Okay, Micah 5. We've got the very famous prophecy of Jesus Christ here in verse number 2.
Let's look at verse number 2 to begin with. It says,
But thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah.
Title for the sermon tonight is, Little Among the Thousands.
Little Among the Thousands. We'll get to what that means in a moment.
But verse number 1 gives us the context, the historical context,
of what's taking place in this chapter.
So look at verse number 1. It says, Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops.
Daughter of troops means that it's one portion of a greater army.
Okay, so the Lord is speaking to an army here, an army of troops obviously.
It says, He have laid siege against us. They shall smite the judge of Israel
with a rod upon the cheek. So if they're smiting the judge of Israel,
then this army is, you know, they're flexing their muscles against Israel, right?
And so what we see here is that they've laid siege against Israel.
Now, again, we need to just understand a few things here.
You know, we need to obviously understand the full context of this chapter.
And this isn't Israel as far as the northern kingdom of Israel goes,
but this Israel is referenced in the southern kingdom of Judah, okay?
And I'll explain to you why that is in a moment,
but if you can come with me to 2 Chronicles, come with me to 2 Chronicles 32.
Come with me to 2 Chronicles 32, 2 Chronicles 32.
Micah is very similar to Isaiah. Like I said, a contemporary during the time
when Isaiah was preaching, and they're very, very similar, these preachers.
I mean, I have a feeling that if we met Micah and we met Isaiah,
I'm pretty confident we'd say they're very different people,
very different personalities. But the messages that they're bringing are the same.
I'm sure they come with their, you know, their own method of teaching,
their own styles, but really they're teaching one of the same things.
And, you know, one of the challenges with Isaiah and Micah too is understanding
what is clearly sometimes about end times events,
and then how much of that though is about current events in the time of Micah or Isaiah.
And so when we talk about this siege here that takes place,
that what immediately comes to mind again during the historical time of these preachers,
is there in 2 Chronicles 32 and verse number 9, 2 Chronicles 32 verse number 9.
It says this,
After this did Sennacherib, king of Assyria, send his servants to Jerusalem,
but he himself laid siege against Lakish and all his power with him.
And to Hezekiah, king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem saying,
Thus saith king of Assyria,
Whereon do ye trust that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?
Though if not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die
by famine and by thirst, saying, The Lord our God shall deliver us
out of the hand of the king of Assyria.
And so again, when we look at the whole context of this chapter,
I do believe we're talking about this siege, this siege of Jerusalem.
And you've got the king of Assyria, Sennacherib.
And later on in this chapter, you will notice the Assyrians are mentioned once again.
But he's saying to the people of the city, you know, the king Hezekiah,
does he just want you to die of famine?
Does he just want you to die in the city?
Why don't you just surrender, give up, you know, open the gates, let us come in,
we'll take over Jerusalem.
Why are you listening to Hezekiah?
Why are you listening to that king?
And so you've got these threats coming from the king of Assyria
to the people of Jerusalem.
And I believe Micah 5 is addressing, at least a portion of Micah 5 is addressing
current day events.
And then what Micah does, he takes current day events
and use that as a type or a symbol of end times events.
And this is very common with Isaiah.
He does exactly the same thing, current day events,
and then uses it to symbolize end times events.
In some ways, even Sennacherib, king of Assyria, in some ways also,
he almost represents the Antichrist, okay?
There are many parallels between him and the Antichrist.
All right, keep your finger there in 2 Chronicles 32,
because we are going to come back to this story.
2 Chronicles 32.
Now, you know, one thing that I really love about reading through the prophets, like Micah,
is that you really get a sense of the human elements
or the human, you know, effects of things like sieges, okay?
Sometimes when you're reading through the books of kings,
first kings, second kings, first Chronicles, second Chronicles,
you read these stories and these events and like, you know,
you read a few verses and like, okay, king of Assyria is turned up,
they've besieged Jerusalem, the Lord comes, delivers them,
and they're going about life again.
Like, sometimes you just read the Bible and it's just,
things play out just so quickly in the historical books.
And it's good in one way because the historical books
gives us a very top level view of what's taking place,
you know, over Israel.
But when you read the prophets and you realise how many times
they reference certain events like this siege
and you start to realise just how heavy it is on the people,
how stressful, how worrisome it is for the people.
But again, when you just read the historical books,
it just seems like problem, solution, done, get on with life, okay?
But you know, like again, the prophets seem to really bring out the human elements
of the suffering and the burdens and all of this.
And we're going to start seeing that again for this chapter.
But what we see if you come back to me to Micah 5 and verse number 2.
Micah 5 verse number 2.
So it begins by the siege, okay?
And then we have this promise in verse number 2.
But thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, 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 forths have been from of old, from everlasting.
Look, verse number 2, that's not about King Hezekiah.
That's not about some earthly, you know, human king.
When you see that his origins, you know, have been from old, from everlasting.
This is someone who has lived or is everlasting, someone who's always lived.
Of course, this is a wonderful promise of Jesus Christ.
It's quite interesting because, you know,
Jesus Christ is not coming to the scene like hundreds of years later.
And so while the people are worried about this siege,
it's like, okay, what's the solution, God?
Don't worry, Jesus Christ is coming.
Like, yeah, but that's like down the track.
Like, how's that going to help us right now?
But again, you know, Jesus Christ is really the focus point of the Bible.
Like the Bible is Christ-centric.
And it doesn't matter what turmoil and problems and issues we go throughout in life.
Even today in the future, you know, 2,000 years after Christ has really come to the world.
You know, what always gives us peace and serenity
and joy is putting our focus back on Jesus Christ.
Doesn't matter what problems, what sieges, what wars are taking place.
You know, we ought to set our eyes on Jesus.
That's what I love about that.
Just like, okay, we got problems.
We got, you know, we're worried about the Assyrians.
Well, don't worry, Jesus Christ is coming.
And I love how, you know, it just says that about Bethlehem there,
though there be little among the thousands of Judah.
As I said, that's the title of the sermon tonight.
Little among the thousands.
You would think, I mean, like if I was God and I was,
you know, deciding when Christ would come and what city he would be born in.
I think I would have chosen Jerusalem, right?
The capital city.
That's where Christ is going to be born.
And that's where people are going to all flock to come and see him.
And, you know, the kings are all going to bow themselves before Christ.
And, you know, they're going to cast off their crowns
and they're going to give of their wealth to this coming king, Jesus Christ.
And yet God chooses for him to be born in Bethlehem.
The Bible says little among thousands,
meaning it's like such an insignificant town.
So insignificant, like literally there are thousands of towns
that Christ could be born in, you know, with a greater reputation.
And God says, I'm going to choose the most little,
the most insignificant town for Christ to be born.
And what I love about that is, again, just how Christ came,
how God manifest in the flesh came of no reputation.
He came in humility.
And while we understand that about Christ,
and, you know, we rejoice in that,
that he was willing to come and even lay down his life for us.
That's how humble and obedient he was to the death of the cross.
We also need to recall that Christ has come to set,
you know, so that we would follow after his steps, right?
He came to set us an example, you know, as how we ought to be.
And really, when I think about New Life Baptist Church,
I think about us as being little amongst the thousands.
I don't think we're this large church and, you know,
we have this well-known name throughout the entire earth.
But you know what?
Bethlehem, which was little, was able to produce something great.
And so can New Life Baptist Church,
and so can other churches that are like us, and so can you.
You might consider yourself to be little amongst thousands.
You might say, I can't really serve the Lord like others serve the Lord.
I have failings, I have issues, I have insecurities,
I don't think God can use me.
Yes, he can, he can.
In fact, God chooses to use the little amongst thousands,
because he gets glorified.
You know, I often, you know, one thing I've learned,
I'll just share something I've learned, okay, in my life.
Two of my uncles are pastors in Chile.
I've grown up in church my whole life, you know, pretty much, okay.
And often, those that get pointed out,
this individual is going to do something great for God in the future.
It doesn't really turn out.
Most of the time, it doesn't.
And it's usually, you know, little brother so-and-so over there,
or sister so-and-so over there, that is kind of ignored, kind of forgotten,
because they're just going about their business, doing their things,
that often, the little amongst thousands,
it's often them that raise up to do something great for God.
It's just something I've observed over time.
Like the people that you think, man, here's the, like he preaches the best.
He's got the great zeal, right?
I mean, he's good looking or whatever it is, right?
Like quite often, they're just somehow,
I don't know why human beings are programmed like this.
It's got that person is going to do something great for God.
And quite often, it's not.
Many, it's most often that it's not.
It's the little amongst thousands.
And I've observed that.
I've observed that my whole life.
You know, to be honest with you, I personally,
I never thought I'd be pastor in church.
Who am I to get up behind the pulpit
and open God's word and teach God's people his word?
You know, I mean, I sometimes have grammatical issues in my mouth.
I misspeak a lot of the times.
I'm always anxious.
I'm always nervous when I get up to speak God's word.
You know, I think sometimes in my head, God,
you'd rather have someone that is confident, you know,
even if they're wrong, at least they're confident about what they have to say.
You know, maybe that's the right person.
And you know, usually it's the little amongst thousands.
And that's what makes Bethlehem so special.
It wasn't a Jerusalem.
And if you can come with me to Matthew chapter two, please.
Come with me to Matthew chapter two.
Matthew chapter two and verse number one.
Matthew chapter two, because this verse gets repeated for us at the birth of Christ.
Matthew chapter two and verse number one.
Matthew chapter two, verse number one.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of Herod the King,
behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.
Saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews?
For we have seen his star in the east and we are come to worship him.
When Herod the King had heard these things, he was troubled
and all Jerusalem with him.
And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together,
he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
And they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it is written by the prophets,
and thou Bethlehem in the land of Judea,
are not the least among the princes of Judea,
for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel.
And so there it is, right?
At the birth of Christ, the wise men, right?
They're wise men and yet even the wise men come to Jerusalem.
And they're like, where's the Christ?
Where's the King of the Jews?
We want to see him.
Like they're expecting,
surely when he's born, he's going to be born there in Jerusalem.
All right.
So they have to, even Herod's like, where, where?
And then he's got to get all these people that know the scriptures
and they got to, I guess they're spending time going for the scriptures,
figuring out where, where there's a Bible promise that he's going to be born.
And they finally figure out it's Bethlehem,
you know, that he's going to be born.
And it's written as it is written by the prophet.
And so of course they had the prophet Micah,
they had scriptures of prophet Micah at the disposal to learn about the birth of Christ.
But I want to show you once again,
even the wise men come to Jerusalem, to Jerusalem, right?
Like the expectation, surely this is the city.
This is the place where God will do something great.
And yet God chooses Bethlehem, little, little, insignificant town.
It's like when you're driving, you know, just across,
I don't know, from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast or something.
And you go to these little towns, these random little towns out there,
you know, and you kind of just ignore it.
It's just, you know, you drive past it within 10 seconds, it's gone.
It's like that was like a Bethlehem.
That's where Christ was born.
So insignificant.
And yet God is able to do something great out of insignificance.
And let's come back to Micah 5, come back with me to Micah 5, please.
Micah 5 and verse number 3, Micah 5 and verse number 3.
And not just Bethlehem, then like Christ is born in a manger.
I haven't got a place for him to,
I haven't got anywhere for Mary to give birth, right?
I mean, it's just his humble beginnings.
And yet what he was able to do was so amazing.
We still speak of Christ today.
We're still saved by his blood today.
Amazing.
And this is the way God operates.
I want you to remember this.
Okay.
And you know, we all have strengths and weaknesses.
And sometimes we hate our weaknesses.
We kind of hate it.
But you know, God, that's where God can work.
Because you know, the Bible speaks about, you know, our weaknesses
and God says that his grace is sufficient for us.
And I'm just paraphrasing here, but he says that, you know,
he's, we are made strong in our weaknesses,
because we're dependent on the strength of the Lord.
Like when we recognize the little, the minimum,
the challenges, the problems we have in our life.
And we say, well, Lord, I don't know what I can do,
but I'm going to give it over to you.
And Lord, I've got my strengths.
Thank you for the strength you've given me, Lord.
But you need to find, like instead of me trying to find a solution for my weaknesses,
I'm going to just rely on you to be my solution for my weaknesses.
And that's when God can make you strong
and maybe able to do so many great things for him.
But there in verse number three, Micah 5, verse number three.
Therefore, will he give them up?
So that he there is the one that we born from Bethlehem Ephrata.
Okay, that's Jesus.
Until the time that she which travaileth have brought forth,
then the remnants of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
Now, say, what is that about?
Well, I think verse number four, because it continues,
and he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord.
Again, that's about Jesus.
He's going to 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.
All right.
So now when I look at verse number four,
maybe I can better understand what verse number three is saying.
And again, we very quickly transition to the end times.
You know, when Christ would be great upon the ends of the earth,
everybody will be worshiping him.
Everybody will be honoring him.
Everybody will be fearful toward our Lord God.
We had the reading in this chapter, how God's wrath
and how God Jesus Christ is going to rule with a rod of iron
and he's going to smite the enemies and all this stuff.
Yes, that's all going to happen in the millennial reign of Christ.
But his name is going to be known throughout all the earth.
Now, what could this be speaking about?
What is the, you know, verse number three,
therefore he will give them up until the time which Treveleth have brought forth.
I think this has to do with Revelation 11.
Okay.
You don't need to turn there.
I'll just read it to you very quickly.
Revelation 11, we've gone through Revelation recently as a church,
but Revelation 11 verse number two, it says,
but the court which is without the temple will leave out and measure it not
for it is given unto the Gentiles
and the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months,
three and a half years.
So this idea of he will give them up.
Again, we know that is the city of Jerusalem
that has been besieged in the current day events for Micah.
But God is like using that almost like an illustration of the end times events
where the Gentiles are going to be taken out of that city for three and a half years.
And that's where God basically just gives up on the city at that point in time.
He just gives up on it.
But then later on, he's going to rule from that very same location.
In his millennial reign.
But let's continue then verse number five.
And this man, speaking about once again, Jesus, shall be the peace.
And then, so, okay, that's end times, okay.
When the Assyrian shall come into our land.
That's current day events.
This is the challenge, right?
The Assyrian there is obviously talking about Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.
They've besieged Jerusalem.
It's about end time events here.
But can you see how it's kind of here now the Assyrian is symbolic of the Antichrist, okay.
And then it continues, and when he shall tread in our palaces.
Remember how Jerusalem will be trodden under foot for 42 months.
It says, and when he shall tread in our palaces,
then shall we raise against him seven shepherds and eight principal men.
All right, now again, I believe this is about end times.
And again, using king of Assyria, Sennacherib as a symbol
or a type of the Antichrist.
There are some people that read these passages and they,
maybe, I'm not saying they're wrong, but I think it's stretching a bit too far.
They believe that the Antichrist is going to be Assyrian.
They believe because of all these similar passages that speak of the Assyrian, the Assyrian.
And so, but I just think he's a type, he's a picture, a shadow of the Antichrist to come.
All right, before we explain verse number five in sort of great depth,
it started there, and this man shall be the peace.
Now, what I love about this is, again, Micah and Isaiah,
two contemporaries, right, preaching around the same time.
And we know the famous verses from Isaiah chapter nine, verse number six.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
That's why Micah says, and this man shall be the peace.
He is that man, he is the Prince of Peace.
And so, you know, even though they're preaching at the same time,
Isaiah is speaking about a son being born,
the government being upon his shoulder,
and then Micah is saying, well, he's been born in Bethlehem.
So, you know, they're both teaching very similar things at the same time
about the coming promise of Jesus Christ.
Now, it continues in Isaiah nine, and I'll just read, continue in verse number seven.
Of the increase of his government and peace shall be no end.
Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom,
to order it, to establish it with judgment,
and with justice from henceforth, even forever.
I want you to notice that he's going to order it, okay.
His kingdom is going to be run orderly.
Like when Christ comes, he's not just going to go, all right,
let's get the, I don't know, United Nations politicians,
the American president,
let's get all the chief heads of every, you know, nation here,
and let's just carry on with what you're doing.
No, Jesus goes, well, I'm going to order it.
It's going to operate the way I want it to operate, okay.
To establish it with judgment and with justice,
from henceforth, even forever,
the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Now, before I keep reading,
I'm going to read one more passage to you from Isaiah.
Okay, and again, this ties in more with the little amongst thousands
about our Jesus Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ.
And this is coming from Isaiah 53, verse number one,
which reads, who have believed our reports,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant,
and as a root out of a dry ground.
He have no form, nor comeliness.
And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
So another amazing thing about the Lord Jesus Christ, you know,
again, if I was, if I was God, if I was like arranging things,
not only would I have the Christ being born in Jerusalem,
I'd make sure he's the biggest, strongest,
best looking human being that's ever lived.
So everyone comes across that is the Christ that must be him.
Again, that whole, you know, so humble, Christ, no comeliness.
I mean, there's really nothing special about it.
He looks ordinary.
He looks like a random, just ordinary guy.
Just as we're walking on, you know, if we lived in those days,
we walk in the streets of Bethlehem or Nazareth, wherever,
you know, in Galilee, whatever, and we just come across some,
some random looking Jew walking past.
And we have no, we'd have, you'd have no idea that it's the Christ, right?
Just the guy that walks past.
And it says, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
And that's right.
Cause God knows like, like when we think about beauty today,
like the desire of beauty today,
like when we think about the celebrities of the world, right?
The Hollywood stars, the musicians,
who is it that people flock to love and desire?
It's always the most beautiful looking people, right?
And even then they don't feel they're beautiful enough.
They go and get their plastic surgery and they stretch their skin
and try to improve their appearance, which then they look strange.
But the world has this, you know, concept of beauty is, is important, right?
Beauty is important.
And you know, we, we look on the outward many times,
and like I said, even in churches, we look on the outward,
you know, as I've used examples, right?
This person's going to do something great for God
and then they're not in church 10 years later or whatever it is.
You know?
And, um, but with, with the Lord,
he wanted to make sure that our desire toward him was different, right?
It wasn't just some outward, wonderful beauty, beauty that we were looking for.
Rather, we're looking for, like, we don't know what Christ looks like.
Like, besides, I guess he just looked like an average Jew, just a normal,
everyday person.
You would come across the street, but what does that look like?
You see, the Lord God wants us to know Christ through the word, right?
Through his word, not through some picture or some portrait or some painting.
And that's where these other churches already get messed up.
The Orthodox churches and the Catholic churches,
they've got the beautiful looking Jesus.
It's just kind of looks a bit corrupt though, right?
We've got long blonde hair and the blue eyes and the halo behind his head.
And look how beautiful this Jesus is.
No, I actually know how beautiful he is.
He actually is a very beautiful God.
He's my friend.
You know, he loves me.
He loves me more than anyone that loves me.
And in fact, you know, he's a really good friend.
He's a much better friend to me than I am toward him.
That's for sure.
He's much more faithful toward me than I am toward him.
But I feel like I know Jesus.
I've shared this before.
I feel like I know Jesus just as much as I know you.
Like I know he's real.
I know he died for me.
I know he rose from the dead.
I believe that just like anything that, even more so than what I've seen with my own eyes.
I know that's true.
And I've never seen him though physically, but I've seen him spiritually.
You know, I fellowship with Jesus Christ.
I talk to him.
I read his word.
He speaks to me through his word.
He reveals how much he loves me through his word.
And that's the beauty that I see.
That's what I desire.
A beautiful savior that loves me so much that died for me.
Took all my sins and still doesn't hate me after knowing all the sins that I've done.
Still loves me somehow.
Still died for me and still wants me to live an abundant, happy life.
And to go to heaven with him and to rule with him,
even though he knows all my weaknesses and all my failings.
That's a beautiful God, is it not?
But again, from a human perspective, we make him strong.
Give him big muscles, right?
You have to stand out.
This is the Christ.
And I love how the Lord does it.
Again, Jesus Christ is our example.
Again, you may not think of yourself as much.
But as the hymn goes, little is much when God is in it.
You know, you can do some great things for the Lord.
You may not like your appearance.
You know, you may not look, I don't look that handsome.
Well, neither did Jesus.
You're in good company.
You're in good company if you don't, you know,
think your appearance is all that great.
So who cares?
God can still use you in such a mighty way.
But going back to that verse there in verse number five.
Again, because we saw in Isaiah 9,
how he's going to set things in order when he comes to the earth.
Also when he reigns on the earth, I should say.
And then it says at the end of verse number five,
then shall we raise against him.
We raise against the Assyrian seven shepherds and eight principal men.
Now, I don't see why we can't take that literally.
You know, when you talk about shepherds,
it's like pastors, the idea, right?
Like shepherds leading flock and eight principal men.
Principal is kind of like primary.
So it's all about leaders.
It's really, that's what it's all about.
It's all about leadership, leaders, okay?
So I'm just going to take this literally.
I can't see why it's just symbolism there.
But it seems like to me that when Christ comes,
the first thing he's going to put into order is what's seven plus eight, 15.
15 leaders under his authority, okay?
That can lead, that can guide,
that have good principles about themselves.
I mean, I don't know who they're going to be.
I'm sure the Lord knows exactly who they're going to be.
But that seems like his approach according to these verses.
Christ is going to be ruling, then 15 under him.
And then I don't know how else this is all going to be divided
during his millennial reign.
Verse number six.
It says, and they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword.
And the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof.
Thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian
when he cometh into our land and when he treadeth within our borders.
All right.
Now, I don't know what, like Nimrod is mentioned here.
Nimrod is mentioned a few times, very few times in the Bible.
Everything that I've read about Nimrod, it's always negative.
Like he's a horrible guy and was against the Lord.
I don't know.
I'm just telling you the truth.
I don't know exactly.
Nimrod lived like 2000 BC.
That's like 4,000 years ago.
Over 2000 BC.
Over 4,000 years ago.
Okay.
And the Bible mentions Nimrod a couple of times
and it's just, it just says he's a great hunter before the Lord.
But when you go and read other materials,
it's like, nah, this guy, you know, was this horrible guy.
I think he married his mother or something like that.
I can't remember exactly the whole story now.
Okay.
But you know, and, and I kind of like read,
I read the Bible and go, man, like the things that I read about him on,
with other materials, like makes him look like this horrible,
maybe he is some horrible guy.
I don't know.
But as I read about him in the Bible, it just seems like, okay,
just some leader that rose up during the time of Babel.
Okay.
During that time, some leader that rose up during that time,
someone that was well known, a great hunter.
Maybe, maybe that's what he was, maybe.
Cause you know, after Noah, after the flood of Noah,
God allowed them to essentially eat animals.
Okay.
To, to eat meat and all that.
And maybe he was just very wise, very, you know, about how to capture.
A great hunter maybe went out there and was able to teach others how to hunt
and how to, you know, catch their prey and all that kind of stuff.
And that maybe that's why he's well known.
But anyway, he became well known.
And so we're talking about his land, but here we got the Assyrians
basically ruling over a portion of land that he once ruled over.
Now, the reason I don't, I just, I'll just be quick.
It's just a very quick point.
The reason I don't read all these historical, these ancient historical books
about, say Nimrod or some other character, and just believe it,
is because you can read historical books from just 100 years ago
that aren't factually correct.
And then, you know, people read books like the Book of Enoch or something.
And they lift it up to the standard of the scriptures.
And we know the Book of Enoch's garbage.
But then you want me to believe that you,
some historical writer knows about Nimrod and everything that he did.
This guy lived over 4,000 years ago.
Is that correct?
Is that the only, the only book that I know is correct 4,000 years ago,
the writer is the Bible.
And the Bible doesn't have much more to say about Nimrod
other than being a great hunter before the Lord.
Just my thoughts there, just some thoughts, okay?
Now it says here that the Lord is going to deliver them from the Assyrian, okay?
When he comes into our land and when he treadeth within our borders.
So let's read about it from the historical context
back in 2 Chronicles 32, I hope you kept the finger there.
2 Chronicles 32, 2 Chronicles 32 please in verse number 19.
2 Chronicles 32 in verse number 19.
So we saw earlier in 2 Chronicles 32 that the King of Syria
had laid siege of Jerusalem and they began to mock Hezekiah.
Right, remember that?
Well, Hezekiah just wants you to die in famine and thirst.
You know, just come out and surrender.
Anyways, you keep going through this chapter that they can't,
they still keep mocking Hezekiah.
Then they start mocking God and then they're like,
look, just surrender, give in to us, all this stuff.
And then we get to verse number 19, 2 Chronicles 32, 19.
And they spake against the God of Jerusalem
as against the gods of the people of the earth,
which were the work of the hands of man.
Because the Assyrians have taken over other lands and other peoples
and other, you know, they had their own gods.
And they're like, well, we've overcome them
and we can overcome your God as well, right?
Verse number 20,
And for this cause Hezekiah the king
and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos,
prayed and cried to heaven.
Okay, so obviously this is not a good situation for them.
And again, I love how Hezekiah gets Isaiah, right?
He calls the preacher, let's go and pray together to God.
Because we already saw in Micah
that the Lord's going to deliver them from the Assyrian.
Verse number 21,
And the Lord sent an angel which cut off all the mighty men of valor
and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria.
So he returned with shame of face to his own land.
And when he was come into the house of his God,
they that came forth of his own bowels,
slew him there with the sword.
Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria
and from the hand of all other and guided them on every side.
And so again, as Micah is preaching these words
and prophesying of these things,
you know, I do see the immediate context,
I see the immediate history, the application.
But then it's like all of a sudden God's speaking of end times.
And again, using these events as a symbol or a picture
of what's going to play out again in the end times events.
Okay, back to Micah 5 and verse number 7.
Micah 5, 7.
While he turned back there.
So, you know, God performed the miracle.
God is the one that wiped out the Assyrian army, right?
God sent an angel, took out the best soldiers,
took out the mighty men, and then they retreat.
You know, they retreat and they return back to Assyria.
Back to Nineveh, I believe.
Verse number 7.
It says, and the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people,
as a dew from the Lord, as showers upon the grass,
that tarryeth not for man, nor waiter for the sons of men.
All right, so again, speaking about the people,
you know, that lived in Jerusalem during this time,
are going to be like showers upon the grass.
Now, I think that's the same as Micah 4, verse number 1.
Just go back to Micah 4, verse number 1.
Micah chapter 4, verse number 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.
So I believe it's speaking about the same,
again, going back to the millennium, okay?
And that those that are going to be reigning,
ruling and reigning with Christ,
are going to be like showers upon the grass, okay?
But just, and not just show like,
so, you know, we're going to be utilized by God.
We saw this last week to reach out to the nations,
to preach of Christ, to give them the gospel,
to give them the chance to call upon the name of the Lord,
put their faith on Christ and be saved.
And so I believe, again, verse number 7 is sort of saying that
about showers upon the grass in that context.
But then, verse number 8, it changes a little bit, okay?
It says,
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 tariff in pieces, and none can deliver.
So not only are these people, which I believe is us, okay?
It's the Israel of God ruling and reigning with Christ.
Not only are we like showers on grass,
not only are we being utilized to help people believe
and trust on Christ,
but then we're also like lions amongst beasts,
lions amongst sheep, okay?
To tread down, to tear in pieces that none can deliver.
Again, this is what we most commonly know as,
of course, when Christ rules for a thousand years,
we talk about him ruling with a rod of iron.
And we too, the Bible teaches us,
that we're going to rule with a rod of iron, okay?
And that's the same idea.
It's like Christ gives them the opportunity,
we saw this last week,
for these nations to come to him, all right?
But if they reject the Lord,
well then not only are we trying to save the souls,
but we're also going to be used as judges
against these people,
if they reject the Lord as their savior.
Verse number nine.
And these are all, I'll read up to verse number 13.
Thine hand shall be lifted up among thine adversaries,
and all thine enemies shall be cut off,
and it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord,
that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee,
and I will destroy thy chariots,
and I will cut off the cities of thy land,
and throw down all thy strongholds,
and I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand,
and thou shall have no more soothsayers.
Thy graven images also will I cut off,
and thy standing images out of the midst of thee,
and thou shall no more worship the work of thine hands.
So look, when Christ rules,
God's not going to be okay with people worshiping false gods.
God's not okay with the occult.
Let's go and listen to witch over there,
wizard over here,
soothsayer over there.
God says I'm going to cut all of that off,
or even idols, people set up different idols,
even the blonde, long-haired Jesus with blue eyes.
That's all going to be cut off.
We're going to see the real Jesus of the Bible.
He's going to be ruling with a rod of iron.
But again, look, we're there in Micah five, okay?
Micah five.
Come back with me to Micah four.
Just as a reminder, Micah four, verse number five.
For all people will walk everyone in the name of his God,
and we will walk in the name of the Lord, our God, forever and ever.
Again, we need to just understand the process.
Okay, we learn a few things.
We've learned several things in these chapters.
When Christ comes back,
he changes the topology, like I saw this last week,
of Israel, certain mountains are going to rise,
other high rises are going to be lowered.
There's going to be water flowing out of Jerusalem,
you know, and it's going to be like the showers on the grass,
all that kind of stuff, right?
But then, you know, Christ is not going to just
immediately destroy nations worshiping false gods, okay?
There's going to be peace.
But what we saw with a nation like Egypt,
that Christ does smite, and then he heals them, okay?
And then we saw that, this was in Isaiah,
that he calls the Egyptians his people,
because they're made right with God.
Many of them trust Christ as their savior,
and they're fine now, rejecting the idols,
rejecting the occult, coming to Christ.
And that's what we want.
Like, we don't want to just turn up with Christ.
All right, you're not a believer, destroy.
You're worshiping idols, destroy.
No, no, no, Christ has given them a chance.
Do you want to be healed, nations?
Do you want to trust Christ as your savior?
Do you want to be blessed?
And so we'll be utilized by God
to go and reach out to these people.
But brethren, during the millennium, if they reject it,
and they want to keep with their gods,
they want to keep their idols.
Or maybe, like it's a thousand years,
a lot can happen in a thousand years, right?
Maybe for the first 200 years,
some nation gets right with God.
And then as the generations come along,
maybe they turn their hearts away from the Lord,
and they seek the idols once again,
they seek the occult once again.
Well, God's not going to be patient with them
at that point in time.
Once they've heard the truth, okay?
And if they reject it,
then this is when it's going to happen.
God's going to send us like lions,
like these ruthless judges, all right?
And just like, man, you know,
you've disobeyed the word of the Lord,
and they're going to be broken in pieces,
judged, you know?
The death penalty is going to return.
The laws of God are going to be operated
just like he dictated in his word.
And we're going to be utilized by Jesus Christ
to be a judge as well, okay?
So, but we want peace, right?
That's the goal.
We want every nation to come
and submit themselves under Christ.
Boy, you don't want to refuse during this time.
You know, the mercy, the blessings
that Christ is going to give these people
for a thousand years.
Can you come with me quickly to Psalm chapter 2?
Come with me to Psalm chapter 2, please.
Psalm chapter 2.
What a great Psalm.
I feel like reading the whole thing,
but we'll just start with verse number 9 there.
Psalm chapter 2, verse number 9.
Speaking of Christ's ruling
for that millennium reign,
in Psalm chapter 2, verse number 9,
it says,
Thou shall break them with a rod of iron.
Thou shall dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel.
Yeah, that's what I'm kind of reading
about there in Micah 5.
But look, okay, that's going to happen.
But look, the instructions from the Psalmist
to the kings, verse number 10.
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings.
Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry.
Like that's kind of, you know,
I mean, that's true for today.
You know, our politicians, our kings,
our prime ministers, the presidents of the earth
ought to follow this and serve the Lord.
They ought to kiss the Son,
honor the Son, they ought to be doing that.
So they have a fear of the Lord.
But you know, not only the salvation message
is going to go out during the millennium reign,
but I'm sure we're going to be saying
these words to these people
that are over the nations.
Be wise, right?
Be instructed, serve the Lord
with fear and trembling.
Like that's probably going to be the message, right?
Kiss the Son, you know, honor him.
Why?
Because it continues, 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.
So it's not just turn up, destroy, destroy,
we can boom or burn and go to hell.
We're trying to give these people an opportunity.
Honor the Son, put your trust in him,
serve him, worship him, come under his rule,
accept him as your savior.
So I don't know, man,
I think the millennium is going to be
this great opportunity to see so many souls saved,
but then to see the perfect judgment of the Lord
for those that reject him.
Back to Micah 5, we're almost done there.
Verse number 14.
And I will pluck up thy groves
out of the midst of thee,
so will I destroy thy cities.
And I will execute vengeance in anger
and fury upon the heathen,
such as they have not heard.
Such as they have not heard.
You know what blows my mind?
We know how horrible the wrath of God is on the earth.
And then we come into the millennium,
he goes, you've never seen how angry I can get.
What?
I mean, we know also the lake of fire
is the full extent of his anger,
you know, to that point.
But boy, you know, we serve a mighty and angry God.
We do.
And you know what's interesting about this chapter in Micah 5?
This God who is angry at the wicked,
this God who judges so severely, you know.
We see his greatness at the end of this chapter,
but it all just started in Bethlehem,
little amongst thousands, like a humility.
We see both sides of our Lord God,
you know, his mercy, his humility, his love,
you know, which obviously he came to serve to die for us,
his sacrifice, his care for us.
But boy, his anger.
You know, his wrath, you know,
we think about the greatness of who he is at the same time.
Little among thousands was his origins of Christ
when he came to this earth.
It's amazing.
I want to leave you with one last thought,
if you can, please come with me to 1 Samuel 16.
1 Samuel 16, verse number four,
the title of the sermon was little among the thousands,
little among the thousands.
And again, Christ has come to set us an example.
And in 1 Samuel 16, verse number four,
1 Samuel 16, verse number four,
we spoke about Christ being born in Bethlehem.
Well, here we have this story that takes place in Bethlehem.
In 1 Samuel 16, verse number four,
and Samuel did that which the Lord spake and came to Bethlehem
and the elders of the town trembled at his coming and said,
come us out peaceably.
And he said peaceably,
I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord.
Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.
And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and called them to the sacrifice.
And it came to pass when they were come,
that he looked on Eliab, that's Samuel.
Samuel looked on Eliab and said,
surely the Lord's anointed is before him.
Because the Lord sent him there to choose the next king of Israel.
And Samuel, which is a righteous man, great judge, great prophet of God.
He also looks on the outward because that Eliab, man, yeah.
He's definitely, that's the guy that's going to be the next king.
Looking at what the outward,
I don't know what it is about human beings, but we're the same.
Like we are the same.
This guy who's got here,
he's definitely going to be the next pastor, right?
He's going to be pastor of the next fired up church.
Look at him, look at him go.
And look at verse number seven,
the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance
or on the heights of his stature,
because I have refused him for the Lord seeeth not as man seeeth.
Like God's making a point.
It's not like, it's like, that's what we are.
The Lord seeeth not as man seeeth.
That's, we're kind of stuck in this program.
And I hope we can break out of it.
Like, you know, but it's, God's just making a point.
The Lord seeeth not as man seeeth,
for man looketh on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looketh on the heart.
The Lord looketh on the heart.
And I think about literal among the thousands.
And you, again, you may not think of yourself very highly.
And if you think of yourself highly,
if you think, man, look at me go,
it's time for you to humble yourself.
Because when you lift yourself up, you know, it's pride.
And Christ is looking.
The Lord is looking at our hearts.
Sees the pride in your hearts and goes, nope, I refused him.
He looks at the heart.
He looks for humility.
The example of Jesus Christ,
making himself of no reputation.
Okay.
Not concerned with the comely appearance
and the beauty on the outside.
No, Christ is looking at the hearts.
And brethren, again, we look at ourselves
and we may not think of ourselves as much.
But let me encourage you,
if you want to be used greatly by God
and you are literal amongst thousands,
get your heart right.
Because that's what God's looking at.
Okay.
Like more important than how well I preach right now
is what, how my heart is before the Lord right now.
That's vastly more important.
I'd rather be a preacher with a monotone voice
that can't lift it up with much volume
with the heart right though.
That's so much important.
Than a dramatic preacher, you know,
entertaining preacher,
but my heart's all wrong before the Lord.
I mean, I might entertain man
because that's what man looks at.
But I'm not going to please the Lord, you know?
And so, you know,
if we're going to take anything out of Micah 5, brethren,
that's just what I want you to think about.
You know, get your heart right before the Lord.
Doesn't matter what you look like on the outside.
It doesn't matter what your strengths and weaknesses are.
Good.
Weakness is good.
God can utilize that.
But the only way God can utilize you
to do something great for him
is to get your heart right.
Okay, brethren, let's pray.