Scripture Reading: Micah 5:2-9; Amos 9:11-15
In this message I would like to give a word on the greatness of the prophets in their speaking concerning Christ. When Micah and the other prophets spoke concerning Christ, they were touching great things. However, when they turned from Christ to their own observations regarding the condition and situation of God’s people, they became small.
In his prophecy concerning Christ, Micah says, “His goings forth are from ancient times, / From the days of eternity” (5:2). Then he goes on to say that this One, who is Israel’s Ruler and Shepherd, will be the peace when Assyria comes into the land (v. 5). In verse 6 the prophet first speaks of the land of Assyria and the land of Nimrod, and then, prophesying about Christ, declares, “He will save us from Assyria.” In these verses we can see Nimrod and Assyria as they are related to Christ.
Human government began with Nimrod, the first type of Antichrist. According to Genesis 10:10 and 11, Nimrod built the cities of Babel and Nineveh. Babel issued in Babylon, the height of human government (Dan. 2:31-45) and the first stage of the locusts, that is, the cutting locusts (Joel 1:4). Human government, including the empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, has been used by God to carry out His work of the chastisement of Israel. Eventually, the entire human government — the four kinds of locusts mentioned in Joel 1 and the four sections of the great image described in Daniel 2 — will be smashed by a single stone, Christ as the stone cut out without hands that will become a great mountain and fill the whole earth (Dan. 2:34-35). In this way Christ will save Israel from Assyria.
Regarding the four locusts in Joel, the Lord has given us a bright revelation. This enlightenment, this shining, opens not only the Bible but the entire history of the world. Furthermore, this revelation opens up God’s eternal economy, for the four stages of the locusts occupy a great part of God’s economy in relation to mankind. It may be that before too long the locusts will be destroyed and, as Hosea 6:2 prophesies, dormant Israel will be raised up on the third day.
The prophets are great in their speaking about Christ but not in their speaking about other things. We may use Micah and Amos as examples. On the one hand, they both prophesied concerning Christ; on the other hand, they both spoke about such a small thing as deceitful balances. Amos said that the corrupt people made the ephah small and the shekel large and falsified the balances for deceit (8:5). Concerning this, Micah said, “Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, / And a scant measure that is abominable? / Shall I be pure with wicked balances / And with a bag of deceitful weights?” (6:10-11). Both prophets observed that the people used one measure for buying and a different measure for selling and that their weights and balances were deceitful. The word of Amos and Micah about such a small matter cannot compare with the greatness of their word concerning Christ.
The prophet Joel differs from Micah and Amos in that he did not speak regarding small things. Rather, in just three chapters he spoke concerning five great matters: (1) the four kinds of locusts (1:4); (2) the outpouring of the Spirit (2:28-32); (3) the coming of Christ with all the mighty ones to defeat Antichrist with his armies to change this age (3:11, 13); (4) the judging of all the living nations to separate the “sheep” from the “goats” (3:2, 12; cf. Matt. 25:31-46); and (5) Christ’s reigning among Israel in the millennial kingdom (Joel 3:16-17, 21b).
In contrast, Amos and Micah used many more chapters than Joel to speak of things other than Christ. When these prophets spoke concerning Christ, they spoke great things, but when they expressed their own natural concept and opinion, they were like some of the psalmists. For instance, Micah 6:8 says, “He has declared to you, O man, what is good; / And what does Jehovah require of you, / But that you would execute justice and love lovingkindness / And walk humbly with your God?” Is this word according to the tree of life or according to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Surely it is according to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Is this word according to the divine revelation or according to the human concept of the prophet? This word is not a matter of God’s revelation but of the prophet’s concept.
My concern here actually is not with the shortcomings of these prophets but with our situation today. I am concerned that some of us may take the four governing principles, or the four factors, we have seen in the Minor Prophets and use them in a critical way to examine others in the church, especially the elders. Those who do this may be like certain of the psalmists, but they are not prophets speaking for God.
In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul encouraged us to be prophets, not psalmists (vv. 24, 31). If we express our concept or opinion, we are like some of the psalmists. To prophesy is not only to speak for Christ but also to speak forth Christ and even to speak Christ. If we have an opinion or concept, that opinion or concept must be Christ. We should have no heart to express our opinion. Our burden, desire, intention, and goal should be just to speak Christ. I can testify that my aim in all the messages I put out is to speak Christ and Christ alone.
In their prophesying concerning Christ, Amos and Micah are great.
Amos is great in his prophecy concerning Christ’s rebuilding the fallen tabernacle of David. In Amos 9:11 the prophet says, “In that day I will raise up / The fallen tabernacle of David, / And I will wall up its breaches / And raise up its ruins / And build it up as it was in the days of old.” We have seen that the tabernacle of David is the kingdom of David and the royal family of David. The kingdom of David was a type of the coming kingdom of Christ. When Christ comes back, He will rebuild, that is, restore and recover, the kingdom of His forefather David and fully make the kingdom of David the kingdom of Christ and of God for eternity.
Micah’s prophecy concerning the goings forth of the all-inclusive Christ is a great matter. In this prophecy Christ is all-inclusive because He will be the Ruler, the Shepherd, and the peace of Israel, and He will also bring forth the seven shepherds and the eight princes (5:2-5).
Christ came forth from Bethlehem, a small town called “David’s city” (Luke 2:4). However, His goings forth were not from time but from eternity. In eternity past He selected us and predestinated us (Eph. 1:4-5). When He was doing these things, He considered how He would come. If He had only selected and predestinated us without preparing to come out of eternity, He could do nothing with us. Whatever He will do and can do for us depends on His coming forth. He came in incarnation, and He went on through human living, death, resurrection, ascension, and the outpouring of the consummated Spirit, who is the reality of Christ Himself. All these are great steps in Christ’s going forth. His going forth has not stopped but is continuing today.
