Peter Barnes | Micah 6:9-16
SERMON NOTES
INTERPRETING RUIN
Micah 6:9-16
– 6:9; to fear God is sound wisdom.
1. God chastens His wayward people.
– 6:9. The rod is surely Assyria – Isa.10:5. The God of the Bible chastens His people. Heb.12:5-11.
Calvin: ‘Don’t wait for God to strike.’
2. God’s people break God’s laws.
(a) they were dishonest in their business dealings – 6:10-11; Hos.12:7; Amos 8:5; Lev.19:35-36; Deut.25:13-16. Being dishonest is not being sharp; it is just being dishonest – Prov.20:23.
Leslie Allen: ‘He is the Lord of the shopping center.’
(b) the rich were violent – 6:12a.
(c) they lie – 6:12b; Jer.9:3-5.
(d) they had followed the false ways of Baal – 6:16. Omri and Ahab belonged to the previous century.
3. The futility of disobedience.
– 6:13-15. This is like the book of Ecclesiastes. All is vanity and futility. People run hard, but they get nowhere.
Dale Ralph Davis tells the story of Henry Rouse who struck oil, and thought that he had made his millions. In celebration he pulled out a cigar and lit it, but only managed to start a huge fire. He was badly burned from it, and only survived long enough to write his will.