Hallelujah! Praise God for His faithfulness for being good to us throughout the past week. God is good and He is good to us all the time (Psalm 119:68). God’s goodness is inseparably inbuilt in His divine nature, without which it is impossible for us to escape His wrath and survive in this world. Except for the human beings (Psalm 14:2-3; 53:2-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8) and the angels who rebelled against God (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6), rest of all creation obeys God’s commands and follows the order He set at the creation. We are spared and saved from His fierce anger [and all kinds of harm and dangers / Psalm 18:2; 28:7; 121:7; 136:23-24; 144:2] because of His mercy and goodness towards us. Since we are spared and saved because of God’s goodness and mercy, we can honestly testify that God is good and His love and goodness and kindness and faithfulness and grace and mercy sustain us in this world (Psalm 54:4; 84:11). Ultimately, we all can say that …

• • The Lord is good and upright (25:8a)
  • the Lord is the source of all good things (James 1:17)
  • the Lord’s goodness and mercy will follow all the days of our life (Psalm 23:6)
  • the Lord is kind and forgiving to all who call on Him (Psalm 86:5a)
  • The Lord is rich in loving devotion to all who call on Him (Psalm 86:5b)
  • the Lord satisfies our hunger and thirst with good things (Psalm 107:9)
  • the Lord is good to the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45)
  • the Lord is kind to the ungrateful and wicked (Luke 6:35)
  • the Lord is good to all He has made (Psalm 145:9)
  • the Lord’s compassion rests on all He has made (Psalm 145:9)
  • the Lord is good and a stronghold in the day of distress (Nahum 1:7a)
  • the Lord cares for those who trust in Him (Nahum 1:7b)
  • the Lord gives good gifts to His children (Matthew 7:11)
  • the Lord instructs sinners in his ways (Psalm 25:8b)
  • the Lord works all things together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28)

God’s goodness is available for anyone and everyone irrespective of who he/she is. The goodness of God is the key factor that holds everything together in this universe. If there was a chance for God to lose His goodness and mercy for a moment, everything in this universe would have fallen apart and there would have been full of confusion and uncertainty in the place of order and certainty. The universe and everything in it is established to exist because of God’s goodness and mercy; and you and I are the beneficiaries of everything we see, hear, feel, touch, taste, and experience in this universe. Therefore, let us be grateful and thankful to the Lord God Almighty who created us and placed us in this universe to enjoy His never-ending blessings in this age and a never-ending life in the age to come.

The Lord has blessed us with a very promising Scripture passage for our SftW meditation this week, which is taken from Micah 5:2-4. This prophetical book of Micah is written by Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah (Micah 1:1a). Although the vision prophet Micah saw was concerning Samaria and Jerusalem (Micah 1:1b), the message it contains is for all people who live on earth (Micah 1:2). Prophet Micah specifically talks about the wickedness that has been going on in Samaria the capital city of Samaria and in Jerusalem the capital city of Judah and the rest of the world. The Lord revealed some of Samaria’s and Jerusalem’s sins to prophet Nahum, which is stated in Nahum 1:3-7

• • The Lord is coming from his dwelling place (1:3a)
  • The Lord comes down and treads on the heights of the earth (1:3b)
  • The Mountains melt beneath Him (1:4a)
  • The valleys split apart like wax before the fire (1:4b)
  • The valleys split apart like water rushing down a slope (1:4c)
  • The Lord is bringing judgement upon His people because of Jacob’s transgression (1:5a)
  • The Lord is bringing judgement upon His people because of the sins of the people of Israel (1:5b)
  • Israel’s transgressions multiplied in Samaria (1:5c)
  • Judah’s transgressions multiplied because of the high places in Jerusalem (1:5d)
  • The Lord warned the people of Israel that He will make Samaria a heap of rubble because of their sins against Him (1:6a)
  • The Lord warned the people of Israel that He will make Samaria a place for planting vineyards because they rebelled against Him (1:6b)
  • The Lord warns that He will pour Samaria’s stones into the valley (1:6c)
  • The Lord warns that He will lay bare Samaria’s foundations (1:6d)
  • The Lord decreed that all Samaria’s idols will be broken to pieces (1:7a)
  • The Lord decreed that all her temple gifts will be burned with fire (1:7b)
  • The Lord decreed that He will destroy all her images (1:7c)
  • The Lord knew that Samaria gathered all her gifts from the wages of wickedness (1:7d)
  • The Lord will destroy Samaria’s gifts and wages because it is earned in return to her wickedness (1:7e)

The social and spiritual and moral and political and cultural chaos had increased in the land because everyone was trying to do whatever seemed right in their own eyes (Micah 1:5; 2:1-2 3:1-3), as it was during the days of Judges: In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25). People those who engaged in doing wrong did not realize that their wicked ways will lead them to death: There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death (Proverbs 14:12 [& 16:25]; also refer to Deuteronomy 12:8). Also, the Lord revealed the misery of Israel to prophet Micah, which is stated in Micah 7:2-3 [refer: Vs 1-3]:

• • The faithful have been swept from the land (7:2a)
  • There is not one upright person remains in the land (7:2b)
  • Everyone lies in wait to shed blood of each other (7:2c)
  • People hunt each other with nets to plunder and kill (7:2d)
  • People’s both hands are skilled in doing evil (7:3a)
  • The ruler demands gifts from his people (7:3b)
  • The judge accepts bribes and twists the truth into a lie (7:3c)
  • The strong and powerful dictate what they desire (7:3d)
  • All people conspire together to bring down the faithful ones (7:3e)

In the light of increased wickedness in the land, the Lord is threatening to punish Samaria and Jerusalem for their wickedness despite all the blessings He showered upon them:

… The Lord says: I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity. In that day people will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: ‘We are utterly ruined; my people’s possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our fields to traitors. Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord to divide the land by lot (Nahum 2:3-5)

Micah 1:2 states that the Sovereign Lord Himself is the witness for all that is going on in Samaria and Jerusalem, as well as around the world, it is quoted by prophet Micah: Hear, you peoples, all of you, listen, earth and all who live in it, that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple (Micah 1:2). Therefore, the Lord is planning to send disaster not only upon the people of Samaria and Jerusalem for their rebellion and wickedness against Him but He is planning to judge the actions of the entire world for, to see if they were good or evil (Psalm 98:9; Ecclesiastes 12: 14; Acts 17:31). The Lord will hold everyone accountable for their word and deed and the secret thoughts of their heart (Proverbs 4:23; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 13:14). The righteous will receive their reward for their righteous deeds and the wicked will face the consequences for all their evil deeds (Psalm 58:11; Proverbs 11:31; 13:21) because righteousness and justice are closely connected with God’s judgement of His people. The vision/revelation prophet Micah received from the Lord has two end results: (i) the Lord is planning to bring disaster upon the people of Samaria [Israel] and Jerusalem [Judah] and rest of the world for their widespread practice of wickedness; and (ii) the Lord promises to restore all those who plead for His mercy [since they wronged Him] and repent and return to Him.  This restoration happens regardless of who they are – starting with His chosen of Israel and Judah (Isaiah 45:17; Joel 2:32; Zechariah 8:7-8) and then from the rest of the world (Psalm 33:12; 144:15; Isaiah 12:2; Matthew 28:18-20; John 3:16; 4:22-23).

According to the revelation prophet Micah received from the Lord, the Lord’s demand from His chosen people and rest of the humanity is nothing but to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God, as it is stated: He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8). The Lord is asking us [as His people] to reflect on the love, kindness, and compassion we have experienced from Him and exercise it in our dealing with others. Prophet Isaiah urged the people of Judah who have rebelled against the God of their fathers as they multiplied wickedness in the land and ignored to practice love and kindness and compassion towards others to learn to do right and seek justice and care for others who are in desperate situation, as it is mentioned: Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow (Isaiah 1:17). This is what exactly Jesus told the Scribes and Pharisees who gave tithes of mint, dill, and cumin but neglected to practice justice, mercy, and faithfulness: Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former (Matthew 23:23).

When we study the Scripture, we can understand that God chose Abraham and his descendants as His chosen people out of all the nations on earth and blessed them more than any other people or nation in the world (Exodus 19:5-6; Deuteronomy 7:6), as God promised: I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me (Genesis 22:17-18; also refer to Deuteronomy 4:7-8; 6:4-19; 33:26-29). Yet, the chosen people whom the Lord God called by His name (2 Chronicles 7:14a; Isaiah 43:7; also refer to Psalm 100:3) disobeyed His commands and rebelled against Him and followed the so-called gods of this earth [who are, in fact, not god at all] (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:17; 1 Chronicles 16:26; Isaiah 37:19; Romans 1:23; 1 Corinthians 8:5) and profaned His holy name among other people, as Prophet Ezekiel stated: And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land. I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone (Ezekiel 36:20-21; also refer to 20:9, 14, 22, 44; 39:7, 25). Also, prophet Isaiah stated: For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another (Isaiah 48:11). Isaiah continued saying: For my people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock, declares the LORD. And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed (Isaiah 52:5). Apostle Paul sternly warned the believers in Rome that As it is written: God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you (Romans 2:24).

Since the chosen people of the Old Testament acted wickedly before the Lord God Almighty, the God of their fathers, who have delivered them from the land of their slavery, the Lord God punished them and uprooted them from the inheritance He had blessed them with (2 Kings 17:18; 21:12; 23:27). However, God had compassion on His people as they repented and cried out before Him in their distress and anguish and He promised them a deliverer [a Savior] who will come out of Bethlehem Ephrathah whose origins are from of old and ancient times and He will lead His people into safety and they will live securely live for ever and ever (Micah 5:2, 4), as Moses foretold the Israelites that God will raise a prophet like him to lead and guide His people (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18; John 1:45; 5:46; 6:14; 7:40; Acts 3:22-23; 7:37). When God promised His people a deliverer [a Savior], and told Bethlehem Ephrathah that … 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 (Micah 5:2); the Lord God was talking about sending His One and only Son Jesus Christ – the Messiah (Matthew 2:1-6; John 1:1, 41; Colossians 1:17; Revelation 1:8), about whom it is written in the Scripture starting from Genesis 3:15 (also refer to some of the Scripture passages like Psalm 2:7-9, 12; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; 11:1-16; 52:13-53:12; Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15; Daniel 7:13-14; Zechariah 5:2, 4; 9:9; Malachi 3:1; Matthew 16:15-16; 26:64; Luke 2:11; 4:18; John 4:25-26). He is the One who will save His people from their enemies and lead and guide and make them lie down in green pastures and leads them beside quiet waters (Psalm 23:2; Ezekiel 34:14; Revelation 7:17), as prophet Micah stated: 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 (Micah 5:4). From this we can understand that at the end of the present age, the Messiah will return and He will destroy the enemy and all evil from the face of the earth and will put an end to the present world system but will establish a new and godly Kingdom, which will endure for ever and ever, and He will reign over His people as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, as we conclude this week’s SftW meditation, let us be assured that as the faithful followers of Christ Jesus, the Lord will reward us for the righteous life we are living. In fact, we are so privileged that we will be made perfect and receive a reward for our righteous living along with the Old Testament saints who lived a righteous life even in the midst of their sufferings at the return of the Lord, as the author of Hebrews stated: These [the Old Testament saints] were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect (Hebrews 11:39-40). Therefore, let us wait in great hope for the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21:4; also refer to 7:15-17). Prophet Isaiah already prophesied about seven hundred years prior to Christ’s birth on earth that He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken (Isaiah 25:8).

• • God will wipe away every tear from His chosen peoples’ faces
  • God will remove His people’s disgrace
  • God will remove the source of all our sorrow
  • God will not allow to mourn or weep anymore
  • God will be their deliverer and Savior
  • God will be His peoples’ helper who comforts them
  • God will make us His people for ever and ever
  • God will the their God for ever and ever!

In addition, He will reward each one of us for our righteous living even in the midst of sufferings. Therefore, let us eagerly wait for our Lord God to come and strengthen us in times of our need. May the Lord God Almighty bless us all! Amen!