Micah was written to bring God’s lawsuit against His people. He begins by telling his readers, “Attention! Let all the people of the world listen! The Sovereign Lord is making accusations against you; the Lord speaks from his holy Temple” (Micah 1:1).

When Micah tells his readers the Lord is coming he says, “The mountains melt beneath his feet and flow into the valleys like wax in a fire, like water pouring down a hill” (Micah 1:4). Pay attention. When the Lord comes in judgement, even the mountains melt! No one and no thing can stand. Speaking of Samaria’s idols, we see “all her carved images will be smashed. All her sacred treasures will be burned. These things were bought with the money earned by her prostitution, and they will now be carried away to pay prostitutes elsewhere.” (Micah 1:7).

I feel the need to back up one step and address a question. Does God come into the presence of idols? If you are a Christian, I want to say directly to you- YES! God came into the presence of your idol worship and laid your idols to waste. What grace! He could have just killed you—which is what you and I both deserve. Instead, Christ was punished.

And if you are not a Christian, this is your only hope—that God would come into your heart and lay waste to your idols. When God draws near, idols are destroyed. They melt just like the mountains. In place of our old, idolatrous heart we are given a new heart, with new desires. A heart no longer driven by sex or money or fame or comfort or food—but a deep desire for God and to worship Him alone.

In God’s great love for the world, He put the punishment for your sin on Christ. On the cross, Christ paid the debt you owe because of your idol worship. Both our payment for sin and our new heart come only through faith in Christ. In Him, you are no longer under the power of sin (see Romans 6:6). Your sinful flesh is as dead as your idols. In Christ, you now have a new want to and a new can do.

As for God’s judgement, it is still coming (see Colossians 3:5-6). He will destroy idols and idolaters. The only way you and I will be able to stand will be to stand in Christ. Otherwise, we melt. Eternally.

You are in Christ by God’s work, not your own. As we see the alters of idolatry in our own town and in our friends and family, we should be grieved. God’s judgment is coming. If we are to love our community well, we must share the Gospel of God.