MICAH 5 GODS MESSAGE TO THE INSIGNIFICANT2019 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Micah 5 Gods Message To The Insignificant

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2019. Do you know what it's like to feel insignificant? Do you know what it's like to feel small? To live in obscurity? To not really have anything to offer? Anything valuable? Anything worthwhile?

This morning, if you know what that's like, the Lord has a message for you. I've titled the message this morning, God's Message to the Insignificant. God's Message to the Insignificant. Here, we're looking at a passage which speaks of Bethlehem. And it's a familiar passage to us because, well, it's quoted in the New Testament in the telling of the birth of Jesus Christ.

You might remember, and maybe you have a nativity set, you've been putting it up, and if you're accurate in your nativity set, right, you have the manger scene, and you have, you know, Mary and Joseph, and then you have three wise men that are way on the other side of the room, because they show up a little bit later, right? So there's these wise men that are on their way when Jesus is born, but they get there a little bit later, and Matthew records the account for us in Matthew chapter 2,

And you might remember that when the wise men come to Jerusalem, they don't know where Jesus is exactly. They actually go to Jerusalem, not where Jesus actually is. They go to Jerusalem and they're asking around. They inquire of King Herod and they say, hey, where is the king that has been born? And it stirs up some trouble and some troubled hearts in the city of Jerusalem. And Herod gathers together the religious leaders in Matthew chapter 2.

In Matthew 2, verse 3, it says, He called the religious leaders together to find out where is the Messiah supposed to be born? This promised Savior, where is the birthplace?

Because these guys say he's been born. And the religious leaders knew immediately. And they quoted here from Micah chapter 5 verse 2. And they said, in Bethlehem. That's where the promised Savior is to be born. Bethlehem was well known for that. But Bethlehem was not a prominent place. Bethlehem was not a significant city. Bethlehem was a little tiny small town about five miles outside of Jerusalem.

And Bethlehem is only known to us because of these events that we see happen here in Micah chapter 5 and in Matthew chapter 2. There's thousands of other names of towns and cities that are, you know, recorded of places in the Bible that you've never heard of. And maybe you've read them once or twice, right? Maybe you've heard their names passed by, but you wouldn't recognize them. They wouldn't, you know, mean anything to you if someone said it. But Bethlehem we're familiar with.

But it was a little tiny, insignificant town. And the Lord has a message for Bethlehem here in this passage. Now this is happening 700 years before the birth of Christ. As we look at the prophet Micah, his ministry was around 750 BC through about 730 BC. And so he was ministering there well before, 700 years before the birth of Christ. But he names the birthplace of the promised savior.

Now to give a little bit of context, Micah is prophesying to the nation of Judah. And as he's prophesying to them, they are in decline, right? They are under attack by the Assyrian empire. Later on, they'll be under attack by the Babylonian empire and ultimately destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar and taken into captivity.

They're in this place of decline and the Lord has been sending prophets like Micah to call them back to repentance, to call them back to turn and to get right with God. And so Micah is there on the scene and part of the message that God gives is this little snippet of hope and encouragement to Bethlehem and some insight about where this promised Savior will be born.

And so here we have God's message to the insignificant as we see this address to the city of Bethlehem and some encouragement for you and I this morning. There's three points we'll work through beginning in verses one and two for point number one. Here's point number one. You are little, but God plans to do big things through you. You are little.

But God plans to do big things through you. Check out verse one and two again. It says, now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops. He has laid siege against us. They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old Israel.

Here as we look at these first two verses, the picture that God is painting is a contrast for us to be able to look at and observe and understand the message that he is conveying. In verse 1, he talks about gathering yourself in troops, O daughter of troops. And the idea here is the picture of Judah arming themselves with a sword.

to defend against an upcoming battle, this oncoming enemy that is laying siege to them. It is discussed by Bible scholars, and you can dive into that as far as what siege exactly Micah is referring to. It could be the Assyrian army that is going to come against Jerusalem in a little bit.

It could be the Babylonian army that will come a little bit farther out, but it's already happened for us as we look back at these things. But Babylon came and laid siege to Jerusalem.

It could also be the Roman army that came even further out later on after the death of Christ and the New Testament. Then the Roman army laid siege to Jerusalem. And there's some parallels perhaps to many of those sieges. But regardless of which particular account Micah might have in mind and God might be addressing,

The point here is not so much the particular battle, but the contrast between this city that is gathering together the troops, that is mounting up the armies, the strong city, this stronghold that is preparing for the siege. And then verse 2, The daughter of troops in verse 1 is probably Jerusalem.

Bethlehem, though about five miles away, is not a stronghold. It's a little tiny town. You can kind of put yourself in the inhabitants of Bethlehem's sandals for a moment and think about this great danger that is coming, this army that is sweeping into the land.

And the tension, the anxieties, and the perplexities of having to deal with that. And you're looking at your neighbor just a few miles away. There's Jerusalem. Strong walls, strong forces, great military. There's troops there. But here's Bethlehem, and it's just a little town. It's just five miles away from Jerusalem. But measuring by importance, Bethlehem was thousands of miles away. Nobody important is in Bethlehem.

They don't have forces to protect themselves. They don't have walls to be a stronghold and protection for themselves or the nation. And you could see the people of Bethlehem looking at Jerusalem and then looking back at Bethlehem and thinking, boy, are we small. We're so little. We're so insignificant. In these kinds of situations, it's important to remember and encouraging to remember that God sees things differently than we do.

Bethlehem esteems itself as little and it's accurate in the sense that, well, they are not able to produce troops. The picture that is being painted here is there's this gathering together of troops in order to defend the nation, but Bethlehem is not able to contribute to that defense. They don't have a bunch of soldiers to contribute. Albert Barnes describes it this way. He says, each tribe was divided into thousands.

When he says in verse 2, you are little among the thousands of Judah, it's a reference to those military groups, those military ranks. Bethlehem didn't have a thousand men to contribute to the defense of the nation.

They didn't have a troop. They didn't have an army of any sort. There was no strength there. They couldn't even muster a thousand men. Other towns and cities around them, and you can imagine them looking around, they're able to contribute. And so the forces are coming in, but they're passing through Bethlehem perhaps even to get to Jerusalem. But there in Bethlehem, they're saying, we have nothing to offer. We have no strength, no military, no might. We're insignificant.

You are little among the thousands. That's how they felt, but also God is saying that's truly how you are. I mean, you count the men. There's actually no men there. You don't have that kind of strength. You are little. That word little can be translated also insignificant, or also it can be translated as young or the youngest. There's a few examples of when this word is used that I think help illustrate this and to help us get the picture of what the Lord is saying here.

You can go back to, and you don't have to turn there, but back in Judges chapter 6, you might remember the judge named Gideon. And he was used by the Lord to deliver the nation from the Midianites who had come against them. They were innumerable, those Midianites. And it was a great enemy that was there in their midst. And God decided, I want to use Gideon to do a great work and deliver my people. And so as God calls to Gideon,

Gideon says, I think you might be mistaken. It's in Judges chapter 6 verse 15. Gideon says to the Lord, oh my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father's house. How can I save Manasseh? How can I save my people? Gideon says, because my clan is the weakest and all of my tribe, my family, we're small. We're not important.

And then within my family and my father's house, I'm the least. Nobody looks to me for advice. Nobody comes to me for financial help. Nobody comes to me because I have, you know, great wisdom and things to offer. Nobody comes to me for my resources. Nobody comes to me. I'm insignificant. I'm the least. I'm the most insignificant of my insignificant family, Gideon says. That's how he felt. And in part, that was accurate advice.

to his position in the family. And yet we know that through the midst of that, and even though he's the most insignificant of his insignificant family, God used Gideon to bring deliverance to the nation. You ever feel like Gideon? Insignificant, you're the most insignificant of an insignificant family and an insignificant tribe and an insignificant nation, right? Like just, I'm the least of the least of the least of the least of the least. That's how Gideon felt. And yet we see God is able to work.

God addresses Bethlehem, you are little, but that's not the end of the story. I've got big plans to do something great. Another good example to consider is King Saul. Before he was king, he met up with Samuel the prophet. There was no king before him. He wasn't scheduled to be king. He had no idea that he would be king. And Samuel the prophet begins to announce to him and share with him God's plans for Saul to be king.

And Saul's response was similar to Gideon's. In 1 Samuel 9, verse 21, Saul answered and said, Am I not a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me? Our tribe is small, Saul says. And then my family, well, we're the least. That word least, same word as little here in Micah 5, verse 2. And so Gideon says, I'm the least tribe.

Saul says, my family is the least. Nobody comes to my family. In the tribe of Benjamin, nobody comes to my family to ask for help, to look to us for leadership or guidance or direction. Nobody comes to my family to provide strength for the tribe. And our nation doesn't look to the tribe of Benjamin and say, all right, Benjamin, you tell us, you know, what does the Lord want and where are we going and how are we going to, you know, take care of these things? Nobody looks to us for any

needs, any resources. We're the least of the nation. We're the least of our tribe. Why then do you speak to me like this? You ever feel like your family is insignificant? You, your family? This also is, the same word is also used a little bit later in 1 Samuel chapter 16. You might remember when the prophet Samuel, after Saul has been rejected as being king, God says, I want you to go anoint a new king. And it's going to be one of the sons of Jesse. And

And so Samuel goes to Jesse's house and Jesse brings out his sons and raised them in order. And Samuel sees the oldest. He is good looking. He's tall, looks strong. He has a lot to offer. And Samuel says in his heart, surely that must be the next king. God says, no, you're looking on the outside, but I'm looking at the heart. I see things differently than you. That's not him. And so Samuel begins to work his way down the line. Okay, how about the next born? How about the next born? How about the next one? How about the next born?

He gets to the end of the line and now Samuel's a little bit confused. God told me to anoint the next king. God told me it would be one of the sons of Jesse. I've walked down the line of all the sons of Jesse and God has said no every time. Something's not right. So he looks at Jesse and he says, I'm confused. Is there another son maybe? Or we missed something somewhere along the way. And Jesse says, oh yeah, well, there is David.

It's 1 Samuel 16, verse 11. There's still the youngest. That word youngest, same word here in Micah 5 too for little. There's still the least.

David was viewed as, you know, he's not super significant to this meeting with Samuel, to this occasion. He's busy with the sheep. Let him just stay out there. He doesn't need to come in. It's not important enough. He's not important enough to come and be part of this. All the other sons, stop what you're doing. Come to this meeting, right? But it's not that the sheep are so important, David. You can't leave the sheep, you know. No, no. David, you're not that important.

You're insignificant. You're little. You're the youngest. You're the least. Don't worry yourself with these big people matters, right? With these parenting or adult matters, right? You just stay out there with the kids stuff. Insignificant. Youngest. Least. This is the way. These are the words that would have been relatable to the people of Bethlehem. As they look at themselves, as they look at their city,

They would understand we're little. They would say of themselves, we're the least. We're insignificant. And they would have this contrast because right next door, there's Jerusalem. And they could see what strength looks like and how obvious it was to them. We don't have strength. We don't have those kinds of resources. We don't have that kind of prominence. We're not that popular. We're little. We're insignificant. We're the least. And yet, here's what God says in verse 2.

Even though you esteem yourself this way, and even though there is some truth to the way that you're feeling about yourselves, and you are little, and you don't have much resources, you don't have much strength, you don't have many people, you don't have might and provisions and a defense system, you don't have all this stuff, and yet, God says...

Out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel. Even though you're the least, I'm going to bring forth from you the greatest. The one, not just any ruler, not just a ruler, but the greatest ruler, the greatest person, the greatest human to ever exist is going to come through you. He says in verse 2 at the end, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting life.

Here pointing to the fact that Jesus didn't begin to exist when he was conceived or when he was born, but Jesus began, well, he never began to exist. He's just always existed. His goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. He's always existed because Jesus is God. In John 1, verse 1, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The deity of Jesus is being alluded to here in Micah 5.

And so here you have this most insignificant place that would bring forth the most significant person to ever live. You are little, but God plans to do big things through you. That was the message for Bethlehem, and I would encourage you to consider this morning. That's the message for you. I would encourage you, don't miss out like the religious leaders did. The religious leaders missed out. They knew the scriptures. They knew what it said. But when the wise men came...

They weren't part of it. They were only part of it to just say, oh yeah, we know that scripture. We can quote that. I have that verse memorized. Here's what it says. The Savior will be born in Bethlehem. But they didn't take it to heart in a way that caused them to then go to Bethlehem and seek out the Savior. They weren't interested in finding the Savior. They knew the scriptures, but they were not interested in applying the scriptures to their lives. They didn't believe that

that this would actually happen right now. They didn't actually believe that God was going to do something great out of Bethlehem at this time. I would encourage you to not make that mistake this morning. You feel insignificant? You feel like the least? You feel little? Don't make this mistake. Believe and take great comfort. Rest and rely upon God. You are little. Maybe that is actually factual. Maybe that's not just how you feel, but that's actually the truth. That's the reality.

But that's not a limit on what God can do and what God wants to do in your life. God plans to do big things through you. It's the way that God works, actually. It's the way that God prefers to work. We can look around and we can think other people

have more advantages in their spiritual walk. Other people have more gifts in their service unto the Lord. Other people have, you know, better charisma. Other people have better resources. Other people have, and we can look around just like Bethlehem could look at Jerusalem and think, we're little. What do we have to offer? We have nothing to offer.

And we can be discouraged and we can be downtrodden and we can be distraught over that. Or we can believe God at his word and say, yes, I'm little. That's the way that God likes to work. Using little people to accomplish big things. Using the insignificant to bring forth things that have the greatest significance. Paul the Apostle challenged the Corinthian church with this concept in 1 Corinthians 1.

He tells them, This is the way that God prefers to work. And you might look at yourself and say, I'm insignificant. And Paul says, exactly. Look around. Everybody's insignificant.

There's not a lot of mighty people. There's not a lot of noble people. There's not a lot of wise people that is with worldly wisdom, right? That are involved in the work of God. There's not a lot of people that the world around looks on and goes, whoa, look at that. I can't believe they're involved in the things of God. There's a few. There's not many that the world would esteem, that we would esteem apart from the work that God desires to do.

through those who are insignificant and weak and mighty. You might feel little. You might feel insignificant. Even within this fellowship. I mean, it's one thing we as a church, we could look around, we go, man, we're little, we're insignificant, right? We see other buildings, other church buildings. We're like, you know, that's Jerusalem. We're Bethlehem, right? We're like little, right?

But then even internally, you might look around and you go, I'm little. I just, I'm least. I have nothing to offer. I'm not able to be used by God. I mean, I just, I have nothing. No resources, no wisdom. I don't have anything. Nobody comes to me for help. Nobody comes to me for strength. Nobody comes to me. I'm little. But I would encourage you to consider this is the way that God loves to work and prefers to work. When you feel that way, you're prime real estate for the Lord to work.

You're in the place that God prefers to and his favorite place to work is in those conditions. Later on in the letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul relates this again in reference to the body of Christ. He says, those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need, but God composed the body having given greater honor to the part which lacks it.

Paul says, look, we're all members of the body and there are some members of the body that we think are less honorable. That is, other people around you perhaps look on you and think, that's the least honorable member of the body. Or you might look in the mirror and say, that's the least honorable member of the body. But those that we esteem that way, whether it be of others or ourselves, Paul explains, look, here's how God has designed the body. He's composed it. He's arranged it. He's engineered it.

So that the part that lacks honor externally actually has greater honor spiritually, has greater value than is visible, than is seen, than is known. This is the way that God works within us, his people and the members of the body of Christ. We are little, but God plans to do big things through you. He really does. Just like he could do in Bethlehem.

something far greater than they would ever imagine or think. God can do in you and in your life and in your family things far greater than you could ever imagine or think. Well, we're going to continue on to verse 3 for point number 2 this morning, and that is, you are afflicted, but God will restore you in his time. There's a little bit of a journey that's going on here. We start with the contrast, see the big city, all the troops being provided, and how weak you are. I'm going to do something great, but not quite yet.

You're not going to see it immediately. No, there's going to be a time period that's going to pass. Verse 3 says, Here in verse 3, we find that there's going to be this giving up, this time period that happens until she who is in labor has given birth.

Now again, some of the historical references here are, well, there's room for lots of discussion and you can wrestle with these things a little bit. In fact, some of this, you know, talking about the woman in labor who has given birth, I mean, there's some obvious connections that are happening in our mind, especially this time of year, right? We're celebrating the birth of Jesus. The coming of Jesus through Bethlehem was proclaimed in verse two. So now verse three, you know, there might be some time references to the coming of the Messiah there.

But at the same time, even without some specific application of the prophecy in that way, the point that the Lord is making here is that there's going to be some time that passes. Pastor David Guzik puts it this way, Micah anticipates a future time, partially fulfilled in the Babylonian exile and return, ultimately fulfilled in the great tribulation and restoration of Israel, when the Lord will seem distant from Israel until the time for restoration is ready.

There's going to be this season where God feels distant. There's going to be this season of, well, you might describe it as affliction or difficulty. God has great plans for Bethlehem. He's going to do something great through Bethlehem, but it's not going to happen immediately. And before it happens, there's going to be this time where it seems like even that promise could never be fulfilled.

Speaking of the Babylonian captivity, Babylon is going to come. They're going to lay siege to the nation of Judah, the city of Jerusalem. They're going to wipe them out completely. They're going to take them all captive, empty out the land entirely. Bethlehem is going to sit there vacant or populated by enemies or vagrants or whoever might be wandering through. It's going to look impossible for God to do what he said he would do in Micah 5, verse 2.

God is going to seem very distant, but when it's time for her who is in labor to give birth, then this work is going to begin. It's going to be accomplished. Then the restoration will begin. Maybe you can relate to Bethlehem in this as well. Does God ever feel distant? Like, you know the verses, you know the scriptures, you know the promises and reasons to have hope, and yet at the same time, you're looking around and you're saying, but why is there all this affliction? Why is there all this

God says all these things, but why is there all this affliction? Why does God seem so far away? Why don't I see the healing and the restoration and all these things that are promised? Part of the way that God works. Not only is he working in ways that are different than us in using the insignificant to bring forth the things of greatest significance, but also God uses times of affliction to mold us and to work in our lives differently.

to make us into the men and women that he desires us to be and that we need to be. I'm reminded of what the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 12. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. The author of Hebrews reminds us, listen,

Those times of chastening. Now, nobody likes chastening. You can look at the rest of the passage there in Hebrews chapter 12 to get even a little bit more insight into this concept of chastening. But nobody likes it. Nobody wants it. But we need it. And chastening does not only refer to direct punishment and correction for sin. In the sense of like, there's open rebellion and so God has to chasten.

But if there's not open rebellion, then God doesn't need to chasten. Chastening is more than just that, you know, correction for that open rebellion, that deliberate sin. Chastening, you could also think of as training. It's not just correction that is necessary, but it's training for, well, what is to come and what God desires to bring forth. It's training. And so sometimes you may feel like you're in boot camp because you're getting trained. God's chastening you.

not trying to punish you for some sin, but trying to shape you up because he knows what's ahead and he's preparing you for the work that is ahead of you and for the things that are going to be happening in your life. God is training me. The things I encounter, the things that I go through, the season of freelancing, the season of, you know, full-time employment, this season, that season in my life, it's God training and it feels like affliction.

And sometimes it feels like God is distant and he's far away, but it's not because he's abandoned. It's not because he's not gonna fulfill the promise in verse two. He is going to heal. He is going to restore, but he uses those times of affliction, those times of adversity, those times of difficulty to bring us to the place where he can then bring the restoration and fulfill the promises that he's given to us. It's why James tells us,

to count it all joy when you face various trials and afflictions. Paul the apostle learned to really believe these things for himself when he had the experience with what he referred to as the thorn in the flesh. And we don't know what that was, which kind of helps us a little bit, I think, to be able to personalize it because there's some affliction there. There's some pain, there's some difficulty that he's working through and he wants God to take it away.

Why is this here? God, why don't you remove this? I want to have the healing and the restoration and the peace and all the things that you've promised to me. And he prays and he prays and he prays. And God says, my grace is sufficient for you. And as Paul learned that lesson, he went on to say in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 10, therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake.

For when I am weak, there I am strong. When I'm weak, that's when I'm strong because God's strength is made perfect in my weakness. And Paul had to come to the place where he would really believe that, where he would really receive that and accept that and then say, okay, so I don't have to stress out when God feels distant. I don't have to stress out when I'm going through affliction. Now, notice the things he lists here. Infirmities, it's not God abandoning me.

but it is God chastening me. Again, that doesn't have to be direct correction for outright blatant sin. It could also just be, you know, you need some growth and some shaping and you're not going to get it any other way besides going through a season of infirmity. And reproaches, rebukes, and correction, there's some things that you're going to need to be reproached about. Nobody likes to be reproached, but I'll take pleasure in it, Paul says, because I've learned this lesson.

It's part of the process. It's part of the way that God works. And I need to go through it so that God can do the restoration on the other end that he wants to do. In needs, we all experience and face times of need where we lack. We can quote the verse, Harvey's favorite verse, right? Seek first the kingdom of God, his righteousness, all these other things will be provided. But then we're looking at our cupboards and we're going, where's the provision? Like, I'm trying to seek first the kingdom, but I don't see the

Where is the fulfillment of that? And it's part of the process. God will fulfill that. He will. But part of the process and part of the way that he does that work is by allowing us to experience the need. In persecutions, in distresses, Paul says, I'm going to take pleasure in those from now on. Because when I'm weak, that's when I have real strength. Chastening is not just for deliberate sin.

but it's shaping, it's molding, it's building in you. That God can bring you to the place that he can do the full restoration and work that he wants to do. Maybe your house flooded. You're having to live in a tent. It's probably not because of deliberate sin, Richard. Maybe it is. Probably not. The Lord knows. It's not our job to work that out. It's our job to seek the Lord and find out, Lord,

What do you want to do? How do you want to provide strength? How do you want to carry me through this season? You're afflicted, but God will restore you in his time. And the whole picture of labor that he gives there is an emphasis on that in his time, right? Probably every mother who has ever given birth has wished they could set the time. Here's when I'm going to start labor, and then here's when I'm going to finish labor. And they'll probably just be seconds apart, right?

But the mom doesn't get to dictate that. The mom doesn't get to say, all right, I'm only going to be in labor for this amount of time, right? That's in the Lord's hands. The baby comes when the baby comes. Labor starts when it starts and it's done when it's done. It's out of our hands. In a similar way, our affliction and the things that we go through in the season that God has us in, it starts when it starts and it's done when it's done. It's not really in our hands. It's in the Lord's hands. And we, in the meantime, need to trust and rest and wait for

It's not an indication of his lack of ability. It's not an indication of his intention to restore and heal and do all the promises and blessings that he's declared that he will do. But in the meantime, because God uses these seasons just like he uses the insignificant, it's part of the process. It's part of the way that he works. Matthew Henry, the commentator, puts it this way.

He says, Divine salvations must be waited for until the time fixed for the bringing of them forth. Divine salvations must be waited for. We want divine salvation. We want God's salvation. We want God's rescue. We want God's work.

They must be waited for. Wait for the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Yes, you're afflicted. And yes, it's hard and it's painful and it feels like you're being scrubbed, you know, with a sponge, maybe steel wool. I don't know, something rough. I guess steel wool is not that rough. The metal brush, whatever, right? It feels rough. It feels hard. You're afflicted. But wait, wait for the Lord. He will restore in His time. He gets to set the limits.

Hey, the season of affliction starts when it starts and it's done when it's done. That's the Lord's business to set those things. We need to wait upon the Lord. God may seem distant, but he's not. He's at work. Maybe not doing our favorite kind of work, but he's at work and he's doing the work that we need. Wait and hope in him. Well, we'll finish it up in verses four and five for point number three this morning. And that is, you will be blessed when God is magnified.

When God is magnified, that is when you will experience the ultimate blessings from God. Verse four says, and he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord, his God, and they shall abide for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth and this one shall be peace.

The rest of the verse I'm not going to dive into. It begins another prophecy that is addressing the issue of Assyria. And so we'll save that for the Lord to minister to you on separately. But finishing up here in the verse 4 and the first part of verse 5. He begins now, Micah the prophet begins to look far ahead to the kingdom of Jesus. So you have the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem.

You have the process through which Israel is going to go through some great afflictions and difficulties before the fulfillment of the promises are complete. But then when the promise is fulfilled and the restoration begins, then he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord. He's looking far ahead, even for us as we read this today, to the kingdom of Jesus. These are great promises to the people of God.

where Jesus will be with them and they will abide with him. And he will be feeding them, providing for them in the strength of the Lord, in the strength of the Father, in the majesty of the Father. And there will be peace, peace with the Father, peace with Jesus, peace in the world. In the kingdom of Jesus, there's going to be incredible, bountiful blessings. But here, Micah attaches all of these blessings together

To the end of verse 4, he says, For now, this is when the fulfillment of all those things will come. Because now, he shall be great to the ends of the earth. In the first coming of Jesus, internally, and in his nature, he was great. But he was not great to the ends of the earth. He wasn't received. He wasn't accepted. He wasn't worshipped except for by that small select few.

But the second coming of Jesus will be radically different and he will be great to the ends of the earth. He will be worshiped. He will be known. It will be recognized that he is king of kings and lord of lords. And it's when Jesus takes that rightful position, when he takes his place, when he is glorified and magnified and everybody knows it and everybody knows him,

that is when the fulfillment of all the things that have been promised and prophesied, that is when we will see the ultimate fulfillment of those things. You will be blessed. You may not see it immediately. Now, God's so good and gracious to us, right? We do see blessings in our life and he does work in our lives and bring healing and restoration to various degrees. But all of those blessings and promises are

as he gives us sneak previews of them, they're just sneak previews of the ultimate fulfillment, the reality of what he's promised and the reality of what he wants to accomplish, which we will finally get to see when he is magnified. For now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. Jesus was not great because of where he was born. Some people are great because of where they're born or the family that they're born into.

There's some people who are famous, who are popular, who are like, you know, esteemed highly, and it has nothing to do with anything that they have done or said, but it's just where they've been born, who they've been born into, what family they've been born into. This isn't the case with Christ. He didn't gain honor from being born in Bethlehem. He didn't gain honor from being born to Mary and Joseph. He didn't gain honor from any of those things. But Bethlehem is known to you.

Bethlehem gained honor because of its relationship to Jesus Christ. Matthew Henry puts it this way, Christ would give honor to the place of his birth and not derive honor from it. A relation to Christ will magnify those that are little in the world. Here's the point. We don't give honor to Christ. He's not great and incredible because we honor him, right? We're little. We're insignificant. We have nothing to offer. But,

When we attach ourselves to Jesus, when we have a relationship to Jesus and we're connected with him, just like Bethlehem is now esteemed, just like Bethlehem is now known and Bethlehem was used by God and part of the great plan of God, in the same way, we are honored, we are blessed, we receive the promises of God

When he is magnified because we're attached to him. It's not that I will become great. I'm little. I'm insignificant. But you wait. One of these days, I'm going to be great. No, I don't become great. I will experience God's greatness because I'm attached to him.

Just as Bethlehem would gain greatness where it had none because of its relationship to Jesus, you and I attaching ourselves to the Lord, connecting ourselves with the Lord, walking with the Lord, we get to have the same kind of promise. The Apostle Paul explains it this way in Colossians chapter three. We studied it a couple of weeks ago on a Wednesday night. He says, "'Set your mind on things above, "'not on things on the earth. "'For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. "'When Christ who is our life appears, "'then you also will appear with him in glory.'"

He says, look, you died. Your life is hidden with Christ in God because you believed in Jesus. He's talking about the doctrine. You believed in Jesus. You were included with Christ in his death, his burial and resurrection. You're forgiven. You have a standing that you are seated with Christ in the heavenly. So set your mind, think about, set your focus on and set your heart on the things above. Don't consume yourself with the things of this life. And when Christ who is our life appears, then you will appear with him in glory. Amen.

Now make sure you understand the picture here. It's not that Christ will appear in glory because you will be with him, right? He's not more glorious because I'm with him, but I will be in glory because I'm with him. I will be with him. I will appear with him in glory because I've believed in him. I will be with Jesus and that's when I will experience glory. You will be blessed because

when God is magnified. And you can look at that at the end picture when we are with Jesus in eternity, but also you can look at your own life right now and understand to the extent that you magnify Jesus is the extent that you will experience his blessings. Not taking away the seasons of affliction, not taking away the process in which God works, not taking away the insignificance, but you will be blessed to the extent that you magnify Jesus in your life.

This is God's message to the insignificant. It's a message of great comfort and hope if you're willing to receive it. You are little. That might not just be how you feel. That might actually be reality. You're little. You don't have much. Nobody comes to you for strength. Nobody comes to you for, you know, help, for advice. Maybe that's true. But that doesn't limit what God can do in your life and through your life. God plans to do big things through you. Don't miss out like the religious leaders did.

quote the scripture, but not go investigate it and find it and encounter the Lord yourself. No, get to know him, trust him, take great comfort and rest and rely upon him. Just like Bethlehem, just like David, just like Jesus. God uses the insignificant to accomplish his great purposes. You're afflicted. God will restore you. Believe God at his word.

Yes, there's difficulty. Yes, there's suffering. Yes, it looks like there's no end in sight. Yes, it looks like there's no escape and no hope. But you have hope. You just need to look up. Wait and hope in him, in his time. We all wish we could set the time when we're going through affliction. We all wish we could say, I'm only gonna, I can go through this for about a month, but that's about it, Lord. That's six weeks. That's tops. It starts when it starts and it's done when it's done.

Divine salvations must be waited for. Wait and hope in him. He's not done with you. He's not given up on you. He hasn't abandoned you. Keep trusting him. He's doing the work that needs to be done in your heart. And you will be blessed when God is magnified. Magnify him now and you'll get to see a little bit of that blessing. But ultimately,

When he's magnified, when his greatness is known to the ends of the earth, you are going to experience every promise fulfilled, finally, fully, and completely. And it will be greater than you would have ever imagined or thought because you trusted in him. You attached yourself to him. You will be blessed when God is magnified. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word of encouragement this morning, the great hope that you offer to us. And Lord, how we need it.

Because we do get distracted by the things of this life and the things that are happening around us and the circumstances that we're wrestling with. Lord, we esteem ourselves as insignificant. We're so little. Lord, thank you that you've chosen to use the weak and to do great things through those who have no strength. Help us, God, to run to you, to learn the lesson like the Apostle Paul and take pleasure in

as you do those works in our lives, Lord, that we would count it all joy knowing that you are working in us and accomplishing in us the things that make us more like you and the things that bring glory to your name. So help us, Lord, to wait, to trust, to rest, and to look forward to that day when you are fully revealed and glorified and magnified. And I pray, God, that you would show us how we can do that even starting now.

to magnify you in our actions and our words and our attitudes in our day-to-day life lord that you might be known and that we might get to experience those sneak previews those glimpses of your blessings and glory we pray this in jesus name we pray you have been blessed by this bible teaching the power of god to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and bible study resources