Return to the Shepherd-King

Published September 17, 2022
September 18, 2022

LOVING-KINDNESS OF DISCIPLINE



PARENTING ILLUSTRATION
  • Explaining to a child what they did wrong
  • Disciplining the child for willful disobedience
  • Affirming your love for the child after discipline
    • This is the pattern we see in the book of Micah across four cycles
 

[1] DISOBEDIENCE OF ETHIC & TRUTH

Micah 1:1-2:11
  • God steps down for Judgement (1:2-4)
  • Explaining what they did wrong (1:5 - 2:11)
    • How you treat others (2:1-5)
    • How you distort truth (2:6-11)

PROMISED DELIVERANCE (2:12-13)

  • "One to break open the way..." is the same idea/word used in Matthew 11:10 to describe John the Baptist
  • "Their King...The Lord" is a Hebrew comparative couplet revealing that the promised Messiah with be the eternal King and God himself.
 

[2] DISOBEDIENCE OF LEADERS

Micah 3:1-4:8
  • Unjust leaders will be judged (3:1)
  • Compromised preachers will be judged (3:5-11)
    • James 3:1 - Teachers will receive a stricter judgement.

PROMISED KING & KINGDOM

  • In the last days
    • God will be King (4:1)
    • God will teach us (4:2)
    • No more injustice or war (4:3)
    • Equal prosperity (4:4)
 

[3] MISPLACED HOPE

Micah 4:9-
  • The thunder of war approaches as people hoped in human Kings and counselors (4:9-13)
  • Defeated (5:1)
 

PROMISED SHEPHERD-KING

  • Coming from the small and insignificant town of Bethlehem (5:2)
  • Origin is from eternity past, ancient times
  • He will be the shepherd-king, born of a woman, leading God's people as a shepherd
    • He will bring peace
    • He will judge
    • He will rescue
 

[4] PUNISHMENT FOR DISOBEDIENCE

  • God's judgement (5:7-15)
  • God's Rebuke (6:1-5)
  • Prophet's Plea (6:6-8)
  • What the Lord Requires (6:8)
Micah 6:8 “Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
 

APPLICATION [PROMISED HOPE]

MICAH'S FOCUS (Micah 7:7)

MICAH'S CONVICTION (7:8-9)

MICAH'S HOPE (7:14, 18-19)