Micah

He's spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.

Some of the elders stood up and said to the entire assembly, Micah of Moresheth prophesied during the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah.

He said, This is what the Lord of heaven's army says.

Zion will be plowed like a field.

Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.

And certain of the elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Zion shall be plowed as a field, Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

Did Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord? And did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.

There was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-Jerim.

Proverbs 21, 1.

And 700 years prior, 700 years to the birth of Jesus, the prophet Micah named Bethlehem as the place where the Christ would be born.

Micah 5, verse 2.

And now, 700 years later, Mary lives in Nazareth and somehow she has to get to Bethlehem.

So was Jesus

God in the flesh? Did he claim to be God in the flesh? And I think if you read the Bible and you try to get yourself in the room and understanding the language and the culture and especially the prophecies, Jesus comes across as very clearly communicating to his audience that he is the Messiah that the Old Testament prophets spoke about.

and that he is here for a specific mission.

So an extraordinary thing happens that John records in chapter six is that Jesus is on probably the northeast side of the lake.

He's the father of lies, okay? And now the conversation continues, and they say, we know you now have a demon.

Excuse me.

Naaman, Abraham died in the prophets, but you say anyone who keeps my word, he shall never taste death.

Surely you're not greater than our father Abraham who died.

Here in Ephesians 4, of course, there's a progression of thought in verses 11 and 12, he's dealing with gifts in the church.

He gave some who are gifted as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastor slash teachers.

Literally, it would read, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the service to the building up of the body of Christ.

And then he gives the goal of these various gifts that God has.

And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance.

because they crucified the Prince of Glory, as he's just recounted, just as your rulers did also.

But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets that his Messiah or Christ should suffer is thus fulfilled.

Therefore, here it is, repent and return so that your sins may be wiped away.

This is what's amazing.

Micah was a contemporary.

Isaiah was a contemporary.

And so was Amos.

Now, Hosea and Amos would mostly be toward the northern kingdom, Israel.

But Isaiah and Micah was toward the southern kingdom.

So God was doing it.

It's a quartet.