Micah ben Moresheth

The book of the prophet Micah is not written in a chronological order, as Isaiah 28:10 says; Scripture is a little here, a little there – rather like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.
Below are all the verses of Micah, in a sequence based on history, the current situation and from other prophets. Chapter and verse numbers given after each quote. Some verses abridged.
THE FALL AND EXILE OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH
Listen all you peoples, give heed, so that the Lord may bear witness among you. 1:2
Woe to all Israel, they sin against Me, therefore I will give the Land to your enemies. 2:1-6
I, Micah declare to the Israelites their crimes, your leaders should know what is right, but they take no care for My people, the Lord will hide His face from them. 3:1-12
Hear what the Lord is saying; You were told what is right, just and good and I blessed you.
Now I shall inflict severe punishments and exile on you. 6:1-16, 7:1-6
Israel has been conquered and now disaster will come to Judah, all of the Land and the Temple will be reduced to ruin. 1:5-16,2:1-11,4:9-10 [the Assyrian and Babylonian conquests]
The Israelites will rule Assyria, the people of Israel will be like lions among sheep. 5:5-9
Although Israel and Judah have fallen, they will rise again, they must bear His anger until He pleads their case and establishes their rights. 7:8-9 From Bethlehem will come Israel’s King, He is from the ancient past. Israel will be abandoned until He is born to them. 5:2-3a
THE PRESENT DAY
Now, withdraw behind your walls, you people who live in a protected place, destruction is coming, the ruler of Israel will be injured. Do not trust any mortal, for your enemies may be anyone, but watch and trust in the Lord, He will save you. 5:1, 7:5-7
Many nations are now massed against Israel, they do not know the Lord’s purpose, for he has gathered them like sheaves on the threshing floor. My people will have supernatural strength and many nations will be crushed. 4:11-13
Even now, the Lord is leaving His dwelling place, He comes down and tramples the earth. In that Day, says the Lord, I shall destroy your cities, your military and all your idols. In My furious anger, I shall bring disaster on all the peoples who disobey Me. 1:3-4, 5:10-15
AFTER THE DAY OF THE LORD’S WRATH AND THE 2nd EXODUS OF THE ISRAELITES
Who is God like You? You forgive the sins of the remnant of Your people, for to be merciful is Your delight. You will be true to Israel and keep Your promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 7:18-20 Let the nations see it and be silenced as they come in fear and trembling from their strongholds. 7:10, 7:16-17 Show us miracles as in the days of Egypt. 7:15
That will be the Day to rebuild and extend your boundaries. A Day when Your people will return to the Land from every place on earth. The rest of the world will be become a waste because of its inhabitants. God, shepherd Your people with Your strong arm, the flock that is Your own. They live apart, in a fertile Land, in Bashan and Gilead as in times past. 7:11-14 I will surely gather you and bring together the remnant of Israel, like sheep into a sheepfold. The One who opens the way will go before them, they will break through the gate, with the Lord at their head. 2:12-13
In that Day, I shall gather those who are lost, assemble the dispersed and those I have afflicted. I shall restore the remnant and turn them into a mighty nation. My Presence will be on Mt Zion and the promises made to you and the Land will be fulfilled. All your Lands will be restored to you.4:6-8
Those of the people who survive will rejoin their brethren. Your leader will rise up and lead you with strength and in the Name of the Lord. You will enjoy security, in his power. 5:3b-4
THE MILLENNIUM REIGN OF JESUS
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s House will be established, higher than other hills. People will come to it, saying: let us go to the Place of Israel’s God, that we may learn the right way to live. The Lord will judge with righteousness and there will be no more war. We will all be loyal to the Lord. 4:1-5 THEN THERE WILL BE PEACE. 5:5

Wait for the Day

Zephaniah 3:8 Wait for Me, says the Lord, wait for the Day when I stand up and accuse mankind. For I shall pour out My wrath upon nations and kingdoms, in My burning anger: the whole earth will be devastated by fire.
Zephaniah 1:14-18 The great Day of the Lord’s vengeance and wrath is near and coming fast. That Day will be a Day of distress and torment, a Day of devastation amid thick darkness. A Day of thunder and destruction against military fortifications and cities. Y’hovah will bring terrible distress upon the people, they won’t know which way to turn as they are punished for their sins against Me. Their blood and guts will be spilled out like filth over the ground. Neither their treasure nor their idols will be able to save them on the sudden and shocking Day of the Lord’s fiery anger. All the Land will be burned and devastated. Ezekiel 20:46-48
Zephaniah 2:1-3 Prepare yourselves, you undesirable nation, be humble before you disappear like chaff, before the burning anger of Y’hovah comes upon you. Seek righteousness; seek humility, all you people in the Land who obey God’s Laws and it may be that you will find shelter on the Day of the Lord’s anger.
Zephaniah 2:4-7 Gaza will be deserted, Ashkelon left in ruins. At midday all the towns of the Mediterranean coast will be cleared of inhabitants, for the Word of God is against you – land of the Philistines. I shall lay you in ruins, no one will survive. The sea coast will become a sheep grazing area belonging to the survivors of Judah, for their God will turn to them and restore their fortunes. Isaiah 14-1, Ezekiel 36:1-37
Zephaniah 2:8-10 I have noted the insults of Moab and the Ammonites, how they have reviled My people and encroached on their frontiers. For this, I swear, they will become like Sodom and Gomorrah, a place of weeds and salt pans. Those of My people who survive will inherit their land. This is retribution for their pride, because they have insulted God’s people and taken over their Land.
Zephaniah 3:11-13 On that Day, Jerusalem, I shall rid you of your proud and arrogant citizens, but I will leave a remnant, a humble people who will trust in Me. The survivors in Israel will be righteous, under My protection. Isaiah 31:5
Zephaniah 3:19-20 When the time comes and I have dealt with your oppressors, then I shall rescue the lost and gather the dispersed and bring you all to your homeland. You will win respect and renown from the other nations when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes, It is I, Y’hovah, who speaks. Ref: REB. Some verses abridged.
My comments:
Wait for the Day; the whole earth burned and devastated. The only known way how this could happen, is by a massive coronal mass ejection, a fire judgement mentioned and described over 100 times in Bible prophecy. It will be the event that ‘comes like a thief’, unexpected and shocking.
You undesirable nation – the Israelite people, that is all 12 tribes. It may be that those who live righteously and humbly will ‘find shelter on the Day of the Lord’s anger.’ 2 Peter 2:9
Philistines and Moab and Ammon – Palestinians and Jordanians. Amos 1:6-8 & 13-14
leave a remnant in Jerusalem, under My protection – Isaiah 4:3, Zechariah 9:14-18
rescue the lost....bring you home – The second Exodus of the Israelites, prophesied over 40 times, to happen soon after this forthcoming, worldwide fire judgement. They will live in the promised Land, under God’s protection and when the Anti Christ comes to Jerusalem, they are taken to a place of safety until the Return of Jesus.

Judgement of Edom

Ezekiel 35:1-5 Look toward all the lands of the Edomites and pronounce judgement upon them. The Lord says: I shall stretch out My hand to strike your land, I will reduce it to a desolate waste and your towns will be ruined. Then you will know that I am the Lord, for you have kept up an ancient feud and shed the blood of the Israelites by warfare, during the time of their punishment.
Ezekiel 35:6-9 Therefore as I live, says the Lord: I shall make blood your destiny, since you do not hate killing and death, that will come upon you. Your land and cities will become desolate wastes forever and no one will travel there. I will cover the hills and valleys with the dead, your towns will not be inhabited.
Ezekiel 35:10-14 You say: the two nations and two countries [The ten tribes of Israel and the two tribes of Judah] will be our possession, even though the Lord has been there. Therefore your anger and jealousy will be repaid, for I will do to the whole of Edom what you have done in your hatred for My people. I shall be known among you - for the way I judge you, you will know that the Lord has punished you. [by the means of a CME sunstrike] I have heard all your blasphemous talk about the Land of Israel, saying: the Land is ours to occupy. You have boasted and spoken against Me without restraint. So now I will destroy you., while the whole world rejoices, As you rejoiced at the inheritance of the House of Israel, when it was desolated, so I will do to you, all your lands will be devastated. Reference: REB, NIV, KJV. Some verse abridged

My comments: Many people believe that the next prophesied event in our world will be the Gog/ Magog invasion. Others say it’s the tribulation – preceded by a rapture of the church. Some think the Return of Jesus will be next. That it will be none of these is told to us in the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, chapters 34, 36, 37, 38 & 39 they all speak about the Israelites being gathered out of the nations and settled back into the Holy Land of Israel. Those chapters are written in a fairly obvious sequence of events. Ezekiel 34:12-13 ‘I will rescue My people from where they were scattered in the Day of cloud and darkness, I will lead them out of the nations and bring them home to their own country’. Amos 5:18, Isaiah 13:9-10
Then comes Ezekiel 35, where it is explained how this gathering and resettlement can take place. The Edomites can be identified as those nations and entities - that hate My people and have kept up their ancient feud with the Israelites, - that currently occupy a large portion of the area promised to the Patriarchs and who now threaten the State of Israel with annihilation. Psalm 83:13-15, describes how the Lord Himself will deal to them, as they commence their attack on Israel. Isaiah 30:26, Psalm 7:12-16, Isaiah 8:9-10, Obadiah 1:15, Micah 4:11-12
Psalm 83:12 informs us that the goal of this alliance is total possession of all the Land of Israel. This is exactly as the Charters of Hamas and Fatah state; they are not interested in a two State solution, all the Jews must either leave or be killed.
In conclusion, this attack by the peoples surrounding Israel will result in their destruction, but the Bible prophecies also say that Judah too, will be judged at this time and ‘only a holy remnant will survive’. The Land is not polluted by radiation and as the CME quickly passes, the vegetation soon regenerates.[Psalm 68:9] Ezekiel 36:8 You, Land of Israel, grow your trees and bear fruit, for the homecoming of My people is near. This opens the way for all the twelve tribes of Israel to return to their heritage. Later will come the invasion by Gog/Magog – a different list of peoples and nations. They attack the Israelites ‘gathered from the nations and living in a land recently recovered from ruin’. Ezekiel 38:8 Their total destruction is ‘to show Myself Holy and make Myself known to many peoples’. Ezekiel 38:23 The rest of the prophecies will then unfold – the rise of the Anti Christ, the Tribulation and then, the culmination of the age: the Return of Jesus for His 1000 year reign.

What will YOU do at the time of the end?

Jeremiah 5:1-2 Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note, search for anyone who acts justly or one who seeks the truth – that I might forgive that city. People may swear by the Lord, but in fact they perjure themselves.
[Is it possible to find anyone there today, acting in real truth and justice?]
Jeremiah 5:3 Y’hovah; You look for righteousness. You have punished Your people, but they took no heed and refused to learn. They hardened their hearts and would not repent of their sins.
[Israel and Judah, punished by their exiles, but they still don’t truly repent.]
Jeremiah 5:4-5 The Lord thought; these are only the common people, those that don’t know the Laws of their God. I will go to their leaders and teachers, they should know the right ways. But, they too, have gone away from the right path and no longer keep the Laws or trust Y’hovah.
[Our leaders are often not good Christian examples and many false doctrines abound.]
Jeremiah 5:6-9 So they will be struck down by disaster, for their rebellious deeds and apostasies are beyond counting. Why should I forgive them for this? Your children have forsaken Me, with idols and adulteries. Shall I fail to punish them for this? I will exact vengeance on these people.
Jeremiah 5:10-13 Prune the vine, lop off the branches, for they are not the Lord’s. Faithless are Israel and Judah, both faithless to Me, they both deny their God, saying: He does not see or care – no harm will come to us, we won’t see war or want. The prophets just spoke empty words, meaningless wind. Therefore, because they talk this way, I shall make My words a fire in your mouth and it will burn up these people like brushwood.
[Apostate, atheistic Judah, the Jewish people, and Israel, the Christian peoples, are still similar to their ancestors. The clear prophetic warnings were ignored then and are ignored now. The ‘burning’ did not happen then, still future.]
Jeremiah 5:14-19. I am bringing against you a distant nation, of mighty warriors, they will conquer you and destroy cities. But in those days, I shall not make an end of you. When you ask; Why has Y’hovah done this to us? You will say; it was because we forsook our God, so we must serve foreigners and live in another land
[At that time Assyria conquered Israel then Babylon; Judah. Now their decreed exile and punishment is nearing completion.]
Jeremiah 5:20-25 Proclaim this to the people of Israel and Judah – Listen you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see nothing, ears and hear nothing. Do you not fear your Maker and tremble before Me? But My people have a defiant and rebellious heart. They have rebelled and gone their own way. They did not acknowledge how Y’hovah gives the rain and their prosperity. Their wrong doing has upset natures order and their sins have kept away her bounty.
Jeremiah 5:26-31 For among My people there are scoundrels, who lay traps and prey upon others, They grow rich and fat, by turning a blind eye to wickedness. Shall I fail to punish them for this? There is an appalling outrage in this Land. Prophets prophesy lies, the Rabbis and priests rule by their own authority – that is the way the people like it. What will ye do in the end thereof? Isa 51:1-30
Reference; REB, NIV, KJV. Some verses abridged.

The Elephant in the Room

People today are mostly in denial of what the future may hold for them. Worldwide natural disasters and manmade problems seem to be proliferating with no easing up or solutions in sight. It may just be possible for mankind to overcome its economic woes, resource shortages and rebuild earthquake damage, etc, but a prospective World War 3, starting in the Middle East, has the potential to practically wipe us out and pollute large areas of the earth.
A lot of people do not want to be concerned about the future, it’s hard enough just to get by without any extra worry and it is right that we must carry on doing what we have to for survival. Those whom God has called for a specific task must continue to do it and we all need to plan and provide for the future as though things will continue as usual. It is a mistake to sell up and withdraw to a hideout, as many failed doomsday proponents have shown.
However, ‘You, My friends are not in the dark’ about end times events. ‘It is ‘While they are saying: All is peaceful – sudden destruction will come upon them’. 1 Thess. 5:3-4 ‘My friends’- those who love the Lord and keep His commandments. Luke 21:34-36
‘they’- godless people, who don’t know that God Himself will act against them.
The Bible [and the Apocrypha] have a very large amount of unfulfilled prophecy, that is not there for no reason; God expects us to take note of what He has told us through His prophets. Because so many incorrect ideas and notions about what God has planned abound in the church and in the secular world, it is difficult for us to overcome them and just simply believe the literal words of the prophets. Excepting for the obvious allegories, which are used to describe events and scenes unknown in their time.
As this year of 2012, is the last year of the decreed exile of the House of Israel, [the Northern 10 tribes] soon the many promises of the redemption and restoration for all the 12 tribes can take place. With the current world situation as it is, then we must expect some dramatic events to occur to enable that to happen. The Lord had told us, through the ancient prophets, what this will be – in over 100 prophecies, of the great and terrible day of the Lord’s vengeance and wrath, a judgement of fire that destroys His enemies. We are clearly informed of the nature and extent of this event, it will be a gigantic fireball emitted from the sun – a coronal mass ejection of superheated particles that will envelope the earth and cause all the graphically prophesied disasters. But there will be plenty of survivors, just a matter of staying under shelter until the CME passes.
That 2012 is a significant year, is reinforced by many secular and false religion predictions. The Mayan calendar ending on the 21st Dec. 2012, is perhaps the best known. Demonic entities can perform certain signs and wonders and I guess they know what the Bible says, therefore they may have informed mankind for their own reasons. The so called prophecy gurus, like La Haye and Hagee don’t have the truth and while their motivation is money and adulation, God will not enlighten them. So, people are now without any real idea of how and when this huge threat will impact their existence.
The fulfilment of the Lord’s day of vengeance and wrath is ‘the Elephant in the Room’, the event that ‘comes like a thief’, but we who ‘are His friends’ can and should know of what the Lord has planned for His creation.

Living once again in the Land of Israel.

Ezekiel 11:17-20 I shall gather them [the House of Israel] from among the nations and give the Land of Israel to them. I will give them a new spirit so that they will conform to My statutes and keep My Laws. They will be My people and I will be their God.
This prophecy, along with other similar ones, tells specifically how the ten tribes of Israel, will be gathered and settled back into their ancient Land. Although some of the House of Judah has returned to a portion of the Promised Land, they have not fulfilled God’s plans for His people. That is; to be a light to the nations, His people in the world, preaching the coming Kingdom of Jesus. The Jewish people are not destined to build the third Temple, that awaits the return of all the Israelites. Zechariah 6:15
Many prophecies speak of the final judgement of Judah [Ezekiel 21:14...swing the sword of slaughter three times... First: Babylon, second: Rome, third still to come. This is the result of Matthew 27:25 and the fulfilment of Luke 19:27, Jeremiah 17:1-4
Matthew 21:40-43 The Owner of the vineyard will come and deal with the bad tenants, He will bring those criminals to justice. Jesus quoted: The stone that the builders [the Jews] rejected, has become the main corner stone. [Jesus] Therefore, I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you [Judah] and given to a nation [righteous Israel] that bears the proper fruit. Amos 2:4-5, Jer. 13:19, Isaiah 3:8-9, Zeph. 1:4-6, Psalm 118:22-24

We who have been brought up on New Testament precepts of “love your neighbour” and peace and goodwill toward all, have some difficulty with verses such as;
Nahum 1:1 The Lord is a God of vengeance, He will punish His enemies.
Deuteronomy 32:41-43 When I set My hand to judgement, My sword will devour flesh, I will punish all those who hate Me and will cleanse My peoples land.
Luke 3:16-17 ..He will baptize with the Holy spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork in His hand, He will gather the good grain into the store, but the chaff will burn forever. Isaiah 33:10-12
The Lord is the potter, it is His creation, His aim is to have a people who freely choose to love and serve Him. Isaiah 29:16, Romans 9:22-23

Over seventy prophecies tell of a forthcoming judgement of fire, the only literal explanation for Isaiah 30:26, Isaiah 13:13, Malachi 4:1, is a coronal mass ejection – a sunstrike that will particularly affect the Middle East. It will be a seemingly natural event that maintains His hiddenness to the world, but it clears and cleanses all of that area promised to Abraham and His people will know that it is the Lord who helps and guides them. Ezekiel 34:27-30, Isaiah 49:8-12
The prophecy in Isaiah 66:7-9...can a country be born in a single day? will literally come true for the House of Israel, it took Judah 50 years to form the state of Israel. Zech 3:9, Zech 9:16
Zechariah 10:7-12 The Ephraimites, [the leaders of the 10 tribes. Genesis 48:19] will be as warriors rejoicing in their God. I will whistle to call them in, for I will deliver them from among the nations where I dispersed them. they will return to their own Land, as many people as there was before. Those godless peoples will be brought low, but Israel’s strength will be in their God, they will march proudly in His name. Ref: REB, verses abridged
As we see in Ezekiel 11:17 and Jeremiah 12:14, Amos 9:14-15, it is only the House of Israel, the Northern ten tribes, who will enter the new country of Beulah [Isaiah 62:4] after this terrible worldwide judgement of fire. They will join up with the Jewish remnant that will survive in Jerusalem. Zechariah 13:8-9, Isaiah 4:3 Those Israelites will receive the great blessings as promised to the Lord’s people and will live in the land in peace and security until the time of the Anti Christ. For 3½ years, they will go and live in a place of safety, referred to as Bozrah; the sheepfold, then to go back at the Return of Jesus for His Millennial reign.

Lifting the veil

How is it that so many people who study Bible prophecy cannot see the forthcoming fire judgement? It must be attributed to Scriptures that say it will only be possible to know God’s plans just prior to the end time events. 1 So many are sticking to incorrect ideas, such as a pre Tribulation ‘rapture’ and a nuclear war and they misplace or ignore prophetic verses. 2
Over one hundred scriptures tell of a terrible Day of fire and earthquakes, that will affect all of the world – vivid details of a tremendous destruction that cannot be matched with the war of Gog and Magog or the Return of Jesus.3 Prophesy tells plainly how the Middle East countries and cities will be destroyed, 4 and that God will turn the weapons of those commencing to attack the State of Israel upon their own heads. 5
The nature and extent of this fire judgement rules out any man made explanation. It is clearly stated that the Lord Himself will instigate His Day of vengeance and wrath upon all the inhabitants of the earth. 6 The verses in Isaiah 30:26...the sun will shine with seven times its normal strength... and Malachi 4:1 The Day comes, burning like a furnace, are the ones that tell us exactly what means the Lord will use to carry it out. There has, in the past been sunspot activity that has seriously affected the earth, but a really large coronal mass ejection will cause all the prophesied devastation and deaths worldwide. 7 This terrifying and shocking disaster of a fireball that envelopes the earth, will hit suddenly and unexpectedly, killing anyone caught outside.8 Millions will die from the initial strike and millions more from the fighting and famine afterwards. 9
To re-establish law and order, a One World government will be agreed to, with the world divided into ten regions, each headed by its own president.10 In Israel, the Jewish remnant who survive by hiding underground, 11 will be joined by their kinsmen from the Northern ten tribes of Israel. 12 God knows who they are and He will motivate them to emigrate to the new country of Beulah, all of that area promised to the Patriarchs. 13 They will experience the great blessings that God has promised to His righteous people and will fulfil their destiny. 14
In a few years, a world dictator will come to power and will eventually take control of Beulah and he will desecrate the new Temple. This starts the Great Tribulation, then 3½ years later Jesus returns to commence His Millennium reign. 15

Just when do we get to truly understand the prophetic Scriptures? It cannot be that God will say to us after the end times have all happened, “Ha Ha, you dummies, for all your philosophy, sciences and religious studies, you couldn’t figure out what I gave you in your Bible.” No, God will lift the veil from the minds of the few who earnestly seek the truth, those who put aside preconceived notions and renounce erroneous teachings. 16 1 Thessalonians 5:4 You, friends, are not in the dark... The Lord will enlighten us if we search the Word, in humility and with the right motives. Bruce McKerras January 2012
(1) Isaiah 32:3, Isaiah 35:5, Amos 3:7, Daniel 12:9-10, Revelation 1:1 (2) Isaiah 8:16-22, Isaiah 29:11-14, 2 Timothy 4:3 (3) Jeremiah 25:30-31, Zechariah 2:13, Psalm 11:6, Psalm 18:13, Isaiah 13:6-13, Matthew 3:12 (4) Psalm 83:13-18, Amos 1:2-15, Micah 4:11-12, Zephaniah 2:1-7, Ezekiel 30:1-8 (5) Psalm 7:12-16, Obadiah 15, Isaiah 8:9-10 (6) Isaiah 30:26-28, Isaiah 22:5, Zephaniah 3:8, Jeremiah 4:23-28, Rev.6:12-17 (7) Deuteronomy 32:40-43, Isaiah 51:6, Jeremiah 9:21-22, Isaiah 13:12 (8) Zephaniah 2:1-3, Jeremiah 17:15-18, Isaiah 26:20-21, Ecclesiastes 8:5, Jeremiah 6:25-26 (9) Psalm 109:24, Jeremiah 12:12-13 (10) Daniel 7:24, Revelation 13:1 (11) Zechariah 13:8-9, Isaiah 4:3, Isaiah 29:1-4 (12) Ezekiel 37:15-28, Isaiah 62:4, Zechariah 2:6, Ezekiel 20:34-36, Psalm 50:5 (13) Jeremiah 3:22, Jeremiah 31:8-9
Isaiah 60:4, Isaiah 40:27-31, Amos 9:8b-15 (14) Ezekiel 36:8-10, Isaiah 49:8-11, Joel 2:23-27, Deuteronomy 30:1-5, Jeremiah 30:18 (15) Psalm 47:8-9, Psalm 93:1-5, Isaiah 11:6-10, Rev.20:4
(16) Isaiah 30:18, Psalm 27:11-13, Isaiah 29:24, Hosea 12:10, Isaiah 35:3-5, 2 Timothy 4:3-4