On Their Backs, at Their Head: Micah 2 (7)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 46.1-3
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling.

Sing Psalm 46.1-3
(St. Chrysostom: We Have Not Known Thee As We Ought)
God is our refuge and our strength; He is our help in times of need.
Thus though the earth beneath us should change, the sea consume the mountain range;
waters may roar with raging speed, yet God will rescue us at length.

Read Micah 2, meditate on verses 12, 13

Preparation
1. How would you describe the mood at the beginning of Micah 2? At the end?

2. What does God threaten in the first part of the chapter? What does He promise at the end?

Meditation
The minor prophets, like Micah, are important for many reasons, not the least of which is that they condense the overall message of the prophets and thus help us in following the argument of some of the longer prophetic books, like Isaiah, Micah’s contemporary.

Chapter 2 is a good example of this. In the first part of Micah 2 (vv. 1-11) God is on His people’s backs, exposing their sin, reminding them of His sovereign power and goodness, and threatening them with judgment. He hasn’t changed, but they have; and now they must suffer the consequences of having forfeited His promises and chosen their own way.

We see this same theme in all the prophets. God condemns the ingratitude, disobedience, and hardness of heart which characterize His people. But He doesn’t just sit by and wring His hands, as it were. He acts to punish their transgressions, thus clearing the way for Him to restore them to their proper path (cf. Heb. 12.3-11).

So in the last two verses of Micah 2, God promises to assemble and gather His people again, making them a large and boisterous flock, ready to break out of captivity and bless the world. This, too, is a consistent message of all the other prophets. But the people need a Leader – a King Who can break them out of their sinfulness and set them free in His Presence. God was on their backs in verses 1-11; but He is at their head by the end of the chapter, promising deliverance, restoration, and breaking out to the world with the Good News of His mercy and grace.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
God never sends us out into strange places unknown to Him. He always goes before His people so that we know how to get there.

From the very beginning it has been thus:
“And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night” (Ex. 13.21).
“The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you…” (Deut. 1.30).
“And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed” (Deut. 31.8).
“I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron” (Is. 45.2).
“But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee” (Matt. 26.32; Mk. 14.28)).
“…go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him” (Matt. 28.7; Mk. 16.7)).
“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (Jn. 14.2,3).

The people of Israel said to Joshua, their leader, “All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go” (Josh. 1.16).

Jesus is our leader. He has gone this way before. He is at the Head. He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Let us “break out” and “pass through” and “go out” and follow Him!

Reflection
1. Where is Jesus going before you today? Are you prepared for where He will lead you?

2. How should it encourage us to know that Jesus goes before us, paving the way in our walk with and work for Him?

3. Does God still get on the backs of His people? How?

The Lord would not only bring them from captivity, and multiply them, but the Lord Jesus would open their way to God, by taking upon him the nature of man, and by the work of his Spirit in their hearts, breaking the fetters of Satan. Thus he has gone before, and the people follow, breaking, in his strength, through the enemies that would stop their way to heaven. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Micah 2.12, 13

Closing Prayer: Psalm 46.4-11
Rejoice in the Lord’s Presence! Call on Him to be at work within you today, to will and do according to His good pleasure – that He might lead and rule over you, and empower you to “break out” for Him.

Sing Psalm 46.4-11
(St. Chrysostom: We Have No Known Thee As We Ought)
God’s everlasting, joyous grace gladdens the city where He dwells.
Safely in Him, we will not be moved; when morning dawns, His love will be proved.
Fears and distresses Jesus dispels for His beloved, chosen race.

Kingdoms arise and rage and roar, threat’ning the earth with sore distress.
Nations may fall, earth melt away, His Word is yet our hope and stay.
God is among us, ever to bless; He is our stronghold evermore.

Come see the works of God’s Right Hand! He breaks the nations of the earth,
shatters their foolish weapons and pride, sets all their sinful strength aside.
Them He will show His infinite worth as they before His judgment stand.

Rest in the Lord and be at peace, all who are mired in sore travail:
Lift up our God, praise Jesus our Lord; proclaim to all the earth His Word!
God is our stronghold, never to fail: thus may our hope and joy increase!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Micah in God’s Covenant
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Except as indicated, all Scripture are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.