Following the sins of others

We’re going to take a short break from Isaiah here for a couple of reasons. First, Isaiah is just about to prophesy against Jerusalem, and here, Micah does the same. And second, we need to do some catching up with the chronology.

Although they were contemporaries, Micah started his prophecies a little after Isaiah did. Isaiah started in the time of Uzziah; Micah started at the time of Uzziah’s son, Jotham.

As Micah begins, Israel (that is, the northern kingdom) is still standing, but as Micah points out, that wouldn’t last long.

He starts out by talking about the Lord’s judgment against Samaria for its idolatry, and told them that because of it, their cities would soon be devastated, and the idols they relied on would be broken to pieces.

But then he turns his attention to Judah. And two verses strike me here.

First in verse 9, it says,

[Israel’s] wound has come to Judah. It has reached the very gate of my people, even to Jerusalem itself. (Micah 1:9)

Then in verse 13,

You who live in Lachish… You were the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in you. (Micah 1:13)

In other words, while Israel started sinning first through their idol worship, these same things had crept their way into Judah as well.

It’s ironic to note that the spiritual breach occurred in the city of Lachish, because Lachish was one of the main fortress cities that protected Judah. And that spiritual breach would lead to a physical one.

In accordance with Micah’s prophecy, the Assyrian army attacked Lachish and crushed it, paving the way for them to lay siege to Jerusalem. It was only through God’s help that Jerusalem was delivered. But that’s another story for another time.

In the same way that sin crept into Judah and corrupted it, the sins of this world can creep into our lives as well if we’re not careful.

How often have you seen Christians fall into sin, whether it’s adultery, or the love of money, or whatever it may be?

As we look at the world around us, sin can look pretty attractive. It seems to offer us something good that we don’t have.

But as with the people of Israel and Judah, it leads to our destruction. It destroys our families, it destroys our faith, and ultimately destroys our lives if we’ll let it.

So let us be vigilant against the sins that would worm their way into our lives. And let us be a people that is pleasing to God, holy and blameless in his sight.