The Berean Pursuit
This is the word of the LORD that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah-what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem:
Hear, O peoples, all of you;
listen, O earth, and everyone in it!
May the Lord GOD bear witness against you,
the Lord from His holy temple.
For behold, the LORD comes forth
from His dwelling place;
He will come down and tread
on the high places of the earth.
The mountains will melt beneath Him,
and the valleys will split apart,
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
All this is for the transgression of Jacob
and the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
Therefore I will make Samaria
a heap of rubble in the open field,
a planting area for a vineyard.
I will pour her stones into the valley
and expose her foundations.
All her carved images will be smashed to pieces;
all her wages will be burned in the fire,
and I will destroy all her idols.
Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,
they will be used again on a prostitute.
Because of this I will lament and wail;
I will walk barefoot and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and mourn like an ostrich.
For her wound is incurable;
it has reached even Judah;
it has approached the gate of my people,
as far as Jerusalem itself.
Do not tell it in Gath; do not weep at all.
Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.
Depart in shameful nakedness,
O dwellers of Shaphir.
The dwellers of Zaanan
will not come out.
Beth-ezel is in mourning;
its support is taken from you.
For the dwellers of Maroth pined for good,
but calamity came down from the LORD,
even to the gate of Jerusalem.
Harness your chariot horses,
O dweller of Lachish.
You were the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion,
for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
Therefore, send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath;
the houses of Achzib will prove deceptive
to the kings of Israel.
I will again bring a conqueror against you,
O dweller of Mareshah.
The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair
in mourning for your precious children;
make yourselves as bald as an eagle,
for they will go from you into exile.
Woe to those who devise iniquity
and plot evil on their beds!
At morning's light they accomplish it
because the power is in their hands.
They covet fields and seize them;
they take away houses.
They deprive a man of his home,
a fellow man of his inheritance.
Therefore this is what the LORD says:
"I am planning against this nation a disaster
from which you cannot free your necks.
Then you will not walk so proudly,
for it will be a time of calamity.
In that day they will take up a proverb against you
and taunt you with this bitter lamentation:
'We are utterly ruined!
He has changed the portion of my people.
How He has removed it from me!
He has allotted our fields to traitors.'?"
Therefore, you will have no one in the assembly of the LORD
to divide the land by lot.
"Do not preach," they preach.
"Do not preach these things;
disgrace will not overtake us."
Should it be said, O house of Jacob,
"Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient?
Are these the things He does?"
Do not My words bring good
to him who walks uprightly?
But of late My people have risen up
like an enemy:
You strip off the splendid robe
from unsuspecting passersby
like men returning from battle.
You drive the women of My people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away My blessing
from their children forever.
Arise and depart,
for this is not your place of rest,
because its defilement brings destruction-
a grievous destruction!
If a man of wind were to come
and say falsely,
"I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,"
he would be just the preacher for this people!
I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob;
I will collect the remnant of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in the midst of its pasture-
a noisy throng.
One who breaks open the way
will go up before them;
they will break through the gate,
and go out by it.
Their King will pass through before them,
the LORD as their leader.
Then I said:
"Hear now, O leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of the house of Israel.
Should you not know justice?
You hate good and love evil.
You tear the skin from my people
and strip the flesh from their bones.
You eat the flesh of my people
after stripping off their skin
and breaking their bones.
You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot,
like meat in a cauldron."
Then they will cry out to the LORD,
but He will not answer them.
At that time He will hide His face from them
because of the evil they have done.
This is what the LORD says:
"As for the prophets
who lead My people astray,
who proclaim peace
while they chew with their teeth,
but declare war against one
who puts nothing in their mouths:
Therefore night will come over you without visions,
and darkness without divination.
The sun will set on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn black over them.
Then the seers will be ashamed
and the diviners will be disgraced.
They will all cover their mouths
because there is no answer from God."
As for me, however, I am filled with power
by the Spirit of the LORD,
with justice and courage,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel,
who despise justice
and pervert all that is right,
who build Zion with bloodshed
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
Her leaders judge for a bribe,
her priests teach for a price,
and her prophets practice divination for money.
Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying,
"Is not the LORD among us?
No disaster can come upon us."
Therefore, because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD
will be established as the chief of the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and the peoples will stream to it.
And many nations will come and say:
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us His ways,
so that we may walk in His paths."
For the law will go forth from Zion
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Then He will judge between many peoples
and arbitrate for strong nations far and wide.
Then they will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation,
nor will they train anymore for war.
And each man will sit under his own vine
and under his own fig tree,
with no one to frighten him.
For the mouth of the LORD of Hosts has spoken.
Though each of the peoples
may walk in the name of his god,
yet we will walk in the name of the LORD our God
forever and ever.
"On that day," declares the LORD,
"I will gather the lame;
I will assemble the outcast,
even those whom I have afflicted.
And I will make the lame into a remnant,
and the outcast into a strong nation.
Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion
from that day and forever.
And you, O watchtower of the flock,
O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion-
the former dominion will be restored to you;
sovereignty will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem."
Why do you now cry aloud?
Is there no king among you?
Has your counselor perished
so that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?
Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion,
like a woman in labor.
For now you will leave the city
and camp in the open fields.
You will go to Babylon;
there you will be rescued;
there the LORD will redeem you
from the hand of your enemies!
But now many nations
have assembled against you,
saying, "Let her be defiled,
and let us feast our eyes on Zion."
But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD
or understand His plan,
for He has gathered them
like sheaves to the threshing floor.
Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion,
for I will give you horns of iron
and hooves of bronze
to break to pieces many peoples.
Then you will devote their gain to the LORD,
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
Why, O LORD, do You stand far off?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
In pride the wicked pursue the needy;
let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him;
in all his schemes there is no God.
He is secure in his ways at all times;
Your lofty judgments are far from him;
he sneers at all his foes.
He says to himself, "I will not be moved;
from age to age I am free of distress."
His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence;
trouble and malice are under his tongue.
He lies in wait near the villages;
in ambush he slays the innocent;
his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.
He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket;
he lurks to seize the oppressed;
he catches the lowly in his net.
They are crushed and beaten down;
the hapless fall prey to his strength.
He says to himself, "God has forgotten;
He hides His face and never sees."
Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God!
Do not forget the helpless.
Why has the wicked man renounced God?
He says to himself, "You will never call me to account."
But You have regarded trouble and grief;
You see to repay it by Your hand.
The victim entrusts himself to You;
You are the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call him to account for his wickedness
until none is left to be found.
The LORD is King forever and ever;
the nations perish from His land.
You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble;
You will strengthen their hearts.
You will incline Your ear,
to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed,
that the men of the earth
may strike terror no more.
As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, His disciples came up to Him to point out its buildings.
"Do you see all these things?" He replied. "Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."
While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?"
Jesus answered, "See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another, and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.
Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination of desolation,' described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house. And let no one in the field return for his cloak.
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath. For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again. If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
At that time, if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There He is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible. See, I have told you in advance.
So if they tell you, 'There He is in the wilderness,' do not go out; or, 'Here He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days:
'The sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.'
At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you will know that He is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come. But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, 'My master will be away a long time.' And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.