Listen to what the Lord says: “Get up! Defend yourself before the mountains! Present your case before the hills!” Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains, you enduring foundations of the earth! For the Lord has a case against his people; he has a dispute with Israel! “My people, how have I wronged you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! In fact, I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I delivered you from that place of slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you.” (Micah 6:1-4)
In this past Sunday’s sermon, Reverend Courtney shared several points. Today, let’s reflect on the sovereignty and primacy of the Sender.
The Sender. Who is it that commissions us? Jesus says in John 20:21, “Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” In the same vein, Acts 13:2 indicates that “while they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ ” Our Sender is the triune God, in whom all things begin and end.
His Sovereignty. Micah 6 shows us the heart of our Sender. He is Sovereign, and as such He is to be obeyed. In Micah 6:4 God says “I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you”—in other words, God sends prophetic people into our community. These men and women are our spiritual leaders. They serve as ambassadors of Christ and representatives of God. As King, He has commanded them to speak on His behalf.
His System. The use of “Moses, Aaron, and Miriam” in Micah 6 is significant. It was Miriam who God struck with leprosy after she disrespected Moses (Numbers 12:1-10). It was Aaron who fashioned the gold calf and supported ancient Israel’s grand episode of false worship (Exodus 32). And lest we try to deify Moses, Moses’ failure to honor God kept him out of the Promised Land (Numbers 27:12-14). But these leaders’ moments of failure did not negate their responsibility to lead in the roles that God had assigned to them.
This is difficult for us. We can write a fairly long list of flawed leaders who have failed miserably and discouraged the faith of many. But what do we say to God? It is His prerogative whether to allow the evidence of His Presence to be taken away from a person (First Samuel 16:13-14), or a place (First Samuel chapters 5 & 6), or whether to manifest His power through a man’s ministry for the duration of his life (Acts 1:15-17). In the face of flawed leadership, we are still called to obey God. Our prayer is that we will confess our faults to one another, that God will mercifully deliver us, and that His glorious Light will shine in spite of us.
As Pastor Sam says from time to time, and I paraphrase here, “God uses fallible people to speak on His behalf. ” That is the system God uses.
Will you submit to the Sovereign Sender?
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
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