All right, let's look at Micah,
the book of Micah, chapter four. Now, tonight I'm going to begin
preaching in verse nine, or verse eight rather, and really beginning
at verse nine, but I want to go back to verse eight. We've
covered that already. But the title of the message
is an awesome subject. It has to do with God's purpose. God's purpose. The title is God's
Purpose Fulfilled in Christ. God's Purpose. We read about
God's Purpose there in Romans 8 in verse 28. Those who are
the called. And literally that means the
summoned. God has summoned us. He sent us summons in the preaching
of the gospel of His grace and salvation through the Lord Jesus
Christ. But God has sent a summons, the
called of God, who are the called according to His purpose. God does what He does on purpose,
not by accident. And I'll tell you one of the
most beautiful and reassuring and comforting truths that's
found in the Bible is that which is stated in Micah chapter 4
and verse 8, where it identifies the Lord Jesus Christ In prophecy
here, as the tower of the flock, and thou, O tower of the flock,
and then it identifies him as the stronghold of the daughter
of Zion. And unto thee, unto thee, O tower
of the flock, unto thee, O the stronghold of the daughter of
Zion, shall it come, that is his people, his church, even
the first dominion. Christ is the tower of the flock.
He is the preeminent king. He's the king of kings. That's
the way Paul put it. He's the potentate of potentates. That means he's the most powerful.
He's the, of anything that's got power, he's the all-powerful
one. And the kingdom shall come to
the daughter of Jerusalem. So Christ is the tower of the
flock. And He, as the Tower of the Flock,
towers over all in our salvation. He has the preeminence. He towers
over all in the establishment of righteousness and the forgiveness
of sins and the glory that is to come. And then He is our high
tower of safety and security and peace. And incidentally,
I talked to you last time about this first dominion. Some commentators
say that it refers to the preeminence of Christ as king and the preeminence
of his kingdom. And I like that. And that certainly
is a truth of the scriptures. say it refers to the new covenant
as compared to the old covenant. But I read another explanation
of it that might make sense. Sometimes in these passages,
you know, where you're not given an explicit explanation, there's
several things that can be true of it. And it's speaking of the
first dominion as man in the garden under Adam, who had dominion
over the earth. Adam, that was the first dominion
of man in the earth. And it was a glorious dominion,
but Christ as the tower of the flock and as the stronghold of
the daughter of Zion, Christ as King of kings and Lord of
lords and His spiritual eternal kingdom is much greater than
that first dominion. In fact, we could say we have
restored what Adam, in Christ we have restored what Adam lost,
but we have even more. We were talking about this the
other day, how Adam in the garden had righteousness, but it was
still a creature of righteousness. It was mutable. But we stand
as citizens of this kingdom in the tower of the flock in his
righteousness, which in the Bible is called the righteousness of
God. Now Adam in the garden before
the fall didn't stand in the righteousness of God. It was
righteousness, but it was still the righteousness of man. And
that was mutable, changeable. And it did change. Because Adam
fell and brought the whole human race under condemnation. But
we stand, we who are in Christ, we who are safe and secure in
the tower of the flock, we who are the flock, his sheep, we
stand in him. not having our own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ. We stand in his righteousness imputed, an everlasting righteousness,
an eternal righteousness, the very righteousness of God that
can never change. And the reason it can never change
is because the Tower of the Flock, Jesus Christ, is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. And another reason that it cannot
change is because God's purpose, God's promise, and God's nature
cannot change. It's what he means in Malachi
chapter 3 and verse 6 when he says, I am the Lord, I change
not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. So we have more than what Adam
had in the garden before the fall, for we have Christ. Now
let's talk about God's purpose because we're going to see it
illustrated here from verse nine and all the way really down to
the end of chapter five. We won't get that far tonight.
In fact, I'm just going to carry over the first few verses of
chapter five and then come back and pick them up again because
I want to say a lot about verses two through five in chapter five
on their own. But God's purpose. What is God's
purpose? to them who are the called according
to his purpose." Well, simply stated, God's purpose is this,
his ultimate purpose in all things. In all things that he plans,
promises, all things that he predestinates, determines, all
things that he works after the counsel of his own will. God's
purpose is to glorify himself in the redemption, salvation,
gathering, and glorifying of his people in, by, and through
the Lord Jesus Christ, all by his grace. That's God's ultimate
purpose. He forms and establishes his
complete spiritual and eternal kingdom through Christ. And in
the process, He is glorified. That means God is honored. God
is exalted. That's what it means to glorify
God. It means to honor Him. It means to exalt Him. It means
to set Him apart because He's holy. He's unique. There's no
one like God. There's nothing to be compared
to God. And every illustration that man
tries to give And every depiction that man tries to draw that explains
God is just so far off the mark that we can't even describe how
far it's out there. Because there is none like God. And so when he's glorified, he's
honored and magnified, lifted up, set apart, praised, Do you
know it is the ultimate dishonor to Almighty God for a sinner? Well, let's put it this way,
for any creature, let alone a sinner, to not believe His Word. And
the reason is, is because God has engaged everything that He
is You wanna get you a book and read about the attributes of
God? Well, every one of those attributes that the old writers
would write about and go through the scriptures, and they're good
books, you know. Some of them good. Every one of those attributes
are engaged behind God keeping his word. He's faithful. Great is thy faithfulness. And
so for me or you or any creature to disbelieve God is to fail
to glorify God. Abraham believed God. And you
know what it says in Romans 4? He glorified God. And God's ultimate purpose and
His promise that reveals that purpose is in the gospel of His
free and sovereign grace through and by and in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and based on His blood and His righteousness alone.
So the ultimate insult to God is to deny, ignore, or count
as nothing or disbelieve Christ and salvation through Him. For
in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you're
complete in Him. So that if I, as a sinner, look
for completeness in any facet or any way or to any degree,
whether it's the forgiveness of sins, pardon of all my iniquity,
or if it's justification before God, how I'm made righteous and
acceptable before God. If I look for any completeness
in any of those areas, my redemption in any way, salvation in any
way, in any way but Christ and Him crucified and risen again.
His blood alone. His righteousness imputed alone. If I look for completeness in
any other way, then I am casting the ultimate shame and insult
upon the glory of God. That's why unbelief is such a
sin. Such a sin. Somebody, I think,
we were talking last week how David, when he committed adultery
and lied and murdered in this area with Bathsheba and Uriah
the Hittite and all that, how God, how David suffered the consequences
in his family. His family was in shambles, his
kingdom was in shambles. The sword never left his house.
But then when David numbered Israel, thousands were slain. How do you figure that? Well,
when David numbered Israel, you know what he was doing? He was
distrusting God. That's what he was doing. That
was the specific sin. Why would he number Israel? He
wanted to see where his strength was. How many do I have? How big of an army do I have?
How many chariots? How many horses? See, when he
numbered Israel, it wasn't just the people. It was his arsenal
too. What did the Lord say? Don't
you trust in horses, David. Don't you trust in... You trust
in the Lord. And to not trust in the Lord
is the ultimate insult to God. So that's his purpose, to glorify
himself in the salvation, the complete, eternal, unchangeable
salvation and final glory of all his people through the Lord
Jesus Christ. And you know something? Nothing
will stop or hinder God's purpose. He will fulfill his purpose. Let me show you what I mean.
The stubborn will of natural men will not hinder or stop God's
purpose. God's purpose and the fulfillment
of it is not conditioned on your will or my will. That's right. And you know why? Because God
in his purpose makes his people willing in the day of his power.
It's what the scripture says in Psalm 110 in verse 3. You
think that the completion and the success of the glory of God
rests upon your will and my will? Oh, no. It's God's will. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. And
then, the wrath of man, the anger and the opposition of man will
not stop his purpose. Now that's what Micah chapter
4 is about here. You see, in fact, one of the
greatest principles of human existence, and I'm not exaggerating
here, one of the greatest principles of human existence is the ancient
expression that we read in that Psalm of Asaph that Ron read
in Psalm 76 in verse 10, which said, Surely the wrath of man
shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. God's in control. We know this
is true as we see it in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, for
He, as Peter preached at Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, Christ was
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. It was recorded in Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 10, it pleased
the Lord to bruise Him. But it's also stated that fallen
man took Him and by wicked hands crucified and slew Him. Isn't
that right? And yet God's purpose was not
even hindered in that process. We also see that this was God's
plan from the beginning. Paul wrote of the salvation that
comes from God, who hath saved us and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works. You see, the works of
man. The works of man do not hinder
or help the purpose of God. It's not conditioned on our work,
but according to His own purpose to glorify Himself and grace,
and that's all the means that God supplies to accomplish that
purpose, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. It was also promised from the
beginning, the very first promise of the gospel in Genesis chapter
3 and verse 15. The Lord said unto the serpent,
he said, I'll put enmity between thee and the woman, and between
thy seed and her seed, and it shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel. That's God's purpose stated out
from the very beginning there in the promise of the gospel.
To send the woman seed, that's the virgin born Christ. That's the God man. The son who's
given, the child who's born. made of the seed of David, according
to the flesh, the Word made flesh, tabernacling among us His purpose. And what do we see in all that?
Well, we see a God who is working all things after the counsel
of His own sovereign will, so that we can be assured of what
we read in Romans 8, 28, that all things work together for
good to them that love God, who are the called, according to
His purpose. And so, whatever happens, now
this is the case, and this is what Micah is telling Judah.
Whatever happens, we have no reason to fear for our souls
if we're trusting in the Lord, if we're trusting Christ. Look
at it, verse nine, he says, now why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee? is
thy counselor perish, for pains," that's pains, "'have taken thee
as a woman in travail.'" Why do you cry out loud? Is there
no king in you? Judah and Jerusalem, they were
crying out in anguish as if they were a people forsaken. But you see, the problem with
this nation is that at this time they had forgotten and denied
the purpose and the promise of God. They had forgotten and denied
the very reason for their existence. At this time, the Assyrian army,
the empire, that evil empire, was threatening Judah. The northern
kingdom Israel was about to be destroyed completely by that
same army, but God protected Judah. He protected them. Judah had a king. He says, is
there no king in thee? Judah had a king. You remember
back here in chapter one of Micah, verse one, Micah the Moreshthite,
that's where he was from. In the days of Jotham, Ahaz,
and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. And then he mentions Samaria
and Jerusalem. So Judah had a king. You remember
Hezekiah. Remember when the Assyrian army
threatened to come into Judah, to Jerusalem, and destroy that
nation? I want you to turn over to 2
Kings chapter 19. I want to show you something
about this question that's being asked. Now Israel had earthly
kings, the northern kingdom, but they were all evil kings.
None of them led in the ways of the Lord. None of them led
the people to trust in the Lord. They were all idolatrous. Now
Judah, the southern kingdom, they had human kings also. Most of them were evil kings
who led the people in idolatry. Some of them were kings who were
described as those who did that which was right in the sight
of the Lord. Hezekiah was one of them, but he even had his
problems. He had a lot of things that he
needed to do that he didn't do concerning the idolatrous practices
of the nation. But when the Assyrian army threatened
to come into Judah, listen to what happened. You remember they
had a king. The Assyrian empire was ruled by a man named Sennacherib. And when they were getting ready
to just utterly destroy the northern kingdom, they were threatening
Judah also, and they came in and occupied for a little while,
and then were driven out. And Sennacherib wrote a letter,
and he sent it to Hezekiah. And the letter was awful. Now
you can read all this in 2 Kings 18 and part of 2 Kings 19. You
read the whole thing. But the letter was awful. It
was a blasphemous letter. Just blaspheming God. and his people, and lifting himself
up, saying, look at me and what I've accomplished and how many
nations we've conquered, and he sent that letter to Hezekiah. And look at verse 14 of 2 Kings
chapter 19, verse 14. It says, and Hezekiah received
the letter of the hand of the messengers, and he read And Hezekiah
went up into the house of the Lord and spread it before the
Lord. Now this is what a king, a godly
king should do. He should lead in bringing these
matters and the people before the Lord. We trust in the Lord.
What he's saying by doing this is, now Judah, I'm not your hope. I'm the king, I'm your leader,
but I'm not your hope. I'm not your strength. I'm not
your deliverance the Lord God is and that's what he was saying
when he took that letter and he spread it before the Lord
in verse 15 and it says and Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said
O Lord God of Israel which dwelleth between the cherubims what's
he got in mind there the God who justifies the ungodly What
does he mean dwell between the, it's above the mercy seat where
the blood was sprinkled. You see this godly king, he knew
God must punish sin, but that also God was a God of mercy and
that mercy must be shown in line with justice. That's the glory
of God. You see, this is God's purpose.
God's purpose to glorify himself was typified and symbolized in
that mercy seat and the Ark of the Covenant and the blood and
the high priest and all of that. And Hezekiah knew that. He says,
thou art the God, not a God, but the God, even thou alone. You see, he's glorifying God. This is what a godly king should
do. This is how he should lead the people. Of all the kingdoms
of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth. Verse 16, Lord,
bow down thine ear and hear, open, Lord, thine eyes and see,
and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach
the living God. Listen to what this ungodly,
idolatrous, evil king has said. Verse 17, of a truth, Lord, the
kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands and
have cast their gods into the fire, and they were no gods but
the work of men's hands. See, Hezekiah is recognizing
that these idols that the Assyrian king thought that he defeated,
they weren't gods, they were just the works of men's hands.
That's like false religion, coming before God, worshiping God through
the works of men's hands. It's nothing. And so he says,
he says, But the work of men's hands, wood and stone, therefore
they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God,
I beseech thee, save us out of his hands, that all the kingdoms
of the earth may know, now listen to this, that all the kingdoms
of the earth may know how great Hezekiah is. That's not what
it says, does it? that all the kings of the earth
may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only." In other
words, I want this victory to be a testimony to the glory and
the power and the greatness of God, not Hezekiah. That's a godly
king. That's what we want in the salvation
of sinners. I want the salvation of sinners
to be a testimony to the glory and the greatness and the power
of Almighty God in Christ. Not to the preacher, not to me,
not to 13th Street Baptist Church. We're just put here to glorify
Him, to honor Him. We trust Him. We are nothing
and have nothing and can do nothing without Him. From the most meager
task to the greatest sermon that was ever preached. It's all of
God. Don't follow men. That's what
Hezekiah is saying here. God put me here, Hezekiah is
saying, as an instrument of His purpose and His glory. And you've missed it. You've
lost sight of it, Judah. And he says in verse 20, then
Isaiah, the son of Amoz, now you remember he said, remember
Micah said over here in Micah 4, 9, he said, is there no king
in thee? Is thy counselor perished? The
counselor will be like the prophets. Well, here's Hezekiah the king,
see? And this is what was going on
in Micah's time now. right here. And then Isaiah,
who was a contemporary of Micah, Isaiah prophesied right in the
city of Jerusalem. Micah prophesied around the countryside
of Judah. So Isaiah was the city preacher,
Micah was the country preacher, so to speak. And so it says,
And then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus
saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to
me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard. God heard him. You know when God hears a sinner?
He'll hear a sinner when that sinner's cry glorifies him according
to his purpose. And when does a sinner glorify
God according to his purpose? When he comes begging for mercy
at the mercy seat. Where God dwells between the
church, when he calls on the name of the Lord through the
blood and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
when. That's when God is honored in
every attribute of his character. That's when God is exalted and
magnified as a holy God, and a just God, and a righteous God,
as well as a merciful God, and a gracious God, and a loving
God, right there. Well, let me read one more section
here. Turn over to verse 34. Now, I'll tell you what, go back
and read chapter 18 and chapter 19. You can also see this recorded
in 2 Chronicles chapter 32. It's another recording of it. But look over
at 2 Kings 19 and look at verse 34. God is speaking here in verse
34. And he says, for I will defend
this city to save it for mine own sake, that is for his glory,
and for my servant David's sake. Now, what do you notice about
that right away? For my servant David's sake.
Well, King David is what? He's already gone. He's dead
by this time. So he's not talking about King
David of old. He's talking about David's son. He's talking about the Messiah. So God's gonna defend this city
to accomplish his purpose, to glorify himself in the salvation
of his people through the promised Messiah who was to come in the
future. And we'll see more of that in just a moment. But look
at verse 35. Listen to what happened. And
it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out
and smote the camp of the Assyrians, and hundred, fourscore, and five
thousand. And when they arose early in
the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. God said that
he's not going to do it, you're not going to have to draw your
sword one time. He did. They didn't have to draw the sword.
They just went out there and there was a bunch of dead corpses.
And so it says in verse 36, listen, so Sennacherib king of Assyria
departed and went and returned and dwelt in Nineveh, that was
one of the capitals of Assyria. And it came to pass as he was
worshiping in the house of Nisroch, his god, an idol, that Adra-Malik
and Sharizar, his son, smote him with the sword and they escaped
into the land of Armenia and Isarhaddon, his son, reigned
in his death." End of story. Now what's the theme of that
whole thing? Well, God punishes sin. There's no doubt about that. There's no hope in idols. There's
no strength in men. But the theme of it is God accomplished
His purpose to glorify Himself in delivering His people for
His own sake and for the sake of His Son, the greater Son of
David, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now go back to Micah 4. That's
what's going on. So Micah says, well, why do you
cry out aloud? Why are you in anguish? Is there
no king in thee? Well, now they had Hezekiah,
but now they had something greater than Hezekiah. And Hezekiah himself
recognized it. They had the Lord God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. They had the promise of the God-man
to come, who would come out of Bethlehem, Ephratah, Micah chapter
5 and verse 2, and deliver God's people, spiritual Israel, out
of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. Is there no counselor
in thee? God had sent them his word through
Isaiah, through Hosea, through Micah, through other prophets. They had a counselor. I'm sure
they had a lot of advice from a lot of different people. They're
like us today. You get in trouble, you'll get a lot of advice from
a lot of different people. Some of it may be good advice,
some of it may not be good advice, but I'll tell you the only word
that really counts in these matters of life and death, of saved and
lost, is the Word of God in Christ. The Gospel. And he says, for pains have taken
thee as a woman in travail. You see, They were anguishing
like a woman in childbirth, waiting and expecting something better,
but they weren't waiting and expecting something better according
to God's promise and God's purpose and God's plan. It was in their
own self-righteousness. What were they seeking for? Paul
said Israel sought for righteousness by their works. They didn't attain
it. Is that what you're seeking for?
Is that what you're expecting? If it is, you won't attain it.
That's against God's purpose and God's plan, His revealed
purpose and revealed plan. But if you go on and die in your
sins, I'll guarantee you won't hinder or stop God's purpose
and plan. He will save His people from
their sins. The Lord God will send a king. His name is Jesus Christ the
Lord. And he has already assured them
back in the book of Genesis chapter 49 and verse 10 through the words
of Jacob, his servant Jacob, the scepter would not depart
from Judah until Shiloh come. And it says, and unto him shall
all the gathering of the people be, unto Christ. The Lord God
would give them a time of silence even. that would come right just
prior to the arrival of the Messiah but he would not leave them without
a word he's going to send his word to his people Moses said
in Deuteronomy 18 and verse 15 he's going to raise up to you
a prophet from the midst of you of your brethren like to me and
you shall listen to him who is that prophet he's none other
than the word of God incarnate the living word the incarnate
word the Lord Jesus Christ. Be content with Christ. He's
all in all. Judah was like a woman in childbirth.
And look what he says in verse 10. He says, Be in pain and labor
to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail.
For now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell
in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon. There shalt
thou be delivered. There the Lord shall redeem thee
from the hand of thine enemies. That one verse is so full of
the accomplishment of God's purpose according to his plan according
to his promise and it's really no matter what happens he's telling
he says now now you're in anguish but you're looking the wrong
place will go ahead and mourn over your sin God will punish
sin but God will also deliver from sin. He'll also deliver
his people, but he'll do it according to his purpose and his promise
in Christ. Again, the scepter shall not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
come. Incidentally, somebody caught
me, I think it was Chuck told me, he said last week I quoted
that and I said the scepter shall not depart from Israel. He's
right, I said that, but I was wrong. It's the scepter shall
not depart from Judah. Speaking of the kingly, the royal
tribe of Judah. But he said, until Shiloh come,
and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. So what's gonna
happen? Well, they're going to be, eventually,
even though the Assyrian army's not going to destroy them, we
read about that in 2 Kings there, But later on, they are going
to be punished. The Babylonian army will come
down. The Babylonian empire will come
down. And listen to what he's saying. He said, you'll go forth
out of the city. They're going to take you out
of your city of Jerusalem, that safe place, and you're going
to dwell in the field. You're going to dwell out. You're
going to be like people say, we're going on a camping trip.
Well, this is one you don't want to go on. And thou shalt go even
to Babylon, into a heathen, ungodly foreign nation, and there in
Babylon you'll be delivered." If you want to read about that
deliverance, read Ezekiel and Daniel. And then when they finally
were delivered, you can read the book of Ezra and Nehemiah.
That's what he's talking about. God's going to deliver them.
Why? Again, the scepter shall not depart from Judah until when? Until Shiloh comes. And he says,
there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
Who's going to redeem them? The Lord is. Not an earthly king,
but the Lord. Look at verse 11. He says, now
also many nations are gathered against thee that say, let her
be defiled and let our eye look upon Zion. You know, under the
reigns of David and Solomon, Israel actually became the envy
of the known world at that time. And those heathen nations that
were conquered by them and defeated by them, they looked upon it
with delight whenever Israel or Judah had problems or when
they fell. And that's what they're saying,
let our eye look upon Zion. Let's gloat over Zion. Let's gloat over their misfortune
as they would see it. But here, look at verse 12. Now
listen to this, he says, but they know not the thoughts of
the Lord. Neither understand they his counsel."
Another word for counsel there is purpose. They don't know God's thoughts.
God said, my thoughts are not like your thoughts. My ways are
not like your ways. They don't know God's purpose.
For he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. Here's
what God's doing. You see, they look upon it as,
well, that's the total destruction Not only of Judah and Israel
and their kingdom, but of their God. But they don't understand
something. They don't understand that all
God's doing and working in history there, in bringing them into
Babylon and bringing them back out and then destroying them
later on, all He's doing is He's gathering His people just like
they would gather sheaves of wheat in the harvest. That's
what He's doing. And he says in verse 13, look,
Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make thine
horn iron. That's solid. And I will make
thy hoofs brass, and thou shalt beat in pieces many people, and
I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance
unto the Lord of the whole earth. You see what he's doing? God
is separating the wheat from the chaff. That's what he's doing
in all this. He's refining the dross from the gold. He's saving
His elect people. He calls them in Isaiah and in
Micah a remnant. In Romans 11, they're identified
as a remnant according to the election of grace whom God chose
from the beginning and saved by His grace through Christ.
And so look at verse 1 of chapter 5. He says, Now gather thyself
in troops, O daughter of troops, He hath laid siege against us,
they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek."
What he's saying here is this, prepare for the destruction of
Israel and eventually prepare for the destruction of Judah.
There is no hope of salvation in that earthly land, in that
earthly nation, in that earthly covenant, in that earthly priesthood,
in the blood of animals, in anything. There's only salvation in the
one who is to come. Look at verse 2. but thou Bethlehem
Ephratah." Bethlehem, the city of David. What does Bethlehem
mean? It means the house of bread. Who's the bread of life? Christ
said, I'm the bread of life. What does Ephratah mean? That
was another name for that area around Bethlehem. Still a small
place, but it means fruitful. Out of the house of bread will
come fruit. Out of Christ Out of the one
whom God sends, and who is he? He says, even though that these
places are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall
he come forth. Now, who's he? God's salvation. God's Christ. The woman's seed. The tower of the flock. The stronghold
of the daughters of Judah and Zion. He shall come forth unto
me. Who's he gonna come to? Not to
men. He didn't come to impress men. He didn't come to make restitution
to men. He came by the will of God, according
to the purpose of God and the promise of God, to appease God,
to please God, to present Himself unto His Father. It pleased the
Lord to bruise Him. God must be just to justify the
ungodly. God must be satisfied. He said,
the Holy Spirit will convince the world of righteousness because
I go unto the Father. He said, I always do the will
of the Father. And he said, he shall come forth
unto me that is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have
been from old, that's his eternity, and from everlasting he's God.
He's God in human flesh, he's God-man. and it says, therefore
will he give them up until that time that she which travails
hath brought forth and then the remnant of his brethren shall
return unto the children of Israel now I'm gonna say some more about
these verses in chapter five as we go through there because
I have a lot more that I want to show you in the scriptures
on that Bethlehem and Ephratah and all of that so we'll pick
up there next time but this this is the purpose of God to glorify
himself in the salvation of his people through Christ. That's
why Israel was going through and Judah was going through everything
they went through here. And they were accountable for
their sins, but the purpose of God was moving forward right
according to plan and according to his promise in Christ.