Micah: Remnant and Restoration

As we dig into the message Micah has for Judah, we notice something we haven't seen yet in our series, "The Message of the Twelve."  The other minor prophets were telling Isreal they'd be cut down and hauled off.  At some point, God would restore his people, but Isreal would never see the restoration of their nation.  Now Micah is preaching to Judah, the country to the south.  And he seems to say that there will be a restoration from a small remnant, and in that restoration, the people will one day have a King from the line of David.  They will be restored in such a way that once more they will become a great nation of priests to the world, something they had forgotten. 

Isaiah, a prophet to Judah around the same time as Micah had a vision.  Describing his vision of this remnant and restoration he writes, "And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled."  The holy seed is its stump" (Isaiah 6:13).  The picture is a dead and burned stump that somehow will birth a new tree.  Because of the tree, while it looks done for, is still alive.  There's a small remnant of life.  

Micah says something like Isiah's vision:  "In that day, declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation, and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore" (Micah 4:6-8).   

And what might become of this remnant? It's not going to be restored to its original state, but to something better.  Micah 5:7-9 says, "Then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which delay not for a man nor wait for the children of man.  And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which, when it goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, and there is not to deliver.  Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off."  

This week, I'll be sharing a message from Micah's message.  We'll look at the remnant and what all this means.  We'll see that coming king from the line of David.  And we'll see so much more.  

I'd like to encourage you to read the seven chapters of the book of Micah.  You might also consider watching this overview video. 

See you Sunday!
Pastor Bryan