Birth Pains of Messiah

[Read Micah 4:9–5:6]

One of the most common objections I hear against Christianity goes along these lines, “I can’t believe in a God who would allow so much evil and suffering in the world.” It’s so common because it’s so personal. In reality, most of the people who are saying this aren’t saying this in some vague, general sense. It’s much more like they’re saying, “I can’t believe in a God who would allow so much evil and suffering to happen to me, or the people I love.” Most often, they’ve experienced something very difficult and tragic that they can’t explain and can’t make sense of, and can’t understand how a loving God could allow. So, they turn their back and walk away from God. 

The reality is, we’ve all experienced something difficult and tragic enough to cause us to ask, “God, what in the world? I don’t understand this. I don’t understand why you would allow this. I don’t understand how you could possibly use this for my good and your glory!” We’ve either lost someone we loved tragically and unexpectedly. We’ve found ourself suffering and in pain for way longer than we would have ever imagined. We lost a job and couldn’t figure out how in the world we were going to pay the bills—or something broke and we had no idea how we could afford the fix. I could go on and on and on. The question is: What do you do in those moments?

Micah is talking about a moment like this in our passage this morning. All of the pain and suffering he’s talking about in this passage are very real to the people. They are experiencing it right now. That’s actually repeated throughout the passage: “Now…Now…Now…” (Micah 4:9, 11, 5:1, ESV). Each of these “nows” are pointing to the present suffering of God’s people in that moment. And it’s not just a little suffering. This is really intense suffering. Notice how he describes it: “Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor…” (Micah 4:10, ESV). God’s people are experiencing pain to the point that they are writhing and groaning in pain.

Have you ever writhed in pain before? I had a short period of time when I worked on a construction crew framing houses. I had a really rough first two weeks. I’m not typically a clumsy guy, but I was getting hurt every other day in a fairly dramatic way. One point, we were behind schedule and had to get the basement finished quickly. So, we were framing walls and putting them up in a hurry. At one point, as I was nailing studs to the top plate, my nail gun missed the board, just enough that the nail fired, missed the board, and shot directly into the side of my foot. It went in all the way—three and a half inches deep—and was flush with my boot. That wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was when the doctor pulled that three and a half inches of nail out of my foot. I writhed in pain as it was pulled out—and it didn’t come out quickly, it was a long, slow process. 

That’s the image we’re given of God’s people in this situation. They are in such pain that they are grabbing the sides of the hospital bed, groaning and screaming because it hurts so bad. That kind of pain. 

We’re given a glimpse into what’s happening. The first part shouldn’t surprise us—their leaders are causing them pain. And Micah actually mocks them for this he says, “Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pain seized you like a woman in labor?” (Micah 4:9, ESV). In a sense, he’s pointing to the fact that they had been excited about these kings and leaders. Most likely, they had put too much hope and trust in these leaders. But like I mentioned last week. These leaders had let them down in a massive way. So, Micah says, “Where are these leaders now? They’re gone and have failed you. They didn’t bring the peace and prosperity you thought they would bring. Instead, they have failed to the point that you are sitting here writhing and crying out in pain. 

Along with this, the people are in pain because their city is under siege. We read, “Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.” (Micah 5:1, ESV). A city under siege is a truly gruesome thing. All you have to do is turn to the book of Lamentations to see how brutal it can get, how desperate people can get when they begin to run out of food. It’s nasty. You can see why the people are writhing and groaning in such pain. It also says that the king—called the judge in this passage—is mocked by the enemies for his failure. The image is of the king—the one they hoped to save them—being beaten by a rod by the enemy. Things are not good. 

On top of that, the entire situation seems hopeless. He says, “Now many nations are assembled against you…” (Micah 4:11, ESV). It’s not just one nation—maybe they would have a chance, then. It’s many nations all assembled against them. It seems hopeless. How can this tiny nation, in this tiny city, withstand the attack of many powerful nations against them? It seemed hopeless.

What’s powerful is that these enemies don’t just want to destroy the city. We read, “Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”” (Micah 4:11, ESV). They want to mock and defile the city. They want to strip it naked and look on its shame. They want the city to look as pathetic as possible. They want the people to be ashamed of the city—and more importantly, they want the people to be ashamed of their God. They want the people of Jerusalem to say, “We can’t believe in a God who would allow this evil and wickedness to happen.” 

Yet, in the midst of all of that pain and suffering, there’s a glimpse of hope. Micah uses the terminology of birth pains for a reason. Not only are birth pains used to express tremendous pain, but they are also used as an image for pain that is productive—pain that has an ultimate purpose. It’s one of those images that comes up throughout the bible. The Apostle Paul says, “The whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” (Romans 8:22, ESV). When Jesus is asked about the destruction of the temple and talks about wars and rumors of wars he says, “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Matthew 24:8, ESV). And if you remember, we talked about this in the middle of the Gospel of John where Jesus said, “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.” (John 16:21, ESV). This is talking about pain and suffering that are extremely intense, but are working toward a joy that causes us to forget all of the pain and sorrow that brought the joy about. 

Micah is telling God’s people this is what is happening to them right now, in the midst of their pain and suffering. It’s not worthless. It’s not pointless. It’s producing something. It’s leading to something that will bring so much joy that they will forget the pain completely. Really, Micah is doing what the book of Revelation does—and I’m not talking about speaking about the future. The book of Revelation is primarily about REVEALING what is happening right now that God’s people can’t see. It’s pulling back the curtain on what is happening right now, so that God’s people can see clearly what is happening behind the scenes. That’s what Micah is doing here. 

Look at this. Remember that God’s people are looking out at a hopeless situation. They are surrounded by many nations. There’s nothing they can do. They’re stuck. It’s hopeless. Yet, in the midst of that hopeless situation, Micah pulls back the curtain and says, “But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.” (Micah 4:12, ESV). Isn’t that powerful? God’s people think these nations have been gathered to destroy them. These nations think they have gathered themselves to destroy God’s people. Yet, Micah says, Nope. Nobody knows what God’s plan is. God has actually gathered these nations, but he hasn’t gathered them to destroy, but he’s gathered them to be destroyed—to be threshed like wheat. 

God actually tells his people, “Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; and shall devote their gain to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.” (Micah 4:13, ESV). This is God’s way of saying that without Him, this situation would be hopeless for God’s people. Yet, He will strengthen them, he will give them what they need, and in his power and his might, they will be able to defeat their enemy. And because they defeat their enemy in his power and might, they need to honor and glorify and praise God for what he has done. 

This is one of those moments that remind us of an essential truth, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8–9, ESV). This is one of those passages we need to meditate on daily for most of our lives. It’s a constant reminder that we’re not as smart as we think we are. We don’t have things figured out as clearly as we think we do. It doesn’t matter if we have analyzed the situation to death and have determined that it’s hopeless. God’s ways are not our ways. They are much higher.

He goes on to talk about another deliverance for God’s people, not just a deliverance from the siege, but one coming down the road—one that doesn’t make sense to God’s people. He says, “Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you shall go out from the city and dwell in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued; there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.” (Micah 4:10, ESV). 

Before I dive into this, I want to point out that this is actually a really crazy prophecy, because Micah says this when Assyria is the world power—not Babylon. This is like a hundred years before Babylon hauls God’s people off into exile. So, this is real, true, prophecy from God. 

With that said, this doesn’t sound like rescue and redemption does it? You will have to live in the open country—on the hillsides. You will be removed from your people and taken into a foreign country. Doesn’t sound like deliverance. Notice the particular way Micah words this. He says, “THERE you shall be rescued; THERE the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.” (Micah 4:10, ESV). This is in contrast to the false prophets. Remember, they have been saying, “It’s fine. Don’t worry. God loves us. God will protect us. God will rescue and redeem us.” Micah is saying: Yeah, God’s going to do that, but he’s going to do that THERE—in Babylon, after you’ve been hauled away from your people and your land. Don’t forget, God’s ways are not our ways. God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. 

They don’t know how long this is going to be, but they’re given a clue—kinda. They’re told this: “Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth…” (Micah 5:3, ESV). There’s a sense that God’s people will be “given up” until the labor pains finally give birth. Of course, they’re not given up fully, right? God delivered them from the siege. God delivered them from Babylon. Yet, there’s a sense in which the people knew they needed something more—a deeper, stronger, lasting deliverance. So, they waited for this birth. 

Of course, we know who this is talking about, don’t we? This is one of the most famous, well-known prophecies in the Bible about Jesus. We read, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (Micah 5:2, ESV). This is the passage that was quoted to King Herod when he asked where the Messiah was to be born. They knew. They were waiting for this Messiah to be born, the one who would signal the end of God’s people being “given up”. 

Imagine how this would have sounded to the people who originally heard this. Remember, Jerusalem was feeling tiny and weak in the midst of their enemies. And they’re told that the one who would eventually save them—the Messiah, the true ruler of Israel—was going to come from the puniest tribe—a tribe so small that it wasn’t hardly considered a tribe. That’s where the Messiah is going to be born—just like King David (who himself was considered puny at first). One of my favorite aspects of scripture—and one of my favorite lines—is that God loves to use the overlooked and the underestimated for his glory. He’s going to do that with the little town of Bethlehem. 

And notice how the Messiah is described in that verse. I want you to notice this line: “…whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (Micah 5:2, ESV). His coming is from ancient days. That means he will be born in history at some point in the future, but his origin goes back much farther. You could say that his origin goes back into eternity, it’s that ancient. This Messiah—Jesus Christ—is God who has always existed. When he was born in a manger in Bethlehem, he didn’t come into existence, but he took on flesh (as the creeds say). That’s really important. 

We’re told that when he comes “And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace.” (Micah 5:4–5, ESV). I won’t spend much time here, because this was basically last week’s sermon, but I want to make sure you see how it all fits together. I want you to see how clear this picture is of the Messiah and how consistent it is throughout various prophecies. When the Messiah comes, he will shepherd his people in God’s strength; He will have all authority in heaven and on earth; and not only will He bring peace, but he will BE their peace.  

And part of that peace is the result of the victory he brings. Now, as I studied this passage this week, I understood why the disciples misunderstood the Messiah. Listen to this: “When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men; they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances; and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes into our land and treads within our border.” (Micah 5:5–6, ESV). Reading that, I can completely understand how they thought that the Messiah was coming to bring a military victory. He was coming to conquer their enemies and tread down their foes. He will come to bring ultimate deliverance from their enemies—like Rome. 

Yet, Jesus told them that they had misunderstood. Their biggest enemies weren't actually the Assyrians, or the Babylonians, or the Romans. Their biggest enemies were their own sin and Satan. If those two enemies weren’t taken care of, it didn’t actually matter if the other enemies were defeated. If they wanted to experience a true peace and a true victory, the Messiah would need to conquer sin and death and Satan.

Guess how the Messiah did that? Jesus was surrounded by enemies. It seemed like the situation was hopeless. How could he defeat such powerful people? He was just one person against many—and not that powerful (in the world’s eyes). Things only got worse as he was eventually beaten, nailed to and hung on a cross, and died. In that moment, it seemed like all was lost. Yet, God’s ways are not our ways, his thoughts higher than our thoughts. 

The world thought they had conspired to defeat the Messiah. Satan thought he had won. Yet, they did not know God’s plans. God had done this. God had gathered the world leaders so that they could be threshed like wheat. God had allowed Satan’s plans to succeed so that Satan himself would be defeated. His ways are higher than ours, his thoughts higher than our thoughts. Let us never forget this. 

To bring this back to the beginning—to the main objection I receive about believing in our God, to our struggle to understand why God allows/ordains such suffering and evil in the world. My favorite response is to ask people, “Was Jesus’ death good or bad?” It’s both, isn’t it? On the one hand, it was the greatest sin that humanity has ever carried out. Yet, at the very same time, it’s the most glorious salvation that has ever been accomplished. God can do both of those things at the same time because his ways are not our ways, his thoughts higher than ours. 

That same is true about any suffering we face in our own life. We don’t have to understand. We don’t have to know how long. We don’t have to even be on the lookout for all the ways God is using it. It’s much simpler than that. We simply trust our God. We look to the cross and remember the way in which he took such pain and suffering and turned it into a powerful salvation, and we trust him. We trust that he is doing that in our life as well, even when it doesn’t make sense. His ways are not our ways, his thoughts higher than our thoughts.