By Pastor John Mateos Ong
What do prophets do? What is the difference between a priest and a prophet?
A priest represents the people to God. The priest is the one who offers the sacrifices of the people to God. A prophet becomes the voice of God to the people. As we talk about the prophets of doom, these are the people our friend, God, uses to speak to us to deliver us from impending danger. One of the minor prophets, Micah, is what we will study today. They are not lowers class prophets; it’s just the length of the book that made them minor ones.
What are the roles of the prophets?
Mouthpiece of God - Deuteronomy 18:18 says, “I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him.” There is a prophet in every church. A church without a prophet will lose its way because God is not using anyone to talk to them. Sometimes, they are not heard. But people need to discern if someone is really speaking from the Lord.
Words come from the Holy Spirit - 1 Peter 1:21 says, “or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.”
God will share what He will do to the prophets first. Amos 3:7 says, “Indeed, the Sovereign Lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets.”
Micah role was to tell the Israelites to change. They were rebelling against the Lord and He was not happy with them. Micah 4:1-2 says, “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 was giving them warning; a sneak peak. He is still speaking to us now. Not everybody’s priority is God we are easily distracted by the things around us and God is not number 1 in our life. How great is your God? Is He only great only on Sundays? You need to be faithful because there will only be one God. In the end, He is still the one to be followed. The only one. Nobody on earth can be as faithful as Him. Stick to Him only. If you already know the ending, you will not be nervous with whatever will happen until it ends. There will be restoration in the end.Jesus will reign no matter what.
Micah 3:3-5 says, “Yes, you eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin, and break their bones. You chop them up like meat for the cooking pot. Then you beg the Lord for help in times of trouble! Do you really expect him to answer? After all the evil you have done, he won’t even look at you!” This is what the Lord says: “You false prophets are leading my people astray! You promise peace for those who give you food, but you declare war on those who refuse to feed you.” Someday, when the war is done, there will be peace. All the hardships will end. That is the promise of a restored future.
What can you learn from the prophecy of Micah?
Tests are a part of life. John 16:33 says, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”” Everybody goes through tests and trials of every kind. It is difficult but is meant to show you how much you know. You can always say that you have faith. But unless you are put to a test, you will never know how much you can stand. People who do not like tests are the ones who know that they will fail. But the problems itself are not from God. It can be from several factors like nature, other people, the enemy, and sometimes, yourself. James 1:2-4 says, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” There is a saying that goes, “Calm seas never produce good sailors.” If you are not used to the storms and you experience it for ten first time, you will fail. 1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” It is normal to grieve when you have problems. The faith that has gone through a lot of trials can prove its genuineness and is worth greater than gold. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 9:2-3, “The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t. It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.” At the end, everybody will turn out six feet under. Hard times produce a strong generation. A strong generation will produce good times. Good times produce a weak generation. And a weak generation will produce hard times. It is a crazy cycle that needs to be broken.
God sees you. Micah 1:3 says, “Look! The Lord is coming! He leaves his throne in heaven and tramples the heights of the earth.” God sees everything you do, even in the middle of all your problems. Some people’s lives are compartmentalized. They give a part of their lives to God and hide the rest because nobody sees it anyway. Some hide idols in their lives. Let it not be. Habbakuk 3:17-18 says, “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!” True worship comes out not when you are happy. It comes out when you are in the lack. Then it becomes true. You cannot control circumstances. But you can control your reaction to it. Will you worship God in the middle of loss, bankruptcy and sickness? Romans 5:3-4 says, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.” Hardship produces stronger people. Psalms 73:3-5 also says, “For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. They seem to live such painless lives; their bodies are so healthy and strong. They don’t have troubles like other people; they’re not plagued with problems like everyone else.” Some people are jealous of others who prosper even if their wealth are ill gotten. But Psalm 73:16-17 says, “So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. But what a difficult task it is! Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked.” Nobody knows when the Lord will come. You will only understand when the right time comes.
There is a right time. Micah 2:3 says, “But this is what the Lord says: “I will reward your evil with evil; you won’t be able to pull your neck out of the noose. You will no longer walk around proudly, for it will be a terrible time.”” There will come a tie when everything you have on earth will be of no value. There will come a time when you do not have to drag anyone to church. But by that time, it will be too late.
What do you average to do then?
Galatians 6:9 says, “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” Do not get tired of serving and doing good because there is a harvest waiting for you. Stop counting time and effort. Revelations 22:12 says, ““Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.” Jesus is coming soon and He is going to bring a reward.
Stop blaming God for your problems.
Be faithful. God sees you.
Do good even if it’s tiring.
Be expectant. He is coming.
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