Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20021208.htm

JESUS CHRIST IN OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY
Part XVII: Hoping In God's Faithfulness To Offset Man's Sinfulness
(Micah 5:2 with Matthew 2:1-6; Luke 2:1-7)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

It is often easy to be tempted to lose hope due to the sinful failure of others upon whom we rely, not to mention our own personal sinful failures:

(1) This last week, I happened to watch an actual courtroom case on a television show where a man was filing for divorce from his wife. The judge, herself a woman, found the wife to be grossly selfish, and tried to confront her with her marital role shortcomings.

The wife being prosecuted by her husband totally refused to accept her shortcomings, but kept coming back at the judge with complaints she had about her husband. Finally, the judge said to the defendant in the case, "Ma'am, you are suffering from transference: you are failing to see your own shortcomings, and are transferring all the blame on your husband when it's really you who has been the significant problem in this marriage!"

Even then, the woman refused to accept blame, but kept coming back at the judge about the prosecuting husband!

Apparently, the PAIN of having to ADMIT that SHE shared the majority of the blame for why the marriage had not worked out was so GREAT, this woman was clinging to the HOPE that her HUSBAND was the SOLE cause of her unhappiness! The fear of a loss of HOPE had possibly led to this mental orientation!

(2) Sometimes others upon whom we are depending painfully do let us down! Just this past week, I have heard from believers who are frustrated at the failure of an overseer to fulfill his rightful oversight or at other Christians who persecute them or who fail to keep their commitments!

As I was in the process of typing up this very page last Tuesday afternoon, a member in our Church came by and expressed to me her frustration at spiritual weakness she had come to see in herself!



When SIN in others, or even OURSELVES leads us to feel a sense of HOPELESSNESS, WHAT do we DO about it -- to where can we GO?



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "This Christmas, I see a great need for HOPE over sinful failure not only in OTHERS, but, PAINFULLY, in MYSELF! Well, IS there any HOPE over this? How may I HOPE again?"
  1. The RISEN Jesus told the disciples on the road to Emmaus how He fulfilled Old Testament Messianic prophecies, Luke 24:25-27.
  2. As these men were edified by Christ's teaching of those passages (Luke 24:32), we also view them, following the list of prophecies named in the Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, s. v. "Messianic Prophecies."
  3. The Micah 5:2 prophecy and its fulfillments on BETHLEHEM being Messiah's birthplace provide great HOPE of God's FAITHFULNESS to His PROMISES regardless of our sinfulness:
    1. When Micah predicted Messiah's birth in Bethlehem in Micah 5:2, it gave great hope God would restore Israel's monarchy to its glory in the face of the sin by Israel's kings that had led to its decline:
      1. The preceding context to the Micah 5:2 prophecy predicted the demise and horrific shame to come upon king David's descendant, Zedekiah, due to the massive human failure of the monarchy:
        1. God raised up David, the least of his father's household in little Bethlehem of Judah, to be Israel's king, 1 Samuel 16:1, 11-13.
        2. David's trust in God led to great blessings, and God promised to make his lineage an everlasting one, 2 Samuel 7:4-5, 11-13.
        3. However, David's son Solomon sinned, so God promised to rend away from his son's rule some of the tribes, leaving the Jewish people a divided monarchy, 1 Kings 11:9-13.
        4. Yet, these two kingdoms fell into greater sin, so God judged them both to go into captivity, 2 K. 17:7-23; 2 Chr. 36:14-17.
        5. In this context, Micah 4:9-5:1 foretells the Babylonian invasion and troubles that would occur to Judah and its king, Zedekiah.
      2. Against the backdrop of such failure, God's faithfulness to David and Israel to bless Israel is supplied in the Micah 5:2-3 prophecy:
        1. Regardless of the sinful failure of David's monarchy epitomized in his descendant, king Zedekiah, God promised to raise up another king like David, the Messiah Himself, and bring Him forth from the same humble little Bethlehem as He had king David centuries before, Micah 5:2!
        2. This Messiah would restore the kingdom of David so all of the Hebrews would be under a single king once again, Micah 5:3!
    2. When God fulfilled Micah 5:2, it was done in ways revealing His unchanging faithfulness to keep His promises of David's Kingdom:
      1. God provided the miracle of a new star to highlight His promise to renew the Davidic Covenant by the birth of Messiah in little Bethlehem of Ephrathah, cf. Matthew 2:1-6:
        1. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God miraculously signaled that birth by sending a new star in the heavens, Matthew 2:1-2.
        2. This star gained the attention of the magi at Jesus' birth, so they came to Bethlehem to worship this "king of the Jews," Mtt. 2:2!
      2. God provided the miracle of a pagan emperor's edict to arrange for the Davidic king to be born in Bethlehem to show His will to fulfill the Davidic Covenant regarding Israel's monarchy, Luke 2:1-7:
        1. With the fall of Judah to Babylon, and the dispersion of the Davidic line, it seemed humanly improbable that David's messianic Heir to his throne would be born in Bethlehem to fulfill God's Micah 5:2 promise, Leslie C. Allen, The NIC on the O.T.: The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, p. 345.
        2. Accordingly, God arranged for a pagan emperor, Caesar Augustus, to order Mary and Joseph to return to their ancestral town of Bethlehem just in time for Jesus to be born there for this Micah 5:2 prophecy to be fulfilled, Luke 2:1-7!
    3. So, because of God's intervention ALONE, in real HOPE, we look forward to the kingdom of Christ when the glories of the Davidic kingdom will be fully restored, Micah 5:3 in light of Luke 1:31-33!
Application: Regardless of our past sins, we can hope in God's Word that we will have eternal life if we (1) trust in Christ as Savior from sin, John 3:16. (2) Since trusting in Christ, if we have fallen into sin that has led to chaos and hopelessness, (a) we can hope in God's Word that claims we can confess it to find God's full forgiveness (1 John 1:9), and (b) rely on the Holy Spirit for renewed living, Gal. 5:16-23. (3) If others to whom we have looked for help or leadership have let us down, (a) we can recall the Micah 5:2-3 context where God's promises regarding David's kingdom were NOT bound by the failure of human kings, (b) and hope in the promises of God's Word for blessing!

Lesson: By noting how God has fulfilled Micah 5:2 against the backdrop of man's sinful failure, we can hope God's faithfulness to keep His Word is greater than anybody's sin that can threaten to sabotage His blessings!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Wednesday morning, when I arrived at my office to prepare the Adult Sunday School Class lesson, I was thinking about a conversation I recently had with another believer over frustrations this believer was experiencing in relating to immature believers. I was recalling how God had led me over the years to look to Him to handle challenges I faced with similar relationships, but realized it wasn't easy for me or for any other believer to put up with such persistent immaturity!

Well, the Lord then did two things to remind me of His sovereignty over all of us believers -- carnal, immature or otherwise:

(1) First of all, when I turned into the Church parking lot, I parked the car at the Church steps with the engine still running to chug over to the mailbox to get the daily mail. As I was reaching into the mailbox, somebody honked their pickup horn at me, so, I turned around and waved! It was a believer coming at me from the west. Then, before I could get my waving hand down, a car coming from the east honked, so I had to do a 180 and wave in that direction to a Christian I knew coming from the other direction! It seemed God had arranged for us Christians to meet at the Church mailbox from three different directions so we could all wave at each other and recognize the Lord's sovereign oversight over us all at that split instant in time!

(2) That being done, I returned to the office to prepare to type up this Sunday's Adult Sunday School lesson. The lesson was on Judges 8:1-35, and dealt with how Israel's judge, Gideon allowed himself to be so frustrated at faithless people in Israel that he overreacted to make a gold, priestly garment to remind the people God was their true Leader and not he. However, since this reaction was not what God directed, the carnal people of Israel started to worship the ephod! Indeed, even Gideon's household fell for this false worship! The lesson was simple: we must not allow ourselves to be sidetracked from God's will by overreacting to the carnality of even God's people! However, to do so, we must trust God's sovereignty over other believers, and just focus on our personal walk with Him!