Micah 4: Nothing

​Key Verse
6 In that day, declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; 7 and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.
 
Meditation
Martin Luther is quoted as saying, “God created the world out of nothing. As long as you are not yet nothing God cannot create something out of you.” The God who brings life from graves, welcomes sinners, and redeems tragedy, invites us to realize our nothingness to know the sufficiency of His grace. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
 
Micah’s salvation oracle begins today’s reading by celebrating God’s future glory. “In the latter days…” there will be resurrection and redeemed relationship with the King. God’s majestic mountain will be a magnet for all nations, restoring shalom and security for people from every nation to walk in the name of the Lord- forever. (vv. 1-5) God will assemble “the lame,” the “afflicted,” “those driven off,” and “those cast out.” (vv. 6-7) God’s sovereign grace will renew the world, making a kingdom of a people who the world says is nothing!
 
Why does God “choose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, the weak to shame the strong, the low and despised, even the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are”? So no human might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29) 
 
God alone is our great Savior. God alone gets all the glory. God Himself became nothing, taking the form of a servant, so those who think we are something can repent and embrace our nothingness. Because Jesus was “afflicted” and “cast out,” those who are afflicted and cast out by the world can come to Jesus with nothing but faith for healing and a home.
 
 
Today’s Reading
It shall come to pass in the latter days
    that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
    and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
2     and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
    and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
    and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war anymore;
4 but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
    and no one shall make them afraid,
    for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 For all the peoples walk
    each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
    forever and ever.

The Lord Shall Rescue Zion
6 In that day, declares the Lord,
    I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away
    and those whom I have afflicted;
7 and the lame I will make the remnant,
    and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
    from this time forth and forevermore.
8 And you, O tower of the flock,
    hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
    the former dominion shall come,
    kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why do you cry aloud?
    Is there no king in you?
Has your counselor perished,
    that pain seized you like a woman in labor?
10 Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for now you shall go out from the city
    and dwell in the open country;
    you shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
    there the Lord will redeem you
    from the hand of your enemies.
11 Now many nations
    are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
    and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
12 But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
    that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh,
    O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horn iron,
    and I will make your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
    and shall devote their gain to the Lord,
    their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially the salvation oracle in the first half?
 
-Why is it surprising that God remakes the world and creates His Kingdom on earth from nothing and through folks the world would describe as nobodies? How does this point to the person and work of Jesus?
 
-How does the work of Jesus free you to repent of your effort to be something to embrace God’s invitation to be nothing, finding everything in Him and His work? Where, specifically, do you need to apply this to your life?

​Key Verse
6 In that day, declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; 7 and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.