Then and Now
All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations. All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
Micah 1:5–7
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Then and Now
We do well to remember the words spoken by the prophet Micah. Too often we are guilty of seeing passages like this only through a historical lens. “This is God’s anger towards an ancient people, it has little to do with us today.” Or at least that is what we tell ourselves. God certainly does appear in judgment to punish the house of Israel, who were not exempt from His universal verdict: guilty. But what was their crime and what does it have to do with us today? The expression ‘high places’ means altars. God is saying He will expose the sin of both Israel and Judah, namely the worship and sacrifices to false gods. Here we see how God hates it, when we go outside His Word, and set up false idols. Today we are guilty of the same offense. We allow the world, the devil, and our own sinful flesh to entice us away from God and His good gifts. We convince ourselves we can improve on what God has given us and we stray from right worship into glorifying ourselves. And when held up against God’s holy Law, we are found wanting. We are exposed as the sinners we are. Yet God does not abandon us. In fact, He sends His only Son to take our place, to receive our punishment, and to die our death. All so that we might be reconciled to Him. Through faith, we are able to turn from the false gods to Christ Jesus and receive His forgiveness and His righteousness. His death defeated sin, death, and the devil so that we have victory in Him.
Micah 1:5–7
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Then and Now
We do well to remember the words spoken by the prophet Micah. Too often we are guilty of seeing passages like this only through a historical lens. “This is God’s anger towards an ancient people, it has little to do with us today.” Or at least that is what we tell ourselves. God certainly does appear in judgment to punish the house of Israel, who were not exempt from His universal verdict: guilty. But what was their crime and what does it have to do with us today? The expression ‘high places’ means altars. God is saying He will expose the sin of both Israel and Judah, namely the worship and sacrifices to false gods. Here we see how God hates it, when we go outside His Word, and set up false idols. Today we are guilty of the same offense. We allow the world, the devil, and our own sinful flesh to entice us away from God and His good gifts. We convince ourselves we can improve on what God has given us and we stray from right worship into glorifying ourselves. And when held up against God’s holy Law, we are found wanting. We are exposed as the sinners we are. Yet God does not abandon us. In fact, He sends His only Son to take our place, to receive our punishment, and to die our death. All so that we might be reconciled to Him. Through faith, we are able to turn from the false gods to Christ Jesus and receive His forgiveness and His righteousness. His death defeated sin, death, and the devil so that we have victory in Him.
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