Micah 5:2 But 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.
This is one of the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible. Not only did the prophet foresee the place of Messiah’s birth, but also his preexistence as one who was from ancient times.
Jesus also spoke of his preexistence in several places. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me (John 6:38). [W]hat if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! (John 6:62). [B]efore Abraham was born, I am! (John 8:58). I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father (John 16:28). And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began (John 17:5).
It may’ve been through the prophet Micah, in fact, that Jesus first became aware of his eternality. We can imagine him as a youth sitting in the synagogue as this passage was read. Knowing he was born in Bethlehem, and that the Bible was about him (John 5:39), Jesus heard the reader say whose origins are from of old, from ancient times—and he began to grasp his eternality. If that’s how it happened, then Jesus got a lot out of the service that day!
Micah 6:6-7 With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
God’s people may’ve thought that God was hard to please, or even impossible to please. In light his many commands, and their many failures, this is understandable. Countless Christians, in fact, have come to the same conclusion. But Micah wanted God’s people to know that he isn’t hard to please.
Micah 6:8 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 condensed the many commands of the Old Testament into just three. To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. That’s all God wanted from his people. If we think God is hard to please, we insult his character. And, sooner or later, we’ll stop trying to please him.
But Jesus can also seem hard to please. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), he said. Since we can’t live up to that, we might think we’re always living under God’s frown. But God isn’t an ogre, and doesn’t want us to think that he’s always frowning at us.
It’s better to think of God as a heavenly Father who’s pleased with every good thing we do: every good thought, every good word, and every good deed. God is easy to please, but extremely difficult to satisfy. Like a good parent, he’s always looking for some improvement. We can think of him saying, Well done! And I know you can do even better tomorrow! This allows us to serve God with joy, because he’s always bringing out the best in us.
Micah 7:18-19 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Sin is so destructive that it can separate us from God forever (Matthew 25:46). And sin is so evil that it required nothing less than the death of Christ to pay for it (1 Peter 1:18-19). But having paid for our sin in full, God will hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Imagine God forging your sins into a steel ball, winding up like a major league pitcher, and hurling them into the middle of the sea. With a splash they hit the water and sink to the bottom, never to be recovered. God makes no offer of partial forgiveness—it’s all or nothing. I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more (Hebrews 8:12), says Hebrews.
Reflection and Review
How did Jesus exist before he was born?
Why can God seem hard to please?
Why does God want us to know that we’re completely forgiven?
This is one of the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible. Not only did the prophet foresee the place of Messiah’s birth, but also his preexistence as one who was from ancient times.
Jesus also spoke of his preexistence in several places. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me (John 6:38). [W]hat if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! (John 6:62). [B]efore Abraham was born, I am! (John 8:58). I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father (John 16:28). And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began (John 17:5).
It may’ve been through the prophet Micah, in fact, that Jesus first became aware of his eternality. We can imagine him as a youth sitting in the synagogue as this passage was read. Knowing he was born in Bethlehem, and that the Bible was about him (John 5:39), Jesus heard the reader say whose origins are from of old, from ancient times—and he began to grasp his eternality. If that’s how it happened, then Jesus got a lot out of the service that day!
Micah 6:6-7 With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
God’s people may’ve thought that God was hard to please, or even impossible to please. In light his many commands, and their many failures, this is understandable. Countless Christians, in fact, have come to the same conclusion. But Micah wanted God’s people to know that he isn’t hard to please.
Micah 6:8 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 condensed the many commands of the Old Testament into just three. To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. That’s all God wanted from his people. If we think God is hard to please, we insult his character. And, sooner or later, we’ll stop trying to please him.
But Jesus can also seem hard to please. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), he said. Since we can’t live up to that, we might think we’re always living under God’s frown. But God isn’t an ogre, and doesn’t want us to think that he’s always frowning at us.
It’s better to think of God as a heavenly Father who’s pleased with every good thing we do: every good thought, every good word, and every good deed. God is easy to please, but extremely difficult to satisfy. Like a good parent, he’s always looking for some improvement. We can think of him saying, Well done! And I know you can do even better tomorrow! This allows us to serve God with joy, because he’s always bringing out the best in us.
Micah 7:18-19 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Sin is so destructive that it can separate us from God forever (Matthew 25:46). And sin is so evil that it required nothing less than the death of Christ to pay for it (1 Peter 1:18-19). But having paid for our sin in full, God will hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Imagine God forging your sins into a steel ball, winding up like a major league pitcher, and hurling them into the middle of the sea. With a splash they hit the water and sink to the bottom, never to be recovered. God makes no offer of partial forgiveness—it’s all or nothing. I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more (Hebrews 8:12), says Hebrews.
Reflection and Review
How did Jesus exist before he was born?
Why can God seem hard to please?
Why does God want us to know that we’re completely forgiven?