The Gospel According to Micah

Dr. Micah L. Caswell

Description

Take Micah back and marvel at Jesus’ paradoxical good news of judgment and kingdom with the insights and commentary in The Gospel According to Micah.

Most people do not understand elements of the gospel that are emphasized in the minor prophets.

For example, without the minor prophets, we are at risk of not cherishing or fearing the “day of the Lord” (Joel 2). Likewise, we’d fail to understand and appreciate themes like the wrath of God (Micah 2:3) and social justice (Micah 6:8) in light of the Christ event.

Micah is often overlooked, but this commentary presents a compelling case for why he matters. The author argues that while Micah is often lumped in with minor prophets, he deserves to be taught on his own.

He also suggests that while many have read and preached Micah, they have missed the gospel. For instance, a minor prophetic book like Micah is sometimes used by advocates for social justice to advance a progressive, social gospel agenda, which runs the risk of applying the text in a way that urges people toward progressive political positions disconnected from Jesus.

Take Micah back and marvel at the glory of the Lord with the insights and commentary in The Gospel According to Micah.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Biblical Commentary
• Philosophie et théologie
• Christocentric
• Micah
• Christology
• Commentary

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 08 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664272491
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MICAH
 
A Christocentric Commentary
 
 
 
 
DR. MICAH L. CASWELL
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 Dr. Micah L. Caswell.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7247-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7248-4 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7249-1 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022913088
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 11/07/2022
ENDORSEMENTS
“The Christian Scriptures constitute both the Old and New Testaments. For too long too many Christians have possessed only a fleeting or superficial acquaintance with the Old Testament. Micah Caswell’s latest book attempts to rectify this. It will serve the church well by furnishing those who labour in preaching and teaching with a stimulating conversation partner. The introductory chapters, in particular, will benefit those committed to introducing others to the Old Testament as Christian Scripture.”
S. D. Ellison, director of training, Irish Baptist College, Northern Ireland; author of The Holy One of Israel: Exploring Isaiah and Five: The Solas of the Reforma tion
“Micah has done the evangelical world a favor in writing this commentary on Micah. The introductory chapter on the need and process of Christ-centered expository preaching is worth the price of the book, but you get the additional advantage of having a down to earth commentary of Micah that demonstrates how to take a Minor Prophet and use it to shine a hermeneutically correct light upon Christ.”
Dr. Clif Johnson, pastor of Garrett Memorial Baptist Church in Hope, Arkansas; Cohost of The Preaching Lab podcast
Over the years, I’ve been privileged as a Bible study teacher to read many commentaries both in my studies in seminary and outside of it in ministering the Word to others. The commentaries I appreciate most are committed to and focused on the biblical text. The very best of the best commentaries focus readers on the biblical text and show them Christ, in the biblical text. In Micah Caswell’s The Gospel According to Micah: A Homiletical Commentary , he excels at not only showing what the biblical text means and how it points to Christ, but he takes it one additional step, he teaches Bible readers how to know and see Christ in the book of Micah. Whether you are a new or seasoned Bible reader, this Micah commentary by Micah contains serious scholarship firmly rooted in the biblical text and points readers to Christ so the people of God will grow in the Word and serve one another in love in the local church.
Dave Jenkins, Executive Director, Servants of Grace Ministries; Executive Editor, Theology for Life Magazine ; Host, Equipping You in Grace, Servants of Grace, and Warriors of Grace Podcasts, and Author, The Word Explored: The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy and What To Do Abou t It
“With clarity and conviction, Caswell demonstrates that the book of Micah is essential for faithful gospel preaching. This commentary illuminates the bountiful opportunities available to every pastor and Christian to speak the good news of Jesus Christ. Replete with illustrations and applications, Caswell has provided a resource which is as accessible as it is helpful.”
Chase Davis, pastor of The Well Church in Boulder, Colorado; Host of the Full Proof Theology podcast
“Every Pastor, teacher, and Bible student needs reliable, accessible, and Christ-centered commentaries at the ready for their study. Conservative and helpful commentaries on the book of Micah are few. So, this new and insightful commentary by Micah Caswell is a welcome and needed addition for every student of God’s Word. Pursuing historical context with rich gospel-centered insights, this commentary on Micah will both inspire and help any Bible student prepare Christ exalting, advantageous messages for contemporary audiences. Make this your first pick when diving into the Book of Micah.”
Dr. Matthew Harding, Lead Pastor of The WELL Community Church, Argyle, Texas; PhD, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Micah offers in these pages a great book written by a weekly practioner of the art of preaching. He directs our attention to preaching the Old Testament Minor prophets in light of their ultimate relationship with the gospel. Through his defense of this strategy he provides his own sermons on the book of Micah. His sermons are well thought out and very applicable for the 21 st century pastor. Read his book to be challenged and encouraged.
Morgan Malone, Executive Director of the Denton Baptist Association and Send Church Planting
 
 
 
 
 
For my wife, Kristen, who encourages me as a preacher. For my children, who I pray are transformed by my preaching. For Redeemer Church, which I pray continues to bear gospel fruit. For the church planters and pastors of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Acts 29 Network, who faithfully preach the Word week in and week out.
CONTENTS
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1Micah Matters
Chapter 2The Case
Chapter 3The Tools
Chapter 4Micah 1, What Is God Going to Do About It?
Chapter 5Micah 2, Hope in the Heavenly City
Chapter 6Micah 3, Live Justly Or Face His Justice
Chapter 7Micah 4:1–8, Joy That Follows Judgment
Chapter 8Micah 4:9–13, Tools For Troubled Times
Chapter 9Micah 5:1–6, God Uses Small Things To Do Big Things
Chapter 10Micah 5:7–15, Feel the Heat
Chapter 11Micah 6:1–8, Our Case Against God’s Heat
Chapter 12Micah 6:9–16, Sound Wisdom For Tremblers
Chapter 13Micah 7:1–7, Don’t Stop Singing
Chapter 14Micah 7:8–20, Who Is Like God?
Bibliography
About the Author
FOREWORD
DR. MATTHEW SHACKELFORD
I will never forget those formative days of joining Micah Caswell for our first doctoral cohort. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, entered the classroom with a powerful declaration. He looked at each of us with a sense of weight and responsibility, which I still feel over a decade later. He said, “This is one of the only classes I teach. If we did one thing at this school, we would teach and train men to preach the Word of God.” His words hung in the air, resounding with a power of conviction. We all sensed in Mohler something of the passion that the Apostle Paul must have had as he sought a legacy of preachers. In 2 Timothy, Paul’s swan’s song, he gave his final legacy words for gospel preaching. Second Timothy 2:2 says, “. . . and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” We see that the Apostle Paul wasn’t ready to pass into heaven without knowing that he was leaving a legacy of gospel preaching through Timothy and others. That’s the sense we all felt from Mohler as he detailed his love of preaching. With his Bible and fountain pen in hand, he guided us through Nehemiah 8, 2 Timothy 4:2, and many other passages on biblical preaching. By the end of that first class, Mohler had created a burning desire for biblical preaching in us all. However, despite this desire to honor the Lord in preaching, feelings of confusion still existed within me—along with the others, I’m sure.
To be honest, my confusion went all the way back to my time at Dallas Theological Seminary in 2006. It was there I had my first exposure to any homiletical method, reading Walter Kaiser’s book Toward an Exegetical Theology . 1 Kaiser produced in me a passion for finding the author’s intended meaning. I was additionally changed by Haddon Robinson’s Biblical Preaching . 2 His design of expository preaching was nearly flawless. Every sermon I crafted from that point forward followed his steps of sermon development. 3 However, Robinson’s model lacked an explicit instruction for which type of theology the homiletician should use. Canonical? Biblical? Or systematic? Over time, it became evident that my preaching was incomplete, missing something Robinson’s work had not provided. I continued using his model for years yet struggled to preach narrative passages and Old Testament sermons. When I was brave enough to venture into preaching these types of passages, my sermons quickly led to preaching the gospel truths in every sermon: Jesus is God’s son, He’s worthy of worship, the Messiah would be Jesus, etc. I naturally hungered to preach Christ, but I didn’t have a clear understanding of Christ’s place in the Scriptures, especially in the Old Testament. I began to notice that many preachers struggled with preaching the Old Testament. Their sermons quickly became riddled with moralisms.
The breakthrough came in reading John