This Week\’s Sunday School Lesson, \”Destruction Can Lead To Restoration\”, 7/5/2015

 

DESTRUCTION CAN LEAD TO RESTORATION

 

Micah 2:4-11

 

GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES

V:4.  In that day men will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: \’We are utterly ruined; my people\’s possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our fields to traitors.\”

1. Lack of love for the brethren and the lust for gain will lead to personal destruction.
2. No corrupt person, will ever see the kingdom of God nor appreciate the glory

of God.

1. Self destruction is a voluntary action that begins with the violation of God\’s greatest

commands.

1. Love the Lord God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength .
2. Love your neighbor as yourself.
3. Upon these two hang all of the Law, the writings of the prophets and Psalms.

Matt 22:39

1. Upon these two hang the successes and failures of life.
2. Upon these two hang all the blessings and punishments of God.
3. God set the boundaries of the Promise Land in a covenant with Abraham.
4. God preserved the Promise Land while Israel grew to be a nation in 430

years of slavery.

1. God freed Israel under Moses leadership and gave them His commands.
2. Israel took possession of the Promise Land under Joshua.
3. The Promise Land was divided among the 12 tribes of Jacob.
4. The boundaries of the land of each tribe was set by God and never to be changed.
5. The Promise Land is Zion, the Holy Land.
6. Israel is God\’s first chosen people and were to be an example of God\’s power,

glory and supreme Love.

1. After taking over the PromiseLand under Joshua, the whole nation of Israel

openly and publicly promised to keep God\’s commands.  Joshua 24:21-24

1. Israel failed to keep God\’s commands and they failed God.
2. Through Micah the prophet, God promised the destruction of Israel for their sins.
3. The Promise Land was given to the Nation of Israel and not specifically to any

particular person.

1. The Land was given to all generations of Israelites and to keep the promise made to

Abraham.

 

GOD CLEANS HIS HOUSE

V:5. \” Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord  to divide the land by lot. \”

1. Sometimes, God has to clean house and start over with a new generation of His

chosen people who will worship Him.

1. He made his creation perfect, but it was corrupted by the sin of Adam.
2. One simple disobedient act affected all generations on earth.
3. Adam and Eve disobeyed one command; not to eat from the tree of Knowledge

and  of Good and Evil.

1. That one sin is infectious throughout all mankind.
2. God destroyed the earth and all its inhabitants with the great flood.
3. Noah and his family and all the animals placed in the Ark were saved because

of one man\’s faithfulness.

1. During the prophet Micah\’s time, God again promised the destruction of His people.
2. Sin is really the hatred of God\’s commands.
3. Because of their lack of love and respect for God and their neighbors, they

divided, brought and sold land that was not theirs to sell.

1. The rich showed no compassion for the poor, the widowers and orphans.

 

THE RESULT OF LISTENING TO THE WRONG VOICE

V:6.  \”Do not prophesy,\” their prophets say. \”Do not prophesy about these things; disgrace will not overtake us.\”

1. Sin left unchecked is progressive.
2. One sin will lead to other sins that are worst than the first.
3. Our unrighteousness will affect the unrighteousness of generations to come.
4. The first generation of Israelites worshipped God according to His commands

and made sacrifices for their sins.

1. They worshipped God religiously but not with their hearts.
2. Generations later, they rejected God, His Word and His prophets,
3. They rejected the truth and accepted the lies of Satan.
4. They worshipped the things God created rather than God Himself.
5. They had a history of God keeping His promises, but they refused to believe the

promises. They refused to live by God\’s commands.

 

V:7 Should it be said, O house of Jacob: \”Is the Spirit of the Lord angry? Does he do such things?\” \”Do not my words do good to him whose ways are upright? \”

1. The people of Israel chose false prophets over God\’s prophets.
2. False prophets never talk about the consequences of sin.
3. False prophets tell you what you want to hear.
4. False prophets never tell you that what you have gained in life belong to God.
5. False prophets never tell you that you have what you have not just for your benefit,

but for the benefit of all believers.

1. A false prophet will never tell you that God is angry with you for your sins.
2. A false prophet will never tell you that there are consequences for disobedience.
3. A false prophet will tell you that God wants you to enjoy life.
4. A false prophet will tell you that God will continue to bless you no matter what you

do.

1. The prosperity message is popular, because it does not offend anyone.

 

BECOMING YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY

V:8. \” Lately my people have risen up like an enemy. You strip off the rich robe from those who pass by without a care, like men returning from battle.\”

1. When we go against God\’s commands, we eventually turn against ourselves.
2. All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called

according to His purposes.

1. When we mistreat  and abuse others we set ourselves up to be mistreated .
2. Some Israelites made themselves rich by taken from others by ungodly means.
3. What goes around comes around.
4. When you fail to show compassion to others, there will come a time when

you will need that same compassion but will not receive it.

1. When you mistreat others, there will come a time when you will be mistreated

in a similar or worst way.

 

V:9. \” You drive the women of my people from their pleasant homes. You take away my blessing from their children forever. \”

1. Jesus said what you do for the least of these, you do for me.
2. In reverse, what you do against the least of these you do against God.
3. God commands us to look after widowers and orphans.
4. It is our responsibility to take care of our own people in need.
5. The sins of Israel caused them to be engaged in wars that God did not intend

for them to fight.

1. The battle is not yours, it is the Lords.
2. As a results of the wars against their enemies, many men were killed and their

families left without a male head of the household.

1. The rich made it their business to defraud the women of their homes and land.
2. As a result, the children of the widowers were left without their rightful

inheritance.

1. We have to be conscience that any actions we take against one family member,

affects other family members.

1. We have to understand that any evil done to another person is a sin against God.

 

RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME

V:10. \” Get up, go away! For this is not your resting place, because it is defiled, it is ruined, beyond all remedy.\”

1. Like the garden of Eden, the Promise Land was designed to be a paradise for the

Nation of Israel.

1. As in the Garden of Eden, God intended that His people would worship Him only.
2. As in the Garden of Eden, God spoke to His people through His Word.
3. God made the Garden of Eden perfect. He made the Promise Land a perfect

dwelling place for His people.

1. The Israelite\’s took what God had prepared for them and defiled it with their worship

of idol gods made with their hands.

1. They defiled the Promise Land with their sins against each other.
2. Instead of being a light to the nations around them, they became the darkness that

engulfed them.

1. Their sins were more horrendous than their neighbors, because they had God\’s

commands, which they disobeyed.

1. The Nation of Israel ruined themselves with their sins against God.
2. Sin can ruin a happy home.
3. Lasting Joy can only be found in the righteousness of God.

 

V:11. \” If a liar and deceiver comes and says, \’I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,\’ he would be just the prophet for this people! \”

1. The Nation of Israel rejected God\’s prophets because they told the truth.
2. The truth includes promises of God\’s favor for obedience and promises of

chastisement for disobedient behavior.

1. Israel wanted only to hear the blessing of God without the consequences of their

sins.

1. Satan came to steal, kill and destroy.
2. Satan seized the opportunity of the evil desires of Israel and gave them what they

wanted to hear from his agents; false prophets.

1. Satan is a master deceiver.
2. Satan is the father of all lies.
3. He disguises himself as an angel of light.
4. If you want to hear a lie, Satan is only a thought away.

 

DOWN BUT NOT OUT

Even though Israel angered God to the point of their destruction, He still will keep

the covenant He made with Abraham.

 

In 586 BC, Jerusalem and the Temple was destroyed. Many Israelites were killed and

others taken captive.  70 years later, those taken captive by the Babylonians  were

released by the hand of God and the city and the Temple rebuilt.

 

In 70 AD, after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Jerusalem and the Temple was

again destroyed. God is now gathering Israel, in the Promise Land for the millennium to

come.

Notice verses 12 and 13 is the promise of the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior have already been redeemed

Micah 2:12-13

12 \”I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people.

13 One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the Lord at their head.\”

 

BY THE GRACE OF GOD WE ARE SAVE FROM OUR SINS

 

Rev. M. Mitchell,  Asst Pastor of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church