“Who is like God?” is a question that probes the very heart of God and our relationship with Him. What we’re seeing in this book of Micah is that there is no one like God - no other god or person - who in the midst of everything that happens in life - is lovingly dealing with His people using judgment and blessing to call us into a deeper - more holy - trusting - relationship with Him.

As you’re turning to Micah 2 - in order to give us an idea of what this passage is focused on - our theme for today - I’d like to have us think back on the life of King Nebuchadnezzar. Remember him? In VeggieTales he’s the zucchini.

In the Book of Daniel we read that 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 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!” This is one humble king!

Do you remember the statue? The giant statue Nebuchadnezzar 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’d done. All that he had was for his own pleasure.

Despite God’s warning - here’s King Neb up on the roof basking in his own glory thinking about how he was going to bless himself with more. Its important we see this. The core of what moves this king - his heart - his motivation - is himself.

A voice comes from heaven and says, “King Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty has been removed from you.” God can establish us. God can humble us. 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 - now much wiser - 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 - the same sin of Nebuchadnezzar was running rampant in the life of God’s people. Their hearts - their motivation - was themselves. God loves His people too much to let us get away with this - judgment is coming.

Micah 2:1 - God begins with the sin of the people: 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 Manasseh was given this area for their possession - the tribe of Ephraim was given 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. Which is a pretty good deal - right? Everyone is taken care of.

But the people weren’t satisfied with what God gave them. They were lying awake at night - on their beds - 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.

They were so in love with the land and the physical blessings - all that they had - that they ignored the fact that they had an accountability to God for how it all got used. They were more in love with the gift - with themselves - than the Giver. Does that sound like Nebuchadnezzar?

God says, “Your actions are evidence that your hearts are focused on yourselves and not Me. You’re motivated by what pleases you and not what pleases Me.”

In verses 3 to 5 God tells His people what He’s about to do - the consequences of their sin.

Verse 3: Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am planning - while we’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 - in arrogant self-boasting - for it will be an evil time. Judgment is coming. There’s no way you’re going to escape it. I’m going to humble you. Remember Nebuchadnezzar eating grass in the fields?

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 - gives it to the ungodly Gentiles - He apportions our fields.’

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 how they measured the boundary of their property. The Assyrians and then the Babylonian are coming. Everything you love in your homeland - everything you’re boasting in - your property - your dreams - your families - everything inside the boundary is going to be taken away and given to your enemies. Those who survive will be dragged off into exile.

Don’t miss this. That’s God judging their motivations. Taking away their stuff to show them where their hearts are at.

It would be so easy for us to say to ourselves, “Selves, that was back then. What does this have to do with me? I’m not lying awake at night thinking about how to steal from people.”

Last week two former executives and a former energy trader for Duke Energy were charged with making bogus trades to inflate profits and secure higher bonuses for themselves. Remember ENRON? Martha Stewart? 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.

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. The disaster is when that attitude permeates the hearts of God’s people.

Its spring cleaning in Merced. Stuff is piling up on the streets. If you think what we’re talking about is for another people in another time - maybe we should all go home and throw out half our stuff. We’d still be living better than most of the world. What motivates us as we’re filling our lives with stuff? What do our possessions tell us about our hearts before God?

God doesn’t bless us so we can fill our lives with more. God blesses us so that we can learn to acknowledge Him - to glorify Him - to thank Him - to trust Him - to listen to Him and serve Him with what He gives to us. God blesses us with purpose. The issue is not the self-serving upward mobility of the Christian but the usefulness of the Christian in the outward mobility of the Gospel. How sold out we are to God?

In 1 Timothy 6:6 the Apostle Paul writes: godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. Contentment - satisfaction with what we have - is the opposite of covetousness.

Contentment 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 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.

Beginning in verse 6 is the people’s response to God. Verse 6: 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 dripping faucet. 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 prophets are speaking up because God is calling His people back to Himself.

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. Ever hear that? To which Micah replies, Do not My words do good to the one walking uprightly? - “True. God is patient. But God’s people also know that they need to pay attention to God’s warning.”

We could almost picture these people with their fingers in their ears going, “I can’t hear you.”

In verses 8 and 9 God hits His people over the head with a 2X4. Sometimes we need God to do that. We’re so involved in our own lives - happy with ourselves and the way things are - that we’re not listening.

Two real life examples. 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 - Iraq or Afghanistan - 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. God’s people foreclose on her - taking her home and stealing the inheritance from her children. Where is the heart? What could possibly motivate someone to do something like this?

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 gave you this land as a place of rest. But, because of your selfish wanting more than I’ve blessed you with - this land has become a place of unrest - waiting for destruction. So just leave.”

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.

So many today are 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 satisfies our motivation of allowing us to continue in our sins and living however we think we should live and thinking that God will go on being patient and loving. When someone - like Micah - speaks about accountability to God and God’s judgment they’re ridiculed.

In Micah’s day - as today - the 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 California - we welcome what confirms our beliefs and justifies how we live. But God - in love - 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.

In verses 12 and 13 - after all this judgment God concludes with words of reassurance and hope - words with application for our lives.

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’s 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 - who, as Micah says, listen when God speaks.

Let me encourage you as we all have been challenged this morning to allow God to deal with our hearts - to convict us of what motivates us - to point out where we’re focused on ourselves. Ask God to do that. Be honest with Him as He’s honest with you. So that seeking Him - deeply knowing Him - pleasing Him - so that He will be the motivation of your heart.

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