Verse 1. “Hear now what the Lord is
saying, ‘Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear
your voice.’”
The Book of Micah is like the transcript of a trial in a
courtroom. God Himself is the Judge here and He also appears as the Prosecuting
Attorney. He would be pleased to be our Defense Attorney, but our sins
have placed us into an adversarial relationship with Him. In John 15:26, we see
God the Holy Spirit in His role as “Helper” (Greek
“Paracletos”); the One called alongside to help and
defend those who place their trust in the Lord. The “mountains”
and the “hills” in Scripture often refer to literal
high places of the earth, but at other times, as in this verse, the words refer
to those favored persons who hold positions of leadership. The other
possible meaning, of course, is that God is referring to the idols the people
had been worshipping, which were often placed at the tops of "hills."
With this verse, by the way, you could say, “the
Prosecution rests,” for God has presented the case in chief against His
disobedient people. God has given them (and the rest of us) – everything. We
have even been given the freedom to accept or reject His love. But He holds the
patent on humanity. He created us, we are His, and to reject His love is
foolishness; for He literally owns you and me. A reasonable person will
recognize His rights over us and surrender to His will.
Verse 2. "Listen, you mountains, to the
indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth, because the
Lord has a case against His people; even with Israel He will dispute.”
God is the Plaintiff in this case against the leaders
and people of Israel and Judah, and His indictment against them has been
scathing. He has shown that the country's leadership of that time consisted of cheaters, liars, thieves, idolaters and
murderers. He has rested His case through the prophet Micah and now invites the
“mountains,” the leaders of the people, and those “foundations of the earth,” the socially prominent, to put
on a defense.
But He knew they would continue their futile attempt to
ignore Him as long as possible, for they hoped the “problem” would go away. It would not
go away, and it will not go away for any of us, either. His command to us is
simple: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with
all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). And when you
think about it, to love is to have JOY, whereas on the other hand, to continue
to resist Him takes work.
Verse 3. "My people, what have I done to
you, and how have I wearied you? Answer Me.”
Since the leaders and people of Israel and Judah were
not able to come up with an answer to God’s charges against them, He now “helps”
them by giving reminders of what had happened in the past. The Lord asks them,
with gentle, but compelling sarcasm: “What have I done to
you, and how have I wearied you?” And His question extends across time
and space to you and me right now – if you are far from God, has He done
something to anger you? Has He bored or insulted you in some manner?
Notice that God is inviting an “answer”
from us all. If you find His treatment of you to be deficient or incorrect in
some way, then TELL HIM! For it is the first step in a restored relationship to
tell the other person why you are angry at them. When you do, His promise is
clear within this Book of Micah: He will “answer”
you and then, if you are willing, He will change your life for the good. Humanity’s troubles have been
(and are) based on
its refusal to be changed by God’s love.
Verse 4. "Indeed, I brought you up from
the land of Egypt and ransomed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before
you Moses, Aaron and Miriam.”
The people that came to be called the Nation Israel,
went from relative freedom in the land that was to be called by their name, to
abject slavery in the land of Egypt. What led them to that place is interesting.
The sons of Jacob were angry because their brother, Joseph, was the favorite of
their father; and so they decided to kill him. At the last minute they saw a
financial
opportunity and instead sold him into slavery. He was taken to Egypt in chains
and subsequently went to prison for a crime he did not commit (Genesis 37 &
forward).
God intervened on Joseph’s behalf, as He does for the
downtrodden of this world, and not only was the man released from prison, but he
was made the Governor over the Egyptian nation. In that role he brought his
family to safety in Egypt, including the brothers who had betrayed him.
Ironically, the people now called Israel, soon fell into the abject slavery that
his brothers had inflicted on Joseph. It was God who directly rescued the
nation, using the human instruments of “Moses,”
along with his siblings, “Aaron and Miriam.”
Here in the 21st Century, as it has been for 2000 years,
it is God who gives us the opportunity to become free through the Messiah, the
Christ, from the slavery of sin: “You are no longer a
slave (to sin) but (whether male or female),
a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ”
(Galatians 4:7). Considering what He has done for us, it is reasonable to 1) receive Him, and 2) thank Him, every
moment of every day.
Verse 5. "My people, remember now what
Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and from
Shittim to Gilgal, so that you might know the righteous acts of the Lord. What
God Requires of Man.”
You can read about "Balaam"
in Jude 11, a man who pretended, even seemed, to be a man of God, but his motives were
bad – his goal was “profit.” He was in the religion
business for the money. “Balak” was a king of Moab
who hired Balaam for the purpose of placing a “curse”
on Israel, paying him a “diviner’s fee” to do it
(Numbers 22:7 & context). But God surprised Balaam by 1) speaking directly to
him, and 2) forbidding him from doing what he had been paid to do.
The Lord said to him about Israel, “You shall not curse the people for they are blessed”
(Numbers 22:12). To what seems to be his credit, Balaam refused to curse them,
but he displeased the Lord by continuing to intend to go to Balak with the idea of
helping him damage Israel. God was angry with both men. The result of these
events was that young women from Moab began going to the tents of the men of
Israel and intermarrying with them (on the advice of Balaam to Balak – Numbers
31:16). Worst of all, these women brought their idols with them. God’s
wrath fell and many died, including Balaam (Numbers 31:8).
“Shittim” was the last
place Israel visited before crossing the Jordan River, and “Gilgal” was the first place they visited in the land of
Canaan. God is telling the people, through the prophet Micah, to remember all
that happened in between those two places – their sin in Shittim and the mercy
that was subsequently shown them (Numbers 25). The Lord, through the prophet, is
continuing by these words to present evidence that the people should 1) Repent
of their unbelief, and 2) Trust in the Lord.
Father, I know that the whole human race has
collectively run from you. I repent of my own unbelief and I place my
trust in You. I am Yours, Lord. Thank You for accepting me. In
Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Micah 6:6-10
Verse 6. "With what shall I come to the
Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt
offerings, with yearling calves?”
Coming to the Lord in a way that would please Him is
more than just performing religious actions and following certain customs. God had
created a set of religious activities for the Hebrew people, designed to show
those who took part in such actions that He will forgive the sins of those who
honestly repent and come to Him. But in this and other similar verses, it becomes
clear that God wants more than our outward acts, diligent though they may be. He
wants our hearts. He offers a wholesome RELATIONSHIP to each one of us.
David, the shepherd boy who became king of Israel, came
to understand clearly what God wants of us. He said in a prayer of repentance to
God: “You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give
it; You do not delight in burnt offering” (Psalm 51:16) – God has
something higher in mind for us than just our outward obedience. David
continued, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a
broken and contrite heart – these O God, You will not despise” (Psalm
51:17). And David concluded, “THEN YOU SHALL be pleased”
with our religious observances. FIRST He reasonably wants our hearts, and THEN,
after we are changed and made right inside, He will accept our attempts to be religious.
Verse 7. "Does the Lord take delight in
thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn
for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
Here is Almighty God, asking questions of His people,
and He is also asking those questions of you and me: “What do you think that I
WANT of you?” He is asking. “Do you think I want you to participate in thousands
of baptisms? Do you think I want you to somehow undergo circumcision many times?
Do I want you to attend church or synagogue several times each day? Tell me, He
is asking, do you think I insist that you will undergo a bar mitzvah or
confirmation or some other religious act as payment for your sins?
He is asking, “Do you feel I want you to leave your
family, your little child and go to some strange land for Me? Do you think I
want you to pay over-and-over, committing endless acts of contrition, so I will
forgive you? Do you feel that your intense religious acts will somehow make Me
like you?” The implied answer to this verse and to all of these questions is:
NO! – It is not what He wants. What He does require from us is found in the next
verse.
Verse 8. "He has told you, O man, what
is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love
kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
In the preceding section, the Lord has revealed what
people do that is wrong in His sight, and in Verses 6 and 7, He has
shown what does not work in His sight, in order to correct the problem of our sin.
Now He tells us clearly what He DOES want; what He considers “good” in a person. He wants us to be JUST in the way we
treat others, to be kind toward them, and to “walk humbly
with your God,” which is to say: TRUST in Him, love Him, and prefer His
will to your own. His presence in us brings changes that will turn us into
the persons of justice and kindness we were always intended to be.
Jesus said much the same thing on a number of occasions.
When He was asked, “Which is the greatest commandment in
the Law?” (Matthew 23:36), He replied, “You shall
love the Lord your God will all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the
first and great commandment, and the second is like it: you shall love your
neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 23:37-38). He concluded, “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets”
(Matthew 23:40). With such words, God clearly “has told
you… what is good.”
Verse 9. "The voice of the Lord will
call to the city - and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name: ‘Hear, O tribe. Who
has appointed its time?’”
In a typical courtroom setting the process usually
begins, after opening statements, with the presentation of the prosecution’s
case, followed by the defense that is given for the one being accused. God has presented
His case against His wayward people and He has invited the nations of Judah and
Israel to put on a defense. Since they had no real response to His charges, He has declared
that both sides have rested, and now it is time for His closing argument.
Lest the people think it is only Micah who is speaking
to them, he announces that it is “the voice of the Lord”
who is addressing the people. Principally, His “call
(is) to the city," that is – Jerusalem, the
chief city of the Jews, and He also has in mind, Samaria, the capital of Israel. He will now sum up His concerns about them in the verses
that follow, and He says: “Hear O tribe” (of
Judah), if you are wise, you will fear (reverence) the name of the Lord. This,
of course, is addressed also to all people of every time, and we are to note
that every tribe, every nation has an “appointed… time.”
Verse 10. "Is there yet a man in the
wicked house, along with treasures of wickedness and a short measure that is
cursed?”
God, through the prophet Micah, is continuing his
condemnation of the sinful actions committed by those of His people, Israel, by
asking them a series of questions, which are, in fact, accusations. To live in
the house of Israel, or in the nation of Judah of that time, was to walk on holy
ground. The Lord God CREATED that people, and they had incredibly responded by
treating those who were around them with meanness and cruelty.
The money, the properties, the wealth and power they had
amassed, were “treasures” obtained through acts of
“wickedness.” And in this verse the Lord gives an
example of one of those acts: “a short measure that is
cursed.” The buying and selling of goods was accepted, even encouraged in
the Law of Moses, but those who sold items such as grain or wine were not to be
cheaters. As it says in places like Deuteronomy 25:15 & context, “You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just
measure,” so that others will not be cheated by getting less than they
expect of what you sell.
Lord, look into us and examine our intentions, our
practices. See if there are wicked ways in us. Help us to understand
the nature of what we have done in Your sight, and give us hearts that repent of
what we have done. Give us just hearts, full of kindness, walking humbly
with You. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Verse 11. "Can I justify wicked scales
and a bag of deceptive weights?”
Some have translated this verse as, “Shall the wicked be justified by the balance,” while
others translate as it is in the NASB, “Can I justify
wicked scales and a bag of deceptive weights?” God is continuing to speak
through the prophet in this verse, and however you look at exactly how it is said,
a question is asked that is impossible to answer. The “wicked”
who continue in their sin can NOT in any way be justified when their actions are evil!
To be “wicked” is to refuse
to
trust in the Lord and nothing any of us can do, except to place our faith in
Him, will change our situation. And again, the answer to: Will the Lord justify
dishonest “scales and… deceptive weights?” is
emphatically – NO! There IS no act you can perform that will justify what you
have done. If you steal the money, you can and SHOULD give it back, but you
still have the problem that you have sinned against God by stealing it in the
first place. That’s why it is essential for us to understand that “the Lord has laid on Him (the Messiah, the Christ)
the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). What we
could not and cannot do, HE has done.
Verse 12. "For the rich men of the city
are full of violence, her residents speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in
their mouth.”
If you have been given riches, or even a comfortable
standard of living, there is a responsibility that goes along with what has been
given to you. What does it mean if you are “rich”
and yet are “full of violence” in your treatment of
others? And what happens when you can’t even open your mouth without telling
lies? From this verse and others that are similar, we see God’s perspective as
to what has been given to you and me.
It is intended that those who have much will be drawn
to share with those who have little, and even more: they will actually do it! We are to see
that God intends us to be helpers of those in need, rather than be among those
who step on others to get where they want to go in life. And we are to be honest, not
only in our business dealings, but in all other ways, as well. As Paul would
later say, we are to be honest; continually “speaking the truth in
love” (Ephesians 4:15).
Verse 13. "So also I will make you sick,
striking you down, desolating you because of your sins.”
Does God make people sick? Most people would
emphatically say, “No!” to such a question, or if they were forced to reply,
“yes” to it, they would not want to associate with God after being forced to
decide that He makes people ill. Yet most people do not realize that God’s goals
for our lives are higher than ours. Most of us, even those who don’t
particularly like themselves, seek some satisfaction with who or what we are. We
look for ways to be “acceptable” in our own opinion.
Yet God looks at us and sees us as we really are. He
certainly took a hard look at Israel and Judah in this Book of Micah, making the
judgment that the survivors of the Hebrew people needed to be changed inside –
where it counts. And the need for change is even taken to the extent that He
will allow trouble into our lives, if that is what it takes for you and me to be
brought to the faith, hope and love that is His purpose for this race we call
“humanity.” He will go so far as to even strike “you down,
desolating you because of your sins.”
Verse 14. "You will eat, but you will
not be satisfied, and your vileness will be in your midst. You will try to
remove for safekeeping, but you will not preserve anything, and what you do
preserve I will give to the sword.”
These verses are reminiscent of the First Chapter of the
Book of Haggai, where the Lord through the prophet observed to the people after
their return from Babylon: “You have sown much, and bring
in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled
with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages,
earns wages to put into a bag with holes” (Haggai 1:6).
Have you noticed that about your money? – Even when you
work hard, it’s as though you put the wages you receive into a wallet with a
hole in the bottom. The money is gone and you wonder, where did it go? It’s very
important to see as in this verse in Micah: we can think we have it all, and yet
“not be satisfied.” The people of that time were
working hard, but they would not benefit from what they did. Others would take
it by “the sword.” We should all trust in the Lord,
for He is the only One who gives us benefits that last – forever.
Verse 15. "You will sow but you will not
reap. You will tread the olive but will not anoint yourself with oil; and the
grapes, but you will not drink wine.”
God has, through the prophet Micah, taken the people,
and especially its leaders, through a courtroom experience. He has given them 1)
an opening argument, 2) evidence for the prosecution; 3) He has invited them, if
they could, to put on a defense; 4) His closing argument was presented, and 5)
He has found them guilty as charged. Now 6) He is revealing His sentence upon
the Hebrew people.
They would be conquered by a foreign enemy. The fate
they greatly feared and the one that they continually and fervently denied would
come upon them. They might sow their crops, but the enemy would reap them. They
would crush the olives, but someone else would benefit from the oil. And they
would not drink the wine that came from the grapes they had grown. Judgment
would come upon them.
Verse 16. "The statutes of Omri and all
the works of the house of Ahab are observed; and in their devices you walk.
Therefore I will give you up for destruction and your inhabitants for derision,
and you will bear the reproach of My people."
“Omri” was the commander of
the army and then he became the king of Israel (1 Kings 16:16). Half the people
followed him and half followed a man named Tibni (1 Kings 16:21). Tibni died and
Omri became the sole leader of the land (1 Kings 16:22-23). Omri built the city
of Samaria, the capital of Israel, but he also “did evil
in the sight of the Lord” (1 Kings 16:24-25). “Ahab”
was Omri’s son, and Scripture says about him that he “did
evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him” (1 Kings
16:30). Like father, like son.
Notice the statement: “the
statutes of Omri and all the works of the house of Ahab are observed” by
the Lord. Omri was an idolatrous man and so was his son, Ahab, who essentially
established the worship of the “god” Baal, as the national religion of Israel (1
Kings 16:31-33). God SAW what they did, just as He sees everything that is
thought and done
by you and me. “Therefore,” this verse says,
because “you” (that is, the people of Israel),
because “you walk” in the “devices”
of Omri and Ahab, I will bring judgment upon you. You who walk in pride, I will
bring you to “derision” and shame.
Father, I repent of my sins. I am truly sorry
and am willing to change. Give me a clean heart and pure thoughts.
Find any wicked way that is in me and make me clean. I trust in You.
Thank You for the gift of Your Son, for in Him, I am free. Thank You for
forgiving me. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus Name.
Amen.
