God will have His way and his way is marvellous.
That’s what I get reading aspects of Micah. Among all the judgement and the necessary consequences for the corruption and wickedness, there is the beautiful plan of God. It’s a plan not just primarily the chosen people – it’s a plan for humanity. It’s a glittering vision of reality from the heart of God expressed by Micah.
In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house
will be the highest of all—
the most important place on earth.
It will be raised above the other hills,
and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.
People from many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of Jacob’s God.
There he will teach us his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion;
his word will go out from Jerusalem. (Micah 4:1-2 NLT)
The people may be idolatrous, immoral and given to injustice as Micah talks to them, but he still holds out what God’s plan is and that it will be realised. It’s a wonderful picture that’s about what true worship is all about – a place to encounter someone that can set you up to live in the right way, a way reflecting the character of the Creator. A way truly expressing peace and harmony founded on righteousness and peace. That’s the role of the beacon of god’s people for the world.
The Lord will mediate between peoples
and will settle disputes between strong nations far away.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
nor train for war anymore.
Everyone will live in peace and prosperity,
enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees,
for there will be nothing to fear.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies
has made this promise! (Micah 4:3-4 NLT)
International justice, the end of conflict, the building of bridges and cultivating relationships and environments of beauty and brilliance. What a marvellous picture. No lack, no starvation, no dependence on anything other than what’s been nurtured and cultivated. It’s a brilliant promise that seemed far from those who were hearing it in their war-torn circumstance. Indeed to us reading those words it seems far from being a reality whatever pacts, treaties and political unions are made.
This is why it won’t be down to us to cobble together. It’s not something we can ever hope to usher in as long as we’re given to injustice, immorality and idolatry. We cannot expect it when we’re pursuing self-indulgence, self-gratification and self-preservation. Yet because the Creator has promised it, it’s something we can trust in and not only that but it will be embodied by the rule of one whose rule we can rely on.
“In that coming day,” says the Lord,
“I will gather together those who are lame,
those who have been exiles,
and those whom I have filled with grief.
Those who are weak will survive as a remnant;
those who were exiles will become a strong nation.
Then I, the Lord, will rule from Jerusalem[a]
as their king forever.”
As for you, Jerusalem,
the citadel of God’s people,[b]
your royal might and power
will come back to you again.
The kingship will be restored
to my precious Jerusalem. (Micah 5:6-8 NLT)
That promise of a returning kingship is something that would have the people of Israel looking with expectation, not just for a deliverer, but a ruler. This ruler would usher in this vision of harmony and peace with a beacon for people to be drawn to and then seeing those values dispersed around the world.
And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord’s strength,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
Then his people will live there undisturbed,
for he will be highly honored around the world.
And he will be the source of peace. (Micah 5:4-5 NLT)
A ruler as a beacon, drawing in His people to likewise be a beacon of peace that draws other people to the beacon of peace. That message to be communicated among a raft of dire consequences for disobedience is what is supposed to offer great hope to the listener.
That message of hope is still pertinent today and the massive difference is that we live in the light of the Ruler who came and established His Kingdom of peace. Not only did He establish it, but made it available to those who turn to Him and one day will be fully manifest on His return in all the earth.
(Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 