Micah: Justice + MercySýnishorn

That Day

By Pastor Dan Hickling

“’And it shall be in that day,’ says the Lord, ‘That I will cut off your horses from your midst and destroy your chariots. I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds. I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no soothsayers. Your carved images I will also cut off, and your sacred pillars from your midst; you shall no more worship the work of your hands; I will pluck your wooden images from your midst; thus I will destroy your cities. And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury on the nations that have not heard.’”  Micah 5:10–15 (NKJV)

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say as you’ve looked across the landscape of this world, you’ve longed for a time when “Breaking News” wasn’t as heartbreaking as it’s become. There’s a soul cry in each of us that demands no more abuse, no more subjugation, no more trafficking, no more exploitation, no more, no more, no more! We might even say if we don’t have soul-cry, then we’re either unaware of the world around us or there’s something really wrong with our sense of morality!

Do you know who shares in this but on an infinitely greater scale? The Lord! His heart is broken more than anyone else’s when it comes to what sin has made us capable of doing to each other. So much so, that a day is coming, “that day” as Micah describes it, when He will personally put everything wrong with this world, right! 

It's important to understand within the panorama of biblical prophecy, this passage we’re focusing on is looking ahead into the future when the Lord has returned to personally rule and reign over the earth. “That day” is often referred to as the “Millennium” or “Millennial Kingdom,” because we’re told that it will last for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1–6). During this time, Christ will enforce His righteous rule over the entire world as the King of kings and Lord of lords. In doing so, He will also fulfill many of the yet unfulfilled promises to Jacob’s descendants (Israel), including this one here in Micah as He addresses their enemies.      

This is not what you would call light reading! But again, this is pointing ahead to the time when everything wrong with the world will be put right by the Lord, including the ambition and capacity to incite war (chariots and strongholds), the spread of supernatural influences demonic in nature (sorceries and soothsayers), and the myriad of idols that have the effect of taking a heart captive and leading it away from God (carved images). All of these things contribute to what’s “wrong” in this world. All of these things will be dealt with by Christ as He establishes His Kingdom in “that day.”

So, how should all of this practically impact us as we live here in this day? It should fuel our hope because we know the cry for justice is not only being heard but that it will be answered! We can rest in knowing the moral tension we carry inside of us will be fully resolved by the One who can and will subdue all things unto Himself (Philippians 3:21). 

Pause: What is the “that day” being referenced here by Micah?

Practice: How does this passage in Micah impact you in the here and now? 

Pray: Lord, I pray You would fulfill this promise to set right all that is wrong with this world. Please hear and answer this prayer according to Your perfect power and wisdom! Amen.