Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Horns of Iron and Hoofs of brass?

Micah 4; 9-13
Here we see Micah predicting the end of kings - a very drastic statement to the people of Judah, who thought their kingdom would last forever. He also mentions the little fact that Babylon would destroy Judah (as already mentioned) and carry away their king, but after a while God would help them to take back their land.
This ALL happened exactly as Micah said it would. You can read evidence of this in 2 Chronicles 36: 9-23 and Ezra 1,2.
This prophecy would seem (to the jews) very unfair. When this event took place they would be asking "where is the Lord?" within all this. They were God's chosen people and THIS is how He treats them?! Even after having recieved this prophecy from Micah they were still shocked when it eventually came true.
Also it is interesting to see that they forgot the second half of the prophecy. The promise that God would bring them out of this nastiness and restore them. They got so caught up in the 'now' that they forgot about what was just around the corner.
I can draw some similarities between the Judeans and us christians now. When God reveals his plan for our future his intentions become clear to us. We should not be surprised or (like Judah) get caught up on the present situation. He wants to change our present because of what we know about the future.
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He lives all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives.
A sneaky-peek at what God's plan is for us should motivate us to serve Him in a better and more real way today.
Forever begins now!
Love you x

Saturday, August 12, 2006

The Lord will be king

Micah 4
Within the first sentance of this capter the phrase 'in the last days' is used. This describes the days when God will reign over this world and there will be peace and love, no more hate or wars. Obviously Micah doesnt tell us the exact time or date of this (if we all new that people would become christians the day before. There would be a mass revival [which sounds cool!] but it wouldnt be for the right reasons!).
Even though we dont know when it will happen, God has promised it will happen.
For more evidence of this see.... Isiah 2:2; Jeremiah 16:14&15; Daniel 8:19; Joel 3:1; Zechariah 14:9-11; Malachi 3:17&18; Revelation 19-22.
I know there seems like a lot of verses there, but I encourage you to check them out.
Verses 9-13 speak of Micah's prophecy of the nations captivity by Babylonia in 586 BC (this prophecy was given before Babylon was a powerful empire!)
Just as God promises a time of love and peace and good times, He also promises judgement and punishment and smiting for those who choose not to follow Him.
As christians these are two things we know for certain.
Love you x

Friday, August 11, 2006

Micah 4
In the very first sentance the phrase "in the last days" is used. This describes the days when God will reign over His kingdom (see 4:1-8). This will be a land of peace and love. A land where there is no war or famine.
Obviously Micah does not pinpoint the exact time of this.
If that was common knowledge you would have millions of people becoming christians the day before!

Even though we dont know when it will happen, God has promised that it will happen (see Isiah 2:2; Jeremiah 16:14; Daniel 8:19; Joel 3:1; Zechariah 14:9-11; Malachi 3:17&18; Revelation 19-22. I know there are a lot of bible verses here but I encourage you to take the time to look them up)

In verses 9-13, Micah speaks of the Babylonian captivity in 586 BC, even before Babylon had become a powerful empire.

Just as God promised a time of peace and much fun, He also promised a time of punishment and judgement (probably not in that order!) for all who refuse to follow Him.

As christians, we know that these two facts are for certain.

This last bit has got me thinking about life (woah!Thats pretty heavy stuff!) although God has heaps of cool stuff in store for us, we must also endure some not-so-nice stuff aswell. It aint all plain sailing. But no-one ever promised an easy life!

Love you x