The
Indignation of the Lord
Micah 7:11 “In the day that thy walls are
to be built, in that day shall the decree be far
removed.
12 In that day also he
shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the
fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the
river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to
mountain.
13 Notwithstanding the
land shall be desolate because of them that dwell
therein, for the fruit of their doings.”
1. The Walls and The Decree
2. The
Highway
3. He Shall Come
4. The Stain
1. The Walls and The Decree
Verse eleven: “In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.”
One decree is to be “far removed” [in that day] before another decree is put into place.
The first decree is “the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you”, which is identified as being “Jacob’s trouble” in the Bible, and is located … in the book of Jeremiah in chapter thirty, verse seven: “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.” [Jeremiah 30:7]
This “fierce anger of the Lord” here … is directed toward the nation of Israel and is meant to trouble her for her sin according to the prophet in Zephaniah chapter two, verse two: “Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you.” [Zephaniah 2:2]
In that day, when this decree is removed, [Jacob’s trouble] a new decree will be established and the walls of Jerusalem will be built. These will not be the walls that once surrounded Jerusalem which were built with stone . Rather, these walls, or wall, will be a virtual wall … “a wall of fire”.
How can we know this? It is the Spirit of God Who reveals this thing to us … in the book of Zechariah chapter two, verses four and five: “And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.” [Zechariah 2:4-5]
We all [the Christians] will see this thing … in a future day … in that day!
2. The Highway
Verse twelve: “In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.”
In this verse [verse twelve], there is someone in the future who is to come to Israel from Assyria. But before we find out who this someone is, we need to see how this someone will travel to Israel. This someone will travel by a highway.
It is the prophet Isaiah who states that there will be made a highway, which will begin in Egypt and will go all the way north to the land of Assyria. See for this Isaiah nineteen, verse twenty-three: “In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.” [Isaiah 19:23]
What is more; this highway will be “for the remnant” of God’s people Israel … in that day. We can see this in Isaiah chapter eleven in verse sixteen: “And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.” [Isaiah 11:16]
3. He Shall Come
Now, for the first part of verse twelve again: “In that day also he shall come …
The “he” in this verse is none other than Jesus Christ. Now, how can we know this? Well, just look at Isaiah forty in verse three: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” [Isaiah 40:3]
When the Son God travels this highway [during the second advent of our Lord] “he” will be seen by the people [the Jews] and they shall mourn for the One whom they have pierced.
To see this, you will need to turn to the book of Zechariah chapter twelve, verse ten and eleven, and read this: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.” [Zechariah 12:10-11]
This King’s Highway leads to Mount Zion … in that day.
4. The Stain
Verse thirteen: “Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.”
The LAND is destined to become desolate because of the doings of the people. It is a universal hard result; the fruit of sin in any land ruins the land and always kills the people. So it is here. The people of Judah are termed FORSAKEN of God, and their land is termed DESOLATE. [See for this Isaiah 62:4.]
God has it in mind to EMPTY the land that is stained with the sin of the people.
You can read of all this in the book of Jeremiah chapter seven, verses thirty-three and four: “And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away. Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.” [Jeremiah 7:33-34]
Now, look at what happened to them. Take heed! This thing could well happen to us … in our day. Take heed! The fruit of our doings is from the bad stuff of our sins, and it is surely bringing a stench high up to God, which very thing will be cause of our desolation.
Now, we all ought to take heed to what happened to Judah and to all the other nations before us who have come to desolation.
Do you remember what the Spirit of God has warned us in First Corinthians chapter ten?
“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” [1 Corinthians 10:11-12] Amen!