The Truth Of God; Book of Micah Part 2

The Restoration Of The Kingdom – Micah Part 2

Book of Micah Chapters 3-5


First, before we start we need to remember, If we cannot accept the truth, then we will believe a lie.

What is the truth?

Rom 3:3  For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4  God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Most all people look at prophets as men who foretell of doom only, but the truth of God's Prophets is their message was more a message of hope!

There are many highly educated men that can give us a vision of the future that we can find agreeable.

They even promise that education and technology will make things much better in our future.

The Scriptures on the other hand promise that Jesus Christ is the future of every human being and He will be our "Savior" or He will be our "Judge" and that is a choice that we make ourselves.

This my friends is the truth!

Chapter 3 teaches us that national leaders are to know and practice "good judgment"! They are to use God's standards and not man's standards!

Chapter 3 also teaches us that the preachers are to preach the full council of God and not their own twisted versions!

Chapter 3 also teaches us that we are not a Christian nation just because we say so, we must live by the Word of God!

What is the truth of our nation today?

Mic 3:11  The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.

We can see that just as Israel and Judah were living in sin this day of Micah, this message fits this day we live also!

The truth is no matter what this world teaches, Jesus Christ is the future of our world! As Christians we know that our hope lies in the Lord!

Chapter 4 verse 1

*****Mic 4:1  But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

The truth is, the wicked and sinful world will one day transition into a kingdom of glory, a kingdom of peace, and a kingdom of victory!

Corruption and greed rule our world today and many people live in hopelessness and die without Christ.

The hope of our world lies in the Second Coming of the Messiah!

The hope of the Christian lies in "Faith" in the things of God before we die a physical death!

Only the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, offers real hope to all those who are lost!

The only thing that will change despair is "HOPE"!

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15  These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. "Let no man despise thee".

The truth is, that here Micah teaches us that Jerusalem will be exalted above all nations!

Jerusalem will become the capitol city of this world!

I know this breaks the heart of many people but the truth is still the truth!

Jerusalem will also be the religious capitol of this world and people from all nations will come to be taught the ways of God!

The truth is, it will be the same Word of God that we have today with most all prophesy fulfilled.

Jerusalem will also be the legislative capitol of this world and this Word of God will flow from Jerusalem.

Rev 19:15  And "out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword", that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

There will be no voting to see which laws will be obeyed!

Because the truth is Jerusalem will also be the "judicial" capitol of this world and the Word of God has already been approved in Heaven.

*****Mic 4:3  And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

In this world today there are always wars and or rumors of wars. In fact the threat of war is even used to sway righteous judgment many times.

There is always the fear of economic collapse, the fear of violence, the fear of injustice, and most all people live a life of uncertainty, anxiety and fear.

That will all come to an end with the return of the Messiah and the world will then see true peace!

All nations will disarm and disband their military forces!

That equipment and that technology and that money, will then be used to feed and maintain a thriving society.

The people of earth will live in perfect peace and security for 1000 years.

People will live without fear for the very first time!

There will be no starving children, and no homeless people and no crooked politicians!

This describes the Millennial reign of the King Of Kings!

Isa 2:4  And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

People will finally know the truth!

Psa 96:13  Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

For the Jews who are so hated and despised today, will then be honored by all nations and all people!

Deu 28:1  And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
Deu 28:2  And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

Most all nations honor Abraham and God will then fulfill the promises He made to Abraham!

Gen 12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

We know that the Millennial Kingdom does not take place until after the "Rapture" of the Church but let's look at what happens at that time:

1) All believers will be glorified in Christ Jesus.
2) All believers will be privileged to be with God throughout eternity.
3) All believers will rule with Christ Jesus once His Kingdom has been established.
4) All believers will be joint-heirs with Christ Jesus of the glorious things of God!

Joh 12:26  If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Fear will be a word not found in books anymore!

*****Mic 4:4  But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
Mic 4:5  For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

These are not just somebody's wishes or somebody's thoughts, these are the promises of a Holy God!

Beginning with the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ, Israel will worship the Lord forever.

All "believers", then and now "will", (not maybe, not under certain circumstances, not because of works but because of faith) will walk in the name of the LORD, "our God" for all eternity!

This is a promise and it is a sure promise to everyone who loves the Lord Jesus Christ!

What had Joshua told the nation of Israel as they entered the promise land?

Jos 24:14  Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

As we take a stand for the Lord in these final days we need to remember the words of Joshua and of Micah because they will lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ every time!

At the presentation of the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ, we "all" must make a choice!

Jos 24:15  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

The Jews have been slowly returning to their homeland but at that time God will bring them all back home.

*****Mic 4:6  In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;
Mic 4:7  And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.

**The "halted" are those who do not have the ability to move by their own power.

Spiritually speaking, the halted are those incapable of spiritual movement.

**The "banished" are those that are condemned by the laws of man and are friends to God's enemies.

They will all repent and return to the Lord.

**Those afflicted may be lame, or blind, or deaf, or dumb, or lepers, or sinners and belong to Satan.
But their eyes will be opened, their bodies healed, their hearing restored, their sins forgiven and they will be released from the bondage of Satan.

No matter what the world thinks or says, the Lord Himself promises that Israel will be restored.'

This lost world simply does not understand the truth of God or they just reject Him!

*****Mic 4:12  But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
Under the rule of the Messiah, Jerusalem will be the authority and all the land promised to Abraham will be restored to them.

The truth is, mankind in ignorance, fight against God's purpose and in fighting against God's purpose mankind will bring ruin upon themselves!

God will use the plans they have made against Him be used to destroy themselves!

God will gather the enemies of Israel, like sheaves to the threshing floor and then allow Israel to trample and crush all her enemies!

Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

At this point Micah gives us one the greatest prophesies that has been fulfilled that the entire world knows about.

The first coming of the Messiah!

The "Birth" that changed our world!

*****Mic 5:1  Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
Mic 5:2  But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

It is a fact that our world is full of immoral leaders who are also corrupt in their ways and in their thoughts.

In truth this world has always been full of immoral, corrupt leaders.

This has been more noticeable in our own nation than ever before!

It astounds me that no one seems to care, but it is also a fact that the lost will always defend the lost!

The truth is revolutions, revolts, and social upheavals have occurred almost everywhere on this planet.

America is more divided now than it ever has been and even our own government is preparing for a revolt that our own government has been instigating.

It is not so much the people who are rebelling, as it is the government who have been rebelling against the people and this is the difference this time in America!

There is coming a day when all these things will cease!

The truth is, our hope lies in the Lord!

The Lord Jesus could have come in any way He chose to come but there was only one way for God's purpose to be fulfilled.

Bethlehem means the "house of bread".

Ephratah means "fruitfulness".

This place known for it's "natural fruitfulness" would also be a place of "spiritual fruitfulness"!

This place, which was so remote that it would never become a place of importance, in one night became the most famous place in all the world.

This place, which was also the birthplace of King David was also the birth place of the Messiah who was to fulfill the prophesies God had given to David.

Out of this same place came Christ "the ruler of all Israel"!

Out of this place came the eternity of God "the Son"!

Out of this insignificant city, born in a manger, in the most humble of all places, came the Messiah, the foundation of Christianity!

The symbol of Rome was it's military.

The Jews required a conquering General to obtain freedom.

Out of Bethlehem came the hope of Israel!

Out of Bethlehem came the hope of all mankind!

Out of Bethlehem came the God of Love saying: Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

As Christians our greatest example of true life, is our own Lord!

God makes the weak to be strong and the strong to be weak.

Christ came to teach us to serve, as a humble servant Himself!

2Co 8:9  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

Why would God choose these things?

1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

The purpose of the prophesies of Christ's birth were intended to bring hope!

The purpose of the prophecy of the Second Coming of Christ is still intended to bring hope!

Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15  These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

This is to be the same message of the Church today!

It is the job of the Church to teach these things as the truth, for they are, and they have proven to be so!

The Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem Ephratah 700 years after Micah had said these things.
What the world needed was a Savior, a Deliverer, a Redeemer and all these things are of the Christ and the other things would come later.

Shortly after the time of Micah until the birth of Jesus Christ, God was silent.

An in 70 AD Israel was decimated by the Romans.

Israel had paid no attention to the words of Micah.

It would be a great benefit to the Church, if we paid very close attention not only to Micah but all the prophesies of the Bible, in fact to every Scripture, rightly divided!

*****Mic 5:3  Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

From the birth of Jesus Christ until May 14, 1948, Israel was then "Born Again".

Psa 90:2  Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Psa 90:3  Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
Psa 90:4  For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

**But we must clearly understand that Israel will remain in travail as a pregnant virgin until they have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as the true Messiah.

Rev 12:1  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
Rev 12:2  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Rev 12:3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Rev 12:4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Rev 12:6  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

What did Micah preach?

*****Mic 5:4  And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

The ministry of Jesus Christ will be in the strength and the majesty of God Himself!

It is the strength of God that will rule and dominate the earth at this time, (a rod of iron).

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

At that time there will be no one on this earth that does not know the Lord Jesus Christ!

The only ones left now are those who are lost, Hell is full of believers along with the true Church!

Jesus will bring peace to the earth but the peace that Christ brings will be much more than the absence of war!

There will be absolute security for all God's people.
There will be a prosperity of the like that this world has never been seen.
There will be generosity from all people and all nations.
But more important there will be "spiritual peace", God and His people will be reconciled forever!

Rom 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

We will all be rejoicing in the "glory of God" on that day!

*****Mic 5:7  And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.

The Church will have already been with the Lord at least 7 years at this time and will return with the Lord.

Rev 19:14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
The remnant of Israel will be saved and joined with the Church.
Rom 9:27  Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
Rom 9:28  For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

Those "many people" are those that survived the 7 year tribulation period!

Psa 4:3  But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
Psa 4:4  Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
Psa 4:5  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.

And there will only be a remnant of Israel.
 
*****Mic 5:8  And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
Mic 5:9  Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.

But notice none of this will take place until Israel has defeated all her enemies!

Israel has always been chosen to set the example of obedience to God's Laws:

Exo 19:5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Exo 19:6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

Israel has always been chosen to preach the Word of God to all Gentiles:

Mic 4:2  And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Rev 14:1  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

Luk 2:34  And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
Luk 2:35  (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

All the enemies of the Word of God will have been cut off by this time.

Luk 19:27  But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

The Book of Micah will lead us to the truth of the end times if we will just listen to his words.

Next week we will see what God requires of us.

Questions?

Let's Pray!

Book of Micah Part 1

The Witness Of God,  Micah Part 1

Book of Micah Chapters 1-2

Micah was another of God's prophets who served in Judah during the time of Hosea and Isaiah.

He gave God's Word to King Jotham, King Ahaz, and King Hezekiah.

Micah prophesied of Jerusalem but also of Samaria the cities that were the nation's capitols of Israel the Northern Tribes and Judah the Southern Tribes.

Micah preached to expose the sins of the people and repentance to return to God.

Micah showed great concern for social, economic, and legal justice!

Micah preached that every nation is judged by how it treats it's weakest members.

Micah preached against the injustice and the oppression of government!

Micah warned of the evils of society and the responsibility of leadership!

1) How we treat all others is important to God.
2) God has a great concern for social, legal, and political justice.
3) God has great concern for how the poor and underprivileged are treated.

Micah preached of a sincere faith and obedience to the Lord because they matter.

Micah reminds us all that a change of heart is a required thing for true repentance.

We will begin today with God's Warning.

*****Mic 1:1  The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Mic 1:2  Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
Mic 1:3  For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

We can immediately see that Micah prophesied to the entire earth and also throughout all history.

These words of Micah are even more important today than they were in the day of Micah, because we know for certain that 'Judgment" as described by Micah has not yet taken place!

Micah emphasizes that these are the Words of God and not the words of some man!

Micah emphasizes that there is a day of "Judgment" coming to this world and the "Judge" would be none other than "God Himself"!

You see it was God who called Micah and it was God who gave Him these words!

2Pe 1:20  Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
2Pe 1:21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

What happened to Israel and to Judah was just an example of what will be coming one day, and one day soon!

In our study of these three kings we know that Micah saw both good times and bad times in the nation of Israel.

We may not be able to see God's Holy Temple in Heaven, at least yet, but that does not mean that God does not see everything that goes on in this place called Earth!

God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ will bring this "Judgment" to the world and it will be a perfect
"Judgment" from a perfect "Savior"!

Joh 5:22  For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23  That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
Joh 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

And Micah describes some of the things that will happen.

Remember Jesus will return to the exact same place from where he had ascended back into Heaven.

Act 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Act 1:10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Act 1:11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

What does Micah say?

*****Mic 1:4  And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.

That is the power of God as He steps back upon this earth!

And remember the Muslim now have a burial ground in this pathway to the Eastern Gate which will simply be moved out of the way.

God has shown this world, "by His great love" His plan of salvation but it has been rejected, so God will come forth from His Temple of Love and those that remain that day will see the "God of Wrath"!

It may still be denied by this world, but it is still the truth!

It should be obvious that God in relation to sin, will bring material ruin upon all those who have rejected Him.

All those that object in this sinful world and have placed themselves between true life their Creator will be the first to be destroyed!

Then Micah describes Samaria and Jerusalem:

*****Mic 1:5  For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
Mic 1:6  Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.
Mic 1:7  And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.

God will always give His final warning before He brings judgment.

"Chastisement" and "Judgment" are two different things and the wrath of God is different all together!

Continued wickedness and idolatry after the warning will always bring the "Judgment of God"!

Notice the sins of both these people flourished because of what was happening in their capitol cities, which means that wickedness, transgression and sin was encouraged by the governments of both nations.

When people begin to fellowship with those who worship false gods or are convinced to take part in that worship, they are making that worship acceptable and it is never acceptable to God!

God promised to destroy Samaria and expose those sinful foundations.

When Samaria was destroyed, all the false worship centers would be set afire and the idols smashed to pieces.

In Micah's day, most all those false religions were made up of fertility gods.

The basic beliefs of such religions were based upon the sexual experience.

They had become worshipers of these things.

We can see that in our own nation, that as wickedness increases, the worship and the lusts of these same sexual perversions have also increased.

Anyone that believes God is in these things is a fool!

It was not long before the people of Judah had become as wicked as the people of Israel.

*****Mic 1:8  Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
Mic 1:9  For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

Micah was deeply troubled by what he was seeing and showed intense grief for the things he was seeing.

I sometimes think this is where we fail the most!

We simply do not grieve enough for our world nor our nation nor our own communities!

The people of the world are just as guilty as Samaria.

As a nation, America has become the leader in wickedness.

Our idols may be different but the worship of anything besides the Living God then becomes an idol!

God warns this entire world that false worship "of any kind" will doom us all.

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1Co 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
1Co 6:11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

There is still only "One Answer" to the world's problems and "It Is The Lord Jesus Christ"!

Those that reject the Lord will have their place but it will not be in Heaven!

Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Rev 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

There are no other alternatives no matter how this world tries to deceive us!

When a society becomes corrupt, it will bring the "Judgment" of God!

*****Mic 2:1  Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
Mic 2:2  And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

What we see is that "greed" in any form will always cause oppression!

When greed takes over anyone, it will work in the brain in the night as well as in the day.

The object of greed has then become the god, the idol, of that greedy person.

This is what we see controlling our political structure of today.

The greed for power and riches are destroying the nation that use to offer every individual such opportunities freely!

We now see those who spend all their time making sacrifices and labor on their own altars of "greed"!

Micah offers hope to Jerusalem and Samaria if they will only repent before the time of "God's Judgment".

Micah offers all of us the same warning because the same truth is, "God's Judgment" is a sure thing!

God's "judgment" is "inevitable and it will be inescapable!

Until we get to Heaven, we will always come up short of God's standards, but when we devise sin and evil in our own heads that is something else entirely!

When we have no sense of right and wrong we are headed for destruction!

This is the politics of America today and it is filtering into the society at a greater pace than ever.

Psa 36:1  The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.
Psa 36:2  For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
Psa 36:3  The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.
Psa 36:4  He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.

When our wicked behavior has corrupted our society, we will fall into the hands of an angry God!

*****Mic 2:3  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.

That word "therefore" always means God has given us His reasons before He announces His "judgment"!

The truth is when man devises sin, God has already prepared the appropriate penalty. One is just as certain as the other!

God makes us very aware that the evil we do will also jeopardizes our own families!

But this also applies just as well to our businesses, our organizations, our governments, and our nations!

Hab 2:9  Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
Hab 2:10  Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.
Hab 2:11  For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
Hab 2:12  Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!
Hab 2:13  Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?

And God then gives His prophet Micah the words to describe their calamity!

*****Mic 2:4  In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.
Mic 2:5  Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD.

Their "judgment" would be inescapable.
They would be humbled, they would spend the rest of the life in shame.
They would be ridiculed and mocked by others, they would loose the possessions they had obtained through sin.
And that nation would no longer have a leader to rule in the promised land.

This was the judgment on Israel.

Today nothing has changed.

The judgment on America will be inescapable.
America has been humbled and in shame.
America is being mocked by the world.
And we all have seen that no matter who wins this election, most of all Americans agree we will still not have a true leader.

In the time of Moses, the entire nation of Israel, except Joshua and Caleb, traveled in circles for 40 years until they died and could not enter into the promised land.

What had God promised Israel?

Isa 45:17  But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
Isa 45:18  For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

These that had so sinned against the Lord in the time of Micah and throughout the days of this earth, would miss out on the salvation of the Lord!

Eph 5:3  But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Eph 5:4  Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Eph 5:5  For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Eph 5:6  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

When we compromise on the Word of God and listen to those that do so, we are inviting the wrath of God!

*****Mic 2:6  Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
Mic 2:7  O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
Mic 2:8  Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.

The truth of the government and the society of the day of Micah, was that they persecuted God's Prophets and placed their trust in the false prophets of the world.

What is the truth of the government and the society of America, and the world today?

Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

When this is what you want, this is what you will get!

For instance those that advise our government are totally false preachers, or they take God's Word and manipulate it into something that is a half-truth or totally false. This is the same thing Satan did to Eve!

The same goes for the leaders of many of the denominations and many of the pastors and preachers that have turned against the truth of the Scriptures!

These same people will then persecute anyone who preaches or teaches the truth they have already rejected!

They simply do not expect any benefit from the Word of God!
They do not acknowledge any duty to the Savior.
They are truly afraid of the enemies of God.
They compromise with any adversity.
They limit the Holy Spirit to periods of time, or to certain denominations.

These things become absurd and totally sinful, selfish, and unreasonable, to those who remain solid in their "faith"!

A house divided will always fall and that includes any nation!

When you disregard any part of the Holy Trinity you have rejected the God of the Bible!!!!!

The Church has become a place where the people want to hear about God's love, God's mercy, and God's grace but have rejected God's commandments, God's justice, and God's "judgment". This is the whole council of God and even though not popular and sometimes offensive it is still the "Biblical Truth" of the Scriptures and must be taught.

Who in their right mind would want to serve a God where anything goes? Makes no sense at all!

These are just excuses for a people who refuse to give up their sin!

God warns all His people that we will be persecuted by the world.

Unbelievers will always oppose anyone who lives by the commandments of God!

Unbelievers will always oppose anyone who proclaims God's demand for righteousness!

Listen to these words of Jesus:

Joh 15:20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
Joh 15:21  But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
Joh 15:22  If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
Joh 15:23  He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

Those that hate the Lord Jesus Christ, do not know the Triune God at all!
Those that reject the work of the Holy Spirit, do not know the Triune God at all!

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

What is the truth?

1Jn 5:7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

We know that when John used "Word", it was his way of saying the Lord Jesus Christ.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

All these things fulfill the words of the Book of Genesis!

Gen 1:26  And God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:" and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

You cannot leave out any part of the Holy Scriptures nor take them out of context and get the full truth!

Those that do these things have then become the enemies of God!

What does God teach His people?

Pro 4:14  Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
Pro 4:15  Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
Pro 4:16  For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
Pro 4:17  For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
Pro 4:18  But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

And it is always the innocent, the poor, the women and especially the children, including the unborn who suffer the most!

*****Mic 2:9  The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.
Mic 2:10  Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
Mic 2:11  If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.

God says if you follow the teaching of false prophets and the teaching of those that teach a prosperity "gospel" then you deserve what you get.

Our nation has faltered and failed under the current administration to a point we may never recover. We absolutely will not survive with 8 more years of the same.

If we do not stand up now, then we deserve the government we are left with!

If we are not serious enough to do what we can to cause a change, then why do we pray to the Lord to see if He will cause a change.

I tell you He will not!

God has only one answer to sin and that is "salvation".

Salvation can only come to a people who God forgives of their sin and then they repent of their wicked ways!

Notice the prophet Micah, who preaches the direct Word of God, now goes from "warnings" to "promises"!

God had only one answer in the day of Micah and God has only one answer in this day we live now!

God makes promises to Israel that He never makes to the rest of the world and it is obvious!

BUT, the truth is God will be a "Shepherd" to all those that return to Him!

*****Mic 2:12  I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

The truth is, that this promise to Jacob the deceiver, is being partially fulfilled as the remnant of Israel is returning to their homeland since 1948.

This promise will not totally fulfilled until they make the Lord Jesus Christ their Shepherd!

It is the work of the "Gospel" to bring people together in "One Faith"!

The object of the "Gospel" is Jesus Christ!

Jesus said:

Joh 12:31  Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Joh 12:32  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Joh 12:33  This he said, signifying what death he should die.

The false prophets that they listened to could never make such promises, because they were powerless to do such things!

Just as He promised the Church, it will be the Lord Himself, "not a union of nations" who will save and restore His people.

Heb 13:20  Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Heb 13:21  Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Then the Lord made another great promise.

*****Mic 2:13  The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.

The Lord through Micah, promised He would burst upon the scene a day in the future of the world and break open the gates of bondage of Israel.

Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Rom 11:28  As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.

compare:

1Co 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

God does not make promises that He will not keep!

When the Lord Jesus Christ first came, He broke the bondage of sin, the bondage of death, and the bondage of condemnation by His death on the Cross and then His Resurrection!

We know that the Lord will return in the clouds to get His Church. This is the next promise to be fulfilled for the Church.

When the Lord returns to this earth the "Second Time", He will deliver His people Israel from the chains that hold His people captive and they will never again be in bondage.

This is the promise that will be fulfilled to Israel.

All remaining prophesy will lead up to this point and will accelerate at the "Rapture of the Church"!

The Lord will then be King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

Dan 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Dan 7:14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Zec 12:8  In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.
Zec 12:9  And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

We should never think upon these things as an ending when they are truly a "New Beginning".

God will certainly only want to spend eternity with those who truly want to be with Him!

Those who reject Him will not be there!

Questions?

Let's Pray!

When Governments Walk In The Ways Of The World

Ahaz: Walking In The Ways Of The World

2 Chronicles 28


We have spent a lot of time on the Northern Tribes of the divided Israel lately but the Southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin also had their problems. King Ahaz of Judah was the most wicked King of Judah!

During the time of King Ahaz, God used the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, among others to carry His message so we can be sure King Ahaz knew the warnings of God.

King Ahaz made friends with many of his enemies which brought great injury to his kingdom and even his own humiliation.

Over and over again we have seen as a nation, we must be very careful who we call our friends!

We have only one true friend and that is Israel.

Ahaz begin his rule at the age of 20 but he was dead by the time he reached 36 years old.

He is remembered for bringing even more evil and idolatry into his own nation of Judah.

The greatest thing Ahaz produced was his son Hezekiah!

We can say that King Ahaz walked in the ways of the world!

King Ahaz walked in the ways of the Kings of the Northern Tribes even sacrificing his own in the arms of the fire god Molech. The priests of these false religions were called Chemarim.

Zep 1:4  I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
Zep 1:5  And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;
Zep 1:6  And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.

If we had a theme for King Ahaz it could be summed up in one Scripture:

2Ch 28:19  For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.

In my opinion the same could be said for our own president!

Let's begin:

*****2Ch 28:1  Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father:
2Ch 28:2  For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim.

The biggest misconception about the human race is the thought that all people are good but occasionally do bad things when the truth is, we are all bad and occasionally do good things.

People just do no like to think we all have a depraved heart but the truth is the truth, whether we believe it or not!

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

And the truth of every human being is that we are all sinners!

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

We all come short of God's glory.

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

King Ahaz was an utterly wicked and totally depraved human being who also was a king with power to do his own will, or so he thought!

When Ahaz became King of Judah, Judah had reached it's peak in prosperity and was the envy of many nations.

Sounds like the America from a few years back.

But in the 16 years of King Ahaz Judah came to ruins, he bankrupted the economy, he decimated the military, and he brought terrible suffering to the citizens of that nation.

King Ahaz turned loose a stream of wickedness that rushed to do terrible damage to God's people by bringing on Judgment by the hand of God!

*****2Ch 28:3  Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
2Ch 28:4  He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

Judah was the last theocratic society left at that time because Ahaz ruled with absolute authority totally ignoring the Word of God.

He promoted and led his nation into the worship of false gods.
He also committed the abominable sin of human sacrifice, even with his own son.

Over 1 million babies were aborted in America last year and this is non other than human sacrifice to a wicked behavior and our own tax dollars are used.

Jer 32:35  And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

Every Democrat in office just this year voted to allow abortion even up to the 9nth month, just before those precious babies are to be born. This to is an abomination to the Lord! This is an abomination to the human race!

King Ahaz followed after the religious practices of the Canaanites which God had already commanded Israel to exterminate for these very same reasons.

Today we live in a nation that is trying it's best to totally kick God out of existence and in so doing, wickedness is abounding unhindered.

People either deny the existence of God or they just refuse to accept the Lord Jesus Christ while claiming to know God.

Either way they are lost!

The greatest sin of all is the sin of unbelief!

Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Joh 16:8  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Joh 16:9  Of sin, because they believe not on me;

To reject the Lord Jesus Christ is to worship some false god!

The Living True God is God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ whose Spirit is the God who will reprove this world of the sin of unbelief!

What is the truth of Father God?

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

King Ahaz was a depraved man with a depraved heart and a heart such as this can only be cleansed by the "Blood of Jesus"!

1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

1Pe 3:18  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Though the world deceive you this is the truth of the Scriptures!

To ignore these things will bring the "Judgment of God"!

*****2Ch 28:5  Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
2Ch 28:6  For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers.

When God's "Judgment" comes He uses things in His created world.

When God's "Wrath" finally comes He will uses all the means He chooses!

Judgment and Wrath are not the same!

When we see the word "wherefore", God is saying that the previous Scriptures list the reasons for His actions.

Wherefore because of what Ahaz had done in verses 1-4 now God allowed His "Judgment" to take place.

We here in America better get use to seeing that word "Wherefore".

We already stated that the military of Judah was the envy of many other nations but it did not matter how strong they were, God delivered them into the hand of the King of Syria.

We can see that the Northern Tribes had also formed an alliance with Syria and took advantage of that at this time.

History calls this the Syro-Ephramite War.

The army of the King of Syria defeated the army of Judah and carried a great multitude of captives back to Damascus Syria.

But the King of Israel took advantage of the situation and caused a great slaughter of the people of Judah.

These things are the beginning of the great prophesies of Isaiah Chapter 7.

The slaughter of 120,000 people of Judah in one day was a terrible thing to take place!

When God removes His hedge of protection from a people terrible things can happen!

The Scripture is specific "because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers"!

This slaughter also included many heads of the government.

*****2Ch 28:7  And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king.

Maaseiah would have been the next King of Judah, but that now fell to Hezekiah.

Azrikam was the palace manager, and manage the affairs of the King.

Elkanah was second in command, or we would say today the "Vice-President".

We can see that King Pekah of Israel was also a ruthless leader who had already seized the throne of Israel and would liked to have ruled Judah also as he tried to restore power to Israel.

Then he did something foolish.

*****2Ch 28:8  And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

King Pekah's army ransacked the cities of Judea and took over 200,000 women and children back to Samaria as
exiles and stole as much of the wealth of Judea as they could carry.

BUT, This thing was seen in Heaven.

*****2Ch 28:9  But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven.

Notice God always has someone in the right place at the right time and God's prophets stood up to Kings, Generals, or anyone else without any fear.

There are no great things mentioned of the Prophet Oded except in this Scripture.

The one great lesson we can learn is that "one person with God on their side" can stop a mighty army and a foolish national leader!

Oded made this army aware that they were only victorious because the Lord had allowed this army a great victory but this army had gone much to far and had made God angry!

1) They had used excessive force.
2) They had shown brutality and cruelty.
3) They had slaughtered the army of Judah in a rage.

They had shown no mercy and God is a God of "mercy". Remember "all vengeance belongs to the Lord"!

This should be a warning to every military unit and especially to ISIS and ALL TERRORIST organizations.

God will not allow His people to become slaves to anyone other than He and God does not make slaves, God makes families!

Lev 25:46  And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: "but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour".

God never forgets what He has written down. We must always know to whom God is speaking to and keep God's Word in the context it was written!

It was time for the government of Israel to make a choice!

*****2Ch 28:10  And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God?
2Ch 28:11  Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.

The leaders of Israel must return the people of Judah to their land or face the wrath of God. God's wrath rested on the next decision they made and God was ready to strike them down at that very moment if they failed to show mercy.

In order to know the compassion of the Lord, we must show compassion to all others!

In order to know the mercy of the Lord we must show mercy to all others.

In order to be forgiven by the Lord we must be willing to forgive all others.

We can see that God never misses an opportunity to teach us more about His ways!

This military had to decide if they served the government or if they served themselves.

*****2Ch 28:12  Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war,
2Ch 28:13  And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.
2Ch 28:14  So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation.
2Ch 28:15  And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

King Ahaz was full of wickedness and human depravity and he had completely turned away from the Lord and led the nation of Judah into false worship and the abomination of human sacrifice especially of babes and small children.

This should be a warning to all who do such things!

We see what is going on in America by our own government.

We see what is going on in America with all the rioting and rebellion because of our government.

We see the ruthlessness of terrorism world wide because governments allow this to happen.

We see the compromising church into false and abominable worship influenced by the government.

We read what God does in all these situations, why would we not expect the "Judgment" of God to come at any time?

Jesus spoke these words by the Holy Spirit to the Apostle John.

Rev 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Jesus spoke these words by the Holy Spirit to Luke

Luk 17:24  For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
Luk 17:25  But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
Luk 17:26  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Luk 17:27  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:28  Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Luk 17:29  But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:30  Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

The truth is, there is no one on this earth that lives in isolation which means we all have some influence on others!

When we reject the Lord and compromise on the Word of God, or participate in false worship, we become a stumbling block to our friends, our neighbors and especially our families!

When we give our stamp of approval for anything that goes against the Word of God, we are misleading others to the truth of God!

We should clearly understand, if God loved this world enough to send His only begotten Son to save this world, then God loves this world too much to allow the suffering of His people to go on very much longer.

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

As we will see when a nation plunders and destroys, it opens the door for the ruthlessness of society to do as they please!

*****2Ch 28:16  At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him.
2Ch 28:17  For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.
2Ch 28:18  The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.
2Ch 28:19  For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.

King Ahaz was too foolish to repent and turn to the Lord and he was also foolish enough to turn to another enemy for help.

While a nation who once had a military that was the envy of other nation and been decimated and sat defenseless, those old life time enemies took advantage of that situation!

The Edomites, the descendants of Esau still carried that bitter hatred.

The Philistines who had always been aggressive toward Israel took advantage of Judah at this time.

All these things had taken place because of King Ahaz but he still refused to repent!

Even the Assyrians showed their true colors.

*****2Ch 28:20  And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.
2Ch 28:21  For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.

As we have seen in other lessons, money simply cannot by your way out of all your troubles!

Especially when that money robs the House of God!

Time after time our own government threatens to take or hinder the money given to the House of God, they should also learn yet another lesson from the Word of God!

King Ahaz was wicked enough, but the people of Judah had followed after him in wickedness.

This another thing we see in America today!

Assyria did actually attack Syria and conquered them but never helped Judah at all.

In other words King Ahaz had financed the Assyrian King enough that he had become the dominate power in the region. The Syrian threat may have been removed but all King Ahaz had accomplished, was to bankrupt his own nation.

King Ahaz had inherited a strong and wealthy nation and  he had brought his own nation to it's knees and sat very vulnerable to the world of evilness.

King Ahaz had looked for a Savior other than the Lord, even though the Lord had delivered his nation since they had escaped from the bondage of Egypt.

The lessons of the history of Israel were ignored!

Today our own leaders are looking for a Savior other than the Lord, (in fact Allah), and they have forgotten the history of America and in fact are trying to erase the history of America.

We should not expect God to offer a different result than what He has proven He has done in the past!

On a personal level, if we seek salvation from any source other than the Lord, that salvation will never be found.

It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who has the power to deliver us from the wickedness of sin!

It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who has the power to carry us to victory in this life and on into the eternal life of Heaven!

2Ti 4:18  And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

2Pe 2:9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
2Pe 2:10  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

The truth is King Ahaz just became more wicked even after all these things.

*****2Ch 28:22  And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz.
2Ch 28:23  For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

The truth is, when we have not learned from the chastisement of God, then God does not make it easier, God just makes it harder.

Chastisement either brings to our knees or just makes us mad at God for not allowing us to enjoy our sin and sin can only bring pleasure for a season, or a short time!

We will return to those old false gods searching for relief or we will make our own selves a god and continue to think we know better than God.

This, in "typology", this attitude of King Ahaz, will be the attitude of all those who have rejected God after the "Rapture" of the Church and we are beginning to see that now in the attitude of the world, where good is called evil, and evil is called good.

Isa 5:18  Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:
Isa 5:19  That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!
Isa 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isa 5:21  Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Isa 5:22  Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
Isa 5:23  Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
Isa 5:24  Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Remember Isaiah also prophesied in the time of Ahaz.

It even seems that King Ahaz, even more tried to destroy his own nation because he was mad at God.

This is the attitude of Satan himself!

The gods of Syria had defeated him so he prayed even harder to the gods of Syria to see if he could change things, which is impossible because they had no power to begin with.

King Ahaz sunk as low as a ruler can go!

*****2Ch 28:24  And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
2Ch 28:25  And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.

The guilt of King Ahaz drove him to madness.

King Ahaz mutilated the artistry of the vessels in God's house and destroyed them.

He took away the brazen lavers. The Brazen Lavers are considered a "type" of Christ. The water in those lavers are in "typology" the Word of God.

The first step for consecrating the Temple Priests was to wash them with the water of the brazen laver.

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

He altered the great laver King Solomon had made by taking down the brazen sea from the oxen on which it stood and set it upon a pavement of stones.

Here is what King Solomon had constructed:

1Ki 7:23  And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
1Ki 7:24  And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast.
1Ki 7:25  It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.

Here is what King Ahaz did to it:

2Ki 16:17  And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
2Ki 16:18  And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.

And King Ahaz did everything that he could to provoke the anger of the Lord and it cost him his life!

*****2Ch 28:26  Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
2Ch 28:27  And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

All these things of King Ahaz were written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and at the young age of 36, God had ended his life.

There were very few rulers at that time who had lived lives as wicked and who had brought so much destruction to their own nation as had King Ahaz.

But today we cannot say that as we have seen many who have brought great destruction to their own nations and who had also rejected the Living God.

King Ahaz was buried in Jerusalem but he was not buried in the sepulchres of the Kings which began with King David.

King Ahaz forsook the Lord and fell in the depths of unbelief but we see an entire world heading in that same direction today!

We have seen as this results in a tragic life.

A life without God is a life of misery and it is usually a short one.

King Ahaz not only rejected the Lord but he caused all worship to cease in the Temple for all others who would want to worship the Lord.

King Ahaz again is a "type" of the people and the governments of the end times and we are beginning to see these things take place and we have for awhile.

2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

We all know that King Hezekiah was a great King of Judah but not many of us realize the state of Judah was in when a young Hezekiah became King of Judah.

Questions?

Let's Pray!

Jonah The Prophet, Part 2

Jonah, The Obedient Preacher

Book of Jonah Chapter 3; 4


Last week we saw Jonah as he disobeyed God and tried to run away and hide. Jonah found that was impossible to do!

We already know that Jonah preached to the Northern Tribes of Israel just as Hosea and he preached at the same time frame as Hosea.

You have to admit that if Jonah had been a missionary supported by this church and we heard of his running away from God, the first thing we would do is drop his support.

God looks into the heart and God had a purpose for Jonah that only he could fulfill. God is the God of the second chance.

Most all of us have made mistakes that we wish we had never made and would love an opportunity to redeem ourselves.

If we have rebelled against God's call, God does not just let it go at that.

God is a rewarder of all those that obey Him and God simply wants to reward us for things that we should just do out of our love for Him.

I do not believe that there is a true preacher or missionary alive that would not want to have the opportunity that God had called Jonah to do.

God, by example, gave Jonah a fresh start on his mission and his job was to offer an entire city a fresh start in life.

God is not only the God of the "second chance", God is the God of a "new beginning" the God of "new life"!

After being humbled by the mighty hand of God, Jonah repented. God accepted Jonah's repentance and restored His prophet and again commissioned him to go to the great city of Nineveh.

*****Jon 3:1  And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
Jon 3:2  Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

God has a standing statement for every human being.

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

It is obvious by that word "all" that this does not leave anyone out, no matter their nationality. "Race" is an invention of the evolutionists, and does not exist in the Word of God.

God says that there is only one ending for the result of sin.

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death;

This is not the physical death we all will suffer but death by the fact we will be eternally separated from God!

There is only one means of escape. It's called repentance!

Jonah had been commissioned to "cry" or "to preach" against Nineveh but notice now the Lord says to preach to Nineveh. We can be sure God had already sent the Holy Ghost ahead of Jonah and they were ready even before Jonah got there.

Jonah always only had one commission and that was to preach the Word of God. Jonah had never been called on to express his opinion of that work.

It is impossible for us to understand the ways of God, so we should just do as God inspires us to do and God will never lead us to go against His own words. If it is not against the Word of God then it cannot be wrong if we have rightly interpreted what God is saying.

What's wrong with the modern day church?

The pulpits have begun to give us their opinions or their personal thoughts and have forgotten that it is only the "Gospel" that can save!

Mar 1:15  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

The Apostle Paul clearly understood what God was saying and he is a good example of what preaching is all about.

Act 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

To preach is to deliver the message of God with the authority of God, because the example for that is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself!

Mat 7:28  And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
Mat 7:29  For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

And God said to Jonah: arise and go preach my message.

*****Jon 3:3  So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.

Nineveh was 550 miles from Jerusalem and a city of great importance to the ancient world of that day.

Nineveh would soon become the capitol city of the Assyrian Empire, who God would use to show His wrath to the Northern Tribes of Israel.

Nineveh was so large it would take 3 days to travel around the city limits.

Nineveh was also the same city that Nimrod had established.

Gen 10:9  He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
Gen 10:10  And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Gen 10:11  Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,
Gen 10:12  And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.

The truth is God loved the Ninevites as much as He loves anyone else and He still does but we are all called to repent and believe the "Gospel" of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God had given Noah 120 years to preach His message of wrath, but Jonah told the Ninevites that "Judgment" would come to them in 40 days if they did not repent of their evil ways.

*****Jon 3:4  And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Jon 3:5  So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

Jonah entered the city of Nineveh but notice, he did not first go freshen himself up but he immediately began to preach the message God had given to him.

Jonah did not spend anytime gazing on this great city, he went straight to the work of God.

What we see is that by the ending of day one, the entire city was ready to repent.

Jonah had no need to go any further!

Jonah preached as he walked for his message was not as long message but it was the truth.

Jonah preached that at the end of 40 days Nineveh would be over thrown!

What is the truth of God's Prophets?

Deu 18:22  When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

What is the truth of God's message?

Jer 18:7  At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
Jer 18:8  If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
Jer 18:9  And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
Jer 18:10  If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

We already know that God never changes.

God can bring America to her knees without affecting the rest of the world, if He so chooses!

We should also notice that Jonah preached a complete message.

Many times preachers preach Hell, hot and heavy, but they stop there and do not preach how to miss out on Hell.

Every sinner in their heart know they are sinners, the thing they do not know is how to avoid the wages of sin and an eternity in Hell.

Many other preachers today preach the love of God and leave out the preaching of the wrath of God.

God told Jonah you just give them my message, not yours and not what you interpret my words to mean!

There is a certain amount of "fear" that should be a part of our "faith"!

Psa 2:11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Psa 2:12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

The problem in most pulpits today is that they either "add to" or "take from" God's message.

We must all remember, we are simply to be messengers of the Word of God!

The simple study of God's Word is still, (who, what, when, where, and how).

Who is God speaking to.
What is His message.
When did the things take place, including future.
Where did or where will these things happen.
And "How" will God go about doing what He says and how do these things apply to us today.

Remember God teaches by example!

If we keep the Word of God in the context of it's written message and just accept that what God says is true without questioning His Words, we can begin to be a messenger of God!

These Ninevites responded by the droves.

God was not making an idle threat, He would have certainly destroyed this city in 40 days had they not repented of their evil ways but God knew it all along.

Deep in the heart of Jonah, he also knew this thing and that's why he rebelled against God.

These fierce pagan people became very humble at the message of God.

We see that whole neighborhoods and communities began to fast and put on sackcloth, a sign of repentance.

**We see first they believed, this is faith.

**Next we see they repented, these are the two necessary things to bring salvation.

What did Jesus say?

Mar 1:15  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
This is the same message we should have today!

AND, This great event even reached into the government.

*****Jon 3:6  For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Jon 3:7  And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
Jon 3:8  But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
Jon 3:9  Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

Here we see a government that identified with it's people. This is a rare thing today!

1) The government demanded that everyone was to fast.
2) The government demanded that every creature to wear sackcloth (all the earth is subject to God)
3) The government demanded that all the citizens were to call on God and repent.

This government was trying to do everything it could to turn back the judgment of God!

This would be a wise thing for our own government to do instead of kicking God out of America!

The truth is, if you believe the Lord and repent of your sins, you are then saved and welcomed into the family of God!

To be converted means:

1) A life of sin will now be a life of righteousness.
2) A carnal nature becomes a spiritual nature.
3) A mind once conformed to this world becomes a mind transformed by the power of God.
4) A soul that was condemned to eternal death to a life of eternal perfection and glory.

It's called being "Born Again".

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

And the Almighty but Merciful God of all "Grace" was satisfied and the people would have piece with God!

*****Jon 3:10  And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

We should remember it is impossible to deceive God, so this was a true repentance!

This was because they had "faith" that God would do exactly as He said He would do, and God would have because God cannot and will not lie.

There was a deadline of 40 days so these people had decided in just a few days, there was no benefit to waiting to the last minute, in fact that would have shown a lack of repentance and to delay meant destruction.

This is why God will not give us an exact day or hour in which He will return.

We must remember God offers a choice and God will honor our choices right or wrong, but we must understand to choose to go against the will of God is to bring death and destruction to yourself.

There was only one sad person that day and it was Jonah!

*****Jon 4:1  But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
Jon 4:2  And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

There are some people in our world that are so wicked that we simply do not want to have anything to do with them.

It would be very hard to witness to some gay people or some abortionist, or some rapist, or some murderer.

To Jonah, the Assyrians were the most wicked people upon this earth and he did not want them to be saved.

The truth is, the Lord will shower blessings of "Mercy" upon everyone who will repent and call upon His name!

Jonah had been showered with God's "Mercy" time after time but his heart was hard toward the Ninevites.

Jonah had difficulty in believing that God would save everybody no matter what they had done.

Jonah became very angry and upset with God.

Jonah took the time in His prayer to tell God exactly why he was angry and this is something we all should do.

We have a tendency sometimes to question the "Mercy" of God on certain people as Jonah did this day.

To Jonah, after he had preached the terrible "Judgment" of God, he felt God had simply let them off the hook.

The truth is God can only be God!

God has to obey His own Word or He would be a liar and no one could trust Him.

Mic 7:18  Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
Mic 7:19  He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Jonah was so angry that he ask God just to take his life, he wanted to quit on God.

*****Jon 4:3  Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

Jonah knew that if he went back to Jerusalem saying that Nineveh had been saved because of his preaching, he would not be looked upon very well by his brethren.

Most all Jews wanted Nineveh destroyed!

This is the same way we feel about ISIS and the terrorists today, we want them destroyed!

It is likely that the Jews would never have accepted Jonah as a prophet of God ever again, so Jonah felt he just as well die.

But God's purpose for Jonah was not complete at this time.

God responded to Jonah in tenderness.

*****Jon 4:4  Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

God was saying to Jonah, "is your anger a reasonable outcome or is it pointless"

God did not ask Jonah any other question because Jonah needed to meditate on his anger.

Jonah was not angry at the wickedness of Nineveh, Jonah was angry at their repentance!

God warns us that we must not allow anger to become embedded in our hearts.

Anger that remains a long period of time can take us over and consume all our thoughts and even our lives!

Anger will smolder and then erupt in a fit of rage and hostility many times

Eph 4:26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Eph 4:27  Neither give place to the devil.

*****Jon 4:5  So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
Jon 4:6  And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
Jon 4:7  But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

The truth is even a prophet of God still needs instruction.

Jonah sought a place where he could be alone and out of sight of everyone.

Jonah wanted to be a spectator to the destruction of Nineveh but he did not want to be seen by them.

Jonah found a place on the east side of the city where he could still observe the happenings of the city because he wanted to be sure that the repentance of that city was real.

Jonah still wanted to witness the destruction of Nineveh but all he saw was a city humbling themselves and
repenting to the Lord.

We know that a booth is just a shelter made from branches of trees and those leaves quickly withered in the hot sun and God prepared a gourd to cover the head of Jonah to keep him cool and Jonah was exceedingly glad for the gourd.

God providing this plant was a direct act of compassion.

But the next morning God prepared a worm to cause the gourd to whither and again Jonah was in the sun.

God sent an east wind and Jonah was over whelmed by the heat until he fainted.

Again God spoke to Jonah.

*****Jon 4:8  And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
Jon 4:9  And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
Jon 4:10  Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
Jon 4:11  And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

People wonder if God does actually use nature to teach us valuable lessons. We can be sure He does!

The temperatures can easily reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit in that area and Jonah succumbed to the heat.

God immediately reached down from Heaven and again saved Jonah.

God said to Jonah "was it right to be angry with the gourd that had left him in misery"? Jonah said yes.

So God knew Jonah was ready to learn a new lesson.

1) Jonah had a great concern for his own health while he intended to watch the destruction of many thousands of people.

Today we see a society that says they have a great concern for our children while they oversee the destruction of the unborn children up to and including that one that is at 9 months.

If Jonah had such great pity for that plant that he had not even planted nor cultivated but had only lived a short time and was really valueless, How much more would the Lord have pity on the many thousands of Nineveh.

And how much more will God have pity on the unborn and the elderly who are being push aside and forgotten.

Our God never changes!

What had God said to Abraham?

Gen 18:23  And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Gen 18:24  Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

After the preaching of Jonah there were many righteous people in Nineveh!

What is always the truth of God?

Nah 1:2  God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

God simply will not show His wrath as long as there are righteous people in these places!

The truth is many guilty cities and even nations have been spared because they contained some of God's people.

This is the very reason the wrath of God cannot come until after the "Rapture" of the Church.

This is the only time that there will be not one righteous person on this earth!

The Apostle Paul wrote these words about the Lord Jesus Christ:

1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The same goes for the Church! If this world encouraged Christianity rather than trying to stop it, this world would never see the wrath of God!

2) When Jonah thought more of his own comforts than for the spiritual welfare of 600,000 people who were lost then he was not acting like a true man of God.

Our Lord will show His compassion to all people!

Lam 3:21  This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Lam 3:23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

And compare:

Psa 145:8  The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
Psa 145:9  The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Psa 145:15  The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
Psa 145:16  Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

Jesus said: 

Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

3) Then God asked Jonah, Since the Lord is the Creator of all life, why should He not show concern for all His creations.

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

To be honest how could we serve a God that was not like our God?

Every soul is a jewel from the treasure chest of Heaven and God wants them all back!

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

We are fools not to answer the call of God!

We are all made from the same lump of clay!

Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Rom 9:24  Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

The Book of Jonah ends with this Scripture but we know that Jonah went on being a prophet of God.

The Book of Jonah shows us how not to behave in the service of the Lord!

It is a fact that there are no unimportant people in the eyes of God!

There are no sinners who have sinned so greatly that God will reject them if they repent!

As Christians we should never rebel against God!

We are never to disobey God!

We should never argue with God!

We should never question God's judgment!

We are only called to witness to the lost and we must remember all vengeance belongs to the Lord!

We should never quit on God, for God will simply put us a shelf and get someone else to do what we refuse to do!

We may not know much out about Jonah, but we can sure that while he was hot and miserable, he was awakened to the truth of God and it changed his life forever.

Sometimes we expect to much from God's prophets but after all they were all just ordinary men just as we are and they made mistakes just as we do!

We should never under estimate the "Mercy Of God"!

And we should never under estimate the "Love of God"!

After all God sent His own Son to pay the sin debt for the entire population from the days of Adam to a day that has not yet come!

Questions?

Let's Pray!