Micah 1-3
So many words in all of these prophesies, and my understanding of them falls way short! Perhaps God will grant me more understanding over time. For now, though, there is one thing that I do understand. With the privilege of leadership comes an extra weight of responsibility. Thus God has some harsh words for the leaders of His people – both the rulers and the so-called prophets. Not only did these leaders turn away from God themselves, but they led His people away from Him as well. It is one thing to do yourself in, but to take others with you is a whole ‘nuther thing.
Besides leading His people astray, God also calls out these leaders for their injustice to their subjects (again, God’s people). And He rebukes them for their pious pride. God says that they detest justice, “yet they lean on the LORD and say, ‘Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.’” (Mic 3:11b). Micah spoke to the Old Testament rulers but his message applied to the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ time as well. And I believe it also applies to our leaders today – both in the government and in the church. Human nature never changes apart from the grace of God.
Acts 21:1-17
More than once, as Paul and his crew made their way to Jerusalem, people speaking through the Holy Spirit told them that it would not go well for Paul there. As a result, Paul’s crew and the people they were visiting all urged him not to go. Yet Paul still felt compelled to go. So my question is, did Paul ignore God’s message to him to stay away from Jerusalem? Or was the message meant to prepare Paul for what he was to face and his friends responded to it in fear of losing him?
I tend to believe that Paul’s friends were responding to God’s word in fear. I don’t see a specific word from the Holy Spirit telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem. At Tyre, the disciples told Paul not to go “through the Spirit”, but we don’t know the specific message they received. And the message through Agabus simply told Paul what would happen to him in Jerusalem. The message did not say that he should not go; it was the people who told him not to go.
Paul’s response to all of it was, “I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13b). So his friends ultimately relented saying, “Let the will of the Lord be done.” (Acts 21:14b). It seems to me that Paul was resolute in what he believed God was asking Him to do. So maybe God’s messages through the Holy Spirit were not just to prepare Paul for what was coming, but to test all of them – Paul and his friends – in their trust. I pray that I would listen to God closely and respond to whatever He says in trust and not in fear.