“Breath of Life” Micah 7:1-7
Introduction
That grand old man of English statesmanship, William Gladstone, one day arose in Parliament and solemnly announced that he had a sad statement to make. “Princess Alice is dead,” said he; “and love did it.” Her boy was ill with diphtheria and near to death. The physician had cautioned her not to come close enough to the child to breathe his dying breath. But the little fellow looked up from his bed, reached out his tiny arms, and said feebly, “Mamma, please come and kiss me.” And she did it, in spite of warning, and at the cost of her own life.
Transition
In Christ, we see the very same love expressed to sinful humanity. Jesus, God the Son, set aside glory in Heaven to take on human flesh, to veil himself, clothed in humanity that He, like the mother in the story, might come ever close to us in our sin sickened state; even while knowing that it would be at the cost of His life.
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the time which we watch and wait for the birth of Christ, just as the shepherds and kings alike, of ages past, watched for the sign of his coming. Advent is the time in which we like them; look forward to His appearing; the great mystery of God in human flesh, the “hypostasis,” the God-Man, the logos, the communication of God’s grace to sinful humanity.
In Philippians 2:5-11 the Apostle Paul writes, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (NIV)
This morning we will consider the breath of new life that has been breathed upon us as God gave us the ultimate gift of life in Jesus Christ. The birth of Christ is a time not merely of celebrating a festive season; it is a time of celebrating the coming of the king of glory, and majesty.
It is a time when we consider the sublime mystery of God veiled in human flesh and when we rediscover the beauty of the hope of our blessed redeemer!
Exposition
In today’s Scripture reading, we find the prophet Micah lamented the reality that he lived among a people who had become completely and utterly godless. His lament was over the evil times in which he lived. At this time in Israeli history the kingdom was divided into two halves; Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The Jewish people had fallen into godless living and pagan worship.
Regarding today’s passage of Scripture, speaking specifically of Micah 7:1-7, the NIV Study Bible says simply this: “Micah’s lament over a decadent society.” In regard to verse six where it says, “For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man’s enemies are the members of his own household,” the NIV Study Bible expounds saying, “The family unit was disintegrating.”
Micah’s words might well have been penned in any newspaper across America, last week, a few days ago, or today. Micah’s lament was over the godlessness of his generation and what it was doing to the land that he loved, a land which had once known the pure worship of God but had mingled it with pagan philosophy.
Much of our lament is also over the godlessness that we see across our land as people turn away from the truth of God for the lies of reckless living, selfish squandering, drug abuse, and pagan philosophies. Our lament, along with Micah is that God’s people might return to the purity of His worship, that God’s people might not trade the wealth of His word for the empty decadence of a lie.
But that is not the end of the story! Micah did not lament over the condition of his land and then go and hide and wait for things to get better. In verse seven of today’s passage we read the words of Micah, “But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my savior; my god will hear me.” (NIV)
Oh, that we might be a people, like Micah, moved by the diseased corpses of sin that we see strewn around the landscape of our culture, moved to watch in hope for the Lord! Oh, that we might rest our hope securely on the one who was promised by the prophets of old, that we might know the security that comes in insecure times, of trusting completely in Christ alone!
That is ultimately the Christmas message. God, in looking upon His creation, seeing plainly its sin-diseased condition, provided the remedy for that condition in His own Son. The birth of Christ is the birth of new life! The birth of Jesus is more than simply a wonderful event; it is the defining event of human history.
Jesus is the greatest gift that God could ever have given to humanity. Jesus is God in the human flesh. Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” In Christ we see God revealed. In Christ we see sins forgiven. In Christ humanity has received from God truth and life. In John 6:47, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.” (NIV)
The Nicene Creed, the most universal of Christian creeds, which dates from the fourth century Church, says, “One Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.”
The ultimate hope for our decadent society is the same as the hope that Micah had for his. In the chapters preceding today’s Scripture reading, in Micah 5:2-5, the prophet records the revelation of God, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace.” (NIV)
This passage was a prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah. In the days of Jesus birth it was this very passage of prophecy that caused King Herod such great concern as it is recorded in Matthew 2:3-6, where it is written, “When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ‘’’But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’” (NIV)
It was this prophecy that caused Herod to order the death of all male children living in that region. This was his effort to prevent his power and authority being usurped by the rightful heir of the Davidic line of kings. There is much evidence to support the fulfillment of prophecy and the miraculous nature of Christ birth.
His place of birth was prophesied in Micah and then fulfilled here in Mathew. His being the heir to the throne of David was prophesied in Isaiah and then fulfilled in Mathew 1:6. Even Herod’s slaughter of innocent children was prophesied.
In Jeremiah 31:15, the prophet records, “This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more.” (NIV)
Then in Matthew 2:16-18 the Gospel writer records, “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (NIV)
What about the virgin birth of Christ which many skeptics mock and discount in our day? Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
(NIV) Matthew 1:18 says, “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)
Micah’s hope was in the promised Messiah. Our hope is the revealed Messiah. Micah lived among an immoral people who had rejected God. His heart lamented for the state of his people. We live among a people who seem to be drifting further and further away from the truth of God. Our hearts lament for the state of our people as well. Just as Micah was not left without hope, neither are we.
On a cruise from Mexico to Hawaii in 1979, Los Angeles lawyer John Peckham and his wife, Dottie, put a note in a bottle and tossed it into the Pacific. Three years and nine thousand miles later, Vietnamese refugee Nguyen Van Hoa leaned down from a tiny, crowded boat and plucked the bottle from the South China Sea—amazed to find a name and address, a dollar for postage and the promise of a reward. “It gave me hope,” said Hoa, who had escaped from a prison camp in Vietnam. Safe in a UN refugee camp in Thailand, Hoa wrote the surprised Peckhams. For two years they corresponded; Hoa married and had a son. Last year, the Peckhams agreed to sponsor the emigration of Hoa, now thirty-one, and his family. In April, they arrived for an emotional meeting with the Peckhams—and a new life from an old bottle.
In Mark 2:22 Jesus says, “And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.” (NIV)
Conclusion
The prophet Micah longed for new life to be poured out by God, just as we long for God to revive and renew His Church and His people. As we begin the journey of this advent season, let us turn our hearts toward the only and lasting hope that we have for his life and for our people. Let us turn our hearts to Jesus Messiah.
The decisive revelation of God is found in Jesus Christ. The new life that we seek for ourselves and for the people around us, is to be found in the one who gives the breath of new life; Jesus Christ! Our hope, real and lasting hope, is to be found in the author and finisher of our salvation; Jesus Christ.
The 20th century thinker and philosopher, G. K. Chesterton, once wrote,” As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is a mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength. Like all the Christian virtues, it is as unreasonable as it is indispensable.”
These, like the days of the prophet Micah, are troubling times. But the glorious truth that rings forth from the pages of the Scripture and the life of Jesus Christ which is revealed in them is that our hope is not fanciful, our hope is not whimsical, or silly, our hope rests secure on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ.
Hope can not be measured until it is tested. And it can not be tested until it is needed.
In our time, we need to be a people of genuine hope as at no other time in our lives.
But the same God who carried the Church through the persecutions of the early Church, the same God who carried kept the light of truth still smoldering during the dark ages, the same God who gave new life to His Church during the reformation era, is the same God who is alive in His Church today!
As we pray for new life to be breathed into God’s Church and into the people of our land, be reminded, God is still in control and our ultimate hope still rests secure on the solid foundation of the promised one who has been revealed to us.
“But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” (Micah 7:7 NIV)
Amen.
