The
Indignation of the Lord
Micah 7:9 “I will bear the indignation of
the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until
he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he
will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold
his righteousness.
10 Then she
that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall
cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy
God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be
trodden down as the mire of the streets.”
1. The Believer Bearing The Indignation
2. The Unbelieving Bearing The Indignation
3.
Israel Bearing The Indignation
According to Webster’s 1828 dictionary the word indignation means this: “INDIGNA'TION, n. [L. indignatio.]
1. Anger or extreme anger, mingled with contempt, disgust or abhorrence.
2. The anger of a superior; extreme anger; particularly, the wrath of God against sinful men for their ingratitude and rebellion.
3. The effects of anger; the dreadful effects of God's wrath; terrible judgments.
4. Holy displeasure at one's self for sin.”
1. The Believer Bearing the Indignation
Verse nine: “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.”
This is in the first person. This could be me. “I will bear the indignation of the Lord” because of my sin. Sometimes I sin, and I end up having to wander around in the wilderness for a time, so to speak, till in God’s time, and in God’s mercy, and by God’s grace, He brings me through to the place of light and lifts me up. This is the same situation that David found himself in … as shown in Psalm 102, verse ten: “Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.” [Psalm 102:10]
Every adopted son of God [which is what we are if we truely are saved] is going to face “chastisement” from the Father … if we sin [that is if we disobey Him].
Now, are you ready for this? Here is a basic truth! While, we are in the flesh … we will sin. There is no sinless perfection for us while we are here on this earth in the flesh. Is not that a rather profound statement?
Read Romans chapter seven especially verse eighteen for more light: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” [Romans 7:18]
Now, because this is true, we can see why the Holy Ghost has provided the solution for all the believers in Jesus Christ in this age [The Church of The First Born] in First John chapter one, verses eight thru ten: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” [1 John 1:8-10]
Something else; the “chastisement” we receive from God is the very proof that we belong to God. See this for yourself in the book of Hebrews chapter twelve, verse eight: “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” [Hebrews 12:8]
There is something else to note here. The true believer in Jesus Christ will have or will experience a self indignation toward our own sin which thing is seen in what the Apostle Paul gave us through the Holy Ghost in Second Corinthians chapter seven, verse eleven: “For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” [2 Corinthians 7:11]
2. The Unbelieving Bearing The Indignation
Those who reject God, and who decide to give the Son of God Jesus Christ “the thumbs down” will have to accept the responsibility for having done so. They will have the righteous “indignation and wrath” of God shower down upon them. This can be seen in Romans chapter two, verse eight: “But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath” [Romans 2:8].
The unrighteous will have their day in court. This court date is set in the future [after the millennial reign of the Son of God] on location of the “great white throne”. For this, see in the book of Revelation, in chapter twenty, verse eleven: “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.” [Revelation 20:11]
Now read verse fifteen, and see the destination for all those who have rejected Jesus Christ. “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” [Revelation 20:15]
At this point, the indignation and wrath of God on the unbelievers is without remedy.
3. Israel Bearing The Indignation
Now, for verse ten: “Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.”
Who is she? We need to know who she is. She is identified in numerous places in the Bible. In the book of Ezekiel chapter five, verse five, she is identified by God Himself: “Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.” [Ezekiel 5:5]
The “she” in Micah chapter seven, verse ten, is Israel.
Now, why is she an enemy? Look at that next verse in the book of Ezekiel [in verse six]: “And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.” [Ezekiel 5:6]
The people of Israel have been the place of blessing, and the people of Israel have been in the place wrath and indignation.
But let me ask you this, what about us? Have not we ourselves been in both places?
We have been with those who have done despite to the LORD God, and to the Son of God, and we have been with those who love the light of God’s word.
We have been both an enemy to God and a friend to God.
So it has been for God’s people Israel.
So it has been with God’s city Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is shown over and over in the Bible to be God’s city. Yet Jerusalem is called [spiritually] “Sodom and Egypt” in the book of the Revelation chapter eleven, verse eight: “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” [Revelation 11:8]
Yet as Jesus looked out over the city of Jerusalem just before it was time to go to the Cross of Calvary, He cried: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” [Luke 13:34]
This city of God is destined [according to this King James Bible] in the very near future to be trodden down under foot by the Gentiles in the upcoming Great Tribulation … spoken of by the prophets.
Now, see this thing for yourself in the book of Lamentations chapter one, verse fifteen: “The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.” [Lamenations 1:15]
The indignation of the LORD is coming to visit the people of Israel. Yet God will bring His people through the storm. God will hide His people till the indignation is past. Look with me in the book of Isaiah chapter twenty-six and see this in verse twenty: “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.” [Isaiah 26:20]
There you have it!
The believer in Jesus Christ in this age bears indignation.
The unbeliever will bear the indignation of God in a future event.
Israel is bearing, and will bear, the indignation of God.