"Amazing Prophecies" May 10 Readings: Micah 1-7

 

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022

This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT. 

Bible Readings:  Micah 1-7  

Background:   

Micah alternates between oracles of judgment and oracles of restoration. The Hebrew form of Micah means, "Who is like Yahweh?" God pronounces judgment against his people when they sin, but always with a view toward restoration.

The most famous verse in Micah is likely Micah 5:2, where Bethlehem is identified as the home of the Messiah, the ruler of Israel.

Daily Devotional:  Amazing Prophecies

Look at the prophecies of Micah 5:2-4. They are stunning in the clarity and accuracy in light of the work of Christ that we observed.

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel,
    whose origins are in the distant past,
    will come from you on my behalf.
3 The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies
    until the woman in labor gives birth.
Then at last his fellow countrymen
    will return from exile to their own land.
4 And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord’s strength,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
Then his people will live there undisturbed,
    for he will be highly honored around the world.

Out of this small clan would come a ruler over Israel. He will be a Good Shepherd for the people of Israel and will stand in strength and majesty, displaying the majestic name of the Lord. 

Consider the power of God's word. Hundreds of years before it happens this prophet is able to pinpoint the place of the birth of the Messiah with such accuracy that when it happens, the scribes could tell the wise men where the "king of the Jews" had been born. 

The book that we read is not one of human wisdom or ideas. It is God's word, divine in origin, supernatural in nature. It brings us into the presence of God. 

Father, thank you for your word - your inerrant and powerful word. 

Consider God's Word:

Thank God for giving you a perfect revelation of himself in Scripture.