He Who Restores Our Breach. Micah Part 4 (Chapter 2 vv.7-13)

O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? Are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?

It was with great privilege that the covenant nation of God in Old Testament times was called the house of Jacob. For its patriarch Jacob had earned the title for his resilience and determination in seeking the living God. And [God] said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed (Genesis 32:27-28). Jacob’s offspring were those who should have had that same zeal and love for God, but instead had none of it. To call Israel the house of Jacob is to give a great insult and to point out their lack of faith.

We spoke last time about the meaning of verse seven. God asks his covenant people, Do you believe that the Holy Spirit is limited? Does he not have any power over men’s hearts? Is the Word of God of no effect to those upright in heart? We of course know the answer. To those who were the remnant of God’s faithful, though small in number, did profit from the Word of God, and were changed by the Holy Spirit. Those who lacked faith could not experience this reality in their lives and so experienced the consequences. What were these consequences? 1) the apostasy and falling away from God’s commandments, whereby they shunned that which God had given them for their good, and sought after those things which were to their own hurt. Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5); they sought out evil schemes. They perverted justice in their quest for covetousness and when warned about looming disaster, forbade the prophets from speaking. They did not want to hear the hard truths that the prophets were speaking, but instead wanted to hear what they wanted to hear. And what was the second consequence? 2) that because of this apostasy, falsehood, and perversion of justice, God brought upon them (or promised to bring upon them) great judgements as punishment. And yet, even though this people would see great destructions in their lifetimes, they would still not believe. He warned Habakkuk: For I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. (Habakkuk 1:5). God asks them, Are these his doings? As if to ask, do you still fail to see that for your own sin all this has come upon you?

We as Christians believe that God works miracles in the world. Some of the miracles are very good, such as acts of deliverance and healing. Others are very bad, such as great destructions and wrath. Yet whether good or bad, God uses both to point people to himself and to warn people to flee the path of sin and seek after him in faith and repentance. This was the purpose of Jesus’ miracles while he walked the earth. Likewise, but opposite, God prescribed many curses that would befall the people of Israel if they turned away from him to follow false gods (Deuteronomy 28). These curses had a very real intended effect. That seeing great destruction, the people would remember the curses which God had promised for their sin, that they would recognize in their hearts that there is a God in heaven, and that they would turn to that same God for deliverance from their sins. This is not hard to grasp. All the curses of Deuteronomy 28, for example, have an element of mercy, since God promises to heal and forgive the nation and to bless them for returning to him (Deuteronomy 30). Jeremiah wept amidst the destruction of Jerusalem and declared of God He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate (Lamentations 3:10-11). Yet later, Jeremiah praised God despite his great judgements, declaring This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. (Lamentations 3:21-22). After telling Habakkuk of all the great destructions to befall Jerusalem at the hand of the Babylonians, the Prophet entreated of God O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy (Habakkuk 3:2). It is because God has a greater purpose in his wrath that Habakkuk could say triumphantly (yet with much weariness) Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation (Habakkuk 3:18). 

Yet, most people do not have faith to perceive God’s greater purpose in every event of their lives, whether miraculous or ordinary. In fact, without faith, one cannot comprehend this. We see this in the Gospels, where Jesus’ acts of healing were done in the midst of a hard hearted people who couldn’t discern that God had visited them. Jesus knew their lack of faith and blindness when going to heal the nobleman’s son, saying to the people, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. (John 4:48). Of course we know that many people saw Jesus’ miraculous acts of healing, and yet seeing, still did not believe. The Pharisees were the chiefest example of this. They even asked him for a greater sign than the ones he had shown: Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee (Matthew 12:38). Consider that at the raising of Lazarus, they received the news of the events, did not deny them, but instead used that as the final straw (John 11:46-47). Yes, they believed the resurrection of Lazarus had indeed happened, but were not willing in their blindness to comprehend what it meant for their lives. This day the Scriptures are fulfilled in your hearing. They ought to have repented and given glory to God, calling Jesus Lord and Savior, but found no repentance. Despite the wondrous cosmic plagues to befall them, men will at the end of the world still not repent: And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands (Revelation 9:20-21). Pharaoh saw all of the plagues which befell Egypt and refused to obey the will of God. He even saw the waters of the Red Sea parted before him, and still charged in headlong to his death. This goes without saying that before we know God, we are incapable of believing him rightly. Unbelief is not a matter of evidence or philosophic disagreement. It is not because a person doesn’t have all the facts. No, unbelief is a result of a hardened heart which blinds the soul from finding its only source of survival. Look at those who don’t know God, and you will see people who have no understanding.

When God asks, are these his doings?, the answer is a resounding yes. God is not far from any one of us. He is active in the world, and he is active in our lives, and he has revealed himself to his creation both in nature and in his Word. He is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9). From his revelation, he has made all men without excuse (Romans 2:20), and has shown them that he exists. That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: (Acts 17:26-27). Again, are these his doings? Is not everything that happens in your life the will of God? Absolutely it is. Yet if we will not look to God in the great things, will we look to him in the small and ordinary? Who has despised the day of small things?

As a believer, search your own heart and discover how blind you can be also. Look at yourself and ask, do I sin? Do I do things which I know to be wrong? Do I know something will hurt me in the long run, but still do it for the excitement and pleasure of the moment? Certainly we believers do, and this should be a warning for us to reflect and search our hearts. Remember, Moses addressed the covenant community of God’s people when he said: Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles: (Deuteronomy 29:2-3). You see, just like Pharaoh, even God’s people were calloused and could not see God’s hand at work. If we will not take instruction from the great miracles which God performs, how shall we perceive the small works of God every day in our lives? How shall we be able to render God thanks for the simple blessings we have everyday, like food, and clothing, and homes, and families and friendship?

When God speaks of the those who walk uprightly, he uses the word ישׁר. We might remember this word from the book of Deuteronomy, where God calls the nation of Israel Jeshurun. It is a play on words, calling the nation something they clearly weren’t. Was the nation upright and sinless in desert? Certainly not! They were disobedient and provoked the Lord to wrath those 40 years. And yet, God in his mercy still carried them all the days of their desert wanderings, giving them chance after chance and sustaining them. And so we take verse 7 in its entirety to learn something about the world: It rejects God and is blind to his work. It is blind to his judgments. It refuses to repent and be saved. And then we learn something about ourselves as believers, that despite being called by the name of the God of Jacob, we are also disobedient children who fail to heed God’s warnings and glorify him for his work in our lives. We ought to praise his name more and more, giving thanks to him for his salvation in Jesus. We should cherish and be changed by the Word of God which he has preserved for us.

Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.

The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.

Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.

If a man, walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.

In these verses, God shows the fruit of the faithlessness found in verse 7. The Israelites persisted in their injustices, seeking to gain spoil from the easiest of targets. In verse 8, it is the sojourners passing through the land who are the targets. The Israelites snatch even their basic necessities as those who are plundering after a war. In verse 9, it is again the women and the children who are spoiled of their possessions, because they are easy targets. Earlier it was the fields and the inheritances. Here, even the children are robbed of their eternal possession. For evil men are seen to put before them stumbling blocks which take away the Lord’s glory. We can see this both of robbing away the covenant blessings and in spiritual robbery: cutting of future generations from the means to know and learn about God. We see this in our own age. In verse 11, we see the same spirit of falsehood which the people desired in 2:6. Again the people desired that the prophets tell them only what they wanted to hear. Enough of all this talk of judgement and sin! Tell us about things that speak to the carnal nature: This is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. (Isaiah 30:9-11)

I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah , as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

In verse 12, we see God’s mercy over his people, in that he is a great Shepherd to us. Bozrah in Moab was known as a sanctuary of sheepherding, an abundant grazing land. God promises in this verse to assemble his people, his Church as a flock into their fold. They shall make great noise in that this remnant shall be a multitude of peoples praising his name. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young (Isaiah 40:11). Jesus takes care of his sheep. How does he accomplish this? I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the father: and I lay down my life for the sheep (John 1014-15). Jesus lays down his life a ransom for his people.

The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.

The theme of verse 13 is entirely linked to those which just preceded it. We focus on this word פרץ, the breacher or breaker. I refer your attention to Genesis 39:28-30, where the twins of Judah are born. The one, Perez, came out ahead of his brother Zarah, who had put his hand out of the womb first. That is the same word here. You can find this same word used throughout scripture in a number of related ways, of which there is no time to discuss here. But we will here give a few examples to give the point of verse 13. 

Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: Therefore, this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the burning of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit (Isaiah 30:12-14). The imagery God is using in this verse is that of a city wall that is under siege. Siege warfare used a number of techniques to destroy a city wall. The most obvious was the siege engine which would use a protruding arm to ram a wall until it collapsed. Other more sophisticated means employed tunneling under a wall, supporting the cave with timbers, then setting the timbers on fire such that the wall above would cave in. The result would be what is known as a breach, through which the enemy troops would stream through unopposed. The idea that God is making through Isaiah is that, sin has the same effect. If we are a city, then sin causes a breach in our lives. It rips us apart and creates a tear through which the enemy can charge in. Satan does this to us. Temptation is the battering ram, sin is the enemy troops, and satan is the commander of the enemy army. But you see, satan needs no battering ram at all, since we allow ourselves to be taken by temptation. We create the breaches in our own walls. Consider this story, that one night, Belshazzar king of Babylon threw a huge party. All the nobles of Babylon were drinking and celebrating in what was a most sinful spectacle, drinking from the vessels of the temple and mocking God. A hand appeared and wrote four mysterious words upon the wall of the palace. These were מנא מנא תקל ופרסין. Numbered, numbered, weighed, and, divided. For outside the city walls that night, the King of the Persians was assembled with his troops. He had diverted the waters of the Euphrates river, and led his troops under the city walls on the dry riverbed, such that he entered Babylon that night sneakily and unopposed. The breach had been made and cost Belshazzar his life. You see, our complacency to sin will have the same effect.

But you see, just as sin causes a breach in our lives, so Jesus is the exact opposite. Jesus is the good breacher. It is Jesus who rescues you from satan’s grips and leads you from the land of captivity to another, more glorious homeland. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son (Colossians 1:13). It is Jesus who is both a lowly, suffering servant, and also a mighty Man of war who fights for his people. He fights with the Word of his mouth and the Spirit. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through the pulling down of strong holds (2 Corinthians 10:4). As David spoke to Goliath, the LORD saveth not with sword and spear (1 Samuel 17:47). Jesus is the good breacher, since he breaks into satan’s abode. How does he cast out demons? He enters into the strong man’s house, binds him in chains, and spoils him (Matthew 12:29). He spoils satan, and gaining victory, he leads his captives forth from the city in victory. We pass through the gate, out of the realm of darkness, with our Good Shepherd leading the way. He is our King.

But remember in verse 10, God said, this is not your rest. What is the rest which God describes here? This is the rest that our souls have with Jesus forever. The rest that can only come with being saved by him, being forgiven all our sins. We are disobedient now in the flesh: For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. (Isaiah 30:15). We can’t fully comprehend this everlasting rest while we are still here. But God is faithful to complete that which he began in us. He will preserve us until the end. And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgement: blessed are tall they that wait for him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. (Isaiah 30:18-19). Of the triumphant Church he says later: And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in (Isaiah 58:12).