When the Lord Comes Down

Introduction: An unsettling wake-up call

Have you had a moment like that, when God exposed your sin in mercy?

1. An oracle or divine utterance (judgment or salvation)

2. Micah’s name means, “Who is like the Lord?”

3. “Micah of Moresheth.” Moresheth is an agricultural town located in the southern region of Judah.

4. Micah’s message is that the spiritual and moral decline of God’s people will result in divine judgment.

I. A Call to Listen to God (Micah 1:1–5) 

Micah opens with a thunderous call: “Hear, O peoples, all of you!” Richard Phillips states, “The great need of every generation is to pay attention to God.” Like Judah under Jotham, we assume security just because we bear the name of God. But we speak lightly of sin.

A. Micah warns against false security. The “high places” (Micah 1:3) symbolize not just cities like Samaria and Jerusalem, but prideful strongholds and spiritual rebellion.God will tread on them. When He comes, “the mountains melt… the valleys split” (Micah 1:4). This isn’t just poetry—it’s prophecy. Jerome said the ungodly melt before the Lord like wax near fire. Calvin reminds us: such images show how utterly unable we are to resist His fury.

B. Micah foretells the fall of Samaria by Assyria, and the looming threat to Jerusalem unless there is repentance. “The Lord is coming out of his place…” (Micah 1:3). Israel’s sins—idolatry, pride, injustice—bring judgment.

C. Micah describes the coming judgment, “And the mountains will melt under him, and the valley will split open…”(Micah 1:4). St. Jerome notes, “As wax cannot endure the nearness of the fire, and as the waters are carried headlong, so all of the ungodly, when the Lord comes, shall be dissolved and disappear.” John Calvin writes, “Such figures of speech symbolize how defenseless we are, how totally unable to resist God. For if God suddenly appear, who could stand his furor.” The language conveys not only God’s power over nature but also his terrifying might against rebellious mankind.

D. Micah says to the comfortable church today: “You are the man.” We boast of rich heritage, theological purity, faithful tradition, but have we grown cold? Are we bored with the Word, apathetic in worship, indifferent to evangelism? Transgression means rebellion. Sin means waywardness. Together, they expose our covenant breach (Richard Phillips).

E. Micah 1:6 is chilling: “I will make Samaria a heap in the open country…” All their progress, their wealth, their pleasures undone. It’s a warning for us. Are we building for God’s glory or our own comfort? Micah points beyond Assyria to the Day of the Lord (Rev. 19:11,15). The only way of escape is to HEAR/HEED. God did not stop speaking to the world through the prophets and apostles, and now, God has spoken through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2); “Whoever hears my word and believes… has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).

II. A Call to Lament (Micah 1:6–14) 

Micah’s response is not smug judgment. It is sorrow: “I will lament and wail…”(Micah 1:8). He strips off comfort and dignity and grieves. The language of mourning underscores how deeply he feels the burden of his message.

A. There’s no gloating here. No “They had it coming.” Just a prophet whose heart breaks. Like Paul, whose desire was for his fellow Israelites to be saved. Like Christ, who wept over Jerusalem: “How often would I have gathered you…”

B. Did you see the parallel between Micah and Jesus. Jesus as the last greatest prophet, lamented the destruction that Jerusalem would experience, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:37-38).

C. We must ask: Do we see the world through grieving eyes? Or just judging ones? Micah shows fraternal love even for wayward Israel. Calvin notes they were still children of Abraham, part of the holy race - and Micah laments them like family.

Illustration: Robert Murray M’Cheyne once challenged his friend Andrew Bonar, after a cold report of a spiritually dead town.

He also cautions against gloating enemies. “Tell it not in Gath…” (Micah 1:10). Like David, Micah doesn’t want pagans to delight in Israel’s downfall. Public shame harms the witness of God’s people.

D. Lament shows our need for grace. We don’t always suffer for sin—like Job, sometimes we hold fast to innocence. But we also must cry out with David: “Blot out my transgressions…” (Psalm 51:1). Micah reminds us that comfort can mask danger. Familiar routines, cozy homes, even churches with warm names can lull us. But there is no hiding place from God.

III. A Call to Look Up to Christ (Micah 1:15-16) 

Micah ends with an image of mourning: “Make yourselves bald… for your children…” (Micah 1:16). Once more, the language is of funeral rites. He is calling them to weep now or weep later.

A. Mourn over sin in repentance now, or mourn later under judgment. But here’s the hope. He mentions Adullam(David’s place of refuge). Micah says; Go back. Return to where the stronghold of grace is. Not as triumphant heirs, but as broken sinners who need rescue.

B. There’s grace in this call. Micah urges the people to return, not to religion, but to the Redeemer. To the place where God builds His kingdom again. To Christ, our stronghold. To Jesus, who gathers sinners and gives them rest, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”(Matthew 11:28-30).

Conclusion: The question Micah presses upon us is not merely about Assyria. It’s about you and me. About the Church. Will we hear God’s voice? Will we lament our sin? Will we return to Christ? “The Lord is coming out of His place…” Hear now. Lament now. Look now to Christ, your only refuge. Turn to Christ in repentance. “There is no pardon without repentance” (Chad Van Dixhoorn). Repentance is necessary. No sinner should presume forgiveness while remaining unrepentant (Luke 13:3). Repentance is not merely feeling guilty about sin, it is a complete turning away from sin and toward God. The WCFteaches that sinners, under conviction, experience both deep sorrow for sin (acknowledgement of sin) and great joy in God’s mercy (apprehension of God’s mercy). John Calvin writes,“True repentance is not only a turning from sin but an earnest seeking after righteousness” (Institutes, 3.3.5). This turning is not superficial but life-giving, one that bears fruit (Matthew 3:8). It produces a transformed heart that now desires holiness rather than rebellion.

Sources:

1. Richard D. Phillips, Jonah and Micah, REC.

2. Kenneth Barker & Waylon Bailey, Micah-Nahum-Habakkuk-Zephaniah, The New American Commentary.

3. John Goldingay, Hosea-Micah, Baker Commentary.