Today's reading begins with "Woe to those who make unjust laws, (or don't uphold the just ones) to those who issue oppressive decrees..."   

Isaiah tells us that when God brings down His hand of discipline, a remnant will be saved.  As we asked in the Sunday School class yesterday, will we (and you) be the remnant? 

Isaiah 11:9a
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

Can our imaginations be that big? Can we even begin to wrap our minds around the earth being full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea?

How can we have that knowledge? He’s pretty clear in His Word.

Prov 2:1-6
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

But acquiring His knowledge is proactive! We must do something! Accept Him, store up His commands, turn our ear, apply our heart, call out, cry aloud, look for it and search for it! That’s how we get His knowledge. Do you think if everyone on earth followed this passage of Scripture, the earth would be full of the knowledge of the Lord? How could it not???

"With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."   
Jesus is the "living water" and only through Him do we have salvation, but we must draw the water, we must seek Him.  Yesterday, we were reminded that we must "Seek him and live" 

Isa 7:9b
If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.'"
How very true! If we have no foundation (Jesus), how can we possibly stand at all?

Interesting in Isaiah 7 how they calculate the passage of time…according to when children are weaned or are able to speak names.   Isaiah 7 also predicts the birth of Immanuel.  "He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right".  This lets us know that Jesus, the human, had to grow into the knowledge of right and wrong, which is about the time of weaning or about two to three years of age.  Isaiah uses this calculation to prophecy the time frame when the land will be laid waste.

Isaiah 9 is a prophecy for the coming of Jesus as a baby in Bethlehem and also a prophecy of the final coming of Jesus. What a great way to announce Jesus - “a light has dawned”.

Isaiah continually warns, "his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised".  
"But the people have not returned to him who struck them, nor have they sought the LORD Almighty."

God tells us to seek Him and live (eternally).  The opposite is also true.  If we don't seek Him, we will die (eternally).



Why would people NOT want to seek Him and live eternally???  For us as Believers we need to stand firm in our faith.  If we don't have Jesus, we cannot stand at all.

The leaders of families in the half-tribe of Manasseh were brave warriors and famous men. They had the opportunity and the power to influence and to lead people in the right way but instead were unfaithful to God. It reminds us of the many famous people today, politicians, sports figures, actors, etc. who have great opportunity and power to influence and lead people in the right way. But how many of them do?

The word "prostituted" is used in today's reading. One of the definitions for the word prostitute is "one who sells one's abilities, talent, or name for an unworthy purpose".
This is exactly what these leaders of the families from the tribe of Manasseh did. The unworthy purpose was to the gods of the people of the land. In addition, spiritual prostitution means being unfaithful to God for the purpose of enriching oneself for the praise, position, prestige, possessions, power, etc. (the "Poisonous Ps of Pride")

King Ahaz of Judah "…sacrificed his sons in the fire following the detestable ways of the nations…"and "…offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places…"
He sacrificed his sons in the Valley of Hinnon, south of Jerusalem. The Valley of Hinnon was a place of idolatrous sacrifices, including the sacrifice of humans. In order to put an end to these pagan abominations, King Josiah in later years polluted it with human bones and other corruptions. This valley came to be used then as the city garbage dump and also know as gehenna (often translated hell).

Notice we are continually warned about the "high places". If it sounds repetitious…it is. When God repeats something…that usually means PAY ATTENTION!

Micah reminds us that Miriam, sister of Moses, was a leader of the people. He also reminds us of Balak, king of Moab who wanted Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam said he could only do what the Lord said to do.  Good advice for us too!

WHAT GOD REALLY WANTS (Micah 6) deserves another read! As does the ending of Micah. Even though God speaks through His prophets words of warning, rebuke and admonition, He always offers us the way of repentance.



What does God really want?

"To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Micah tells us to "Heed the rod and the One who appointed it." 
We should accept the discipline and learn from it. 


"You will store up but save nothing, because what you save I will give to the sword."
Wow!  Think about the message of The Harbinger.  Money has been pulled out of the national treasury to provide security, all because of 9/11. 


Micah warns about traditions. Interesting how this admonition follows the above Scripture. All the references to tradition or traditions in Scripture have negative implications. (Matthew 15, Mark 7, Galatians 1)

Col 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

"...the powerful dictate what they desire - they all conspire together."
In light of recent news concerning decisions that violate the Constitution, the lack of protection for the 10th Amendment, these words certainly ring true!


"Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light."
Even though in this world darkness is all around us, praise God, we have that hope!
"Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?"

Micah 3
This passage lists something unthinkable – cannibalism, which normal people do not do. We can equate another thing that is unthinkable – spiritual leaders who are doing abominable things. God’s Word is very clear about what He considers abominable.

The prophets of Micah’s day were leading the people astray. God says He will take away their prophetic abilities. 

Micah 3 describes the “falling away” of the apostate church. Rulers and leaders, prostituting themselves as they accept money and bribes, are telling the people things the people want to hear. I think we've been warned about that, haven't we???

Some great words are written concerning the COMING OF MESSIAH in Micah 4 in the last days, a reference to the millennium with the temple in Jerusalem and the restoration of Israel.

And another passage refers to the birth of Messiah in Bethlehem. His “origins are from of old from ancient times.” gives us the message that God the Son was with God the Father from the beginning. Pretty clear!

"And he will be their peace." 
Jesus IS the peace!

Interesting words in the commentary for today's reading.  He says that the prophet Micah wrote that God "desires righteous thoughts and deeds and not just a show of traditional formal worship."

It seems pretty clear from the writings of the prophet Micah how God feels about “high places”.   High places were associated with pagan practices where the people offered sacrifices and burned incense to pagan gods.  However, sometimes the people listened to the prophets, came to their senses and did the right thing, what naturally followed was a return to the God-ordained holy days.

II Ki 23:21

The king gave this order to all the people: "Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant."

“…disgrace will not overtake us.” is an example of the sin of rationalization. It could be a substitute for “There’s nothing wrong with abortion.” Or “Homosexual marriages are okay, they’re not really hurting anyone. Or “An affair isn’t so bad. We’re consenting adults. Everybody does it.” We could fill in the blank with a multitude of sins in our world, our church, our lives.

"If a liar and deceiver comes and says, "I will prophecy for you plenty of wine and beer,' he would be just the prophet for this people."
In other words, the people didn't mind hearing prophecy as long as it was something they wanted to hear. 

A foreshadowing of the ultimate restoration and deliverance is found here:
Micah 2:13
One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the LORD at their head."

Who is it that opens the way? What is the way? What does it mean to break through the gate? Do you think it has anything to do with Jesus?

Jesus’ followers were called Followers of the Way.

Isaiah writes in similar vein as Joel did concerning the wrath of God. Compare Isaiah Chapters 5, 1, and 2 with Joel (especially Joel 2).

"Therefore the Lord's anger burns against his people."

Notice it says, HIS people.  What were the people doing to cause God's anger to burn against them?  Isaiah tells us in chapter 2 verses 19-21.  They were worshiping their silver and gold, just as we today, worship our "gods" of money, possessions, etc.

What did God say would happen to the people of Israel?

"...the LORD Almighty is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support; all supplies of food and all supplies of water."

God did that to Israel. Nebuchadnezzar cut off supplies of food and water from the people who had taken refuge in the city of Jerusalem.  He will do that to us if we continue in our wicked ways.  This can happen if an EMP hits America today.  Time is short and getting shorter. 

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD.

Indeed, let us reason together.  He tells us in His Word to follow His commands and to turn away from other "gods" and back to Him. Repent, so that times of refreshing may come.  We can read about times of refreshing in Isaiah 4 and Isaiah 2. This is what things will look like in the Millennial Kingdom. 

"Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD."

Come, O believers in Jesus, let us walk in His light."

Oh, what an unbelievably compelling ending to today’s reading. The imagery is incredible! Isaiah was allowed to see the throne of the Lord in the heavenly temple. Isaiah knew he was in the presence of the Lord and he knew he was unworthy. He lamented, “Woe to me!” and “…my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

He no doubt was very familiar with this Scripture:
Exodus 33:20
But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

Isaiah knew he would not be able to look upon the face of God and live. But he wasn’t looking upon the face of God, the Father. John identified the glory that Isaiah saw. He saw God, the Son!

John 12:41
Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.

I (Patti) have always been drawn to the verse, “Here am I. Send me!” As a teen-age Christian I thought God was speaking to me about being a missionary. Some 40 years later I have come to understand just what being a missionary really means.

Did you attach yourselves to the oxygen tank as we have been deep-sea diving in Isaiah?

One final note on today’s reading.
2 Chr 27:6
Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God.

Jotham lined up his will with God’s will. Pretty good advice for us today!