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Insights I take from reading through the minor prophets
Lets face it, if you're listening to one of the minor prophets of Yahweh (our God) during the ancient times, you're screwed. God is clearly fed up with you. Judgment & discipline are likely God's favorite two words to speak through His messengers.
It's no different in the book of Micah. Contextually, Israel & Judah (in 2 Kings in the Bible) are taking part in practices that are so against God, its revolting: pagan incense was just the beginning of going against God's commands. Then came the worship of idols, fertility worship, and get this ... even child sacrifice & cannibalism when they were under siege by Syria (Micah 3:1-4; 2 Kings 6:29). It's no wonder God's peeved and says things like "I will reward your evil with evil" (Micah 2:3) and prophesies a dim future ("And you will cover your faces because there is no answer from God" --Micah 3:7). All in all, we're talking about people that want God's help but won't receive it because they're not living for God at the same time (makes you think, huh?).
But that doesn't sum up Micah does it? There's another people group that God is talking to, within the overall grouping of His people that are supposed to follow Him: the remnant (Micah 5:8, 7:18).
Throughout the Scriptures of the Old Testament and depending on your translation, you'll see this one word, "remnant", pop up over and over. What it means is that in the midst of God's judgment on sin, even on His own people, He is always preserving a remnant, a small remainder of those people that He will spare out of His generous love.
I don't know if you realize this, but 75% of America claims a religious affiliation to Christianity. I don't know if you realize this, but 75% of America is not composed of Christians ... Like it or not, the fact is many Americans are going directly against the way God wants them to live and they will die as they lived, completely separated from God. And when they die, Scripture says that those who do not live for Jesus Christ and die will live on in eternity not in Heaven, but in Hell (James 2:26; Mt 7:24; 1 John 5:2; Mt 25:31-46).It is a judgment not unlike in Micah. In Micah, Judah is "God's people" and they are supposed to live for God, but they aren't. They worship idols & sacrifice babies. Sometimes, I wonder if America isn't much different.
I went to Israel, and I wish I would have bought it: In this small Israeli shop I saw a picture of the world and its countries. North America was on the map, and I kid you not ... America was labeled "the Holy Land." We may be a people that is famous for its Christianity, but we are infamous for our debauchery of it. Our sins are not unlike God's people in Micah: We worship idols of pop and music and movies. We sacrifice and abort babies "legally." And to top it off, we are also in love with money, infatuated with power, soaked in economic injustice and racism and selfishness. To put it in the way that a Christian speaker, Oliver Hersey once said, we are putting other things rather than God on the throne. We're putting ourselves on it. And like in Micah, God will judge us for our deeds (2 Cor 5:10; Ecc 12:14).
The good news is: there's a remnant; there are some that will be saved. While many, even most will follow a path that leads to destruction, there will always be people that will follow the path that lead to life through Jesus Christ, though those people will be few by comparison (Mt 7:14). These people are the true Christians and followers of Jesus. And as condemning as God may sometimes seem to be in Micah and upon the world, I believe He sincerely loves us. And wants to save us & restore His relationship with us. In fact, the book of Micah, while sorrowfully full of condemnation on people who claim to be "God's people" (Micah 3:11), ends with a beautiful statement of compassion that reminded me of how awesome God is (Micah 7:18-20):
"Where is there another God like you, who pardon's the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of His special people?
You will not stay angry with your people forever because you delight in showing unfailing love.
Once again you will have compassion on us.
You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!
You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as your promised to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago."
Isn't that a beautiful image? For those who love Jesus, our faults and sins are wiped away, tossed off as far as land is to the ocean floor ...
Micah 6:8 is one of the most famous passages in the Bible. It reads, "He has told you, o man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.". The second exhortation is the one that intrigues me ... to love mercy? What does the mean? In fact, if you look at the word "mercy" in the original language, it means, "love." the kind of love that God has. A love that is loyal. and unfailing. and always forgiving. so to read the Scripture literally the second command is to "love love." How we apply that into our lives, "loving God's love" I believe, would be trying to love the world like He does. But I think another part of "loving love" is loving the love that God has shown us, loving the love that tramples our sins and tosses them as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), as far as the land is from the ocean floor (Micah 7:19). Loving and appreciating the love that God shows for His remnant, even though it means that not everyone is saved.
Part of why 75% of America isn't 75% Christian is because I don't think we truly appreciate God's love for us. We don't know the value of His love through Jesus. We don't understand the depth of what it means that He casts off our sins to the depths of the ocean. We don't understand what it means that God has shown love to us and mercy on us when we completely and utterly don't deserve it. We are so self-centered and self-sufficient in America, I don't think we realize what we need to even be saved from.
Take some time to stop and truly appreciate God's love for you today, perhaps listen to Audio Adrenaline's song about God showing His love for us by throwing our sins to the depths of the ocean (http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/search/song?q=audio%20adrenaline%20ocean%20floor%20lift). Be humbled that you are a child of God. Maybe ask yourself or as Paul says, even test yourself to see if you are living in accordance to the faith of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 13:5). Make sure you're part of the remnant: the true Church, not just the visible church. Make sure you're a true Christian, not just a 75% America Christian. Know God's love for you, and Live God's love out for others.
In a word, love love.
More references of "remnant" people:
Isaiah 11:10-16
2 Kings 19:31
2 Chronicles 36:20
Ezra 9:14
Isaiah 1:8-9
Isaiah 4:1-3
Isaiah 6:13
Isaiah 10:19-22
Isaiah 27:12-13
Isaiah 28:5
Isaiah 37:31-32
Isaiah 46:3-4
Jeremiah 6:9
Jeremiah 23:3-4
Jeremiah 31:7-8
Amos 5:15
Micah 2:12
Micah 4:6-7
Micah 5:7-8
Micah 7:18
Zephaniah 3:11-13
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