Daily Bible Devotionals

“The shields of his warriors are dyed red; the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariot flash like fire on the day of its battle preparations, and the spears are brandished. The chariots dash madly through the streets; they rush around in the plazas. They look like torches; they dart back and forth like lightning. He gives his orders to his officers; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place. The river gates are opened, and the palace erodes away.” Nahum 2:3-6 (HCSB)

For many years, it was speculated that the stories of Jonah and Nahum were merely metaphors, moral stories not based on real occurrences. The thought was that there was no archaeological evidence for the existence of Nineveh. But in the late 1800s, the deliberation was silenced. A pair of explorers named Layard and Rawlinson made excavations and discoveries that brought to life a “metropolis” so vast that no serious mind could doubt what Jonah and Nahum prophesied concerning Nineveh’s splendor and the destruction at the peak of its glory.

Furthermore, the ancient Greek historian, Diodorus Siculus, describes Nineveh’s end in the following language: “There was an old prophecy that Nineveh should not be taken till the river became an enemy to the city. And in the third year of the siege, the river became so swollen with continual rains, overflowed every part of the city, and broke down the wall for twenty furlongs; then the king, thinking that the oracle was fulfilled, and the river became an enemy to the city, built a large funeral pile in the palace, and collected together all his wealth and his concubines and eunuchs, burnt himself and the palace with them all; and the enemy entered at the breach that the waters had made and took the city.”

So the prophecy was true, down to the details. With violence, Nineveh’s pride was laid low, and the “established” people were led away captive. Nineveh had proudly thought herself so established that she would live forever, but her end came suddenly because she exalted herself above God’s Word.

An interesting detail to note in Diodorus Siculus’ account is how the king of Nineveh knew of Nahum’s prophecy yet failed to repent! God, in His grace, had sent Jonah. And when the people repented, in His mercy, God spared them. In His grace, He also sent Nahum, and when the people refused to repent, in His justice, He destroyed them. Nahum had spoken of Nineveh’s destruction 100 years before it fell. Plenty of time for a generation to leave their idolatry and embrace the Lord!  

So, how are you going to respond to the Gospel? Are you going to seek the Lord and His mercy or turn away and test His justice?

“The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite: God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; the Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; the Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts. The mountains quake before Him, the hills melt, and the earth heaves at His presence, yes, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him.” Nahum 1:1-6 (NKJV)

Before Messiah Jesus was taken into custody through the betrayal of Judas, there were several attempts made by Jewish religious authorities to apprehend Him. One such failed attempt is recorded in John’s gospel. Take note of the Pharisees’ rationale of “Biblical ignorance” for why anyone would believe in Jesus…also, Nicodemus’ (the Teacher of Israel – John 3:10) defense of Him!  

“Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, ‘Why have you not brought Him?’ The officers answered, ‘No man ever spoke like this Man!’  Then the Pharisees answered them, ‘Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.’  Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, ‘Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?’ They answered and said to him, ‘Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.’” John 7:45-52 (NKJV)

I mention this because of the comical (albeit tragic) rationale of the Pharisees that “no prophet has arisen out of Galilee,” and anyone who would think otherwise was ignorant of God’s Word. In fact, there were TWO Old Testament prophets from Galilee: Jonah & Nahum. And BOTH were called to preach to Nineveh. Jonah was called to preach GRACE, and Nahum preached JUDGMENT, both to lead the Gentiles to repentance! So, the Pharisee’s indictment toward Christians as being Biblically illiterate actually proved their personal Biblical illiteracy. By this time, Nicodemus had most likely become a Christian. (John 19:39)

Getting to today’s passage, it is easy to read the Old Testament and feel that God hates Gentiles. Nothing is further from the truth! He is God “of the world and all who dwell in it.” As such, His heart has always been that all men, everywhere, would repent. (Acts 17:30) Have you received His offer of peace through faith in Jesus?

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him. But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, and darkness will pursue His enemies.” Nahum 1:7-8 (NKJV)

“Who is a God like You, removing iniquity and passing over rebellion for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not hold on to His anger forever, because He delights in faithful love. He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show loyalty to Jacob and faithful love to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from days long ago.” Micah 7:18-20 (HCSB)

Someone once said the difference between “Sympathy” and “Compassion” is that a sympathetic person sees and feels but does nothing. A compassionate person sees, feels, and gets to work amending the situation.

I thank God that He didn’t simply “sympathize” with our sin struggle. He has compassion and puts His love into action. That’s what the Biblical idea of Messiah is all about. God provided redemption to the spiritually bankrupt because of His great compassion. He set into motion His plan to remove our iniquity by vanquishing it, and He cast our sin into a “sea of forgetfulness,” as it were.  

“But God demonstrated His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us.” Romans 5:8 (NKJV)

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost.” Luke 19:10 (HCSB)

Anyone holding to the opinion that the “Old Testament God” was always angry, smiting, and purely a God of wrath should heed Micah’s message. There is no “Old” and “New” God. There is only God because His character never changes. That is why His promises are always trustworthy. He promises to 1) Judge & rebuke sin and 2) Show grace & mercy to all who humble themselves, wholeheartedly turning to Him.  

When Micah speaks of “Jacob,” he is referring to “Israel,” i.e., “Hebrews.”  When he says of “Abraham,” he is including anyone who, like Abraham, believes in the Lord by faith and is counted righteous by God’s grace. We must remember that Abraham was a Gentile (from Ur of the Chaldees) when he responded to the call of God. Matthew 1:1 describes Messiah Jesus as “Son of David, Son of Abraham” for this very reason. Salvation is (and has always been) offered to both Jew and Gentile, by God’s grace, through faith in Him.

It has always been God’s heart to honor true repentance, regardless of a person’s ethnicity. Israel does not hold exclusive rights to the Lord. That Jesus would be the Savior of the world (John 3:16-17) is not an exclusively “New Testament” idea.

“He says, ‘It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make you a light of the nations, so that my salvation (Yeshua) may reach to the end of the earth.’”  Isaiah 49:6 (NASB)

“What should I bring before the Lord when I come to bow before God on high? Should I come before Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with 10,000 streams of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the child of my body for my own sin?" Micah  6:6-7 (CSB)

During Christmastime, you will probably hear the term “immaculate conception.” Most people believe the phrase means “virgin conceived.” While a virgin named Miriam (Mary) did, in fact, conceive and give birth to Jesus, that’s not what the term “immaculate conception” means. The term refers to the Catholic notion that “Mary” was without sin when she conceived by the Holy Spirit that Mary herself was immaculate. That is simply false. (See: Romans 3:23) Miriam was an otherwise normal Jewish girl whom the Lord chose, by His infinite wisdom, to bear & raise His Son. She conceived not by virtue of her perfection but because of the perfection of the Holy Spirit, who worked despite Miriam’s sinful nature. Miriam’s conception of Jesus, whose “origin is from antiquity, from eternity” (Micah 5:2), was determined by God’s miracle and not by human merit/achievement. We may relate to Jesus’ humanity, but it is His Divinity that we need, the divinity that atoned for sin and secured our salvation.

Micah spoke of the impossibility of anything purely earthly or fleshly atoning for sin. Notice Micah’s examples: Hanukkah is recorded in John, chapter 10, as the “Feast of Dedication.” Hanukkah is the remembrance of a miracle where God allowed one day’s supply of oil to last eight days. This was so the Menorah could stay lit in the temple while new oil could be consecrated. That said, Micah exhorts that 10,000 streams of oil could not fully please God. Religious Jews await the modern rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple so they may resume sacrifices. Micah indicates that animal sacrifices cannot sufficiently atone for sin. What of the notion that an average “fully human” Jewish firstborn child could substitute for a father’s sin? Sin begets sin.

Consider the words of Jesus, to the Levite Scribes & Pharisees: “…and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have taken part with them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ You, therefore, testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ sins!” Matthew 23:30-32 (HCSB)

So, what does the Lord require?

“Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 (CSB)

Only Jesus has accomplished this directive by virtue of His divinity. And only through a personal saving relationship with Him can we stand justified before God.

In short, Jesus didn’t need Mary’s righteousness. She needed His.

“Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity, from eternity. Therefore, He will abandon them until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of His brothers will return to the people of Israel. He will stand and shepherd them in the strength of Yahweh, in the majestic name of Yahweh His God.” Micah 5:2-4a (HCSB)

Some would say that the culture we live in is “postmodern.” Perhaps you have heard that term and wonder exactly what it means. A quick tutorial may be in order since “postmodern” has become a generational catch-all term in many respects.

Let’s say the height of the “modern era” was the WWII generation. This was a generation where the big “isms” flourished:  Industrialism, Communism, Capitalism, Fascism…  The general belief was that there were “absolutes” worth dying for, non-negotiable rights and wrongs. Each movement had its own literary manifestos.  

Moving beyond the political realm, “modernism” stretched into all facets of culture, including religion. Every religious patron declared theirs was the ONLY way.

In response to the failures of many modern “isms,” postmodernism rejects absolute truth altogether. A postmodern attitude toward religion holds to the notion that every religion may own a piece of a larger puzzle, but no one religion is the “only” way. This philosophy is, of course, a lie. Declaring “no absolutes” is itself an absolute statement.

Perhaps the most observable method of determining whether the Lord is the only God is through Biblical prophecy. If God alone can call His prophets from such varied social, economic, and educational backgrounds to predict the future of such various events as wars, the rise and fall of kingdoms, famines, the weather, etc., then surely He is absolutely the ONLY true God. Furthermore, His Word should be considered the ONLY source of Spiritual truth. The Bethlehem birth of Messiah Jesus was predicted in Micah chapter 5. In addition, the deity of Messiah is clearly stated. Jesus’ human birthplace may be Bethlehem, but His “origin” is “from antiquity, from eternity.”  Also, the 400-year silence of Israel’s prophets is predicted, its silence broken with the birth of Messiah.

Is there absolute truth? Absolutely. As every pool shark knows, Any fool can knock a few balls into the pockets. Only a pro can call his shots. Only God can call His shots thousands of years in advance and make everyone! After all, if what God has predicted has come true, what logical person would assume the rest of the prophecy would not unfold as the Lord has determined? It’s not a question of pre-modern, modern, or postmodern philosophy. It’s simply an acknowledgment of prophecy, combined with the faith that God is able & willing to accomplish His purposes.

“Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet…”  Matthew 1:22 (HCSB)

This Groundworks Ministries Podcast is coming soon! In the meantime, click the “Read Full Chapter” button above to study Micah 4.

“This is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who proclaim peace when they have food to sink their teeth into but declare war against the one who puts nothing in their mouths. Therefore, it will be night for you— without visions; it will grow dark for you— without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.” Micah 3:5-6 (HCSB)

When I was 20 years old, I humbled myself before the Lord. With my whole heart, I confessed my sin to God and professed that I believe Jesus is the Messiah. I told Him I believe Jesus rose from the dead and is alive, offering salvation to all who would turn from their sin and follow Him. At that moment, I received salvation by God’s grace.

In addition to that prayer of salvation, I asked the Lord to teach me what it means to be a disciple or “disciplined follower” of Him.  Shortly afterward, someone handed me a copy of the New Testament. At the time, I figured Christians believed in the New Testament, and the Jews believed in the TANAKH (Old Testament). Thus, I began my early journey of discipleship, reading the New Testament and disregarding the Old. But before that “New Testament only” philosophy took deep roots, the Lord “hid” me, as it were, by placing me in a great Bible study group that stressed reading the entire Bible, not just the New Testament. Over time, I grew in Scriptural knowledge to the point where I could discern between sound doctrinal teaching and destructive/heretical teachings present among the church at large.

What if I had found myself, as a young believer, in a group of heretics - men who appeared to teach God’s Word but were perverting the truth for their own profit? This was the case with Israel at the time of Micah. Israel was full of “for-profit” prophets & priests.  

Eventually, for the good of His Kingdom, the Lord afflicted Israel, first by war with Assyria and later by the Babylonians and eventually the Romans. These “afflictions’ caused them to be scattered throughout the nations. God was rebuking them for their sin. But for redemptive reasons, He also acted as a “gang-buster,” protecting the greater community from centralized heretical teaching.

The reason there is a “New Testament” and an “Old Testament,” per se, is because God silenced significant prophetic vision among Israel for 400 years. This was to “cleanse the palate,” so to speak. Micah (and other righteous prophets) prophesied this would happen.

When we recognize the reason for the “silence” or “black-out” period, we view the Old & New Testaments from a different perspective. Put into perspective, the Bible, in its entirety, is one completely connected and continuous message. And what is that message? It is the story of the Messiah, the redeemer of creation from before creation (Micah 5:2; Revelation 13:8), continuing throughout history (1 Corinthians 10:3-4) and extending into eternity (Revelation 11:15). (See also: John 3:16-17)

“‘Quit your preaching,’ they preach. ‘They should not preach these things; shame will not overtake us.’ House of Jacob, should it be asked, ‘Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient? Are these the things He does?’ Don’t My words bring good to the one who walks uprightly?" Micah 2:6-7 (HCSB)

There is a serious debate within the Church at large. The argument is over how to present the gospel: Should we focus on God’s forgiving love or on His standard by which mankind will be judged?

I believe we should present both equally. To me, that is what sharing the whole gospel is about. It’s what the Bible would call “not straying from the path.”  

“Watch the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right or to the left; turn your foot from evil.”  Proverbs 4:27 (NASB)

God has given us the Bible to show us how we should live. In the Bible, we understand God’s Holiness, man’s sinfulness, Jesus’ gracefulness, and the believer’s thankfulness.  

When we stray to the “left” of the Bible’s instruction, we abuse God’s liberty by rebelling against accountability. Swing too far to the “right,” and we worship the discipline of religion while denying ourselves God’s gracious gift of a personal relationship with Him.

A healthy “walk” with Jesus is a balance of freedom with accountability and discipline with a personal relationship.

In the days of Micah, the liberal “left,” so to speak, had taken the Lord’s grace for granted to the point that they worshipped idols. Understand, they had not completely abandoned the Lord. They simply presented the “positive” aspects of God’s loving provision while denying the reality of His hatred of sin, which leads to judgment.  

This approach to worship led to spiritual compromise: the Lord + idolatry. They sought a religion that allowed them to retain a primary identity with the Lord yet didn’t isolate them from their sinful desires or profitable political relationships with other nations. Does this sound familiar?

Whenever the prophets would preach of the true standard of God, Israel would reject their message. It would be very confusing for anyone on the outside because both parties claimed to be God-honoring Jews. Given the options, the average person would probably go with the religion that asked “least” of their devotion while promising the most liberty. We read God’s Word to know the truth and walk according to it.  

Lord, grant us the opportunity (along with the boldness) to share the “whole gospel” with others. We want to walk in Your ways, neither adding to nor taking away from your Word.

“Because of this, I will lament and wail; I will walk barefoot and naked. I will howl like the jackals and mourn like daughters of the desert. For her wounds are incurable and has reached even Judah; it has approached the gate of my people, as far as Jerusalem.” Micah 1:8-9 (HCSB)

Have you ever been upset over sin? I’m not talking about your personal sin, which you may have suffered rebuke. Have you ever grieved over sin’s presence in the world and its effects on the Church at large?  

I am an artist, but I’m not the stereotypical artist. That is, I’m not an extremely emotional person. It’s not to say that I don’t have feelings. I don’t have incredibly high “highs” or extremely low “lows.”  I’m pretty even-keeled. So, as a young believer, I was perplexed when I read the Bible’s accounts of men like Jeremiah, aka the weeping prophet. I wondered how men could be moved to tears and dramatic expressions of sorrow over other people’s sins. I simply could not relate to that level of emotion. It would upset me that I couldn’t seem to “empathize” at the level of the prophets.  

As I spoke with others, I found that I am not alone. Most of the believers I have asked about this subject admit that they focus very little energy lamenting over sin, personal or corporate. Bottom line: They either think God doesn’t care or that their sin isn’t “sinful enough” to warrant judgment.

As for myself, my attitude toward sin began to change when I decided to take the Bible seriously, and I read it consistently. Everything trustworthy that I know about God, I have learned from His Word. I suppose that is why the Bible says that our knowledge of God’s Word determines our level of faith.

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes through the Word of God.” Romans 10:17 (NKJV)

These days, my life is viewed through the lens of Scripture, and experience is weighed on the scale of God’s character, as defined by the Bible. As I read the Bible, He replaces my old thoughts & attitudes with the mind & heart of Messiah. By the power of His Spirit, the Lord enables His children to love what He loves, hate what He hates, and feel as He feels. Consequently, my heart now breaks over my sin and sin in the world.

As we read God’s Word together, I pray that He will balance our knowledge of His Grace toward sinners with an understanding of His impending judgment. I pray that we will all learn to grieve, lament over sin, and intercede on behalf of the lost.