Today in our journey through the 66 books of the Bible we come to the minor prophet, Micah.
Author
Micah 1:1 tells us that the prophet Micah was from Moresheth, a town in Judah. Jeremiah 26:18 confirms this designation. There we read…
Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“‘Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.’
Everything the Bible tells us about Micah attests to his deep sensitivity to the social ills of his day, especially as they affected the small towns and villages of his homeland.
Date
Micah 1:1 also gives us the historical setting of the book: in the days of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah. These kings lived in the latter half of the 8th century and the early years of the 7th century BCE. This is around the same time that Isaiah of Jerusalem was prophesying. Many scholars therefore date the writing of this book to the late 8th or early 7th century. However, some scholars date the book later due to a reference to the Babylonian Exile in Micah 4:10.
Themes
The book begins with an introduction and then moves to sets of prophecies. The first prophecy (1:2-2:13) deals with divine judgment, exile, and social ethics. But Micah’s prophecy also provides hope (2:5,12-13). The second prophecy explains the fall of Jerusalem in terms of wrongful leadership (3:1-12). The third prophecy (4:1-5:14) provides diverse images of a utopian future. It also touches on Judah’s relations with the nations of that time. The book concludes with a didactic prophecy (6:1-8), another explanation for the judgment and fall of Jerusalem (6:9-16) an expression of trust in the Lord (7:1-7) and a confirmation of the Lord’s relationship with Zion and Judah (7:7-20) which leads to an upbeat conclusion to the entire book (7:18-20).
Of special note is Micah 5:2 which says,
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.
When we get to the New Testament, Matthew will take this as a prophecy of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. (See Matthew 2:6.)
Structure
- Superscription (1:1)
- Judgment against Israel and Judah (1:2-3:12)
- Hope for Israel and Judah (4-5)
- The Lord’s Case against Israel (6)
- Gloom turns to Triumph (7)
Key Concept—What the Lord Requires
I believe the key concept of the book of Micah is summed up in Micah 6:8. To understand what Micah is saying, let’s begin reading with chapter 6, verse 1…
Listen to what the Lord says:
“Stand up, plead my case before the mountains;
let the hills hear what you have to say.
“Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation;
listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the Lord has a case against his people;
he is lodging a charge against Israel.
“My people, what have I done to you?
How have I burdened you? Answer me.
I brought you up out of Egypt
and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you,
also Aaron and Miriam.
My people, remember
what Balak king of Moab plotted
and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”
With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
In these verses, the prophet Micah invites us to picture a courtroom. And in that courtroom, God is prosecuting his case against Israel. The audience, or perhaps the jury, in the courtroom, includes God’s creation, specifically, the mountains.
“Why” you might ask, “does the Lord have a charge to bring against his people Israel?” We will get to that in a moment.
But before laying that charge, the Lord asks Israel what they have against him. “My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you?”
Then the Lord goes on to recount his history with Israel as a nation… The Lord reminds his people how he rescued them from slavery in Egypt, how he sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead them, how he protected them when Balak and Balaam in various ways tried to destroy them. Basically, the Lord wants Israel to remember all his righteous acts.
And that points out in a subtle way Israel’s faults. They have failed at righteousness, and they have failed to trust the Lord who has always cared for them, protected them, and rescued them from the enemy.
So, in this sort of dialogue laid out by the prophet Micah, Israel responds to the Lord with an offer to settle the divine dispute “out of court”. Basically, Israel asks, “What do we need to pay you, Lord, to end this little argument? Shall we bring burnt offerings? Or maybe lots of animal sacrifices? Would thousands of rams suffice? Or if you prefer a vegetable offering, how about ten thousand rivers of oil? Is that not enough, Lord? Well then, what if I offer my firstborn child? Will that suffice as an atonement for my sin?”
Basically, Israel is thinking that certain ritual acts will appease God. This has often been the approach of many religions and many people down through history. Some church people still think this way today. Maybe if I go to church more often, or give more money, maybe then God will be happy.
So, how does the Lord respond to Israel’s offer? He rejects every one of Israel’s attempts at appeasement. Instead, the Lord lays out three things that he requires of them.
Justice
The first thing the Lord requires of Israel is justice. God wants us as human beings to act justly because he acts justly. The Lord created us in his image to be like him and a major part of God’s character is his justice.
Notice, God does not simply call on us to like justice or to want justice. He calls on us to dojustice. Doing justice is an awful lot harder than merely talking about it.
What do you think of when you hear the word “justice”? I have all sorts of competing ideas crash through my brain.
I think of the struggle for racial justice, both here and around the world. As a nation we aren’t doing so well on this score, and one wonders if we ever will.
I also think more broadly of social justice, equal opportunity, and resources available to all people in our society.
Then there is the issue of legal justice. One thinks of our justice system and at times one wonders if that is a misnomer—“justice system”. Is there anything just about our legal system in the United States? It is a question worth pondering.
The bottom line is that we all have this dream of and this hope for a just world. But we can’t seem to bring such a world about.
This longing we have for justice is interesting in and of itself, is it not? Where does this longing come from? If this universe is just a cosmic accident, where does our notion of right and wrong come from?
The answer that makes most sense to me is that our sense of right and wrong comes with the kit of being human, because we are created by a just and righteous God.
So, when we bring God into the picture, then how do we feel about justice? Well, I think one’s feelings about cosmic justice all depend upon where one views oneself in God’s courtroom.
C. S. Lewis explains the differences on this score between the ancient Jews and modern Christians. Here is what Lewis says in his book, Reflections on the Psalms…
The ancient Jews, like ourselves, think of God’s judgement in terms of an earthly court of justice. The difference is that the Christian pictures the case to be tried as a criminal case with himself in the dock; the Jew pictures it as a civil case with himself as the plaintiff. The one hopes for acquittal, or rather for pardon; the other hopes for a resounding triumph with heavy damages.[1]
So, I wonder, where do you picture yourself in God’s cosmic courtroom? Are you the defendant or the plaintiff?
The overall message of the Bible is that God is one day going to bring about the just world we all long for. One day God is going to put everything to rights. In the meantime, God calls on his creation, namely us who are made in his image, to be just as he is just. So, that’s God’s first requirement: to do justly.
Mercy
God’s second requirement of his people is to love mercy. This is a very interesting statement. The statement uses two Hebrew words for love. It uses the generic word for “love” which is “ahab” and it uses the word for God’s covenant love—“hesed”. One could therefore rightly say that God wants us to “love love”. But the grammar checker on my computer doesn’t like that statement. So, we’ll stick with love mercy.
What does it mean to love mercy? Well, what do we do when we love another person? We prefer them, don’t we? We put that other person first, above our own concerns for ourselves. So, if we transfer this kind of love and direct it toward mercy, it means that we prefer mercy above all other ways of living.
Abraham Heschel explains this verse in this way…
What the Lord requires of man is more than fulfilling one’s duty. To love implies an insatiable thirst, a passionate craving. To love means to transfer the center of one’s inner life from the ego to the object of one’s love.
But then, a question arises in my mind. Are not mercy and justice two very different things? How are we to live out justice and mercy at the same time? Is there such a thing as merciful justice or just mercy? These two qualities seem to be at odds, in conflict even. How do we know when to act justly and when to love mercy?
I’d like to postpone an answer to that question until the end of the message. In the meantime, let’s consider God’s third requirement of human beings.
Humility
God’s third requirement is humility. God wants his people to walk humbly with him. This requirement implies relationship. How can you walk with someone you don’t know? How can you not come to know someone you walk with every day?
And a third question comes to mind: is there any other way to walk with God? I mean, can you imagine someone walking next to God with their chest puffed out, bragging about all they have accomplished in life?
I am reminded of the story of the man who lived through the Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood. For the rest of his life, Joe from Johnstown loved telling the story of how he was able to survive the flood and all that he did to accomplish that feat.
Finally, at the end of a long life, the Johnstown Joe died and went to heaven. Upon his arrival he was invited to an event the residents of heaven called “Testimony Time”. Johnstown Joe got all excited. He was going to be able to tell his flood story to the best audience ever. At that moment, the angel who was accompanying Johnstown Joe leaned over and whispered, “I know what you’re thinking.”
Johnstown Joe said, “You know what I’m thinking?”
“Yes, angels can read minds.”
“Oh,” said Joe. “Well, do you have any advice for me when it comes to telling my story?”
And the angel said, “Yes Joe, just remember that when you stand up to tell your story, Noah will be sitting in the front row.”
Well, in the same way, when we realize it is God who accompanies us through life, when we realize God is listening in to our thoughts, and he is walking right beside us, how can we be anything but humble?
Conclusion
So, according to Micah, the three things God requires of us are to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. But here’s the thing… the Lord’s statement of his requirements implies that his people are not fulfilling those requirements. Otherwise, why would God have to spell it out? And why would God have to take his people to court if they were already fulfilling their obligation to him?
The Lord reminds his people of their failure in a subtle way. The Hebrew word translated as “mortal” in Micah 6:8 is “Adam”. God calls his people Israel by another name. He calls them “Adam”. And what’s the one thing we all know about Adam? Adam failed. God gave Adam one rule to follow, and Adam failed.
The bottom line is this: Israel failed. She was not fulfilling God’s requirements. And furthermore, we fail. We haven’t kept God’s requirements either.
Can any of us honestly say before God that we have acted justly, loved mercy, and walked humbly with our God 100% of the time throughout our whole lives? None of us have done any one of these three things perfectly. And so, what is the solution to our problem? Is there a “Get Out of Jail Free” card?
Yes, there is. But that “Get Out of Jail Free” card, while it is free to us, cost God everything. It cost him his Son. In fact, God has offered the sacrifice of his first-born, the sacrifice that Israel was offering to make to God. God gave that offering in our stead. That’s why Jesus died on the cross. He did it to pay the penalty for all our sin. But before he did that, Jesus lived a perfect life. Jesus acted justly, loved mercy, and walked humbly with his heavenly Father 100% of the time, his whole life. And he did it for us. The cross is where God’s justice and God’s mercy intersect. Jesus receives the just penalty for our sin so that we might receive God’s mercy. So now there is offered to us a grand exchange. We can give to Jesus all our failures, all our sins, and he dies to pay that debt we owe to God. And in exchange, Jesus gives us his righteousness. He sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts, and he enables us to begin acting justly, to begin loving mercy, and to begin walking humbly with our God. It’s like we are the glove, and the Holy Spirit is the hand that animates us, enabling us to live the way God wants us to live.
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