Scripture Reading(s)
Micah 6:1-8
6:1 Hear what the LORD says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
6:2 Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.
6:3 “O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!
6:4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
6:5 O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the LORD.”
6:6 “With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
6:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Reflections
Micah challenges the people of Israel to take a hard look at their inward hearts. He calls them to self examine their lives because they are outwardly appearing one way and inwardly living another. Their lives are not a reflection of what they claim to preach.
However, because our God is a loving God, He is graciously trying to remind them of how He graciously acted with them in the past. In this passage we witness A call to change and a call to respond.
- A Call to Change through reminding them of His Faithfulness (vs3-5): Here the Lord is ever so graciously and tenderly recalls the many times He acted in love towards them. He recalls very specific events such as their journey from being slaves in Egypt to the promise land. God then provided for them a leader, undid the attempts of Baal to curse the people, and miraculously parted the Jordan. God had faithfully kept His all of His promises to them. These recounts of what God has done for them should stir up a conviction in their hearts and ours to change our ways and turn and live a life that reflects Him. God is always fighting for you, let our response be to turn and praise and live for Him
- A Call to Respond (vs 6-8): Now that God has recalled all His wondrous deeds towards His people, our response should be to treat the questions being asked as a step towards change. One can either be convicted to turn from sin or keep walking in it. God has shown that He is good, merciful and loving. In turn He asks for us to live a life that is pure and just. The past for the nation of Israel was once full of hope. Along the way they got distracted by other things that replaced their love of God. However, their future still holds hope because our God is offering a chance to turn away from what we think is so precious towards a God who can fill our hearts with satisfaction and love like nothing else. Just like the nation of Israel, He too calls us back to a life that can be filled with joy, hope and peace.
Frequently in OT prophesies God laments the fact that Israel continually walks away from God. He reminds them all the things that He has done for them. In Amos he listed a dozen ways He tried woo Israel back to Him. Here we see God doing much of the same. He ends His plea with a 3rd party personification by asking rhetorical questions to setup an answer.
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? (Rhetorical question from Israel’s view)
He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Answer from the Lord)
What is intriguing here is that both of these verses foreshadow the New Covenant. First God ends His rhetoric with the ultimate sacrifice, “shall I give my first born….?” The hyperbole leads to God’s real desire which is for people to love the Lord and love others.
In the NT we see that God goes all the way to giving the ultimate sacrifice to bring His people back. He gave His only son and in return He ask us to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. Each day let us remember every day that God gave everything He had to give and in return He asks for very little in return, love God and love man.