INTERESTING FACTS : James Garfield, (November 19, 1831 - September 19, 1881) served as the 20th President of the United States, Served nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

 

"Now more than ever the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature. . . . [I]f the next centennial does not find us a great nation . . . it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces."[1]

 

Daily Reading : Micah

 

TEXT : Micah  2:7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?  3:4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.  3:7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.  3:8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.  3:11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.  4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.  4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.  4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.  4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.  5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.  6:3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.  6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?  7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.  7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.  7:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

 

THEME : Righteousness  

 

"The prophecy of Micah is of the same date, and, up to a certain point, has the same character as that of Isaiah. That is to say, it treats especially of the introduction of the Messiah into the scene of the development of God's dealings towards Israel, and even speaks particularly of His presence in connection with the attack of the Assyrian This prophecy has nevertheless its own peculiar character; it enters, like those of Hosea and Amos, into the moral condition of the people, and connects the judgment of the world at large with the condition of the Jews, as we have had it typically brought before us in Jonah. Samaria also is in part the subject of this prophecy, so that its application extends to all Israel." [John Darby][2]

 

"Micah was raised up to support Isaiah, and to confirm his predictions, while he invited to repentance, both by threatened judgments and promised mercies. A very remarkable passage, Mic_5:1-15 contains a summary of prophecies concerning the Messiah." [Matthew Henry][3]

TRUTH FOR TODAY : "YOU KNOW RIGHT AND WRONG."

 

You must draw certain conclusions when you think of the amount of attention God gives to the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament. That is, Isaiah - Malachi. It covers only a period of about 400 years. If we add the Book of Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah, the total number of [entire] Books that cover this [short] period of history is 20. This does not include Kings and Chronicles that give some attention to the same events addressed in Isaiah through Malachi. In other words, the Old Testament has only 39 Books total, yet more than half of them are given to the period of Israel and Judah's defection from God, the consequences of that defection, and the promise of a restoration both to their land and to their God in the last days.

 

Now, reasoning on how authors write - at least, good, proficient authors, we must conclude God has something in mind for you as you read Book after Book that essentially repeats the same theme, adding only other details left out in the synoptic accounts of the same subject. God is perfect in all His ways. Therefore, His Book is perfect and calculating as to why He reiterates this period so frequently.

 

Every good teacher knows repetition is necessary for retention. Said another way, you have to repeat major points and principles constantly so the mind will not forget important lessons. Thus, God has done this for you in His writing the Scriptures. Overall, the Scriptures continually repeat the same message - right and wrong. Further, God's Word and ways [right] put against Man's word and ways [wrong] will result in reward for the believer and punishment for the unbeliever. Said again, righteousness is the ways of the One True God, and He abhors unrighteousness. Again, God as Creator designed life to align with His nature and Man has departed from these principles and laws.

 

The contention that you do not know what God wants from you the LORD eliminates and permanently removes in Micah 6:8 when the prophet states - "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Further, in the New Testament, God through the Apostle Paul says everyone is without excuse when it comes to knowing right from wrong.

 

Rom 1:17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Rom 1:19  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

 

Whether under the Old Covenant or the New, God requires Man to do what is right in His sight. Never make the mistake of thinking the New Covenant did away with right and wrong. It did not, even as the Scriptures testify.

 

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Rom 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

 

Tit 1:15  Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. Tit 1:16  They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

 

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

 

Quaker, entrepreneur, and preacher William Penn, founder of the providence of Pennsylvania once said - "Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it." Perhaps this personal credo of Penn's accounts for historian George Bancroft's account of his life with the Native Americans.

 

"The influence of Penn was so great among the Indians that to be a follower of his was at all times a passport to their protection and hospitality. George Bancroft says that ‘while every other colony in the New World was visited in turn by the horrors of Indian warfare, no drop of Quaker blood was ever shed by a red man in Pennsylvania.'" [5]

 

If you call him LORD, do what is pleasing in His sight.

 

Luk_6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

 

He has written extensively on this subject - as mentioned. He has shown you what is good. Do what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. In the days ahead, as it is now, many will not. God has made the outcome of right and wrong clear enough. Choose life and live.