Please turn with me to Micah 2. As you’re turning - in order to give us an idea of what this passage is focused on I’d like to have us think back on the life of King Nebuchadnezzar. You’ll remember that Nebuchadnezzar was one of the kings mentioned in the Book of Daniel.

One day Nebuchadnezzar was relaxing at home and he had a vision. A strange dream about a large tree that reached up into the sky and was visible from all over the world. A beautiful fruit tree that had branches the birds nested in. Animals would come to rest under the shade of this tree. Then this angel comes and commands that the tree be chopped down - so all that’s left is a stump with a band of iron and bronze around it. Then the stump somehow becomes a man who has the mind of a beast for a period of time. Pretty strange dream?

Nebuchadnezzar has Daniel come and interpret the dream for him. The interpretation is that this beautiful tall tree is symbolic of Nebuchadnezzar - the great strong majestic king - arguably in his day the most powerful man on earth. But, God decrees that Nebuchadnezzar is going to become like an animal until He learns that God is the one who really rules.

One year later - Nebuchadnezzar is up on the roof of his royal palace in Babylon. Picture Saddam Hussein doing this. Nebuchadnezzar is up on the roof of his royal palace looking over the city. Nebuchadnezzar says to himself, “Look at this incredible city of Babylon that I myself have built as a place for myself - a royal residence I’ve built by my power and for my own glory!” Remember this is the same king who had a giant statue set up just so people could worship his image. He thought he was sovereign. He thought that all that he had was because of what he had done. All that he had was for his own pleasure. Despite God’s warning - here he was up on the roof basking in his own glory thinking about how he was going to bless himself with more. His whole motivation is himself.

A voice comes from heaven and says, “King Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty has been removed from you.” Nebuchadnezzar turns into this beast like creature - gets driven out into the fields to eat grass with the cattle. In time God restores Nebuchadnezzar and this great self-focused king - bows before God and declares, “The Most High God’s dominion is an everlasting dominion. I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven.” (Daniel 4:4-37)

Coming to Micah 2 we’re going to see that the same sin of Nebuchadnezzar was running rampant in the life of God’s people. The same judgment of God was coming.

Micah 2:1: Woe to those who scheme iniquity, who work out evil on their beds! When morning comes, they do it, for it is in the power of their hands. They covet fields and then seize them, and houses, and take them away. They rob a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.

God had given His people the promised land. Then He divided it up according to the different tribes - the tribe of Judah possessed this location - the tribe of Reuben possessed that location - and so on. God had put into place a code of law so that every 50 years - in the Year of Jubilee - if you lost your land - you got it back. But, people weren’t satisfied with what God gave them. They were lying awake at night thinking through new ways to steal from each other in the morning.

In Exodus 20:17 God says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything [else] that belongs to your neighbor.” That’s covetousness. Being dissatisfied with what God has given us. God gave them the promised land and they wanted more - regardless of who they hurt in the process of getting it.

That’s what happens when we focus on ourselves and not God. When our motivation is ourselves. They were so in love with the land and the physical blessings - what they had gotten from God that they ignored the fact that all of this came from God. Does that sound like Nebuchadnezzar? To love the gift more than the Giver.

Look with me at the consequences of this. Verse 3: Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am planning - you’re lying awake at night scheming and planning. God says, “I’m planning too.” - “Behold, I am planning against this family a calamity from which you cannot remove your necks; and you will not walk haughtily, for it will be an evil time. Judgment is coming. There’s no way your going to escape it or the humiliation of it.

Verse 4: On that day they will take up against you a taunt and utter a bitter lamentation and say, ‘We are completely destroyed! He exchanges the portion of my people - this land God promised and gave to us - how He removes it from me! To the apostate - the ungodly gentiles - He apportions our fields.’ For all that you’re coveting after you’re going to loose everything.

Verse 5: Therefore you will have no one stretching a measuring line for you by lot in the assembly of the Lord.

A measuring line was the way they measured their property lines. The Assyrians and then the Babylonian invaders are coming. Everything you love in your homeland - everything you’ve built up - struggled for - your property - your dreams - your families - its all going to be taken away. Those who survive will be dragged off into exile. That’s scary.

Now, it would be very easy to say to ourselves, “Well, that was back then. But what does this have to do with me? I’m not lying awake at night thinking about how to steal from people.”

In this country - richly blessed by God - we’re living in a culture driven by self - by covetousness - dissatisfaction with what God has given us - the desire to please ourselves - to acquire more - to indulge ourselves - to seek greater comfort - self-satisfaction - simply because we’re told we deserve it.

Think about ENRON and the energy scandal as an example. The reality is that the corporate world isn’t interested in greed simply for the sake of making money for the shareholders. The sin is much deeper. These corporate executives are interested in showing a profit solely for the sake of making more for themselves. And they don’t care who gets hurt in the process. That’s the way business is done in America these days.

Let me put another way - in the old days people naively built garages to put their cars in. Today, that’s what a driveway is for. Today, the garage is an ASF - an Auxillary Storage Facility. The amount of stuff we store in our garages is directly proportional to the amount of space we have to store it in. More space means more stuff. Do you know what the greatest difficulty in having a garage sale is? The greatest difficulty in having a garage sale is figuring out what to sell - and then having the courage to sell it.

God blesses us not so we can fill our lives with more. God blesses us so that we can learn to listen to Him and serve Him with what He gives to us. The issue is not the upward mobility of the Christian but the usefulness of the Christian in the outward mobility of the Gospel.

A few weeks ago when we looked at 1 Timothy 6 - we touched on this. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:6: godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. Contentment - satisfaction with what we have - comes as we learn to trust God for our needs. To see His purposes for what He gives to us. It’s the contrast between men who have set their hearts and lives upon the on the empty pursuit of pleasing themselves versus those who have focused their hearts and lives on God. We all struggle with this motivation in our lives.

Going on - verse 6. Here’s the people’s response to Micah: Do not speak out; so they speak out. The Hebrew word here for “speak” has the idea of water dripping. “Micah, you’re as obnoxious as a leaky faucet.” Put in today’s vernacular, “Shut up! We don’t want to listen to this.”

Verse 6: Do not speak out; so they speak out. But if they do not speak out - if God’s prophets don’t speak up - concerning these things, reproaches will not be turned back - God’s judgment will still come whether we want to hear it or not.

Verse 7: Is it being said, O house of Jacob: ‘Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient? Are these His doings?’ In other words - the rumor going around with the people was that God is a patient God. He’s not really an angry God. He’s a God of love - merciful - long suffering. To which Micah replies, Do not My words do good to the one walking uprightly? “True. God is patient. But, God’s people will also pay attention to God’s warning. Judgment is still coming.”

So many Christians today don’t believe in the final judgment or eternal damnation. So many pastors are teaching about Christianity being a social force - a health and wealth and prosperity gospel. Trying to harmonize Christianity with other religions in some kind of man centered religion of love and peace and happy thoughts. Creating a religion that allows us to go on continuing in our sins and living however we think we should live and thinking that God will go on being patient and loving. Sadly - like Micah any one who speaks about accountability to God and God’s judgment is ridiculed - rejected.

In verse 8 - Micah gets very specific. Sometimes we need that. God hitting us over the head with a 2X4 to get our attention. We become comfortable in how we’re living our lives. Over time our sinful choices bring us to the point where we’re unaware of our sin. We need God to be specific with us.

Verse 8 - God speaking: Recently My people have arisen as an enemy. Here’s how - you strip the robe off the garment from unsuspecting passers-by, from those returning from war. The women of My people you evict, each one from her pleasant house. From her children you take My splendor forever.

There are two shocking images here - acts of unbelievable heartless cruelty and callousness. A soldier is returning from war - from defending his homeland. A veteran - perhaps wounded in battle and unable to defend himself. As he limps home - coming to a place of refuge and safety. God’s people ambush and attack him and steal his clothing leaving him naked in the street. Second image. A woman - probably a widow who had inherited her home from her husband - a widow struggling to maintain her home is shown no compassion. They foreclose on her - taking her home and stealing the inheritance from her children.

Verse 10: Arise and go, for this is no place of rest because of the uncleanness that brings on destruction, a painful destruction.

God says, “I promised you this land as a place of rest. But, because of your sin - your selfish wanting more than I’ve blessed you with - this land has become a place of unrest. So get up and leave while you can. Destruction and judgment are coming.”

Verse 11: If a man walking after wind and falsehood had told lies and said, ‘I will speak out to you concerning wine and liquor,’ he would be spokesman to this people.

These people loved wine and liquor - the things that their affluent lifestyle had to offer. They wanted a prophet who would tell them that what they were doing was just fine before God. In an affluent society - and let’s face it, it doesn’t get much more affluent than the Bay Area - we welcome what confirms our beliefs and justifies how we live. But God sent them Micah - to speak the truth. To cut to the heart of what motivates us. - even if its not what we want to hear.

Then beginning in verse 12 - after all this judgment God concludes with words of reassurance and hope - a different motivation for His people. Verse 12: I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold; like a flock in the midst of its pasture they will be noisy with men. The breaker goes up before them; they break out, pass through the gate and go out by it. So their king goes before them, and the Lord at their head.

Micah looks down the line of history - beyond his own day - past the return of exiles from captivity - even past Jesus and the cross. He’s looking through history at the day when Jesus will return and usher in His Messianic Kingdom - when Israel’s hopes - and ours - will be realized. God will gather His people - His sheep into the fold. A procession with Jesus at the Head. It’s a triumphant - powerful vision - of celebration and joy that goes on into eternity with God.

In thinking this through for us today - applying this to our lives for when we walk out of here and back to our homes and community - notice - in the midst of these words of hope and motivation - notice how God addresses His people.

First, God addresses the nation as “Jacob.” Israel and Judah are names of a nation. But Jacob, that’s personal - intimate. God and His people. This is the side of God that the people were desiring. His patience and love and mercy - His blessings. But notice that it comes after they’re confronted with their sin - after their confession - after repentance.

This is a challenge for us - to examine the things we pay attention to - the programs we watch - the things we talk about and with whom - what we’re accumulating in our garages - our homes and cars and portfolios - how we spend our recreational time - how we use our money - what we’re giving our time and energy to create - the priorities of our lives which show the deeper condition of our heart. We want the intimacy of a relationship with God. We desire His blessing. But, are we in love with the blessings or with the One who blesses?

Second, notice God speaks of gathering “the remnant of Israel.” Within Israel - as there is today in the Church - there has always been a group of people who are truly God’s people. Not the large crowds. Not those who come in the name of Christianity as a religion. But those in heart - who have repented of their sin - a remnant in the Church who wholeheartedly love Jesus.

Let me encourage you as we all have been challenged this morning to allow God to deal with our hearts - to convict us of covetousness - selfishness. To allow Him to open our hearts to Him - to make us pure and tender and submissive before Him. Ask God to do that. Be honest with Him as He’s honest with you. Let Him be the motivation of your heart.