged and the Lord finishes with
going right into the penalty phase, promising the following:
1. Destruction.
2. Ruin.
3. Famine.
4. Poverty.
5. Enemy attack.
6. Derision and scorn of the nations.
Not
a pretty sight, is it?
Now
think about what the court scene would look like if God called us to task for
our sins today?
We
wouldn’t have any more defense for ourselves than the Israelites did in Micah’s
day but we have someone who is with and for us that was not present when the
Old Testament Israelites went to trial.
That
someone is Jesus and He changed the whole courtroom outcome, at least for those
who are Christians, those who chose to place their hope and trust in Him as
Savior.
You
see, something amazing happens when someone in Christ stands defenseless before
the God of judgment, facing utter destruction and ruin. At that point of no return,
in steps Jesus to intercede before the Almighty Judge, proclaiming that He has
already paid the price for the accused sinner and thus the sinner should be
pardoned. And with that, the charges are dropped and the Christian acquitted,
justified by the Savior they placed their hope in and made as if they had never
sinned before God. Their future becomes grounded in eternal life.
As
for those who reject Jesus as Savior, well, they are on their own to try and
stand against the indictments levied for their transgressions, unable to
provide anywhere close a case for themselves. They stand guilty as charged with
destruction, ruin, and eternal damnation in their future.
Where
do you stand right now if the Lord decides to call court into session?
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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