October 2, 2010 Micah 4-7; Nahum 1-2

The beginning of chapter 4 verses 1-3 are nearly identical to Isaiah 2:2-4. I thought the phrase "swords into plowshares" was familiar, so I looked it up and found it in Joel 3:10 as "plowshares into swords" (Sept.29). So instead of preparing for war, they live in the peace of the Lord. The Lord will gather the remnant of Israel and make them a strong nation. But for a while they needed to go to Babylon. Other nations saw this and thought that God had deserted His people, but they didn't know the thoughts of the Lord, and they didn't understand His plan.

The Lord promised a ruler of Israel would come from Bethlehem. He would shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord. He would reach to the ends of the earth and He would be their peace. The remnant would be hidden in the midst of other nations. All their enemies would be destroyed.

The Lord asked the people how He had burdened them? He delivered them from Egypt, He sent them Moses, Aaron and Miriam, and He brought them safely into the promised land. Micah asked what he could ever offer the Lord to show his true feelings of gratitude. Burnt offerings? Thousands of rams? 10,000 rivers of oil? His firstborn? "The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" (Micah 6:7) All God requires of us is to do good, love mercy and walk humbly with Him. But instead the people treated each other badly and hurt each other constantly, so the Lord would punish them.

Israel was corrupt, like rotten things. But the people who point fingers and laugh thinking that God had deserted His people would see how wrong they were. Israel would come back stonger and better than ever. Micah prayed that God would lead His people and perform miracles as He had in the past. The people understood that no one is like God. They knew He would forgive them.

Nahum
We go back to Nineveh. By now it's 150 years later (according to a footnote in my bible) and the people have gone bad. The Lord sent Nahum to Nineveh with the burden of telling the people how angry the Lord was with them. The Lord would flood Nineveh and bring on its end. Nahum knew that "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of touble. He cares for those who trust in Him." (Nahum 1:7) I guess the Ninevites did not.

Nahum warned the people to brace themselves for the attack. The soldiers would wear red, the metal on their chariots would flash so they looked like flaming torches. The wealth of the city would be plundered. The people would not believe what was happening to them. They would no longer be proud and arrogant like lions. The Lord would make it so they could never hurt anyone again.

Tomorrow finish Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah 1:1-13