A Lament over Judah
[Read Micah 1:8-16]
As we seek to live the Christian life faithfully in the world, it’s really important to understand our own tendencies—either good or bad tendencies. We are all wired a little differently and naturally do some things and naturally neglect other things. This is also true about our feelings. Each of us naturally feels certain things in certain situations—but we don’t all feel the same thing in the same situation. Sometimes our natural feelings are good. Sometimes our natural feelings are bad. Sometimes our natural feelings are imbalanced—which is also bad. It’s important to notice these things about ourselves because it helps prevent us from living in some of the tensions that are required when living out the Christian life.
Let me give a fairly innocent example of this. How do you feel when someone holds a newborn baby in front of you? I know that some of you will immediately melt and begin adoring the baby with every fiber of your being. That’s your natural reaction. I can also guarantee you that there are some here who are completely immoved emotionally by the newborn baby—they feel nothing different. Different natural feelings to the very same thing (I’ll let you argue if one of them is wrong).
What about a more significant example: our emotional response to the sin of other people. What’s your natural response when you see other people living in sin? Some people immediately get angry and frustrated. Some people immediately work on downplaying the sin and cover it up, pretending like it’s no big deal—desiring to show grace and mercy. Some people have a feeling of disgust in the pit of their stomach. Some people begin to mourn and grieve the destruction in the life of that person. Which one of these are you? Which one of these do you naturally feel when you see someone living in sin? I realize it probably changes based on your relationship to the person—whether it’s a family member or a complete stranger—but what is your natural feeling in these situations?
I actually think each of those emotional responses can be an appropriate, biblical response to sin. We are told to show grace and mercy to those who are in sin. We are also told to hate sin. It is also normal for us to be sickened by something that is contrary to God’s desire and will. It is also good for us to grieve and mourn the destruction that is happening. Each of these responses can be appropriate responses to sin. However, if we find ourselves ONLY responding one way, all of the time, that is not an appropriate way to respond. In all reality, the best way to respond to sin is to try and hold all of these things in tension at the same time. Today’s passage is going to show us a way of responding to sin that is probably too uncommon today.
As we dive into the passage, it’s important to notice one detail that could easily be missed. Micah says this, “For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.” (Micah 1:9, ESV). This is in the context of last week’s sermon, where we were told about the willful rebellion and destruction of Samaria. As we transition into this week’s passage, Micah says that this has come to Judah. The sin and transgression of Samaria didn’t stay in Samaria, it spread into Judah. One commentator says, “Like a spreading pestilence, ‘it is come unto Judah, [and] hath reached unto the gate of My people, even to Jerusalem’. The whole body was affected…” (Ironside, 222). To say the same thing with a different biblical image, see what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians: “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6, ESV).
Here’s the point that I want to make sure we understand at the beginning of this sermon. Sin never stays put. Sin always moves and it always grows. It always spreads like a disease or like leaven through a batch of dough. It’s not inert. The reason it’s so important to make this point is because we are often tempted to think that it’s fine if we allow a little bit of sin to hang around in our life. We think it’s fine if we’re doing really good in the majority of our life…except this one, little area. That’s wrong. It will never stay in that one little area. It will always grow and spread into other areas of your life. And, as we see in these passages, sin will even spread beyond your life into the rest of the church, into the rest of the community. It’s pretty crazy and intense. Sin is never something that we should “allow a little bit” in our lives. It’s always something to be removed when noticed or recognized. It needs to be killed. And because it hasn’t been killed or removed in Judah, Micah says that “…her wound is incurable..” (Micah 1:9, ESV).
So, how does Micah respond to this incurable wound—this spreading of sin throughout Samaria and Judah? We read, “For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches.” (Micah 1:8, ESV). He grieves and mourns for his people. The image isn’t just that he feels a little sad about this, rather, he almost loses all control. He says that he wails. His lament sounds like the howl of a jackal. This translation talks about the ostrich, but we’re actually not sure what bird they are referring to. The ostrich screeches. Others think this is talking about an owl—the haunting sound of an owl in the darkness.
James Montgomery Boice reminds us that Micah is just a country boy who grew up in a small town in the middle of nowhere. As we dive further into the specific cities mentioned in this passage, guess where those cities are located? They are located all around Micah’s hometown of Moresheth-Gath. Boice makes the point that these are Micah’s people. He knows them. He grew up with them. So, he grieves and mourns at the thought of these cities coming under the same judgment of Samaria.
I just want to take a step back and remind us of the importance of what Micah is doing in this passage. I think it is especially relevant for us today to be reminded of the importance of weeping and feeling grief over sin and judgment. I do not see this as something that happens too often in our current cultural situation. Rather, because of media in general—and I’m talking about all forms of media—we are almost programmed to be very angry about everything. If you can get people angry, you can get the views you need. So, everyone is trying to get everyone angry about all of the bad things happening in all of these different places. What I don’t see is people regularly mourning and grieving and crying out to God because of the destructiveness of sin in people’s lives. Much more often I see people who have more of an attitude that says, “Well, they got what was coming to them” kind of attitude. To be honest, that IS true—the wages of sin is death. However, we can hold onto both of these at the same time. We can recognize that the wages of sin is death and destruction and judgment, while also weeping and mourning and grieving the fact that these people are experiencing that judgment. We need to learn how to hold both of these things in tension at the same time.
It’s also important to recognize that Micah does something unusual here in his mourning. We read, “I will go stripped and naked…” (Micah 1:8, ESV). Not only is that unusual, but in particular this was not a usual practice for people who were mourning. It was typical for people in mourning to weep and wail and lament. But not to walk around naked. So, what’s going on here? He’s hinting at something that is to come. He’s symbolizing what is about to happen to Judah. It was much more normal for people to be stripped naked when they were hauled off into exile. That’s what he’s pointing out to God’s people here. Not only is he mourning the fact that they have allowed sin to infect them with an incurable wound, but he is also mourning the fact that because of that they will be hauled out of their land into exile.
After making that point, he then goes through all of these towns in the countryside throughout Judah. In many ways there is no rhyme or reason to it. It’s almost as if he is simply thinking through all of the little towns in the area and the tragedy that is about to befall them as he grieves and mourns.
What’s really interesting is that as he speaks about these towns, he actually begins with a town outside of Judah—the pagan town of Gath. He says, “Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all…” (Micah 1:10, ESV). On a basic level, he is saying that he does not want the Philistines—their enemies—to know how far they have fallen and about the judgment that is about to come upon them. It’s somewhat like one of the repeated refrains in the Psalms where the enemies are told not to rejoice over their sorrow. It’s along those lines.
Yet, it is also a direct quote from David’s mouth. Remember how David’s life was prior to being king. Saul had failed as a king and David was anointed to be the king after Saul. He spent years being chased as Saul tried to kill him, but David refused to kill Saul because he was the Lord’s anointed. Then, Saul and Jonathan die in battle. When David finds out he begins to mourn and lament their death—yes, even the death of the man who continually tried to kill him. In the midst of this, David wrote a lament that should be taught to God’s people. In that lament we read, “Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.” (2 Samuel 1:20, ESV). See the connections here? Do you also see how David was able to hate sin and wickedness on the one hand, but still grieve and mourn the judgment that came as a result of sin and wickedness? Now, as judgment comes upon Judah—the descendants of David—Micah uses this same phrase to begin his lament of the judgment to come upon them.
From there, he goes through each of the small towns in Judah. I wish I had more time to work through each of these cities to help you understand what he is saying. As is typical, each of these city's names has a meaning behind it. So, Micah takes the opportunity to make a pun of the city names to show how they would respond to the coming exile. Dust Town will roll in the dust. Beauty Town will walk around naked. Going-Out Town will not be able to go out. Take-Away Town will have everything taken away. Bitter Town will experience a bitter end. Bride Town will lose their brides to the enemy. Deception Town will be deceived. Possession Town will be taken into possession.
There are two towns that are not used as a pun—Adullam and Lachish. I don’t know why exactly. Maybe Micah had difficulty coming up with a pun for these cities—I couldn’t come up with a good one for Beaver Dam. Interestingly, he points back to David by mentioning Adullam. If you remember, Adullam was the place where David hid while running from Saul. It was also the place where all of the outcasts of the kingdom ran to and joined David in the wilderness. Micah says, “…the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.” (Micah 1:15, ESV). What he means by that is that all of the big-wigs, all of the people who thought they had the power and authority in Jerusalem, will have to flee and run to Adullam as the rag-tag outcasts they really are.
Lachish is interesting. Understanding what Micah is saying about Lachish helps us to understand what Micah is saying about all of the other towns. Lachish was known for being a strategic military city and stronghold. Most likely, it was also known for being a military powerhouse of a city. To them, Micah says, “Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish…” (Micah 1:13, ESV). The word “steeds” is important because it’s not the word that is typically used for war horses. It’s the word that is typically used for race horses. So, Micah is telling this city that is known for its military strength and power that they better harness their race horses to the chariots so that they can retreat and get out of town as fast as possible.
I’ll explain what is going on in just a second, but I want to take a moment to show you that all of this took place exactly as Micah said it would. Sennacherib was the king of Assyria. Here’s what he said about coming into Judah: "Forty-six of Hezekiah's strong-walled towns and innumerable smaller villages in their neighborhood I besieged and conquered." So, many more than the ten small cities that Micah mentions, but he does point out that he worked his way through a number of smaller villages in the country and conquered them. As he did this, guess where he eventually set up his military headquarters? Lachish—remember it as a military strategic location. Sennacherib’s conquering of Lachish was significant enough that he decorated his palace at Nineveh with pictures of the event with this inscription, "Sennacherib King of the Universe, King of Assyria, sits on a throne and the spoils of Lachish are paraded before him." [See Photos].
What’s the point of all of these puns and descriptions of each of these cities? It’s clear with Lachish that they had put their hope and trust in their military strength and it would fail them completely. I think it’s very similar for the other towns as well. Beauty Town put their hope and trust in its/their beauty and it failed them. Possession Town put their hope and trust in the possessions and it failed them. Deception Town used deception to try to get ahead in life and it failed them. Again, this isn’t simply talking about the destruction of a bunch of cities, but the destruction of idols—the destruction of false things in which the people trusted. All of these things let them down in the end, and were completely destroyed and laid bare.
After this stark picture being pronounced over the cities, Micah turns to them and says, “Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.” (Micah 1:16, ESV). First, in this passage Micah no longer hints at, or provides imagery of, exile. He says it flat out. They are going into exile. So, he calls them to do what he did at the beginning. He calls them to begin lamenting and grieving and mourning the judgment that is about to come upon the nation. He’s not asking them to do anything different than what he has already done. In fact, he has led the way by lamenting and mourning the destruction himself. Now, he’s calling them to do the same thing.
But again, I think it’s important to remember something I’ve repeatedly mentioned in Micah already. I want us to remember the goal of this grief and lament when it comes to sin in our own life. This is not simply about recognizing the sin and failure in our life, being overwhelmed with guilt and despair, curling up into a ball and weeping and wailing about it. The goal is always repentance. Micah is not telling them to pretend like they are grieving these things. He’s also not telling them to pretend like they are sorry for their sins. He’s telling them to actually lament and to actually feel the guilt of their sin and to actually repent of those sins. That’s the goal. As has been seen repeatedly throughout the history of God’s people, if they repent God will return to them and relent because “…the God of justice is also the God of faithfulness to his covenant promises and of mercy to his people.” (Waltke, 89).
I also think it’s important to remember that repentance is a blessing from God. For some reason, repentance has become a dirty word for some people—people don’t like to be told to turn from their sin. Yet, when Jesus and John the Baptist preached the Good News, they preached “Repent and Believe.” Also, notice how the Heidelberg Catechism describes the beautiful result of repentance. It begins by saying, “What is involved in genuine repentance or conversion? Two things: the dying-away of the old self, and the rising-to-life of the new.” (Q.88). Here’s how it describes the rising to new life: “What is the rising-to-life of the new self? Wholehearted joy in God through Christ...” (Q.90). Repentance is a blessing because it leads to wholehearted joy in God through Christ.
That’s what Micah is calling for Judah to experience. If they continue to put their hope and trust in all the wrong places—in all the things that will eventually let them down, in things that will eventually be destroyed—they will eventually be destroyed themself. That sin will continue to spread until it is throughout their entire body and country and they are completely destroyed. Yet, if they see wickedness of their ways, feel the weight and the grief of their sin, and repent and turn back to God, they can begin to experience true life and wholehearted joy in God through Christ.
It’s the same message that he gives to each one of us this morning too. If God has revealed some sin in your life—if He is convicting you of something right now, or has been for a while—do not wait. Do not think that it will be an easy thing for you to turn away from eventually. It will continue to spread through your life and destroy you. Instead, repent of your sin and turn to Christ for forgiveness. Why wait? To remain in sin is to continue on a path toward death and destruction, but to repent is to begin the journey to wholehearted joy in God through Jesus Christ. Repent and believe.