Generally, the promises in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah were given in times of upheaval and distress. As each OT prophet foresaw, there was a future age of turmoil for the people of Israel. It was no different in the prophecy we looked at Sunday from Micah 5.
As I noted in my sermon, the upheavals were caused by Israel and Judah’s sins against God. The biggest one was forgetting the Lord. The pursuit of idols evidenced this. The Lord “gave them up” to those idols, and disaster struck.
Giving Us Up
This made me wonder about our own lives and times. I wonder if we should be noticing times when the Lord “gave us up” to our idolatry. Here is a sampling of things I’ve been wondering about:
Could our constant anxiety and concern about money (and lack of money) be because we have failed to obey the Lord’s word about giving? My church knows that I’m not speaking of the prosperity gospel. However, there is a principle in Scripture of God rewarding the faithful giver. Could our lack of giving reveal an idolatrous heart towards money, and the evidence of the Lord “giving us up” to that idol is worry or lack?
Could our lack of contentment with our lives come from pursuing comfort and joy outside of God’s desires for us? For example, we might self-medicate, over-indulge (don’t step on my toes during Thanksgiving week), or over-spend to comfort ourselves, resulting in guilt, bad health, or debt, which reveals that the Lord “gave us up” to our idols.
Could our feelings of time crunch or busyness come from not seeing our time and days as from the Lord? Could this come from not submitting our time to the Lord and obeying Him in our use of time? Submitting our time to the Lord would mean that one day a week, we set aside for rest and worship. We make time with the Lord a priority in our days. We set time up in our family rhythms to bring our children before the face of God. Maybe a lack of time is because the Lord “gave us up” to the idols of “our time?”
A real-life example for me was my worry about impacting people’s lives and our world. The lack of ministry advancement and gospel fruit saddened me. I would get jealous when others were promoted ahead of me or when someone I knew was picked to speak at a big event and I wasn’t. The Lord showed me this selfish ambition, and my “lack” was because I was a glory hog. I was more concerned for my glory than God’s (it makes me sick to write that statement). The Lord did something very interesting when I was broken and contrite about this. After years of working in me, He started to increase ministry opportunities, brought amazing gospel fruit, and gave me unique places of influence. The difference is that, as a young man, I “needed” those things for validation, but now I don’t. In my younger years, the Lord “gave me up” on my selfish ambition, and it stunk, and everyone but me could smell it.
One way to check your idols is to look at your bank account and calendar. How do you spend your money and your time?
But here’s another way to check your idols: what are you lacking that you wish you had? Could you be pursuing what you lack outside God’s commands or ways? Could the thing you lack…be the idol that the Lord “gave you up” to, and therefore, He’s causing you to lack it?
Enemies in the Nation
One of the historical and theological points I didn’t have time to develop for Sunday was the birthplace of the Messiah. If the Messiah was born in Bethlehem, David’s family line would not have been on the throne in Jerusalem, and an enemy would have been in the nation.
In his commentary on Micah, Kenneth Barker quotes J.E. Smith, who wrote, “The fact that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and not in Jerusalem, the city of David, presupposes that the family of David would have lost the throne. Such could only be the case if Israel had been overrun by her enemies.… God’s abandonment of Israel would only be temporary. Israel’s oppression would continue until the birth of Messiah.”
Think about that statement for a moment. This means that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Israel was overrun by her enemies. Yes, this was the Romans. But I also wonder if those who are leading Israel, namely the ruling class and Sanhedrin, were enemies and not true Israelites. It certainly gives perspective to a verse like Mathew 21:43, when Jesus, speaking to the chief priests and elders, said, “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.” He’s not taking the kingdom of God from friends.
The true brothers of the Messiah will return to Him when He comes. His enemies won’t. They put Him to death. But the Israelites who recognized their King were given the Kingdom of God.
Looking Ahead
We will continue our Christmas series, “Awaiting the King,” this Sunday as we look at Isaiah 53:2-3. We will look at the Promise of the Unexpected. We will look at how One, despised and rejected, could be the King of Kings.
Happy Thanksgiving!
As you know, this Thursday is Thanksgiving. We have so much to be grateful for in our nation. I hope you take time off your jobs, away from the chaos, and quietly thank God for His love for you, His forgiveness, and His grace in your life.
Do you see eating something other than turkey on Thanksgiving as sacrilege? Or do you envy the rest of us?
From the Cheap Seats
- I’m really enjoying this college football season. The chaos of the playoff system has created much better competition.
- That was a needed win for the Beavs and a terrible loss for the Aggies.
- I’m beginning to think that my sports fandom is cursed (maybe the Lord “gave me up”). Every team I’m rooting for this season stinks. Mac City is now on a 5-game losing streak (most since 2010 before I became a fan). The Cowboys…I can’t say anything else. So…I’ve wondered if I should become an Eagles fan😉…nope, I can’t do it.
Have a great week! Christ is King!
In Christ,
Dave York
P.S. CLF Members, please put December 15th at 1:30 p.m. at our Vine Street campus on your calendars. That’s our annual Family meeting.
