MICAH – CHAPTER 6

Verses 1-16:

Jehovah’s Controversy With His People

Verse 1 begins the third division of Micah. The first concerned pending judgment on Samaria and Jerusalem, objects of God’s controversy with Israel, Mic 1:1-2; Mic 1:13. The second described their coming judgment and captivities, Mic 3:1 to Mic 5:15, with interspersed windows of hope and final deliverance. The third section also begins with the “Hear ye” appeal to what the Lord has to say about their call to contend before the hills and mountains; they call to let the Lord’s voice be resounded, as from the mountains of Ebal and Gerazim, Deu 11:29; Deu 27:11-14. The word of the Lord (the law of the Lord) is to settle or be the basis of settling all controversy before God, Deu 31:1; Isa 1:2; 2Ti 4:1-3; Rev 20:11-15; Rev 22:18-19. By the word men should live, and by it they shall all be judged, without excuse, Rom 2:1; Rom 14:11-12; Php_2:10-11.

Verse 2 is an emphasis call from God to Israel, His once divorced wife, whom He put away for her idolatry and fornication, her spiritual infidelity, whom He sent into captivity to heathen nations, later dispersed among all nations for her rejecting the Redeemer, Luk 21:24. She is still “his people,” though in infidelity toward him. He still stretches out His hands “all day long,” for her, calls her to return and receive Him as her own Redeemer, Rom 1:1; Isa 66:2.

Verse 3 inquires of Israel “O my people,” how her forefathers had wearied Him in their breaches of His law in the days of Balak and Baalam, v. 6. He asks that they explain what He had done to cause them to err, or wherein He had wearied them. Would they just give a testimony against Him? Were His laws unholy? Or had they simply let their unholy, carnal, covetous, lustful nature lead them to do wrong? Isa 43:22-23; Isa 45:23; 1Jn 5:3; Jer 2:31.

Verse 4 reminds them (Israel) that He had liberated them from Egypt and Redeemed them from bondage, given them Moses, Aaron, and Miriam as Divine helpers to return to their promised land. His mercy, love, and kindness had saved them as a nation before this; and He is about to assure them that He has never quit caring for them, Exo 14:30; Isa 59:20. He sent a) Moses to give holy laws, b) Aaron to pray and sacrifice for the people, lead them in worship, and c) Miriam to be an example for the women in Israel, Exo 15:10.

Verse 5 appeals with tenderness, “O my people,” asking them to recall how that Balak, king of Moab, consulted or plotted to destroy you all by asking Balaam to curse you? You remember the story, do you not? And recall how Balaam, the son of Peor responded, against his own avaricious will, to bless Israel whom he really desired to curse, to get the reward offered by Balak, Num 23:7-10; Num 24:4-11; Num 24:15-24. He reminds how Balaam answered Balak from Shittim in Gilgal; the first place is where Balak confronted Balaam, the latter is an expression of God’s blessing Israel from the former place to the latter, the first encampment and altar place of Israel in the promised land, near Jericho; Balaam was slain at Midian, yet God cared for Israel, Num 24:1-5; 2Pe 2:15; Rev 2:14; Jos 5:2-11. Let them be aware that God has been good to them, Jdg 5:11; Psa 24:5; Psa 112:9.

Verse 6 the question of whether or not those of Israel should even approach God and bow before Him as the most High God. What will it take, they inquire, to appease His wrath? Will burnt offerings, prescribed by the law, Leviticus ch. 1, be sufficient? Or the calf, a year old, thought the most important, that was offered as a burnt offering by the priest? Lev 9:2-3.

Verse 7 further inquires whether or not the Lord will be pleased with thousands of rams or ten thousands of rivers of oil. Calves, as offerings, were heightened in value by quality, in rams by quantity. It is then asked if one should sacrifice his own firstborn flesh on behalf of appeasing God, because of his transgressions, 2Ki 3:27. May one’s children be given as an atonement (satisfaction) for one’s own sins? The answer is “no”, Psa 132:11; Though Ahaz did. this to his son in the valley of Hinnom, before the god of Maloch, it was an abomination to God, Jer 19:5; Jer 32:35; Eze 23:37; 2Ki 16:3; 2Ch 28:3.

Verse 8 then replies to these foolish inquiries, asserting that God had already showed or demonstrated to every man of Israel and Adam’s race what was good or ideal for each, Deu 10:12; Deu 30:11-14. Then Micah inquired whether or not they could name even one requirement God had made to them beyond these three positive things: (The sacrifices were but shadows showing how God in Christ would meet their needs.)

a) To do justly, Gen 18:19; Isa 1:17.

b) To love mercy, have gratitude for lovingkindness, Deu 8:14.

c) And to walk humbly with their God, 1Sa 15:22.

These three moral duties are summed up by the Lord as judgment, mercy, faith, Mat 13:13; Luk 11:12; Jas 1:27. Let us walk humbly before, in communion with God, as Enoch did, Gen 5:24; Heb 11:5.

Verse 9 declares that the Lord’s voice crieth to the city and the man of wisdom will respond to the rod of judgment, from the Lord who sent it, even as wise children are helped by responding obediently to the lesson of the rod, Heb 12:9-11; Isa 9:13; Isa 10:5; Isa 10:24; Jer 47:7.

Verse 10 inquires, asking the wicked to respond, whether there are yet, in spite of His warnings, still ill gotten treasures and gain hidden in their houses. And whether or not they are still using “scant measure” of cheating, cutting light the pound, short the yard, or shrinking the bushel in their abominable commercial activities? Pro 11:1; Amo 7:5.

Verse 11 asks whether or not God should count, calculate, or consider one to be just or pure who used wicked balances with a bag of deceitful weights, switching to make produce lighter when buying, and heavier when selling, Psa 18:26; Deu 25:13; Pro 16:11. To buy by light weighing scales and then sell on heavy weighing scales was wicked theft, then practiced, Exo 20:15.

Verse 12 directly charges that the rich of the land are full of volcanic, erupting violence, and the inhabitants of both Israel and Judah have used their tongue and mouth to lie and cheat and deceive; And that same tongue is soiled above a wicked heart, as an offense to the God of their law and land; See Psa 10:7; Psa 12:3; Psa 50:19; Psa 52:2; Psa 57:4; Psa 64:3; Psa 109:2; Pro 6:17; Pro 12:19; Pro 17:20; Pro 21:6; Jas 1:26; Jas 3:5-6; Jas 3:8.

Verse 13 warns that the Lord would make the wicked, cheating, rich rulers sick, through His smiting them and making them desolate in judgment for their willful, premeditated sins, Lev 26:16; As fools, they shall be afflicted for their transgressions, mortally afflicted Nah 3:19; Mic 1:9; Psa 107:17-18; Jer 13:13.

Verse 14 warns that because of their sins their food will not satisfy and their strongholds and temple in Jerusalem were to be cast down in judgment, so that they could not take hold and prevent it. There too was to be a failing of food cast down in the land. And what they seize, and flee with, into the countryside, shall be overtaken with the sword of the foe.

Verse 15 announces certain failures in their efforts to sow and reap, to tread oil, but not be permitted to use it, and to make sweet wine, but deprived of drinking it, all because of their rebellion against their God, Lev 26:16; Deu 28:38-40; Amo 5:11; Zep 1:13; Hag 1:6.

Verse 16 charges that the statutes of Omri, the conspirator and regicide, the founder of Samaria, and supporter of Jeroboam’s idolatrous superstitions, were followed rather than those of Jehovah God, 1Ki 16:16-28. They had walked in the ways (pattern of life) of Ahab’s house and his counselor, following heathen ordinances, abandoning God, and disgracing the throne of Israel, Lev 20:23; 2Ch 28:2; 1Ki 21:25-26. These sins had incited God to make Jerusalem and their land a desolation and her inhabitants objects of hissing, Lam 2:15. They were therefore warned that they should bear His reproach, because they had dishonored Him, Isa 65:7.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Here the Prophet avowedly assumes that the people were sufficiently proved guilty; and yet they resisted through a hardiness the most obdurate, and rejected all admonitions without shame, and without any discretion. He is therefore commanded to direct his discourse to the mountains and to the hills; for his labor had now for a long time been useless as to men. The meaning then is that when the Prophet had spent much labor on the people and derived no fruit, he is at length bidden to call the mountains and the hills to bear their testimony to God; and thus before the elements is made known and proved the ungodliness and the obstinacy of the people. But before he relates what had been committed to him, he makes a preface, in order to gain attention.

Hear ye what Jehovah says. The Prophets are wont, on very serious subjects, to make such a preface as is here made by Micah: and it is indeed sufficiently evident from the passage, that he has here no ordinary subject for his teaching, but that, on the contrary, he rebukes their monstrous stupidity; for he had been addressing the deaf without any advantage. As then the Prophet was about to declare no common thing, but to be a witness of a new judgment, — this is the reason why he bids them to be unusually attentive. Hear, he says, what Jehovah saith. What is it? He might have added, “Jehovah has very often spoken to you, he has tried all means to bring you to the right way; but as ye are past recovery, vengeance alone now remains for you: he will no more spend labor in vain on you; for he finds in you neither shame, nor meekness, nor docility.” The Prophet might have thus spoken to them; but he says that another thing was committed to his charge by the Lord, and that is, to contend or to plead before the mountains. And this reproach ought to have most acutely touched the hearts of the people: for there is here an implied comparison between the mountains and the Jews; as though the Prophet said, — “The mountains are void of understanding and reason, and yet the Lord prefers to have them as witness of his cause rather than you, who exceed in stupidity all the mountains and rocks.” We now then perceive the design of God.

Some take mountains and hills in a metaphorical sense for the chief men who then ruled: and this manner of speaking very frequently occurs in Scripture: but as to the present passage, I have no doubt but that the Prophet mentions mountains and hills without a figure; for, as I have already said, he sets the hardness of the people in opposition to rocks, and intimates, that there would be more attention and docility in the very mountains than what he had hitherto found in the chosen people. And the particle את, at, is often taken in the sense of before: it means also with; but in this place I take it for ל, lamed, before or near, as many instances might be cited. But that this is the meaning of the Prophet it is easy to gather from the next verse, when he says —

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

MICAH: THE FAITHFUL AND FAR-SEEING MINISTER OF GOD.

Mic 1:1 to Mic 7:20

THERE is every reason to believe that this Book wears its authors name. Micah was a native of Morasthi, near Gath, and probably belonged to the time of Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah. His message is all the more marvelous when one remembers that he was a villager. Born doubtless in a humble house, brought up in a despised burg, bred in no college, he would have been unequal to the modern denominational Editors demands for the ministry. But he does illustrate a Divine custom expressed in Sacred Scripture viz. that, Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

God has never seen fit to limit Himself to the great financial or intellectual minds of the world. He is dependent upon no mans money; and just as independent of conceited minds. He can take Peter, the unlettered fisherman, and by instructing him in the Scripture and sending upon him His Holy Spirit, make of him a minister in whose presence the Pope himself would seem a pigmy by comparison.

It is related that when the Emperor Domitian was persecuting believers he heard of two men reputed to be akin to Jesus, and he sent for them, intending to put them to death. But when they came, and he saw their horny hands and realized that they were evidently day-laborers, he dismissed them saying, From such slaves we have nothing to fear.

And yet, those men belonged to the very class who rocked Domitians empire to its foundation, and spread the knowledge of the Gospel to the ends of the known earth; and, their humble station notwithstanding, have had few worthy successors in the ministry of the Truth. Let us not object to Micah because he is from a village and does not carry a graduates diploma. If he is Divinely appointed, and Divinely endued, his work will be well done.

The exact date of this Book, as that of other Minor Prophets, is in dispute, and it would in no wise help you to review the opinions of Hitzig, Wellhausen, Stade, Vatke, Kuenen, Driver, Von Ryssel, and the rest.

We are more interested in his message, or messages; and to those I invite your attention.

HE UNCOVERS THE CHURCH OF HIS TIMES

When I speak of the Church of his times I do not mean to say that there was any organized body of baptized believers in Micahs day; but I do mean to say that there was an ecclesia, not in the New Testament use of the term, but in the natural interpretation of that word, namely, a called out body.

In the opening part of this prophecy he deals with that body:

Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from His holy Temple.

For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

And the mountains shall be molten under Him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place (Mic 1:2-4).

He indicts the churchman; not the worldling.

For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the House of Israel.

It is a good place for the minister to begin. Gods people must be set right before the minister can make any headway with the world. There is many a true prophet of God who is preaching his heart out in a church where the professed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ are, by their wickedness, bringing his every word to naught. It is not an exceptional experience for preachers to be requested to resign because the church is receiving no accessions, when the very men who make the request have rendered it impossible for any kind of preaching to bring converts into the church of which they are members. Rev. E. A. Whittier, in an old issue of The Watchman once remarked When Rev. Frank Remington came to the First Baptist Church in Lawrence many years ago the spiritual tide ebbed low. For six months he preached searching sermons to Gods people. It was like the voice of one of the old Prophets. The dry bones lived again. In about six months he turned to the unsaved, and the flood gates of Heaven were opened. In about three years he baptized nearly 500 converts in Lawrence and Andover, and organized the Second Baptist Church. Remington began at the right place. And Micah was Gods faithful minister, dealing first of all with Gods professed followers. Given a clean, consecrated membership, and accessions to the church of new converts is comparatively easy.

He arraigned the prospered; not the poor. After having spoken against the graven images, the idols, and the awful social sins, he tells Judah and Jerusalem what will be the result. He turns to the leaders of the land and says,

Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.

And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.

In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields (Mic 2:1-4).

It is a fact to which the prospered of earth do not take kindly, but none the less true on that account, and Micahs arraignment of the prospered was in perfect accord with the words of His Saviour. No man can read the New Testament without noting that Jesus Christ never uttered a sentence against the poor, and never let the prospered escape His strictures. This, not because poverty is always righteous, and riches always wicked, but on the great law which He Himself laid down, To whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. Joseph Parker says, We have nourished ourselves into the pedantry of supposing that if a man has a bad coat he has of necessity a bad character. The Bible never proceeds along these lines. * * Christ did not gather around Him the halt, the lame, the blind, the poor, the neglected, the homeless, and say, You are the curse of society; you are the criminal classes. * * But Jesus Christ never let the respectability of His age alone; He never gave it one moments rest. I often wonder if our socialists have considered this subject? I wonder if the men who walk the streets berating the rich because they have more than their share of material wealth, and demanding, if not an equal, an equitable division of all property, have forgotten that prosperity does not necessarily make for righteousness, that all men of competence are not men of prayer; that all persons of good bank account are not necessarily persons of good character? That the rich are accomplishing more evil than they ever could with their riches taken away; that they are tempted ten thousand times more often than they ever would have been had their riches never come? And that these awful sins, against which Micah here hurled his anathemas, sins of covetousness, violent appropriation and corporate oppression, can never be committed by the poor; and the penalty of them can never be escaped by the rich who practise them?

I wonder also if these same socialists have not noticed that a freighted table, broadcloth, silks, jewels, and all the rest, consume so much of thought that the soul seldom receives any attention. I have just been preaching in another Western state. I found a man there who has made a considerable fortune already, and who is still accumulating, A number of times he came to the services. On some occasions he was so deeply convicted that he shot out of the house the moment the service concluded, apparently not being able to endure the invitation. Once back at his home there was only one theme on which he would converse with youthat was the subject of the crops. The rain rejoiced his heart; it did not matter to him whether our audiences had reduced. He said, That will make great crops. Concerning the scorching heat of the day, of which others complained, he said, This will make good crops. And if the present outlook for crops realizes it means riches for this vicinity. And for sixty straight years he has been absorbed in one subject; and for sixty straight years his soul has been in neglect. The history of Dives he is writing over again. The accumulation of riches is his one concern; and while about it he is forgetting the Lazarus at his gate, and in that very act neglecting the Lord of Life. His mistake was less grievous than that of the people of whom Micah speaks, for they made their money by oppression. But they have their successors also. As a writer has said, Many men among us are able to live in fashionable streets, and keep their families comfortable only by paying their employees a wage upon which it is impossible for men to be strong or women to be virtuous. Truly, as Micah put it, such feed upon their fellows.

He reprimands alike prince, prophet and people.

Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the House of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?

Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but He will not hear them: He will even hide His face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God (Mic 3:1-7).

It is a serious thing when the princes of the land abhor judgment, and pervert equity; it is vastly more serious when the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money.

It is a question whether Micah is not needed in modern times. There are not a few preachers who charge the princes with their sins, and call the attention of the people to their iniquities. But who will uncover the prophets and expose their serving methods, and show how their concern is, to be as popular as politicians, and to make their ministry a source of much money for selfish employment. Is not the multitude of timeservers now to be found in the ministry one secret of failure in soul-winning and church building? Was not that unhappy man George Herron warranted in the words in his volume The New Redemption, when he said, The philanthropy of selfishness and covetousness is the social antichrist. The adulation which the religious press lavishes upon the benevolence of mammon, the adoration which it receives from the pulpit, converts the church into an apostle of atheism to the people. The priests who accompanied the pirate ships of the sixteenth century, to say mass and pray for the souls of the dead pirates, for a share of the spoil, were not a whit more superstitious or guilty of human blood, according to the light of their teaching, than Protestant leaders who flatter the ghastly philanthropy of men who have heaped their colossal fortunes upon the bodies of their brothers. Their fortunes are the proudest temples of the most defiant idolatry that has ever corrupted the worship of the Living God. Their philanthropy is the greatest peril that confronts and deceives and endangers the life of the Church, and thinks to bribe the judgments of God and deceive the Holy Ghost.

If there is any class of people who are in special need of the Evangel it is the prospered class. The Moody Institute did wisely when once it started two attractive young women up the North shore drive to call at palaces and remind the people of the need of repentance. If there is any profession upon whom a solemn responsibility rests more heavily than upon any other it is the profession of the prophet. It is within his power to lead the people into the paths of the just; and it is also within his power to make the people err, by seeking selfish ends, destroying the vision, bringing darkness upon himself, and deep night upon the deceived multitude. Oh, you who are accumulating fortunes; and you who are graduates of colleges, and you who have come with honors from theological seminaries, remember that to whomsoever much is givent of him shall be much required, and when the true prophet of God rises to uncover the church of his times, see to it that he uncovers not your shame.

HE DISCOVERS THE CHURCH OF OUR TIMES

It is a marvelous fact that Micah is as true as a seer as he was faithful as a preacher.

He beheld the beginning of the New Testament Church.

But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the House of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the House of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the Law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Mic 4:1-2).

That prophecy found the beginning of its fulfillment at Pentecost, and will find its consummation in the Kingdom. Joel had already said,

It shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions * * .

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance (Joe 2:28; Joe 2:32).

And Jesus remembering these prophecies reminds the people to whom He addresses Himself that It behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Luk 24:46-47).

Six and a half centuries before Jesus uttered these words, Micah, the Seer, had a vision of their beginning fulfillment in the coming and end of the New Testament Church. The ancient people hearing them, or reading them, were stirred with the prospect of this new movement which should make for righteousness, and be the real earnest of Gods conquest in the earth.

He pictured it also when its conquest should be perfected, and the Kingdom should come.

And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it (Mic 4:3-4).

As I have read the commentaries upon this passage and listened to the attempt of George Adam Smith and other students to make this reference merely a local one, and limit it to the time in which the Prophet lived, it has seemed to me not only a vain endeavor, but a foolish one! Centuries are in the sweep of the Prophets vision. The cause of God has many conquests to its credit, but, as yet, the major portion of this prophecy remains to be fulfilled, and will be in the coming of the Lord in the end of this age!

A few years since, not having studied the Scriptures wisely, or well, I joined in the common opinion that wars were probably at an end; and, that with an ever-increasing mutual admiration, the nations of the earth would arbitrate their difficulties and dwell together as loving princes of one house! But, alas for the thought! Recent years have shown how easy it is to strike a match at the powder houses of armies and navies; how easy it is to set rulers at one anothers throats; how hard it is for even the religious people of the earth to maintain peace when the unspeakable Turk long continued his slaughters of the Christian Armenian who happened to dwell within his borders; and Russian Soviet is red-handed by the outright murder of millions of Gods own.

When the most peace-loving of earth look on these things, or, standing afar off, read the red reports of them, he is tempted to join with the famed interpreter of these prophecies in saying, We are told by those who know best, and have most responsibility in the matter, that an ancient Church and people of Christ are being left a prey to the wrath of an infidel tyrant, not because Christendom is without strength to compel him to deliver, but because to use the strength, would be to imperil the peace of Christendom. It is an ignoble peace which cannot use the forces of redemption, and with the cry of Armenia in our ears the Unity of Europe is but a mockery. That cry has been lost in the wail from Russia. And one might add, With the cry of the murdered in our ears, the relations between Russia and the great English-speaking nations of Britain and America are kept undisturbed at the cost of character, and some think war were better.

That hour then to which this text refers must still be in the future, since as you come more and more into the last days you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, such as the world has never known since time began, and yet, Beloved, Gods Word will not fail.

As sure as Jehovah lives and sits upon the throne so surely the last sentence of it shall see fulfillment, and one day the last reverberations and the thunderings of war shall be heard in the earth, and He who shall be chief among many people, will bring in such a reign of righteousness, as shall convert swords to plowshares and spears to pruninghooks, and many shall see it. But we will treat this text in a later chapter.

The Prophet assigns such power to the rise of the proper person.

Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou he little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Therefore will He give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth; then the remnant of His brethren shall return unto the Children of Israel.

And He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the Name of the Lord His God; and they shall abide: for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth (Mic 5:2-4).

George Adam Smith, says, Micah stands among the first, if he is not the very first, who thus focussed the hopes of Israel upon a great Redeemer. And beloved, more and more it is occurring to thoughtful men that power associates itself with personality. John Watson, in his Mind of the Master has called attention to this truth in his chapter entitled Devotion to a Person the Dynamic of Religion. And in that discussion he says one thing which ought never to be forgotten. Do you wish a cause to endure hardness, to rejoice in sacrifice, to accomplish mighty works, to retain forever the dew of its youth? Give it the best chance, the sanction of Love. Do not state it in books; do not defend it with argument. These are aids of the second order; if they succeed, it is a barren victorythe reason has now been exasperated. Identify your cause with a person. Even a bad cause will succeed for a space, associated with an attractive man. The later Stewards were hard kings both to England and Scotland, and yet women sent their husbands and sons to die for Bonnie Prince Charlie and the ashes of that Romantic devotion are not yet cold. When a good cause finds a befitting leader, it will be victorious before set of sun.

Ah, He is the secret of success for the New Testament Church. In spite of all its shortcomings, and, confessing as we must, all of its many and egregious failures, the destiny of that Church is gloriously determinedshe shall one day rule the world, for the solitary reason that Christ is her Head and God has already given Him the heathen for [His] inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for [His] possession. In spite of all adverse circumstances, all legions of enemies; in spite of Satan and the hosts of hell, He rises to victory. To Him The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him. Blessed be His glorious Name forever; and let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen and Amen.

But the Prophet continues:

HE DEFENDS BOTH THE DIVINE CHARACTER AND REQUIREMENTS

He rehearses the history of Gods past graces.

Hear ye now what the Lord saith * *

O My people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against Me.

For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

O My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord (Mic 6:1; Mic 6:3-5).

It is a custom of the inspired writer to refer often to Israels early history. It was out of Egypt that God redeemed them; it was through the wilderness that God led them; it was in Canaan that God gave them conquest. This concern for the nations youth can never be forgotten. The older a man grows the more he appreciates what his parents did for him between the natal day and his twenty-first anniversary. The older a Christian grows the more highly he esteems his redemption from sin and the marvelous grace of God in keeping him in the early days of his spiritual life, when temptations were most strong; when in the wilderness Satan set before him the gifts of the world and the glories of them, an offer for an act of obeisance to him, their former master.

The older the Church grows the more highly it appreciates its early history, the pastors who did pioneer work, the people who sacrificed sorely to build the sanctuary, the men and women who bore the heat and burden of the day when they were so few in numbers; when their best efforts seemed so feeble. It ought to be so. It is a great thing to be brought to birth; it is a great thing to be kept through youth, and the nation for which God has accomplished this is no more able to discharge its obligation to Him than the child is to pay back all he owes to his parents. Right well did Israel inquire, Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? That is the proper position for the people whose past is replete with such exhibitions of the keeping grace of great Jehovah.

He shows also the reasonableness of the Divine requirements.

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Mic 6:8).

Even the believing world commonly discredits Gods character by their thought as to His requirements. There are not a few people who imagine that God will not be pleased with them unless they are ready to take their first-born and lay him upon the altar; part with their child, perhaps giving him to the grave for the sin of their soul, and God has never hinted that He demands any such thing. People begin at the wrong place to get right with God. He may want your child for Africa, but you could give him and still not feel approved. The Apostle Paul says, Though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. And it is true; that is the one thing that God requires, for it covers all the rest. It leads one to do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with God. And in that walk instead of finding the path to be one in which God is constantly calling for sacrifice, it will be discovered that there God is often bestowing blessing, and guiding into privilege, and making ones whole life a delight. Henry Van Dyke says, To please God. * * Simply to live our life, whatever it may be, so that He, the good and glorious God, shall approve and bless it, and say of it, Well done, and welcome it into the sense of His own joy,that is a Divine ambition. What vaster dream could hit the mood of love on earth? It has sustained martyrs at the stake, and comforted prisoners in the dungeon, and cheered warriors in the heat of perilous conflict, and inspired laborers in every noble cause, and made thousands of obscure and nameless heroes in every hidden place of earth. It is the pillar of light which shines before the journeying host. It is the secret watchword of the army, given not to the leaders alone, but flashing like fire through all the ranks. When that thought descends upon us, it kindles our hearts and makes them live. What though we miss the applause of men; what though friends misunderstand and foes defame, and the great world pass us by? There is One that seeth in secret and followeth the soul in its toils and struggles, the great King, whose approval is honor, whose love is happiness; to please Him is success, and victory, and peace.

Finally, He rests in the surety of the Divine justice, power, and grace. In the seventh chapter he speaks of the untoward circumstances in which he is situated. But after rehearsing the whole of it, he says, I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me (Mic 7:7). And in the seventeenth verse of the same chapter, speaking of the enemies of his soul, and of his Lord, he says, They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.

And in the nineteenth, and twentieth verses he says, He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

The whole of this seventh chapter is given to the personal sense of the Divine justice, Divine power, and Divine grace, and one must appreciate all of these or perish with fear. Divine justice is approved by all good men; and Divine power is conceded by those who study the universe about them, or the earth beneath them. But this all necessitates only fear, except you see also the Divine grace.

There is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. One who has felt the justice of God and power of God feels the need of the grace of God, and is only filled with delight and joy unspeakable when he can say with the Apostle, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

CRITICAL NOTES.] The third division now begins, after declaration of judgment and salvation which awaits the future remnant. Hear] Plead with God in controversy. Mts.] Witness and murmur with the echo (Deu. 32:1; Isa. 1:2). Contend] in strife or quarrel (Jdg. 8:1; Isa. 1:8.

Mic. 6:2. His] Emphatic intentionally to indicate Jehovahs right to contend, and to sharpen their conscience by pointing to their calling [Keil].

HOMILETICS

A LISTLESS PEOPLE REBUKED.Mic. 6:1-2

These words are an introduction to what follows, an expostulation to an ungrateful people. God wishes them to see their guilt, and hear his voice in the controversy. A sinful people are obstinate and listless. But they must be roused and reproved:

I. By the voice of God. Hear ye now what the Lord saith. God speaks to us and reasons with us in his word. He pleads with his people in condescension and grace, requires them to justify, if possible, their cause, and seeks to prove the equity of his dealings. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

II. By the earnestness of the Prophet. The Prophet was reluctant to herald woe to his people, but the command was urgent. Arise.

1. He was earnest in his tone. O my people, Mic. 6:3. Bedewed with the spirit of his message.

2. He was earnest in his attitude. Arise, stand up as one having authority to rebuke, ready and undaunted before men. He must rouse himself that he may rouse his hearers. A cold frosty heart can never touch and kindle others into a flame.

3. He was earnest in his method. Let the hills hear thy voiceany way to stir up a careless people.

III. By the stability of creation. Hear, O ye mountains. Mountains remain steadfast and hills are not carried from their place. The earth changes in its surface and its inhabitants pass away, but rocks endure for ever. Yet Nature is subject to its Creator and trembles at his voice, but men are stupefied and hardened by sin. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN GOD AND MAN.Mic. 6:2

I. Mans complaints against God. He complains,

1. Of a corrupt nature;
2. Of the power of temptation;
3. Of the dealings of Providence.

II. Gods complaints against man.

1. Mercies despised.
2. Grace refused.
3. Calls neglected.
4. Judgments sent in vain [F. Wagstaff].

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 6

Mic. 6:1-2. Hear. If Adam needed to hear his Fathers voice, sounding amid the fair bowers and the unshaded glory of Paradise, surely much more does this prodigal world, that has gone astray from him, need to hear a Fathers voice asking after us, and the first intimations of a Fathers desire that the lost may be found, and the dead at length become alive [Dr Cumming].

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

FORGOTTEN ACTS OF SALVATION . . . Mic. 6:1-8

RV . . . Hear ye now what Jehovah saith: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear, O ye mountains, Jehovahs controversy, and ye enduring foundations of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel. O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Ballaam the son of Beor answered him; remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah. Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old? will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee but, to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?
LXX . . . Hear now a word; the Lord God has said; Arise, plead with the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and ye valleys even the foundations of the earth: for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and will plead with Israel. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I troubled thee? or wherein have I grieved thee? answer me. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage, and sent before thee Moses, and Aaron, and Mariam. O my people, remember now, what counsel Balac king of Moab took against thee, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from the reeds to Galgal; that the righteousness of the Lord might be known. Wherewithal shall I reach the Lord, and lay hold of my God most high? shall I reach him by whole-burnt-offerings, by calves of a year old? Will the Lord accept thousands of rams, or ten thousands of fat goats? should I give my first-born for ungodliness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Has it not been told thee, O man, what is good? or what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk with the Lord thy God?

COMMENTS

The first controversy of Jehovah against His people is occasioned by their having forgotten His saving activities on their behalf in times past. Centuries later, Stephen would level the same charge against them. To him this was the story of their national life. (Cf. Acts, chapter 7) Arise . . . contend . . . (plead your case) before the mountains . . . Mic. 6:1-2

The judgments pronounced against both the northern and southern kingdoms in the three cycles which compose chapters 1-3 of Micah are harsh. The denunciation of the nation, the casting off of the race per se which is evidenced in the promised blessings to the remnant (chapters 4-5) are sure to be decried as unfair by those who are to be cast off. To prove His fairness in these things, God calls the prophet to set the sins of the people before them.

Because the fulfillment of the covenant will issue in Gods blessing all the nations of the earth, this controversy is to be before the whole of creation. Thus the prophet comes full circle, connecting this final section of his prophecy to the first (see comment on Mic. 1:2 -ff). As the justice of Gods judgments against the leaders of the nation was established before all people and nations in the opening cycle, so the fairness of His complaints against the people will now be openly seen of all. The equity of Gods cause will be pleaded and sinners themselves forced to confess that Gods ways and judgments are fair.

O MY PEOPLE WHAT HAVE I DONE . . . Mic. 6:3-5

In these verses the complaint of God is made. In Mic. 6:9 to Mic. 7:6, the case will be judged.

(Mic. 6:3) The cry of Mic. 6:3-5 is not the stern judicial pronnouncement of chapters 1-3 against broken law. Here we have rather the plea of a broken heart. What have I done unto thee? Wherein have I wearied thee? They have sinned against His love as well as His law.

(Mic. 6:4) I brought thee up . . . The nation of Israel did not exist until the mercies of God brought an enslaved race out of a foreign land because of the covenant of blessing made with their father] (Cp. Exo. 2:24) It was the law, given them through Moses and the priesthood instituted in Aaron that turned the race into a nation . . . the very law whose flaunting now occasioned the heart-break of their God at the necessity of judging His people.

O MY PEOPLE, REMEMBER NOW WHAT BALAK KING OF MOAB DEVISED AND WHAT BALAAM THE SON OF BEOR ANSWERED HIM . . . Mic. 6:5 (a)

Micahs allusion here is to Numbers, chapters 22-24. The prophet places himself in the position of Balaam and asks those to whom he speaks to see the parallel.

Israel, drawing near the promised land had encamped on the plains of Moab opposite Jericho on the east bank of the Jordon. Balak, king of Moab, seeing what Israel had done to the Amorites, was terrified and sent to Pethor near the Euphrates to the prophet Balaam with the request that he come and curse Israel.
When Balaam went before God for direction, he was directed not to return with Balaks messengers, the elders of Moab.
Balak, assuming that Balaam could be bribed, sent ambassadors of higher rank with greater gifts. Again Balaam went to God in prayer and this time was instructed to go with the princes of Moab but to say only what God gave him to say.
Next morning Balaam went with the princes toward Moab. And God was angry, apparently because Balaam had been tempted enough by the bribe to question His first instruction.
As Balaam rode toward Moab, an angel appeared to his ass, but not to him. The animal, seeing the angel block her way, turned aside into a field, whereupon Balaam beat her.
Again the ass saw the angel and, instead of obeying Balaam, crushed his foot against a wall, and Balaam beat her a second time.
A third time the animal saw Gods angel blocking the way, and this time she balked, for which Balaam struck her with his rod.
Then the Lord opened the asss mouth and she asked her master what she had done to be beaten. When Balaam answered it was because she had provoked and ridiculed him and wished for a sword to kill her, the animal reminded him that she had served him well all her life and asked if this had ever happened before.
Then Balaams eyes were allowed to see the angel standing in the way with drawn sword. He fell on his face before the angel and was asked why he had beaten his ass when the angel had come to stand against him.
The prophet then confessed he had sinned in attempting to force his way past the angel of the Lord.
Understanding that he had done wrong in asking again and again for permission to curse Israel, Balaam asked for instructions and was told to go on to Moab but to say only what the Lord would instruct him to say.
Seeing Balaam coming, Balak rushed to meet the prophet assuming he was going to curse Israel
Balaam ignored the kings rebuke for not having come at once and warned him he would say only what the Lord gave him to say.
Balak took Balaam to Kireath-huzoth, overlooking the outskirts of Israels encampment. There the Moabite offered sacrifices and sent portions of the sacrifice to Balaam.
Next day Balak took Balaam to the high places of Bamoth-Baal from which he could see the Israelites.
The prophet required the king to again build altars and sacrifice. When this was done, he instructed Balak to wait by the sacrifices while he inquired of God.
God met Balaam and gave him a message, How can I curse those God bas not cursed. How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?

Hearing this, Balak took Balaam to yet another high place, to the top of Mount Pisgah, hoping he would be permitted to curse Israel from this vantage point. Again Balaam waited on the message of God.
This time the message was, God is not a man that He should tell or act a lie nor feel compunction for what He has promised, I have received His command to bless Israel.

Then follows Balaams discourse to Balak concerning Gods deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. (Num. 23:22-26)

Seeing Balaam would not curse Israel, Balak requests that he neither curse nor bless her, to which Balaam answered, All the Lord speaks I must do.

Again Balak took Balaam to another high place in a last effort to have his way against Israel. But Balaam no longer looked for signs of Gods permission to curse His people. Instead he looked the other way.
Then Gods Spirit came upon Balaam and the prophet blessed Israel in Balaks presence. Upon this, the king of Moab became angry, In answering Balaks anger, Balaam said, I cannot go beyond the command of the Lord to do either good or bad of my own will, but what the Lord says, that I will speak. (Num. 24:13, Emphasized Bible)

It is Balaams progressive willingness and final determination to speak only what the Lord gave him to say that Micah here appropriates to himself. He too has said what his listeners do not want to hear. His reply is, O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him . . .

Micah is also determined to say, good or bad, only what the Lord gives him to say.

. . . REMEMBER FROM SHITTIM TO GILGAL, THAT YE MAY KNOW THE RIGHTEOUS ACT OF JEHOVAH . . . Mic. 6:5 (b)

After God had steadfastly forbidden Balaam from cursing Israel and had actually brought this alien prophet to bless Jehovahs people, the people themselves turned to idols! (Num. 25:1 -ff)

Having settled down in Shittim the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab . . . (and) so Israel joined himself to Baal of Peor. (Num. 25:1-3, Emphasized Bible)

As a result, Gods anger had been kindled against Israel so that He had instructed Moses to hang their leaders and 24,000 Israelites were smitten.
Micah again asks that those to whom he speaks remember Gods past dealing with Israel. He has formerly punished her for unfaithfulness. If they will recall this truth, they will see the validity of Michas warning of the same wrath. Again Micahs message is timely in our day.

WHEREWITH SHALL I COME BEFORE JEHOVAH . . . Mic. 6:6-7

Micahs question is simply whether he, as Balak, shall continually, with animal sacrifices, attempt to alter the will of God, Having placed himself in the way of Balaams determination to do Gods will, whether good or bad, he now implies that his hearers are in the same position as Balak, king of Moab!

. . . SHALL I GIVE MY FIRST-BORN FOR MY TRANSGRESSION. . . Mic. 6:7(b)

Micah pursues the issue further, insinuating they would have him turn to Baal in their behalf. It was one of the abominable practices of Baal worship that the first born son of the worshipper be tossed into the fiery bowels of the idol to atone for the parents sin . . . would they have him resort to this despicable practice to atone for having pronounced the judgment of God against them? The sarcasm is scathing!

HE HATH SHOWED THEE, O MAN, WHAT IS GOOD; AND WHAT DOTH JEHOVAH REQUIRE OF THEE, BUT TO DO JUSTLY, AND TO LOVE KINDNESS, AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH THY GOD . . . Mic. 6:8

Here is one of the classic questions of Scripture. It ranks with that of the Lord, What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own life? (Mat. 26:16) And the Hebrew writers How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? (Heb. 2:1-4)

For such questions there is no answer.
Gods insistence upon faithfulness is not unreasonable, particularly when His past blessings and present promises are remembered. Nor is His punishment for unfaithfulness unreasonable when one remembers that it is His purpose through such faithfulness to benefit not only the faithful but all man-kind.

What doth Jehovah require of thee? The Law set down innumerable requirements. From the direct catalogue of eternal mortality in the decalogue to the detailed requirements of Sabbaths and sacrifices, the sum and substance of such requirements is that Gods worshippers shall do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God. Failure to keep the commandments and precepts expressed in outward forms inevitably leads to failure to do these simple yet profound elementals: do justly, love kindness, walk humbly.

The Septuagint text contains three terms whose meanings shed much light on this verse: literally the to be doing the justice; love mercy; and to be ready, in reference to the go (as on a journey) with your Lord, God.
What is described here is the life style required by God. To be doing justice is to have just actions as the habit or style of ones life. But what is justice? It has to do with the keeping of Gods law . . . His commandments and ordinance. Far from removing the necessity for keeping Gods commandments, this passage states in simple, yet forceful, terms the necessity to do so.
But to obey the commandments formallyto go through the motions of conformity to Gods law without any corresponding effect on ones life makes such obedience a hollow mockery and an affront to God. The second requirement is to love mercy.
Again the Greek of the Septuagint is clear. (And since the Septuagint is the Bible quoted by Jesus and His apostles, it behooves us to understand.) The phrase, rendered mercy, meansliterally, to have pity, to have compassion.

This latter is mentioned as an attribute of God. (Exo. 33:19 cp. Rom. 9:15) To have compassion is to place ones self in the sufferers situation . . . to suffer with him. This God does.

Micah is not claiming this is required of Gods people. Obviously, it is an ideal to be sought, but what is required is pity, a feeling sorry for, objectively.

We are to love such mercy! Here is one of those rare pre-Christian uses of the word lovethe love of the will, not the emotions. The love that is deliberate self-giving. God requires deliberate giving of self to pity, the objective concern for others. Without this all formal religious obedience is hollow.

Jesus said as much, These (the keeping of specific commandments) ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other (justice, mercy, trust) undone. (Mat. 23:23)

The church member today who is meticulously correct in doctrinal matters and unconcerned for mercy where there is human suffering has missed the mark as far as those to whom Micah promised Gods wrath missed it.
The third requirement of God is that His people live constantly in an attitude of readiness to go with God as Lord. The phrase to walk, means literally, proceed or go ones way.
God requires His people to be alert to His authority. As we go our way, we are to do so in the awareness that God is our Lord. This attitude is imperative to the accomplishment of the first two requirements listed by Micah.

The Psalmist tells us that God trieth the minds and hearts. (Psa. 7:9) Pro. 20:27 describes the lamp of Jehovah searching all His innermost parts. la Psa. 139:23 the Psalmist prays, search me, O God, and know my heart. In 1Ch. 28:9 David informs Solomon, . . . Jehovah searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.

God does not require by simply issuing commands and edicts. The heart of Gods ordinances is His intimate knowledge of the hearts and minds of men. It is for this reason that outward form must always express inner reality and both must proceed from a constant alertness to the Lordship of Him with Whom we have to do.

Chapter XQuestions

Jehovahs Controversy With His People

1.

Micah chapters six and seven are composed of a series of __________.

2.

Just as the sins of societys leaders filter down through all classes so __________ are applied to all people.

3.

Jehovahs first controversy with His people is occasioned by their having forgotten __________.

4.

Gods controversy with His people is before all creation because __________.

5.

How does Micah connect the final section of his book to the first section?

6.

In Mic. 6:3-5 the __________ is made. In Mic. 6:9 to Mic. 7:6, the case will be __________.

7.

The cry of Mic. 6:3-5 is the plea of a __________.

8.

Explain Micahs reference to Balaam. (Mic. 6:5)

9.

Why remember from Shittim to Gilgal? (Mic. 6:5(b))

10.

Show how Mic. 6:1-5 is timely in our day.

11.

What is alluded to by shall I give my first-born for my transgression? (Mic. 6:7 (b))

12.

Discuss Mic. 6:8 in connection with Mat. 26:16 and Heb. 2:1-4,

13.

Gods insistence upon faithfulness is not unreasonable when we remember __________ His __________ and __________.

14.

How does Micah answer the question, what doth Jehovah require of thee? (Mic. 6:8)

15.

The __________ is the Bible quoted by Jesus and the apostles.

16.

Mic. 6:8 does not claim that __________ an attribute of Gods character is required of Gods people.

17.

Rather than compassion, Micah insists that we are required to __________.

18.

Discuss Mic. 6:8 in connection with Mat. 23:23.

19.

Why must the outward forms of obedience always be expressive of inner reality?

20.

Compare Mic. 6:9 and Pro. 9:10.

21.

What is the significance of shall I be pure? Mic. 6:10-12

22.

The persistent fact of __________ is a prime factor in Micahs message.

23.

Compare Mic. 6:14 and Job. 20:15.

24.

What is meant by Mic. 6:15?

25.

What are the statutes of Omri? Mic. 6:15(a)

26.

Compare Mic. 6:16(b) and Mic. 3:12.

27.

Discuss the historic phenomena known as anti-semitism in light of Mic. 6:16.

28.

Compare Mic. 7:1-2(a) and Psa. 14:1-2.

29.

Discuss Mic. 7:1-2 in light of Rom. 3:9-18.

30.

Mic. 7:2(b) Mic. 7:4(a) refers to __________.

31.

Compare Mic. 7:2(b) Mic. 7:4(a) with 2Sa. 23:6-7, Isa. 55:13, and Eze. 2:6.

32.

Who are listed as those whom honest men cannot trust? (Mic. 7:5-6)

33.

Discuss Mic. 7:5-6 in connection with Mat. 10:35-36 and Luk. 12:53.

34.

Discuss Mic. 7:7 in connection with Jos. 24:14-15.

35.

Despite the wickedness of his time, Micah is unshaken in the conviction that __________.

36.

Discuss Mic. 7:8-10 in light of Rom. 8:31-39.

37.

Compare Mic. 7:9 to Psa. 22:1-24 and Rom. 7:24 to Rom. 8:1.

38.

What is meant by a day for rebuilding thy walls? (Mic. 7:11-13)

39.

If one requires proof of Micahs highest motives in writing his prophecies, his prayer for __________ provides it amply.

40.

The nations shall see what and be ashamed?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

VI.

(1) Hear ye now what the Lord saith.The third portion of Micahs prophecy opens with a solemn appeal to Nature to hear the Lord pleading with His people. A similar summons is found in Deu. 32:1 : Give ear, O ye heavens, and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Jehovah’s complaint, Mic 6:1-8.

In these verses the prophet pictures, in dramatic form, a judicial contest between Jehovah and his people. Jehovah himself presents the accusation. He calls attention to the countless blessings bestowed upon the nation during its past history, and complains that his loving care has been met with basest ingratitude (1-5). Against this accusation the people seek to defend themselves by expressing their willingness to do anything to win the divine favor. If they have fallen short it is due to their ignorance of the real requirements of Jehovah (6, 7). To this plea the reply is made that ignorance is inexcusable, since the demands of Jehovah have been made known again and again (8).

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1. Hear ye The accused people.

Arise, contend The prophet acts as go-between. He summons the criminals to appear in court, hear the indictment, and plead their case.

Before the mountains, hills This is undoubtedly the meaning, but the original reads “with,” and a slight alteration may be necessary. The controversy is to take place in the presence of the mountains and hills as the “abiding witnesses of all passing events from age to age.”

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

JEHOVAH AND ISRAEL IN CONTROVERSY THE ULTIMATE SETTLEMENT, Mic 6:1 to Mic 7:20.

With Mic 6:1, begins a new series of utterances. The contents and arrangement are essentially the same as in the preceding sections, denunciation of sin, announcement of judgment, promise of the redemption and glorification of a remnant.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Micah Now Calls On Creation To Witness YHWH’s Case Against Israel, And Finishes By Stating YHWH’s Requirements. ( Mic 6:1-8 )

Knowing that the people might be puzzled as to why YHWH should treat His people as described in Mic 5:10-15, Micah, having called on creation as witnesses, now presents YHWH’s case. The people respond to His case and reveal in their response their total lack of understanding of what YHWH is really like. Their view is that He can be pacified with offerings and gifts. Micah then replies by explaining what YHWH does really want of them, that they will do what is right, love compassion, and walk thoughtfully before God.

The Prophet calls on creation to hear YHWH’s case against His people (Mic 6:1-2).

‘Hear you now what YHWH says,

“Arise, contend you before the mountains,

And let the hills hear your voice.

Hear, O you mountains, YHWH’s controversy,

And you enduring foundations of the earth,

For YHWH has a controversy with his people,

And he will contend with Israel.”

YHWH Puts His Case to the People (Mic 6:3-4).

“O my people, what have I done to you?

And in what have I wearied you?

Testify against me.”

“For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,

And redeemed you out of the house of bondage,

And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.”

O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised,

And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him;

Remember from Shittim to Gilgal,

That you may know the righteous acts of YHWH.”

The People Ask What Is Required Of Them (Mic 6:6-7).

With what shall I come before YHWH?

And bow myself before the high God?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

With calves a year old?

Will YHWH be pleased with thousands of rams,

Or 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?

The Prophet Explains What YHWH Really Wants (Mic 6:8).

Mic 6:8

“He has showed you, O man, what is good,

And what does YHWH require of you?

But to do justly, and to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?

We will now consider it section by section.

Mic 6:1-2

‘Hear you now what YHWH says,

“Arise, contend you before the mountains,

And let the hills hear your voice.

Hear, O you mountains, YHWH’s controversy,

And you enduring foundations of the earth,

For YHWH has a controversy with his people,

And he will contend with Israel.”

In the first instance Micah calls on the people to hear what YHWH says, and then calls on them to make their case before the mountains and hills which have witnessed all that has gone on in past ages, especially the false worship in the high places. Then he turns to the mountains and the foundations of the earth, asking them to witness the controversy that YHWH has with His people, and will now bring before them

Note the careful chiastic arrangement. The opening and closing thoughts are of contending, while in between come the two controversies. This calling on creation to witness God’s controversies with His people is a regular feature of the prophets. See Isa 3:13 ff; Isa 5:3 ff; Jer 25:31; Hos 4:1; Hos 12:2.

Mic 6:3

“O my people, what have I done to you?

And in what have I wearied you?

Testify against me.”

YHWH Himself now calls on His people to tell Him what He has done to upset them, and why they have grown weary of Him. He is calling on them to testify against Him. But before they make their reply He explains what He has done for them so that they will be without excuse.

Mic 6:4-5

“For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,

And redeemed you out of the house of bondage,

And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.”

O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised,

And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him;

Remember from Shittim to Gilgal,

That you may know the righteous acts of YHWH.”

His case is a strong one:

He reminds them how He had brought them out of Egypt, and had redeemed them from the house of bondage, the very basis on which His covenant with them was made. (compareExo 20:2). DELIVERANCE.

He reminds them how He had provided leadership in the persons of Moses the Prophet, Aaron the Priest and Miriam the Prophetess ( a unique reference to the latter two in the prophets). LEADERSHIP.

He reminds them how the King of Moab had planned wickedness against them by means of a false prophet, and how He had caused Balaam to refute the King and bless Israel. PROTECTION.

He reminds them how they had crossed the Jordan from Shittim to Gilgal on dry land. MIRACULOUS ASSISTANCE.

And He had done it so that they might know the righteous acts of YHWH. Note the emphasis on righteous. YHWH wants to bring home that He is above all righteous. This should have made them pause and think before they made fools of themselves. But it failed. Like many religious people their view was that what mattered to God was right religious ritual and observance, and plenty of it.

And so they asked:

Mic 6:6-7

With what shall I come before YHWH?

And bow myself before the high God?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

With calves a year old?

Will YHWH be pleased with thousands of rams,

Or 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?

They wanted to know what was required of them as they made their formal obeisance to YHWH, the High God, in the temple. Did He require burnt offerings consisting of the valuable one year old calves? Did He expect thousands of rams or tens of thousands of rivers of oil, more lavish offerings even than Solomon’s (1Ki 8:5)? Did He expect them to sacrifice their own firstborns to Him in order to pay for their sins, giving the fruit of their body (their firstborns) for the sin of their inner hearts? This last was the requirement of Moloch (Melech) from his worshippers. Did YHWH require the same?

Note how the level of sacrifice has risen with each step forward. But they are expecting an easy ride. They do not expect the last two requests to be taken seriously. They know from their history that YHWH hates child sacrifice. So they are confident that they really know how much God wants. But Micah’s reply comes back as a shock to them. God wants none of these things unless their hearts are right. He is not looking for ritual and observance. However great their offerings it will not be sufficient. What He is looking for is obedience to the covenant, to His moral requirements.

Compare for similar prophetic teaching, Isa 1:11-17; Amo 5:21-24; Psa 40:6-8; Psa 50:7-14; Psa 51:16-17).

Mic 6:8

“He has showed you, O man, what is good,

And what does YHWH require of you?

But to do justly, and to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?

Micah’s reply is sublime. He points out that YHWH has Himself shown them what is good. It is to do what is right. It is to love showing compassion and mercy. It is to walk humbly with God carefully observing His commandments. Note that the last adverb translated ‘humbly’ includes the idea of careful consideration to what is required. The point of prime importance is His stress on the fact that what YHWH requires is not ritual and offerings but true goodness of life, and that only that will prevent all the evil things that have been described coming upon them.

Sadly his words were ignored. But they are spoken to us too. We fail to observe them at our peril.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Mic 6:5  O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.

Mic 6:5 “from Shittim unto Gilgal” Comments – Shittim was a place where Israel encamped just before just before crossing Jordan (Jos 3:1). Gilgal was the place where Israel first encamped after crossing Jordan (Jos 4:19).

Jos 3:1, “And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.”

Jos 4:19, “And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

A Call to Repentance

v. 1. Hear ye now what the Lord saith, in this closing address to the Israelites, Arise, contend thou before the mountains, the prophet being called upon to be a witness of the judicial controversy which was to be decided in the presence of the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice, for the mountains and hills, having stood during the time of Israel’s entire history, could witness to the facts which were here brought out.

v. 2. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord’s controversy, Jehovah’s cause, which He wanted to have decided in the present suit, and ye strong foundations of the earth, literally, “ye immovable bases of the earth,” that cannot be shaken by any ordinary means; for the Lord hath a controversy with His people, and He will plead with Israel, trying to effect a definite settlement in court.

v. 3. O My people, what have I done unto thee? namely, in inflicting any kind of wrong. And wherein have I wearied thee? by requirements which were too rigorous. Testify against me! He was ready to entertain any reply which they might want to make concerning His charges.

v. 4. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, the act by which Israel had really been made the Lord’s people, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants, Cf Exo 20:2; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, who were their leaders through the wildernesses of Sinai and Arabia.

v. 5. O My people, remember now what Balak, king of Moab, consulted, the counsel he took in trying to bring about their downfall, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal, between the first station after Balaam’s blessing and the first station on the soil of the Holy Land, Cf Num 25:1; Jos 4:19, that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord, how truly and righteously He performed the deeds of His almighty power in carrying out His counsel of love toward His people. Israel being unable to answer this challenge of the Lord and admitting the guilt charged in His statement, is ready to make amends.

v. 6. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God? the prophet asks in the name of the people, in order to restore the relationship which had been so rudely disturbed by their transgressions. Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? these being considered the choicest sacrifices.

v. 7. Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? which, as it were, would flow in torrents in order to appease His wrath. Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? the most precious possession being offered in expiation, by way of atonement. But the Lord shows that such outward offerings were not sufficient to restore the relationship of love which obtained, but that He requires the consecration of the heart.

v. 8. He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, Jehovah Himself had made known to them how they might remain in fellowship with Him; and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to perform that which was right, and to love mercy, to practice the discharge of all the beneficent duties enjoined in the Law, and to walk humbly with thy God? Without these actual, outward expressions of the faith of the heart in the virtues as here named there can, be no true worship of Jehovah. Even so today the good works of the Christians are the exponents and proofs of the faith living in their heart.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Verse 6:1-7:20

Part III. In this address, which is later than the preceding parts, the prophet sets forth the way of salvation: PUNISHMENT IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN; REPENTANCE IS THE ONLY GROUND FOR HOPE OF PARTICIPATING IN THE COVENANT MERCIES.

Mic 6:1-5

1. God‘s controversy with his people for their ingratitude.

Mic 6:1

Hear ye now. The whole nation is addressed and bidden to give heed to God’s pleading. Arise, contend thou. These are God’s words to Micah, bidding him put himself in his people’s place, and plead as advocate before the great inanimate tribunal. Before the mountains; i.e. in the presence of the everlasting hills, which have as it were witnessed God’s gracious dealings with his people from old time and Israel’s long ingratitude (comp. Mic 1:2).

Mic 6:2

Hear ye, O mountains. Insensate nature is called upon as a witness. (For similar appeals, comp. Deu 4:26; Deu 32:1; Isa 1:2; Jer 22:29.) The Lord’s controversy. So God calls his pleading with his people to show them their sin and thankless unbelief; as he says in Isa 1:18, “Come, and let us reason together” (comp. Hos 4:1; Hos 12:2). Ye strong (enduring) foundations of the earth. The mountains are called everlasting (Gen 49:26; Deu 33:15), as being firm, unchangeable, and as compared with man’s life and doings, which are but transitory. The LXX. offers an interpretation as well as a translation, , “Ye valleys, the foundations of the earth.” With his people. It is because Israel is God’s people that her sin is so heinous, and that God condescends to plead with her. He would thus touch her conscience by recalling his benefits. So in the following verses.

Mic 6:3

O my people. The controversy takes the form of a loving expostulation; and thus in his wonderful condescension Jehovah opens the suit. What have I done unto thee? What has occasioned thy fall from me? Hast thou aught to accuse me of, that thou art wearied of me? Have my requirements been too hard, or have I not kept my promises to thee (comp. Isa 43:23, etc.; Jer 2:5)? Testify. A judicial term; make a formal defence or reply to judicial interrogatories; depose (Num 35:30) (Pusey).

Mic 6:4

God answers his own question by recounting some of his chief mercies to Israel. He has not burdened the people, but loaded them with benefits. I brought thee up, etc. The Exodus was the most wonderful instance of God’s intervention and to it the prophets often refer (comp. Isa 63:11, etc.; Jer 2:6; Amo 2:10). Out of the house of servants; of bondage , quoting the language of the Pentateuch, to show the greatness of the benefit (Exo 13:3, Exo 13:14; Deu 8:14, etc.). I sent before thee. As leaders of the Lord’s flock (Psa 77:20). Moses, the inspired leader, teacher, and lawgiver. Aaron, the priest, the director of Divine worship. Miriam, the prophetess, who led the praises of the people at their great deliverance (Exo 15:20), and who probably was charged with some special mission to the women of Israel (see Num 12:1, Num 12:2).

Mic 6:5

The Lord reminds the people of another great benefit subsequent to the Exodus, viz. the defeat of the designs of Balak, and the sorceries of Balaam. Consulted. United with the elders of Midian in a plot against thee (see Num 22:1-41. etc.). Answered him. There ought to be a stop here. The answer of Balaam was the blessing which he was constrained to give, instead of the curse which he was hired to pronounce (comp. Jos 24:10). From Shittim unto Gilgal. This is a fresh consideration, referring to mercies under Joshua, and may be made plainer by inserting “remember” (which has, perhaps, dropped out of the text), as in the Revised Version. Shittim was the Israelites’ last station before crossing the Jordan, and Gilgal the first in the land of Canaan; and so God bids them remember all that happened to them between those placestheir sin in Shittim and the mercy then shown them (Num 25:1-18.), the miraculous passage of the Jordan, the renewal of the covenant at Gilgal (Jos 5:9). Shittim; the acacia meadow (Abel-Shittim), hod. Ghor-es-Seisaban, was at the southeastern corner of the Ciccar, or Plain of Jordan, some seven miles from the Dead Sea. Gilgal (see note on Amo 4:4). That ye may know the righteousness (righteous acts) of the Lord. All these instances of God’s interposition prove how faithful he is to his promises, how he cares for his elect, what are his gracious counsels towards them (see the same expression, Jdg 5:11; 1Sa 12:7).

Mic 6:6-8

2. The people, awakened to its ingratitude and need of atonement, asks how to please God, and is referred for answer to the moral requirements of the Law.

Mic 6:6

It is greatly doubted who is the speaker here. Bishop Butler, in his sermon “Upon the Character of Balaam,” adopts the view that Balak is the speaker of Mic 6:6 and Mic 6:7, and Balaam answers in Mic 6:8. Knabenbauer considers Micah himself as the interlocutor, speaking in the character of the people; which makes the apparent change of persons in verse 8 very awkward. Most commentators, ancient and modern, take the questions in verses 6 and 7 to be asked by the people personified, though they are not agreed as to the spirit from which they proceed, some thinking that they are uttered in self-righteousness, as if the speakers had done all that and more than could be required of them; others regarding the inquiries as representing a certain acknowledgment of sin and a desire for means of propitiation, though there is exhibited a want of appreciation of the nature of God and of the service which alone is acceptable to him. The latter view is most reasonable, and in accordance with Micah’s manner. Wherewith; i.e. with what offering? The prophet represents the congregation as asking him to tell them how to propitiate the offended Lord, and obtain his favour. Come before; go to meet, appear in the presence of the Lord. Septuagint, , “attain to.” Bow myself before the high God; literally, God of the height, who has his throne on high (Isa 33:5; Isa 57:15); Vulgate, curvabo genu Deo excelso; Septuagint, , “shall I lay hold of my God most high.” Calves of a year old. Such were deemed the choicest victims (comp. Exo 12:5; Le Exo 9:2, Exo 9:3).

Mic 6:7

Thousands of rams, as though the quantity enhanced the value, and tended to dispose the Lord to regard the offerer’s thousandfold sinfulness with greater favour. Ten thousands of rivers (torrents, as in Job 20:17) of oil. Oil was used in the daily meal offering, and in that which accompanied every burnt offering (see Exo 29:40; Le Exo 7:10-12; Num 15:4, etc.). The Vulgate has a different reading, In multis millibus hircorum pinguium; so the Septuagint, [, Alex.] , “with ten thousands of fat goats,” so also the Syriac. The alteration has been introduced probably with some idea of making the parallelism more exact. Shall I give my firstborn? Micah exactly represents the people’s feeling; they would do anything but what God required; they would make the costliest sacrifice, even, m their exaggerated devotion, holding themselves ready to make a forbidden offering; but they would not attend to the moral requirements of the Law. It is probably by a mere hyperbole that the question in the text is asked. The practice of human sacrifice was founded on the notion that man ought to offer to God his dearest and costliest, and that the acceptability of an offering was proportioned to its preciousness. The Hebrews had learned the custom from their neighbours, e.g. the Phoenicians and Moabites, and had for centuries offered their children to Moloch, in defiance of the stern prohibitions of Moses and their prophets (Le 18:21; 2Ki 16:3; Isa 57:5). They might have learned, from many facts and inferences, that man’s self-surrender was not to be realized by this ritual; the sanctity of human life (Gen 9:6), the substitution of the ram for Isaac (Gen 22:13), the redemption of the firstborn (Exo 13:13), all made for this truth. But the heathen idea retained its hold among them, so that the inquiry above is in strict keeping with the circumstances. The fruit of my body; i.e. the rest of my children (Deu 28:4).

Mic 6:8

The prophet answers in his own person the questions in Mic 6:6 and Mic 6:7, by showing the worthlessness of outward observances when the moral precepts and not observed. He hath showed thee; literally, one has told thee, or, it has been told thee, i.e. by Moses and in the Law (Deu 10:12, etc.). Septuagint, ,“Hath it not been told thee?” What doth the Lord require of thee? The prophets often enforce the truth that the principles of righteous conduct are required from men, and not mere formal worship. This might well be a comfort to the Israelites when they heard that they were doomed to be cast out of their country, and that the temple was to be destroyed, and that the ritual on which they laid such stress would for a time become impracticable. So the inculcation of moral virtues is often connected with the prediction of woe or captivity. (For the prophetic view of the paramount importance of righteousness, see 1Sa 15:22; Psa 40:6, etc.: Psa 50:8, etc.; Isa 1:11-17; Jer 6:20; Hos 6:6, etc.; see on Zec 7:7.) To do justly. To act equitably, to hurt nobody by word or deed, which was the exact contrary of the conduct previously mentioned (Mic 2:1, Mic 2:2, Mic 2:8; Mic 3:2, etc.). To love mercy. To be guided in conduct to others by loving kindness. These two rules contain the whole duty to the neighbour. Compare Christ’s description of genuine religion (Mat 23:23). To walk humbly with thy God. This precept comprises man’s duty to God, humility and obedience. “To walk” is an expression implying “to live and act” as the patriarchs are said to have “walked with God,” denoting that they lived as consciously under his eye and referred all their actions to him. Humility is greatly enforced in the Scriptures (see e.g. Isa 2:11, etc.). Septuagint, , “to be ready to walk with the Lord;” Vulgate, Solicitum ambulare cum Deo; Syriac, “Be prepared to follow thy God.” But our version is doubtless correct.

Mic 6:9-12

3. Because Israel was very far from acting in this spirit, God sternly rebukes her for prevailing sins.

Mic 6:9

The Lord’s voice (Isa 30:31; Joe 2:11; Amo 1:2). These are no longer the words of the prophet, but those of God himself, and not spoken in secret, but unto the city, that all may hear the sentence who dwell in Jerusalem. The man of wisdom shall see thy Name; i.e. he who is wise regards thy Name and obeys time, does not simply hear, but profits by what he hears. The reading is uncertain. Others render, “Blessed is he who sees thy Name;” but the construction is against this. Others, “Thy Name looketh to wisdom” (or prosperity), has the true wisdom of life in sight. The versions read “fear” for “see.” Thus the LXX; , “Shall save those that fear his Name;” Vulgate, Salus erit timentibus Nomen tuum; Syriac, “He imparts instruction to those that fear his Name;” Chaldee, “The teachers fear his Name.” This reading depends upon a change of vowel pointing. Orelli renders, “Happy is he who fears thy Name.” The Authorized translation, which seems on the whole to be well established, takes the abstract noun “wisdom” as equivalent to “the wise,” or “the man of wisdom.” For similar expressions, Henderson refers to Psa 109:4; Pro 13:6; Pro 19:15. The prophet parenthetically announces that, however the bulk of the people might receive the message, the truly wise would listen and profit by it. Hear ye the rod. Observe the rod of God’s anger, the threatened judgments (so Isa 9:4 [3, Hebrew]; Isa 10:5, Isa 10:24). The power of Assyria is meant, The LXX. renders differently,] , “Hear, O tribe;” so the Vulgate, Audite, tribus. And who hath appointed it. Mark who it is who hath ordained this chastisement. It is from the Lord’s hand. Septuagint, ; “Who will adorn the city?” with some reference, perhaps, to Jer 31:4, “Again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets;” Vulgate, Et quis approbabit illud? This implies that few indeed will profit by the warning.

Mic 6:10

The reproof is given in the form of questions, in order to rouse the sleeping conscience of the people. Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked? Do the wicked still continue to bring into their houses treasures obtained by wrong? The old versions compare this ill-gotten wealth to a fire which shall consume the homes of its possessors. Septuagint, ; “Is there fire and the house of the wicked treasuring up wicked treasures?” Vulgate, Adhuc ignis in domo impii thesauri iniquitatis? So the Syriac; the Chaldee keeps to the Masoretic reading. The scant measure; literally, the ephah of leanness. The ephah was about three pecks. According to Josephus (‘Ant.,’ 15.9. 2), it contained one Attic medimnus, which would be nearly a bushel and a half. Fraudulent weights and measures are often denounced (Le 19:35, etc.; Deu 25:14, etc.; Pro 20:10, Pro 20:23; Amo 8:5). Vulgate, Mensura minor irae plena, where the Hebrew has, that is abominable. Such frauds are hateful to God, and are marked with his wrath.

Mic 6:11

Shall I count them pure? literally, Shall I be pure? The clause is obscure. The Authorized Version regards the speaker as the same as in Mic 6:10, and translates with some violence to the text. It may be that the prophet speaks as the representative of the awakened transgressor, “Can I be guiltless with such deceit about me?” But the sudden change of personification and of state of feeling is very harsh. Hence some follow Jerome in regarding God as the speaker, and rendering, “Shall I justify the wicked balance?” others, the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee, ; “Shall the wicked be justified by the balance?” Cheyne is inclined to read the verb in the second person, “Canst thou (O Jerusalem) be pure?” since in the next verse the prophet proceeds, “the rich men thereof” (i.e. of Jerusalem). If we retain the present reading, “Can I be innocent?” we must consider the question as put, for effect’s sake, in the mouth of one of the rich oppressors. Jerome’s translation is contrary to the use of the verb, which is always intransitive in kal.

Mic 6:12

The rich men thereof; i.e. of the city mentioned in Mic 6:9. They have just been charged with injustice and fraud, now they are denounced for practising every kind of violence. And not only the rich, but all the inhabitants fall under censure for lying and deceit. Their tongue is deceitful; literally, deceit; they cannot open their mouth without speaking dangerous and destructive lies.

Mic 6:13-16

4. For all this God threatens punishment.

Mic 6:13

Will I make thee sick in smiting thee; literally, have made the smiting thee sick; i.e. incurable, as Nah 3:19, or, “have made the blows mortal that are given thee.” The perfect is used to express the certainty of the future. The Septuagint and Vulgate read, “I have begun [or, will begin] to smite thee.”

Mic 6:14

Thou shalt eat, etc. The punishment answers to the sin (which proves that it comes from God), and recalls the threats of the Law (Le 26:25, etc.; Deu 28:29, etc.; comp. Hos 4:10; Hag 1:6). Thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; i.e. thy humiliation, thy decay and downfall, shall occur in the very centre of thy wealth and strength, where thou hast laid up thy treasure and practised thy wickedness. But the meaning of the Hebrew is very uncertain, and the text may be corrupt. The LXX. had a different reading, , “darkness shall be in thee.” The Syriac and Chaldee interpret the word rendered “casting down” (, which is found nowhere else) of some disease like dysentery. It is most suitable to understand this clause as connected with the preceding threat of hunger, and to take the unusual word in the sense of “emptiness.” Thus, “Thy emptiness (of stomach) shall remain in thee.” Jeremiah (Jer 52:6)speaks of the famine in the city at the time of its siege. Thou shalt take hold; rather, thou shalt remove (thy goods). This is the second chastisement. They should try to take their goods and families out of the reach of the enemy, but should not be able to save them. The LXX. interprets the verb of escaping by flight. That which thou deliverest. If by chance anything is carried away, it shall fall into the hands of the enemy.

Mic 6:15

Here is another judgment in accordance with the threatenings of the Law (Deu 28:33, Deu 28:38, etc.; comp. Amo 5:11; Zep 1:13; Hag 1:6). Shalt not reap. The effect may be owing to the judicial sterility of the soil, but more likely to the incursions of the enemy. Trochon quotes Virgil, ‘ Eel.,’ 1:70

“Impius haec tam culta novalia miles habebit?

Barbarus has segetes? en, quo discordia cives
Produxit miseros! his nos consevimus agros!“

Tread the olives. Olives were usually pressed or crushed in a mill, in order to extract the oil; the process of treading; was probably adopted by the poor. Gethsemane took its name from the oil presses there. The oil was applied to the person for comfort, luxury, and ceremony, and was almost indispensable in a hot country. Sweet wine. Thou shalt tread the new wine of the vintage, but shalt have to leave it for the enemy (comp. Amo 5:11). The Septuagint has here an interpolation, , “And the ordinances of my people shall vanish away,” which has arisen partly from a confusion between Omri, the proper name in the next verse, and ammi, “my people.”

Mic 6:16

The threatening is closed by repeating its cause: the punishment is the just reward of ungodly conduct. The first part of the verse corresponds to Mic 6:10-12, the second part to Mic 6:13-15. The statutes of Omri. The statutes are the rules of worship prescribed by him of whom it is said (1Ki 16:25) that he “wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him.” No special “statutes” of his are anywhere mentioned; but he is named here as the founder of that evil dynasty which gave Ahab to Israel, and the murderess Athaliah (who is called in 2Ki 8:26, “the daughter of Omri”) to Judah. The people keep his statutes instead of the Lord’s (Le 20:22). The works of the house of Ahab are their crimes and sins, especially the idolatrous practices observed by that family, such as the worship of Baal, which became the national religion (1Ki 16:31, etc.). Such apostasy had a disastrous effect upon the neighbouring kingdom of Judah (2Ki 8:18). Walk in their counsels. Take your tone and policy from them. That I should make thee. “The punishment was as certainly connected with the sin, in the purpose of God, as if its infliction had been the end at which they aimed” (Henderson). The prophet hero threatens a threefold penalty, as he had mentioned a threefold guiltiness. A desolation; ; perditionem (Vulgate). According to Keil, “an object of horror,” as Deu 28:37; Jer 25:9. Micah addresses Jerusalem itself in the first clause, its inhabitants in the second, and the whole nation in the last. An hissing; i.e. an object of derision, as Jer 19:8; Jer 25:18, etc. Therefore (and) ye shall bear the reproach of my people. Ye shall have to hear yourselves reproached at the mouth of the heathen, in that, though ye were the Lord’s peculiar people, ye were cast out and given into the hands of your enemies. The Septuagint, from a different reading, renders, , “Ye shall receive the reproaches of nations,” which is like Eze 34:29; Eze 36:6, Eze 36:15.

HOMILETICS

Mic 6:1-5

The memories of the way.

Truly affecting are those portions of Scripture in which God is represented as expostulating and pleading with erring men (Hos 6:4; Hos 11:8; Isa 1:16-20; Jer 2:1-14). The opening verses of this chapter are of the same character. God testifies, and in so doing calls upon the mountains and hills and strong foundations of the earth which have stood from age to age to bear him witness and confirm his testimony (Mic 6:2). “O my people,” he cries, “what have I done unto thee,” etc.? What sadness, what piercing grief, what ineffable sorrow, is implied in these words! Truly God grieves over sinning men. He is not impassive, but is infinitely sensible to the sins and sorrows of men, and every transgression strikes a pang into the heart of the Divine Father. Surely this sorrow of Divine love over the evils inflicted by man upon himself through sin should lead us back to God in humility, in penitence, and in submission to his authority and will. How remarkable is the faculty of memory, strengthening the affections, aiding progress, increasing enjoyment, and alleviating sorrow! Well may the poet sing of “the morning star of memory.” The prophet desired his people to review the past of their national history, that by these “memories of the way” they might be impelled to “return unto the Lord.” Concerning these memories, note

I. THEIR REMARKABLE VARIETY. There were memories of:

1. Wondrous deliverances. From Egyptian bondage (Mic 6:3); from the curse pronounced by Balaam (Mic 6:4).

2. Heavenly guidance. “I sent before thee Moses” (Mic 6:4)the distinguished leader and lawgiver.

3. Sacred fellowship. “Aaron” (Mic 6:4)their high priest and intercessor, who led them in thought into “the holiest of all.”

4. Grateful adoration. “Miriam” (Mic 6:4), with timbrel and dance inspiring them to celebrate in rapturous praise God’s redeeming mercy.

5. Continuous interposition. “From Shittim unto Gllgal” (Mic 6:5), i.e. from the desert unto the promised laud; by miracle, type, prophecy, and promise, they were continually experiencing Divine help and encouragement. So with us; mercies temporal and spiritual have been bestowed upon us in infinite variety; whilst in number they have been more than could be counted.

II. THEIR INTENDED INFLUENCE. These remembrances and memories of God’s great goodness are designed to lead men to “know the righteousness of the Lord” (Mic 6:5), and to give him the unswerving confidence of their hearts. Through all his dealings with the children of men he has been calling them to repentance, faith, newness of life, the putting away of cherished sin, the detaching themselves from ungodly associations, the breaking away from habits of evil, the experience of the most satisfying good, and to the purest and noblest service.

III. THEIR EMPHATIC TESTIMONY. The Most High, in deigning to expostulate with erring men, makes his appeal to these (Mic 6:3). He asks, “O my people, what have I done unto thee?” And must not this be our answer, “Nothing but good; good, only good”? “Wherein have I wearied thee?” he asks. And must we not reply, “Thy commandments are not grievous; yet surely we have wearied thee by the way in which we have slighted and neglected them, and have failed to yield to them the true obedience of our hearts and lives?” “Testify against me,” says God. “Nay, we can only testify against ourselves.” To thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy, but unto us shame and confusion of face'” (Dan 9:7). “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,” etc. (Rom 12:1). Then all must be well with us here, and at last we shall enter the land of light and rest and fulness of joy, where, with memory never failing, and with gratitude rising ever higher, we shall reflect upon the entire course along which we have been guided and upheld by him whose mercy and love endure forevermore.

Mic 6:6-8

Man’s spiritual need, and its supply.

These verses form one of the most striking passages in the Old Testament Scriptures. Let any one inquire as to the nature of true religion, and he may find the exposition of it expressed here with marvellous vigour and terseness of speech, and with a completeness leaving nothing to be supplied. The false conception respecting true religion as consisting in that which is external is swept clean away as with a besom, and the loftiest view concerning it is set before us in diction so simple that it cannot be misunderstood and in tone so earnest that it cannot fall to come home to the conscience and the heart.

I. THERE UNDERLIES THESE WORDS THE THOUGHT OF MAN‘S DEEP NEED OF GOD. To “come before the Lord” and to “bow before the most high God” is a necessity of humanity. Uncentred from God, the children of men are ever craving after seine unattained good, and which alone consists in the Divine favour and blessing. They turn to objects that are unworthy and that can never meet the wants of their higher nature. They seek satisfaction in that which is material, in cherishing attachment to the outward, the fleeting, the unreal; even as these people of Judah turned to luxury, ease, and self-indulgence; and the result is and ever must be miserable disappointment. Or they turn to objects such as are really worthywealth, scholarship, oratory, political and civic honours; but anticipating getting more out of these than they had any right to expect, there is failure and consequent disquietude. “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good.” God has declared that true heart rest can alone be found in himself. “Thou hast formed us for thyself, and our heart is disquieted till it resteth in thee”. Consider

II. THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF FINDING THE SATISFACTION OF THIS DEEP NEED OF THE SOUL IN A MERELY FORMAL AND EXTERNAL SERVICE. It is a great thing when a true reformer succeeds in making an impression. When evils have become deep-rooted, when men have become accustomed to perverted ways, there is an indifference and callousness about them which it is difficult indeed to overcome. And the distinction of this Hebrew seer is seen in the success he achieved where so many have signally failed. By the force of his own personal character, combined with the simplicity and vividness, the mingled severity, tenderness, and the intense earnestness of his language, he succeeded in rousing many to a sense of their sinfulness, and in awakening within them desires and aspirations after a truer life, and impelling them to cry, “Wherewith shall I come,” etc.? (Mic 6:6). But mark what followed. Micah prophesied in the reign of Hezekiah, and the history shows that the people rested in outward reformation and external forms. They cried, “Shall I come before him with burnt offerings rivers of oil?” (verses 6, 7); i.e. shall I bring the costliest and choicest sacrifices, and cause the oil which accompanies the offerings to flow plenteously? “Shall I” (following the practice of the heathen) “give my firstborn,” etc.? (verse 7). And they acted in the spirit of these inquiries. The interest in the temple and its services became revived, the Law was read, the sacrifices renewed, the fasts and feasts once more observed, and the threatened judgments were delayed. But all this was only temporary, there was outward reformation, but unaccompanied by inward renewal; the observance of external forms and the resting in these instead of in God; so that the spiritual unrest continued, and the process of national decay went on, whilst the voice of God was heard uttering the strongest denunciations, saying, “To what purpose,” etc.?(Isa 1:11-15). Beware of cherishing a merely formal piety, of honouring God with your lips whilst your hearts are far from him, of resting in outward reformation and external worship (Psa 51:16, Psa 51:17; Joh 4:23, Joh 4:24).

III. THIS NEED OF THE HEART IS MET IN THE POSSESSION OF SINCERE AND GENUINE PIETY. Such piety is described (verse 8) as consisting in doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God. It is spiritual in its nature, and has its seat in the heart. Possessing a heart renewed, trustful, and obedient to the Divine will, God will dwell with us, will be cur chief joy, and in all places and at all seasons will manifest himself to us. So shall we at all times and under all circumstances find tranquillity and peace. So shall we sing

“Without thee life and time are sadness,

No fragrance breathes around;

But with thee even grief is gladness,

The heart its home hath found.”

Mic 6:8

The Divine response to the cry of humanity.

“He hath showed thee, O man, what is good.” “Who will show us any good?” (Psa 4:6) is the cry of humanity, and has been its reiterated inquiry all through the ages of the world’s history. And not only has man ceaselessly raised the question, but he has sought its solution, and has thus fallen into errors, which are corrected by the response God has given to this aspiration of the human spirit. We turn, in our darkness, to his unerring Word, and we find light shed upon this otherwise dark problem.

I. IT CORRECTS THE NOTION THAT “GOOD” IS TO BE SOUGHT AND FOUND IN MATERIAL THINGS BY SHOWING THAT IT IS TO BE OBTAINED ALONE BY THE SPIRIT RESTING IN GOD.

II. IT CORRECTS THE NOTION THAT “GOOD” MAY BE OBTAINED BY EXTERNAL OBSERVANCES AND SACRIFICES, BY SHOWING THAT IT DEFENDS UPON THE STATE OF THE HEART, AND LIES IN OBEDIENCE AND SELF–SURRENDER TO THE DIVINE WILL.

III. IT CORRECTS THE NOTION THAT “GOOD” IS THE MONOPOLY OF ANY CLASS OR NATION, BY APPEALING TO MAN AS MAN. “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good.”

Mic 6:8

True piety: its clear delination.

“And what doth the Lord require of thee,” etc.?

I. To “DO JUSTLY.” He requires that rectitude and uprightness should characterize us in all our relationships. We are not to oppress or defraud. We are not to seek to damage the reputation of another, or by word or deed to endeavour to lessen the good opinion which has been formed respecting him. The golden rule is to be acted upon, and we “do unto others as we would that they should do unto us.”

II. To “LOVE MERCY.” There are two ideas here that of forgiveness, and that of compassion. Mercy is forgiveness towards the erring and benevolence towards the tried; over both the sinful and the suffering she spreads her wing. This quality is truly royal in its character. “Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge.” It is indeed God-like and Divine, and cannot Be exercised without securing to us real happiness. “It is twice blessed,” etc. It is well for men to be upright towards their fellow men, to “do justly;” but let this be joined to “loving mercy,” we seeking thus to smooth each other’s path through life. We respect the man whose conduct is regulated in accordance with strict justice; but we can love the man who rises higher than this, and who, whilst doing that which is just, is also large hearted and generous.

III. To “WALK HUMBLY WITH THY GOD.” To walk with God is to make it our fixed purpose and determination to live to him; to devote ourselves to his service. To walk with God is to acknowledge him as our Sovereign and our Father; to set him ever before us; to live a life of hallowed communion with him; to make his glory the great object and end of life; to seek to do only those things which are well pleasing in his sight. To walk with God is to have our mind and will brought into subjection to his; to strive to do all he would have us do and to be all he would have us be; to endeavour more and more to resemble him, and to have taken from us whatever in us is contrary unto him. To walk with God is to love him; to rejoice in his presence; to feel ourselves attracted towards him; to value nothing more than his favour; to deprecate nothing more than his displeasure. To walk with God is to have him dwelling continually in our hearts; ever to seek his approval; ever to make it the great business of life to glorify and to honour him. And in all this true humility is to mark us as we think of his greatness and our own littleness and unworthiness. True piety thus covers the whole range of human duty; it embraces our duty towards God and towards our fellow men. The fulfilment of this is “required” of us, and in such obedience lies the evidence that we are the possessors of sincere and vital godliness.

Mic 6:8

True piety: its exalted character.

“And what doth the Lord require of thee,” etc.? The standard God has set up for human conduct is very high. His law covers the whole range of man’s relationships, and demands lofty attainments. Note

I. PIETY AS DEFINED IN THE TEXT IS VERY EXALTED IN ITS NATURE. See this:

1. In its eminently practical character. It is to enter into all the concerns of our daily life. It does not ignore the emotional in man, but it insists upon holy feeling being transmuted into holy service to God and to man.

2. In its being synonymous with morality. The distinction often drawn between “a religious man” and “a moral man” has no recognition here. God’s Law has two tablesthe one having reference to our obligations to God, and the other to our duties to man; and, correctly speaking, the term “morality” can only be applied to those who are endeavouriug to heed both these requirements, and he has no claim to it who regards only one of these tables, and that the lesser, and who virtually excludes God from his own Law. And the converse is also true. As there can be no true morality apart from piety, so also there can be no true piety apart from morality; in other words, that these cannot practically be separated. Profession and life must go together, and be in harmony; it is the union of religion and morality that constitutes the life of true and vital godliness.

II. THE CONTEMPLATION OF THIS EXALTED NATURE OF TRUE PIETY IS CALCULATED TO EXERT A DEPRESSING INFLUENCE UPON OUR HEARTS. When we reflect upon the Divine requirement in the light of our own actions and conduct, we feel how infinitely and painfully short we have fallen below what we ought to have been. The standard set up is so lofty that we fear we shall never reach it. “It is high, we cannot attain unto it,” we cry, and almost feel despairing and hopeless.

III. BUT WITHAL THERE ARE GLORIOUS ENCOURAGEMENTS.

1. The Divine purpose. What encouragement lies in the thought that he who has revealed this perfect Law for human conduct, and who has the hearts of all men at his own disposal, will not rest until by the power of his grace and Spirit he has so touched and elevated the life of man as that the ideal shall become actual, and the race be delivered, fully and forever, from guilt and sin.

2. The obedience of Christ. In accordance with this Divine purpose, God gave his own Son, and the Christ appeared amongst men. Think of the life he lived, and how complete a transcript of the Divine Law it was And whilst he exemplified that Law in his life, in his voluntary surrender to the stroke of death as a sacrifice for human guilt he put lasting honour upon it. By that memorable death he declared silently the purity of the Divine Law, and attested the righteousness of the penalty attached to its violation. It has been truly said that “man convinced of sin is ready to sacrifice what is dearest to him rather than give up his own will and give himself to God” (W. Robertson Smith). It is easier to offer “to come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old,” than to lay our proud wills at his feet and to yield to him our hearts. But as we contemplate the obedience of Christ and his yielding himself up for us, and see in him expressed the great Father’s love, that which was difficult becomes lightwe own ourselves subdued, we view sin now in the light of the cross, and see its loathsomeness, and desire to be more entirely delivered from its practice, whilst as we contemplate God’s Law, under the influence of the feelings and emotions thus excited within us, we are impelled to cry in all the fulness of a consecrated heart, “I delight in the Law of God after the inward man!” (Rom 7:22); “O how I love thy Law!” (Psa 119:97).

Mic 6:9, Mic 6:13-15

Divine chastisement.

I. A SOLEMN DECLARATION OF COMING CHASTISEMENT. (Mic 6:13-15.) The form this chastisement would assume is suggestive of the thought of utter disappointment. Their gain should be turned into loss; their expectations should be completely frustrated; all that they hoped to realize as the result of their deceptions and extortions should fail them, even as the brook fails the parched traveller when coming to it to slake his burning thirst, lo! he finds it dried up. They should be made desolate because of their sins (Mic 6:13). Surrounded for a time, and through their ill-gotten gains, with all material comforts, they should no more be satisfied by these than he can be upon whom disease has fastened its deadly grasp (Mic 6:13). Nor should these material comforts abide. Internal conflicts and foreign invasion should result in their impoverishment. The toil of the sowing had been theirs, but they should not experience “the joy of harvest;” they had trodden the olives and had pressed the grapes, but they should not rejoice in the oil that makes the face to shine, or the wine that makes glad the heart of man (Mic 6:14, Mic 6:15). They had broken God’s Law, and the judgment threatened in that Law they must now inevitably experience (Le 26:16; Deu 28:30, Deu 28:38).

II. THIS CHASTISEMENT APPOINTED BY GOD. (Mic 6:9.) “The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city,” bidding men hear him who had “appointed” the judgment (Mic 6:9). “I will make thee sick,” etc. (Mic 6:13). Their sin was allowed to work out its evil consequences upon them, that they might be led to see how evil a thing it was. God turns events into teachers, and sorrows into discipline. He allows the reeds upon which men were leaning to break, and the earthly pleasures upon which their hearts were set to yield only the bitterness of gall and wormwood, that thus they may be led to look to him, the unfailing Spring. It is not by chance that trials meet the children of men in the pathway of life. It is the Divine arrangement that men should be thus met, if perchance they may be impelled to turn away from an unsatisfying world, and be led to seek in him their chief good. Sometimes we are so wayward that we will not pause in our wandering until God reveals the peril that is in our path. The prodigal had to feel shame and hunger before “he came to himself.” So we need at times to be startled and chastened into obedience. Even God’s chastisements are love. “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,” etc. (Heb 12:6-8); “As many as I love I rebuke and chasten” (Rev 3:19).

III. THE WISDOM OF RECOGNIZING GOD IN THESE ADVERSE EXPERIENCES OF LIFE. “And the men of wisdom,” etc. (Mic 6:9). We show the possession by us of this wisdom when we

(1) accept our life sorrows as coming to us with this wise and loving intent;

(2) when we calmly and trustingly bow to the Divine will in the seasons of grief;

(3) When we cherish solicitude that the gracious ends designed may be fulfilled in us; and

(4) when, our bonds “loosed,” and the sorrow overpast, the grateful acknowledgment, springing from our inmost souls, breaks forth from our lips, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted” (Psa 119:71); “Before I was afflicted I went astray,” etc. (Psa 119:67).

Mic 6:10-12

Weighed in the balances, and found wanting.

Having expounded the nature of true piety, the prophet, proceeds in these verses to apply the principles thus enunciated to the case of his people, endeavouring by means of searching inquiries to bring home to their hearts a sense of their guilt and depravity.

I. WE HAVE HERE AN ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE OF HUMAN CONDUCT WHEN TESTED BY THE DIVINE REQUIREMENTS BEING FOUND WANTING. Notice in this case:

1. Dishonesty in trade as opposed to “doing justly.“ Rectitude in all the transactions of life was repeatedly insisted upon in the Law of God as given by Moses (Le 19:35, 36; Deu 25:14, Deu 25:15). Disregard of this requirement was an indictment constantly brought against the Jewish people by their faithful seers (Amo 8:4-6; Eze 45:9, Eze 45:10; Hos 12:7, Hos 12:8). To be engaged in trade has been regarded by some as a badge of social inferiority. No right-minded man could speak or even think thus. All honest trades are honourable. None need be ashamed of their callings because these belong to the shop and the mart. The dishonour lies in fraud, trickery, deceit, and sharp practice; but let all these be eschewed, and the principles of uprightness and honour prevail, and the humblest trade, conducted on these lines, is thereby ennobled. “Royalty in her robes of state is not so majestic as Commerce clothed in spotless integrity and commanding unlimited confidence. Victory, raising her trophies from the spoils of a conquered army, is not so glorious as Commerce, patiently and perseveringly, slowly but surely, gaining its end by scorning and disdaining the arts which promise a speedy but treacherous elevation” (Dr. Robert Halley).

2. Oppression and violence as opposed to “loving mercy” (Mic 6:12). Men, making haste to be rich, fall into many hurtful snares (1Ti 6:9), and one of these is that of oppressing those less favoured than themselves. They become hard, and are led to take undue advantage of those who are needy and who can in any way be made tributary to their interests. Provision against this was made in the Law of Moses (Deu 24:10-22). This provision of that Divine law, which so marvellously met every circumstance and condition of life, the prophet charged his people with disregarding. “The rich men thereof are full of violence” (Mic 6:12; Isa 1:23; Isa 5:7; Amo 5:11; Mal 3:5). The love of mercy was sacrificed to the love of gain. Man, consumed by lust of wealth, used his fellow men as mere steppingstones, trampling them beneath his feet.

3. Degeneration in speech as altogether incompatible with “walking humbly with God?‘ (Mic 6:12.) Very glorious is the power of utterance, the ability to give audible expression, with clearness and perspicuity, to the thoughts which may be filling our minds and stirring our very souls.

“And when she spake
Sweet words, like dropping honey, she did shed:
And ‘twixt the pearls and rubies softly brake
A silver sound that heavenly music seemed to make.”

(Spenser’s ‘Faery Queene.’)

Speech is a very sure index to character. “Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee” (Luk 19:22). “A bell may have a crack, and you may not see it, but take the cropper and strike it, and you’ll soon perceive that it is flawed.” Degradation is stamped, not only upon the physical form of savage tribes, but also upon the very language they employ. When, as the result of a long course of transgression or of prolonged banishment from civilization, noble thoughts and high spiritual conceptions have dropped away from them, there has attended this the loss even of the very words by which these thoughts and conceptions are expressed, so that the language of such people has become woefully impoverished. Clearly, then, would we have our speech right, we must get our hearts right. “The weights and wheels are in the heart, and the clock strikes according to their motion. Truth in the inward parts is the certain cure for all evil in the tongue.” The prevailing degeneracy over which this seer so deeply mourned is indicated in his words, “The inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth” (Mic 6:12). And, this being the case, they were utterly unfitted for complying with the requirement that they should walk humbly “with their God;” for only “the pure in heart” can have fellowship with him. “Weighed” thus “in the balances” of the requirements of God’s pure Law, they were “found wanting.”

II. ALTHOUGH DIFFERING IN DEGREE, YET IT IS TRUE UNIVERSALLY THAT HUMAN CONDUCT, PROVED THUS, WILL NOT STAND THE TEST. God’s Law is “holy, just, and true,” and man is by nature and practice so sinful that, judged by that high standard, “every mouth must be stopped, and the whole world appear guilty before God” (Rom 3:19).

III. THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THIS SHOULD LEAD US TO WELCOME THE CHRIST OF GOD, WHOSE ADVENT THIS PROPHET PREDICTED, AND TO REJOICE IN HIS WORK ON OUR BEHALF. We cannot meet God on the ground of obedience to his pure Law. If we take that stand, then he righteously and imperatively requires that the whole Law be kept; and this is impossible to us, since even if we were capable of perfect obedience in the future, this would not atone for the failures of the past. The true meeting place is not Sinai, but Calvary (2Ti 1:9; Rom 3:20-26).

Mic 6:16

The influence of evil men.

These are the last recorded words of Micah declarative of coming judgment; and they are deeply impressive as setting forth the influence exerted by evil men.

I. ITS PERPETUITY. “For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels” (verse 16). God had separated this people from among the nations, and had specially favoured them with a revelation of his will. He had given unto them his pure Law. Their fathers had gathered in the olden time at Sinai, that

“Separate from the world, their breast

Might duly take and strongly keep

The print of heaven to be exprest

Ere long on Zion’s steep.”
(Keble.)

God had conferred signal honour upon them in constituting them the depositaries of his truth, and his witnesses unto the ends of the earth. They were bound by the most sacred obligations, the most solemn vows repeatedly renewed, and by pains and penalties too, “to keep his statues” and “to obey his commandments.” But they lamentably failed to fulfil their high mission, and the failure is in no small degree traced in these records to the influence of their kings. Jeroboam, Omri, and Ahab stand out conspicuously in the history of the kingdom of Israel as having sinned and caused Israel to sin, and the evil influence thus exerted spread to the kingdom of Judah, and descended from generation to generation. One hundred and seventy years had passed since the death of Ahab, nearly two hundred since the death of Omri, and about two hundred and thirty since the death of Jeroboam; yet their pernicious influence was still felt, and the people were keeping their statutes instead of God’s, and walking in their ways instead of in “the way of holiness.” It is clear, then, that, whilst we may by a true life be helpers, even to those who come after us, in all that is good, we may also, by the perversion of this power, prove hinderers to them, and keep them back from the highest bliss. Evil deeds as well as good actions have the stamp of permanence upon them. “Being dead,” men “yet speak” for ill as for good. You cannot limit the influence of wrong doing to the men who commit it. Generations yet unborn will experience the dire effects of the sins men are committing now. “For the statutes of Omri” (verse 16).

II. ITS PERNICIOUSNESS. “That I should make thee,” etc. (verse 16). The injurious effects thus wrought in a nation are here specially set forth.

1. It leads on to national decay. “That I should make thee a desolation” (verse 16).

2. It excites the contempt of the adversaries. “And the inhabitants thereof an hissing” (verse 16).

3. It lays spiritual honour in the very dust, and causes the foes of God and of his truth to blaspheme. “Therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people” (verse 16; Eze 36:20; Psa 89:4; Psa 44:13-16).

HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT

Mic 6:1-5

A protest and a retrospect.

The serious state of the cue between Jehovah and his people is shown by this appeal to the hills and mountains. As though among all the nations none could be found impartial enough to be umpires, or even witnesses, inanimate nature must supply its testimony. (Illustrate from Job 12:7, Job 12:8; Isa 1:2, Isa 1:3; Luk 19:40; 2Pe 2:16.) The mountains hays stability; not so the favoured nation. They have survived many generations of God’s ungrateful beneficiaries, and have been witnesses of the blessings those thankless ones have received. The cliffs of Horeb have echoed back the precepts and promises of Jehovah, and the gentler tones of his “still small voice,” but his people have remained deaf to his appeals. Hence

I. A PROTEST. Before Jehovah passes judgment he permits himself to be regarded as the defendant if his people can venture to bring any charge against him. He knows that nothing but unrighteous treatment on his part could justify them in departing from him. Hence the appeal in Jer 2:5, and the similar remonstrances of Christ in Joh 8:46 and Joh 10:32. Nothing but intolerable grievances can justify a national revolt or a desertion of the paternal home. Had God “wearied” Israel by unreasonable treatment? The whole history of the nation refutes the suggested libel. Or can we make any such charges against God? What can they be?

1. Undue severity? Can “my people” (what a sermon in that mere term!) say so (Job 11:6; Psa 103:10; Dan 9:7)?

2. A harsh and trying temper? The very opposite is the spirit of “the Father of mercies” (Psa 145:8, Psa 145:9).

3. Unreasonable exactions of service? No; he can make the appeal, “I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense” (Isa 43:23). His “yoke is easy;” “His commandments are not grievous.”

4. Negligence in his training of us? Far from it; he can declare, “What could have been done more?” etc. (Isa 5:1-4). Forbearance, loving kindness, and thoughtful consideration have marked God’s conduct throughout. The case against God utterly breaks down. Instead of desiring to remonstrate, or even “reason with God,” u at one time Job did, every reasonable soul, hearing God’s words and catching some vision of his glory, must acknowledge, as that patriarch did, “I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (cf. Job 13:3; Job 42:5, Job 42:6). The way is cleared. O God, thou art justified when thou speakest, and clear when thou art judged. And now God’s messenger may take up his parable, like Samuel (1Sa 12:7), and God himself may make the appeal in verses 4, 5.

II. A RETROSPECT. Jehovah selects specimens of his gracious dealings with them from their early history. He reminds them of:

1. A grand redemption. (Verse 4.) We, too, as a nation can speak of great deliverances from political and ecclesiastical bondage. See T.H. Gill’s hymn

“Lift thy song among the nations,
England of the Lord beloved.” etc.

And for each of us has been provided a redemption from a worse than Egyptian bondage, through “Christ our Passover, sacrificed for us.”

2. Illustrious leaders. Moses, their inspired lawgiver and the friend of God (Num 12:8); Aaron, their high priest and intercessor; Miriam, a singer, poet, prophetess. What memories of “the loving kindnesses of the Lord” these names would recallthe Paschal night, the morning of final deliverance and song of triumph by the Red Sea, the manna, the plague stayed, etc.! We, too, can look back on our illustrious leaders in English history. And in common with the whole of Christendom, “all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas”the apostles, the martyrs, the preachers, the poets of the past”all are yours” by right, if not by actual enjoyment.

3. Foes frustrated. (Verse 5.) “Remember now”a word of tender appeal, as though God would say, “Oh, do remember.” Balak was a representative foe, striving against Israel, first by policy (Num 22:1-41.), then by villainy (Num 25:1-18.), and finally by violence (Num 31:1-54.). Again the parallel may be traced in national and individual history.

4. Curses turned into blessings. (Deu 23:5.) So has it been with many of the trials of the past. “Remember from Shittim unto Gilgal” (cf. Num 25:1 and Jos 4:19). What a contrast! Sins forgiven; reproach “rolled away” (Jos 5:9); chastisements blessed; the long looked for land of promise entered. All these blessings show us “the righteous acts of the Lord.” They remind us of the successive acts of God’s righteous grace. They make sin against him shamefully ungrateful as well as grossly unjust. Oh, that the goodness of God may lead to repentance! that he may overcome our evil by his good! that “the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” may constrain us to live henceforth, not to ourselves, but to him!E.S.P.

Mic 6:6-8

The essentials of godliness.

If the questions of Mic 6:6 and Mic 6:7 are those of Balak and the answers are Balaam’s, they remind us of how a man may know and explain clearly the path of righteousness and peace, and yet neglect it. Balsam may prophesy; Demas may preach; Judas may cast out devils; but “I never knew you; depart from me ye that work iniquity!” Or if we regard the questions as proposed, either by the nation convicted of sin (Mic 6:1-5), or by any one sin-stricken soul, we learn the same truths. It is the old controversy, older than Balak, between God and man, as to the grounds of man’s acceptance with God and the essential requirements from man by God. We see

I. ANXIOUS QUESTIONS. (Mic 6:6, Mic 6:7.) These questions remind us of:

1. Man‘s sense of distance from God. He is not consciously walking “with God,” like Enoch; “before God,” like Abraham.

2. His conviction that he cannot come to God by any right or merit of his own. “Wherewith?” He cannot come just as he is, empty-handed. He has no right of entry to the court of the Divine King.

3. And that if he comes at all he must “bow,” as an inferior, conscious of absolute dependence. This “consciousness of absolute dependence” (Schleiermacher’s definition of religion), which is shared by all intelligent creatures, is intensified by the consciousness of sin. Sin has as its shadow guilt, and the brighter the light the clearer and darker the shadow. That shadow projects itself into the mysterious future. A sense of desert of punishment and “a certain tearful looking for of judgment” are the attendants of sin, though there may be no meltings of godly sorrow from a sense of its base ingratitude. Thus sin is the great separater; man feels it; God declares it (Isa 59:1, Isa 59:2). Hence there follow suggestive inquiries as to the means by which acceptance with God may be obtained. Shall they be “burnt offerings”? There was a germ of truth in this thought (cf. 2Sa 24:24). Burnt offerings were entirely devoted to God. They might be precious in quality, like “calves of a year old,” or multiplied in quantity (“thousands of rams,” etc.). These burnt offerings were designed to denote God’s right to our entire surrender, but could be no substitute for that surrender. They might be signs of eager desire for acceptance, though at a high price. But in themselves they could bring no sense of access to God and of peace with him. Then comes the suggestion of a sacrifice infinitely more costly(“my firstborn,” etc.). To a parent a child’s life is more precious than his own. If the sinner can be forgiven and accepted only at such a price, shall it be paid? Terror-stricken, deluded consciences have answered, “Yes;” but the peace has not come. While some of these proposals are detestable to God, all of them are worthless. Unless the man himself is right with God, no sacrifice can avail. Yet many would rather sacrifice health, life, wife, child, than give up sin which is the great separator. Sinful man can ask such anxious questions as these, but he cannot answer them. His suggestions land him in deeper guilt, or at the best leave him in blank despair.

II. REASSURING ANSWERS. (Mic 6:8.) These come from God himself. Every fragment of gospelnews of good, is news from God. It was given not now for the first time. God had spoken at sundry times and in divers manners by Moses and the earlier prophets. All previous revelations of Law and grace were means of showing men “what is good.” In regard to man himself, God from the beginning has testified that his only real “good” is real godliness. This was the sum of his requirements (see Deu 10:12, Deu 10:13, etc.). He did not seek for something from themselves, but for themselves and for the fruit of his Spirit within them. There were false methods by which “that which is good” was sought, such as heathen sacrifices and austerities. There were inadequate methods, such as God’s own appointed system of sacrifices and services, when emptied of the spirit of self-surrender they were designed to foster and of the teaching they contained of the need of “better sacrifices” (Heb 9:23). These symbolical educational sacrifices were but part of a process which was to issue in man’s acceptance by God, that thus man might render to God what he required, and might know and “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (cf. Heb 10:1-10, Heb 10:19-25). Looking closely at Mic 6:8, we see a summing up of both Law and gospel.

1. “To do justly.“ Elementary morality is here linked with all that is Divine. To do justly is not only to do what is just, but because it is just, and with an earnest desire to be right with God. The “righteousness” which “the righteous Lord loveth” (Psa 11:7) is more than the outward act. And yet these most elementary acts of righteousness were neglected by many then (Mic 6:10-12 and Mic 7:3) as well as now, who proposed anxious questions about their acceptance with God or even professed to have found satisfactory answers to them.

2. “To love mercy.” Mercy is more than justice, just as “a good man” is more than a merely “righteous” one (Rom 5:7). The lack of it may arise from hardness of character, or from never having passed through the temptations by which some have fallen. To cultivate the love of mercy will bring us nearer to God, and will make it easy for us to scatter blessings around our path, even to the unthankful and the evil (Pro 21:21; Mat 5:7; Luk 6:32-36). Such a disposition is incompatible with spiritual pride. But lest a just and benevolent man should be tempted to pride himself and to rely on his outward conduct, we are reminded of God’s last requirement.

3. “To walk humbly with thy God.” Here the first table of the Decalogue and the law of the gospel are combined. “Walk with God.” How can the sinner, except he be reconciled (Amo 3:3)? Hence the need of peace in God’s appointed way. This way to us is not the way of self-righteousness or the way of ceremonies and sacraments, but it is the way of faith in God’s own appointed and accepted atonement (Rom 4:4, Rom 4:5; 1Jn 3:23). To “submit” to this righteousness of God requires a humbling of many a proud heart. And if we have welcomed reconciliation as God’s free gift through Christ, we shall ever after walk humbly with our God as his grateful, happy children. Such a humble walk will make justice and mercy easier to us. When Luther was asked what was the first step in religion, he replied “Humility;” and when asked what was the second and the third, answered in the same way. Therefore walk humbly, as a learner; as a pensioner; as a pardoned and joyous child, “looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Tit 2:11-14).E.S.P.

Mic 6:9

The voice of the rod.

God’s voice has often called to Jerusalem in mercy and in warning; now it cries in judgment it is the voice of the rod. Notice

I. THE SINS THAT CALL FOR IT. In the context many of the chief national sins are once more enumerated, such as ill-gotten gains (Mic 6:10), false weights and measures (Mic 6:10, Mic 6:11), oppression of the poor by the petty magnates of the city (Mic 6:12), habitual fraud and falsehood (Mic 6:12). Apply these illustrations to some of England’s national sins. But as though these were not enough, there were added thereto the sins of the darkest period of the northern kingdom, viz. from Omri to Jehu. These sins included the establishment of idolatry and all the immoralities associated with Baal worship, the persecution of God’s faithful servants (1Ki 18:13; 1Ki 19:10; 1Ki 22:27), and oppression even by the highest (e.g. Naboth). In the days of Ahaz the kingdom of Judah sank to such a level as this. All these evils were concentrated at Jerusalem, so that it is to this city the rod appeals.

II. THE MESSAGES IT BRINGS. Some elements of distinct retributive justice are discernible.

1. Uneasiness, from consciousness of guilt, while pursuing and seeking to enjoy their nefarious courses. Conscience may be like an Elijah confronting Ahab in Naboth’s vineyard. Illust.: Shakespeare’s Richard III.

2. As they defrauded the poor, so should they be bitterly disappointed when seeking the fruit of their own labour (Mic 6:14; Ecc 6:1, Ecc 6:2).

3. Their labour would be for the benefit of others, and all their efforts to secure it for themselves would be as much frustrated as were the toilsome labours of those whom they had defrauded (Mic 6:14, Mic 6:15). For they can save nothing from the hand of God.

4. Thus their wounds would be incurable (Mic 6:13), and their ill-gotten gain a treasure of wrath (Jas 5:1-4).

5. These luxurious and delicate ones should become a scandal and a reproach to all around them (Mic 6:16).

III. THE SPIRIT THAT WILL SILENCE IT.

1. Recognizing God‘s hand as holding it. He “hath appointed it.” (Illustrate from Isa 10:5; Jer 47:6, Jer 47:7; so now Amo 3:6.)

2. Listening to God‘s voice speaking through it. Their great sin in the past has been the disregard of God’s voice (Isa 48:18; Jer 13:15-17). The voices of entreaty and warning were not heard, so now the voice of chastisement speaks. Yet even in the time of such chastisement there might be hope (Pro 1:24-27, Pro 1:33; and see Le 26:40-45).

3. Honouring God‘s Name. “The man of wisdom shall see thy Name.” God’s Name declares his character, and it is his character as a holy God that requires the punishment of the unrighteous (Exo 34:7). So long as men persist in sin, they must remain under the wrath of God. Sinning and punishment are inseparable. Till sinners “see God’s Name” by recognizing its meaning and learning that they can honour it by nothing but a renunciation of sin, the voice of the rod must be heard even through the ages of eternity.E.S.P.

HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND

Mic 6:6-8

Man’s yearning for his Maker.

The prophet supposes that his earnest appeals have had some effect that the people are stirred from their senselessness, and are beginning to feel after God. Overwhelmed with a consciousness of sin, they dare not approach him as they are. Their hesitation and their self-communing are like those of the prodigal in the far country when he came to himself. The sense of distance between the finite and the infinite, between the sin-stained and the holy, is oppressive and painful, and it finds expression in the words of our text.

I. THE ANXIOUS INQUIRY. “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God?” Whether men wish to do so or not, they are bound by the inexorable laws of God to appear before him. They may come as sinners, casting themselves upon his mercy, as David and the publican came; but they must come, on the last great day, as responsible creatures, to give an account of the deeds done in the body, whether they are good or bad. It is not as a race, or even as families, that judgment will be received by men, but by each in his individual capacity. Hence the wise man asks himself,” Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?”

1. This implies belief in a personal God. There is no conception here or elsewhere in Scripture of the world being ruled by an impersonal Power, by a tendency which makes for righteousness. Such theories are in the long run destructive of the sense of personal accountability, and therefore fatal to the basis on which moral law rests.

2. This implies conviction of sin. Else why this nameless dread, and this notion of sin offering? It matters not how it is aroused, whether by tender touches of Divine love or by fervid appeals by inspired messengers; nor is it of consequence whether the sins were those of omission or of commission; but in some form, and by some means, a sense of sin is aroused in most men by the power of the Holy Spirit, whose office it is to “convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of a judgment to come.”

3. This implies willingness to make some sacrifice. Even the heathen have had the innate consciousness that without the shedding of blood there is no remission. The Jews had a divinely ordained and most elaborate system of sacrifice, which kept this idea before their minds, in all the changeful conditions of life. But they were taught that it was not these outward and visible offerings which atoned for sin. “Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it,” etc. “Lebanon is not sufficient to burn” etc. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise”.

II. THE SATISFACTORY ANSWER. With ever increasing fulness it came, until at last the voice of the Lord Jesus was heard saying, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

1. Christ Jesus has offered an atonement for us. “Once, in the end of the world, he hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,” He has not repealed the morel law; he has not abolished the necessity for means of moral culture; he has not quenched the Divine wrath; but he has revealed (not created) the Divine purpose, and has commended (not purchased) the Divine love. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

2. Christ Jesus has brought God near to us. In him God is manifest in the flesh. “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”

(1) By seeing him we can understand what God is. The unseen power which pulsates through this boundless universe is too vast for our appreciation; but revealed in the Lord Jesus, we know him to be a Person, speaking to us in wisdom and love.

(2) Through Jesus we know that God is love. He inspires hope and trust in those who are alienated and afraid. A display of Divine glory would terrify us; but we are encouraged to draw near by One who appeared as the Babe of Bethlehem, as the patient Teacher of the disciples, as the gracious Friend of the sinful and distressed.

3. Christ Jesus attracts us to God. Arousing gratitude and confidence, he is the great magnet of human hearts. “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.”

III. THE DIVINE REQUIREMENT. “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” This is not required as a means of our Justification, but as an evidence of it. It does not exclude the work of Christ, but presupposes it. But, on the other hand, it effectually refutes the notion that the elect can live as they list. They are only “predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”

1. “To do justly” involves the discharge of fairly demanded duties both towards God and towards man. We are unjust in our dealings with God when we withhold time and wealth and influence which we are able to devote to him. We are unjust as servants when we render mere eye service; unjust as employers when we look only “on our own things.” Buyers and sellers, statesmen and diplomatists, need all hearken to this law.

2. “To love mercy” is to go beyond the strict rights which others may claim of us in the exercise of generosity and pity. “Blessed is he that considereth the poor,” etc.; “If thine enemy hunger, feed him.”

3. “To walk humbly with God” implies fellowship, constant and real. Reverence and seriousness in the treatment of the Divine revelation; consciousness of the infinitude of truth, and our incapacity to grasp it; lowly submission to our Father’s will, when it is contrary to our own wishes; and steadfast progress in the Christian life, as we walk hand in hand with him; are all involved in walking humbly with our God.

“Walking in reverence

Humbly with thee,

Yet from all abject fear

Lovingly free;

E’en as a friend with friend,
Cheered to the journey’s end,

Walking with thee.”

A.R.

HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS

Mic 6:1-5

Man in the moral court of history.

“Hear ye now what the Lord saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord’s controversy and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel,” etc. There are three things here very striking and deserving our solemn attention.

I. HERE IS A CALL ON MAN TO GIVE AUDIENCE TO ALMIGHTY GOD. “Hear ye now what the Lord saith.” These are the words of the prophet who speaks in the name of Jehovah, and on his behalf. Such an audience as this is:

1. Natural. What is more natural than for the child to hang on the lips and attend to the words of his parent? How much more natural for the finite intelligence to open its ears to the words of the Infinite! It is more natural for the human soul to look up, listening, to the great Father-Spirit, and to receive communication from him, than for the earth to thirst for the sunbeam and the shower. The human soul is made for it.

2. Binding. Of all duties it is the meet primary and imperative. The great command of God to all is, “Hearken diligently to me; hear, and your soul shall live” (Isa 55:2, Isa 55:3). The conscience of every man tells him that his great duty is to heat God in all the operations of nature, in all the events of life, in all the teachings of the Bible, in all the monitions of the soul. God is always speaking to man. Would that the human ear was ever open to his voice!

3. Indispensible. It is only as men hear, interpret, digest, appropriate, and incarnate God’s Word that they can rise to a true, a noble, and a happy life. Hear ye now, then, what the Lord saith.” “Now. In the scenes of retribution whither you are hastening, you will be bound to hear his voice, whether you wish or not.

II. HERE IS A SUMMONS TO INANTIMATE NATURE TO HEAR THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. “Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.” “It is not unusual,” says an eminent biblical scholar, “with the prophets to make appeals respecting the enormity of human guilt to the inanimate part of creation, as if it were impossible for it not to inspire them with life, mad call them as intelligent witnesses of what had taken place in their presence (see Deu 32:1; Isa 1:2; Jer 2:12, Jer 2:18). By a similar personification, the mountains and durable foundations of the earth are here summoned to appear in the court of heaven. Jehovah, however, instead of bringing forward the charge, abdicates, as it were, his right, and leaves it to the guilty party to state the case. In the appeal to lofty and ever during mountains, in which the puny affairs of man could excite no prejudice, and which might therefore be regarded as quite impartial judges, there is something inexpressibly sublime.” The appeal to inanimate nature:

1. Indicates the earnestness of the prophet. He would seem to speak with such vehement earnestness as if he would wake the dead mountains and hills to hear his voice, and shake the very “foundations of the earth” with his thunders. He would cry aloud and spare not. Every minister should be earnest. “Passion is reason” here.

2. Suggests the stupidity of the people. Perhaps the prophet meant to compare them to the dead hills and mountains. As firmly settled in sin were they as the mountains, as hard in heart as the rocks.

3. Hints the universality of his theme. His mission had no limitation; his doctrine was no secret, it was as open and free as nature.

III. HERE IS A CHALLENGE TO MAN TO FIND FAULT WITH DIVINE DEALINGS. “O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against me.” His challenge:

1. Implies that they could bring nothing against him. “What have I done unto thee?” which means, “I have done nothing. I have not treated you with injustice, I have laid on you no intolerable burdens, I dare you to charge me with any act unrighteous or unkind? What fault has the sinner to find with God?

2. Declares that he had done everything for them. He here reminds them of:

(1) His delivering them from Egyptian bondage. “I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants.”

(2) What he did for them on the way to Canaan. “I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.” Moses the lawgiver, Aaron the priest, and Miriam the prophetess.

(3) What he did for them in Canaan. “O my people, remember now what Balak King of Moab consulted,” etc. He not only furnished them with inspired teachers, but counteracted the designs of false ones, as in the ease of Balaam, who was engaged by Balak to curse them, but was inspired by Heaven to bless them. If the Israelites could find no fault with God, and if he did so much for them, how stand we here in this country and in this age under the full light of the gospel dispensation? What more could he have done for us than he has? etc.

CONCLUSION. Sinner, you are in the great moral court of the universe, you are arraigned before your Judge, you are commanded to listen to his voice. Inanimate nature around is a witness against you in this court; the very timbers of the wall will cry out against you. You are commanded to give a full explanation of your conduct. If you have any fault to find with the Almighty, bring it forth. If you have not, ponder until your heart breaks into penitence and gratitude at the memory of his wonderful mercies to you.D.T.

Mic 6:6-8

Fellowship with God.

“Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?” etc. We raise from these words three general observations

I. THAT A LOVING FELLOWSHIP WITH THE GREAT GOD IS THE ONE URGENT NEED OF HUMANITY. “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?” The language is that of a soul convinced of its sin, and roused to a sense of the importance of friendship with the Almighty. “Wherewith shall I come?” Come I must; I feel that distance from him is my great sin and misery.

1. Loving fellowship with the great God is essential to the happiness of moral intelligences. Reason suggests this. All souls are the offspring of God; and where can children find happiness but in the friendship, the intercourse, and the presence of their loving Father? Conscience indicates this. Deep in the moral souls of all men is the yearning for intercourse with the Infinite. The hearts of all “cry out for the living God.” The Bible teaches this. What means such utterances as these: “Come now, and let us reason together;” “Return to the Lord;” “Come unto me,” etc.? Not more impossible is it for a planet to shine when cut off from the sun, a river to flow when cut off from the fountain, a branch to grow when severed from the root, than for a soul to be happy apart from God. “In thy presence is fulness of joy;

2. Man, in his unregenerate state, is estranged and far away from God. He is represented as a lost sheep wandering in the wilderness away from the fold, as the prodigal son remote from his father’s house and in a far country. How far is the human soul, in its unregenerate state, from God? How far is selfishness from benevolence, error flora truth, pollution from holiness, wrong from right? The moral space or gulf that lies between is immeasurable.

II. THAT SACRIFICES THE MOST COSTLY ARE UTTERLY INSUFFICIENT TO SECURE THIS FELLOWSHIP. “Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?” Such offerings were presented under the Law (Lev 1:1-17; etc.). “Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?” This also was enjoined in Leviticus. Oil was to be poured on the meat offering. “Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” The Jews offered many human sacrifices in the valley of Hinnom. They caused their children to pass through the fire in honour of Moloch. The idea isAre there any sacrifices I can make, however costly and however painful, in order to commend me to the favour and friendship of Almighty God? The interrogatory implies a negativeNo. Offer the cattle upon a thousand hills: can they be a satisfaction for sin? Can they commend you to Infinite Love? All are his. How men came at first to suppose that human sacrifices could be acceptable to God is one of the greatest enigmas in history. “Though a man give his body to be burned, without charity he is nothing.” Two things are here presented.

1. The great cry of a sin-convicted soul is for God. No sooner is conviction of sin struck into the human soul, than it turns itself away at once from the world to God: “I want God; I have lost him; God I must have; oh that I knew where I might find him!”

2. Worldly possessions, in the estimation of a sin-convicted soul, are comparatively worthless. He is prepared to make any sacrifices. Holocausts, thousands of rams, ten thousands of rivers of oil; what are they? Nothing in comparison with the interests of the soul “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world,” etc.? It feels this when convicted of sin.

III. THAT MORAL EXCELLENCE IS THE ONE METHOD BY WHICH THIS FELLOWSHIP CAN BE OBTAINED. “He hath showed thee, O man [Hebrew, ‘Adam,’ the whole race, Jew and Gentile alike], what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” This moral excellence consists of two parts, social and religious.

1. That which refers to man.

(1) “Do justly;” “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them?” “Render to all men their due.”

(2) “Love mercy.” Mere justice is not enough, there must be tender commiseration for the suffering; the poor and the distressed must be remembered. Mercy must not only be shown, but loved. To help the needy must be delight.

2. That which refers to God. “Walk humbly with thy God.” Walking with God implies consciousness of the Divine presence, harmony with the Divine will, progress in Divine excellence. This is moral excellencethe moral excellence that God has revealed to all men, Jew and Gentile, the entire race, and which he requires from all; and this is the condition of fellowship with him. How is this moral excellence to be attained? it may be asked. Philosophically, I know but of one wayfaith in him who is the Revelation, the Incarnation, the Example of all moral excellence Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION. Learn from this what religion ishow transcendent! It is the soul going away from sin and the world to God. Not merely to temples, theologies, ceremonies, but to God; and to him, not through intellectual systems or ceremonial observances, but through a true life, both in relation to man and God.D.T.

Mic 6:9

God’s voice to cities.

“The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy Name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.” We raise three remarks from this verse.

I. THAT GOD HAS A “VOICE” TO CITIES. “The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city.” The city meant here is Jerusalem. He speaks to a city:

1. Through its commerce. The failures that follow fraud, indolence, chicanery.

2. Through its morality. The funeral processions that darken the streets, the cemeteries that lie within and around.

3. Through its churches. The sermons that are preached, the agents that are employed to enlighten the ignorant, to comfort the distressed, reclaim the lost. Heavenly Wisdom “standeth at the corner of the streets; she crieth aloud,” etc.

II. THE WISE IN CITIES RECOGNIZE THE VOICE. “The man of wisdom shall see thy Name.” “And wisdom has thy Name in its eye” (Delitzsch). “And he who is wise will regard thy Name” (Henderson). The idea seems to be thisthat the wise man will recognize God’s voice. Job says, “God speaks once, yea twice, and they perceive it not.” The crowds that populate cities are deaf to the Divine “voice.” The din of passion, the hum of commerce, the chimes of animal pleasures, drown the voice of God. But the wise man has his soul ever in a listening attitude. Like young Samuel, he says, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” Abraham heard the voice of God concerning Sodom, Daniel concerning Babylon, Jonah concerning Nineveh, Jeremiah concerning Jerusalem. “I will hear what the Lord God will say”this is the language of wise men.

III. THE JUDGMENT OF CITIES IS IN THAT VOICE. “Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.” The rod is the symbol of judgment. “O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in their hand is my indignation “(Isa 10:5).

1. God warns cities.

(1) He warns them of ultimate temporal ruin. All cities must gogo with Nineveh, Greece, Babylon, Rome, Jerusalem. London, Paris, Petersburg, New York, etc; all must go as these have gone. It is only a question of time.

(2) He warns them of spiritual danger. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” This is his voice to every citizen. Here is the “rod”the warning over all cities.

2. His warning should be attended to. “Hear ye the rod.” The only way to escape is attention. Hear it, and flee for refuge; hear it, and thunder it abroad to alarm the careless; hear it before it is too late. “If thou hadst known the things that belong to thy peace in this day! but now are they hid from thine eyes” (Luk 19:42).

“Heaven gives the needful, but neglected, call.
What day, what hour, but knocks at human hearts,
To wake the soul to sense of future scenes?
Deaths stand, like Mercuries, in every way,
And kindly point us to our journey’s end.”

(Young.)

D.T.

Mic 6:10-15

Civic sins.

“Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable? Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence,” etc. In these verses we have specified a sample of the crimes which abounded in the city, and which would bring on the threatened judgment. The passage leads us to make two remarks concerning civic sins, or the sins of a city.

I. THEIR VARIETY.

1. Here is fraud. “Are there yet the treaures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?” “Are there still in the house of the wicked treasures of wickedness and the scanty ephah?” (Henderson). This sin is described in Amo 8:5, “When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?” Fraud is one of the most prevalent crimes in all cities. Perhaps in no city was it ever more prevalent than it is in London to-day. Our commercial immorality is that at which thoughtful men stand aghast.

2. Here is violence. “The rich men thereof are full of violence.” Strong in every age has been the tendency of rich men to oppress the lower classes by unrighteous exactions of service, by oppressive enactments. Wealth has a tendency to make men arrogant, haughty, heartless, often inhuman. The tyrant in man, as a rule, grows with the increase of his wealth.

3. Here is falsehood. “The inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.” Unveracity is a crime, and a crime most prevalent in all cities. There is scarcely a trade or profession carded on without deception. Fortunes are made by lies. Men are everywhere deceiving each other. Such are samples of the crimes prevalent in Jerusalem.

II. THEIR RETRIBUTION. All these crimes are offensive to the Ruler of the universe, and by the law of retribution bring dire results upon the population. God says,” Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances?” It is said in Psa 18:26 that with the “pure Godwill show himself pure; but with the froward he will show himself froward,” And what are the results? Several are here specified.

1. Disease. “Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee.” Crime is inimical to physical health and strength. The diseases that prevail in cities are, in most cases, traceable to their crimes. In every sin there is a germ of physical disease, a something which tends to disturb the nerves, taint the blood, and sap the constitution.

2. Desolation. “In making thee desolate because of thy sins.” What is desolation? It is not the mere loss of property, friends, or the external means of physical enjoyment. A man may have all these and yet be desolate. It is the awful sense of lonesomeness desertion. A desolate man is one who neither loves nor is loved; and sin produces this state. Few states of mind are more awful or more crushing than the sense of aloneness.

3. Dissatisfaction. “Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied.” Of whatever a sinful man partakes, however delicious the viands, however choice and costly the provisions, he has no satisfaction of soul. He has in connection with, and in spite of, all a hunger deep, gnawing, unappeasable. Sin and satisfaction can never coexist.

4. Disappointment. “Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.” A sinful soul can never get out of its labour that which it expects. He toils hard for enjoyment, but all the tolls are fruitless; enjoyment is not won. The autumn comes, and the fruits are gathered inthe wheat, the olives, the sweet wine; but they do not bring him what he has struggled fortrue enjoyment. He has laboured for that which satisfieth not.

5. Destruction. “Thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou dellverest will I give up to the sword.” Henderson’s translation of this seems to me good: “Thou shalt be inwardly depressed; thou mayest remove, but thou shalt not rescue, or what thou rescuest I will give to the sword.”

CONCLUSION. Mark the law of retribution. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap;” “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Not more certain is it that the rivers flow to the ocean, the planets follow the sun, than that suffering follows sin. Sins brings with it disease, desolation, dissatisfaction, disappointment, destruction.D.T.

Mic 6:16

Omri and Ahab: lessons worth study.

“For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.” On the long dark roll of human infamy there are few darker names than those of Omri and Ahab. The former, who at first was an officer in the army of Israel (1Ki 16:30), through blood and slaughter took possession of the throne of Israel, which he held polluted and disgraced for twelve long years. He built Samaria and made it the capital of the ten tribes. Ahab was his son and his successor, and rivalled even his father in immorality and impiety. He established the worship of Baal as the national religion. I draw three lessons from this passage.

I. THAT THE RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT IN MAN IS OFTEN TERRIBLY PERVERTED. Omri and Ahab were not only idolaters themselves, but established idolatry in their country. They worshipped Baal, the god that was worshipped by the Carthaginians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and othersthe, god, it is supposed, who is sometimes called Moloch, to whom the Ammonites made their cruel and bloody sacrifices. For the service of this god Ahab established a numerous hierarchy of priests. The religious sentiment in man is perhaps the fundamental element of his nature. Man is made to worship, and to worship the one true and living God only. But so blinded is his intellect, so debased his nature, so utterly corrupt, that, instead of worshipping the infinitely Great, he falls down before the infinitely contemptible. The perversity of the religious sentiment:

1. Explains the errors, crimes, and miseries of the world. Man’s strongest love is the spring of all his activities, the fontal source of all his influence. When this is directed to an idol, the whole of his life is corrupted.

2. Reveals man‘s absolute need of the gospel. There is nothing but the gospel of Christ that can give this sentiment a right direction.

II. THAT OBEDIENCE TO HUMAN SOVEREIGNS IS SOMETIMES A GREAT CRIME. The worship of Baal was enacted by the “statutes” of Omri and enforced by the practice of Ahab. If the establishment of a religion by law can make it right, it was right that the people should worship Baal. But it was not right; it was wrong. A human law, enacted by the greatest sovereign in the world with the sanction of the most illustrious statesmen, if it is not in accord with the eternal principles of justice and truth, as revealed in God’s Word, should be repudiated, renounced, and transgressed. “Whether it is right to obey God rather than man, judge ye.”

III. THAT THE CRIMES OF EVEN TWO MEN MAY EXERT A CORRUPTING INFLUENCE UPON MILLIONS IN FUTURE GENERATIONS. The reigns of Omri and Ahab were ages before the time when Micah lived. Notwithstanding, their enactments were still obeyed, their examples were still followed, and their practices were still pursued. The wickedness of these two men was now, ages after, perpetrated by a whole nation. How great the influence of man for good or evil! Verily one sinner destroyeth much good. From one corrupt source may flow a stream of polluting influence that shall roll down all future times, widen and deepen in its course, and bear thousands on its bosom to crime and ruin.

Our many deeds, the thoughts that we have thought,
They go out from us thronging every home;
And in them all is folded up a power
That on the earth doth move them to and fro:
And mighty are the marvels they have wrought
In hearts we know not and may never know.”

(F.W. Faber.)

D.T.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Mic 6:1. Hear ye now, &c. This is a new discourse, addressed to the ten tribes. The Lord commands the prophet to call Israel to judgment before the mountains and the hills, and to receive the condemnation of their ingratitude, infidelity, injustice, and impiety.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

SECOND DIVISION
FOURTH DISCOURSE

Micah 6-7

Mic 6:1 Hear ye, I pray, what Jehovah saith :

Rise thou, wage a controversy before the mountains,
And let the hills hear thy voice !

2 Hear, ye mountains, Jehovahs controversy,

And ye immovable foundations of the earth !
For Jehovah hath a controversy with his people,
And with Israel will he dispute.

3 My people, what have I done unto thee ?

And wherein have I wearied thee ?
Testify against me.

4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,

And out of the house of bondage I redeemed thee;
And sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5 My people, remember now

What Balak consulted,
The king of Moab,
And what answer was given him,
By Balaam, son of Beor;
From Shittim to Gilgal;
That thou mayest know the righteousness of Jehovah.

6 With what shall I come into the presence of Jehovah,

Bow down unto God on high ?
Shall I come into his presence with burnt offerings,
With calves of a year old ?

7 Doth Jehovah delight in thousands of rams,

In ten thousand streams of oil ?
Shall I give my first born for my transgression,1

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ?

8 He hath told thee, O man, what is good;

And what2 doth Jehovah require of thee,

But to do justly,
And love mercy,
And walk humbly with thy God ?

9 Jehovahs voice calls to the city,

And wisdom will see thy name.3

Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it!

10 Are there yet in the house of the wicked

Treasures of wickedness,
And the lean Ephah, accursed ?

11 Can I be pure with the wicked balances,

And with the bag of deceitful weights ?

12 Her rich men are full of violence,

And her inhabitants speak lies,
And their tongue is deception in their mouth.

13 And I also will smite thee with deadly wounds,

Laying thee waste on account of thy sins.

14 Thou shalt eat and not be satisfied,

And thy emptiness [shall remain] in thee;
And thou shalt remove, and shalt not rescue,
And what thou dost rescue I will give to the sword.

15 Thou shalt sow, and not reap;

Thou shalt tread olives, and not anoint thee with oil,
And must, and not drink wine.

16 And they diligently keep the statutes of Omri,

And all the works of the house of Ahab;
And ye walk in their counsels,
That I may make thee an astonishment,
And her inhabitants a hissing :
And the reproach of my people ye shall bear.

Mic 7:1 Woe is me ! for I am become

As the gatherings of the harvest,
As the gleanings of the vintage:
There is no cluster to eat;
For a first-ripe fig my soul longs.

2 Perished is the godly man out of the earth;

And upright among men there is none:
They all lie in wait for blood,
Each his brother they hunt with a net.

3 For evil both hands are active;

The prince asketh, and the judge [judgeth] for reward,
And the great manhe speaketh the desire of his soul,
And they wrest it.

4 The best of them is as a prickly bush,

And the most upright worse than a thorn hedge :
The day4 of thy watchmen and of thy visitation cometh;

Then shall be their perplexity.

5 Trust ye not in a friend,

Confide not in an associate;
From her that lieth in thy bosom
Keep the doors of thy mouth.

6 For son despiseth father,

Daughter riseth up against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
A mans enemies are the people of his house.

7 And I, to Jehovah will I look,

I will wait for the God of my salvation;
My God will hear me.

8 Rejoice not, O mine enemy, over5 me;

When I have fallen, I arise;
When I sit in darkness,
Jehovah is a light to me.

9 The indignation of Jehovah I will bear,

For I have sinned against him,
Until he plead my cause, and maintain my right:
He will bring me forth to the light;
I shall see his righteousness.

10 And my enemy shall see,

And shame shall cover her,
Her who saith to me :
Where is Jehovah thy God ?
My eyes will look upon her,
Now she shall be trodden down
As the mire in the streets.

11 A day for building thy fence walls :

That day shall the statute be far removed.

12 That day, unto thee shall they come

Even from Assyria, and the cities of Egypt;6

And from Egypt even unto the river;
And [to] sea from sea,
And [from] mountain to mountain.

13 And the land will be desolate

On account of its inhabitants,
Because of the fruit of their doings.

14 Feed thy people with thy rod,

The flock of thy possession,
Dwelling alone,7

In the forest, in the midst of Carmel;
They shall feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

15 As in the days of thy coming from the land of Egypt,

Will I show to them marvellous things.

16 The nations shall see and be ashamed,

Of all their might;
They shall place their hand on their mouth, Their ears will be deaf.

17 They shall lick dust like the serpent,

As creeping on the earth;
They shall tremble forth out of their hiding-places,
Unto Jehovah our God they shall come with dread,
And shall fear because of thee.

18 Who is a God like thee,

That forgiveth iniquity,
And passeth over transgression
For the remnant of his possession ?
He holdeth not his anger forever,
For he delighteth in mercy.

19 He will again have compassion on us,

He will trample on our iniquities,
And cast into the depths of the sea all their sins.

20 Thou wilt give truth to Jacob,

Mercy to Abraham,
Which thou hast sworn to our fathers,
From the days of ancient time.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Leaving the concrete sketches of history, the public reproofs, and the historical prediction, the prophet rises to the height of the idea woven through the whole course of history, and represents the relation between the God of Israel and his people, the past condition the present complications and the future solution, under the figure of a suit-at-law.

In accordance with this fundamental character, the discourse has no special historical reference, but takes, as we may say, a universal position, We must, to be sure, perceive, with Caspari, that Israel, charged by the prophet with backsliding, freely grants its guilt and is ready to atone for it (Mic 6:6 a); that it is disposed to clear itself by numerous sacrifices (Mic 6:6 b), not however through hearty relinquishment of its pride, unrighteousness and oppression (Mic 6:8-10 ff.). But that we should by these traits (in contrast with the preceding discourses, as having fallen within the time of Hezekiahs predecessors), be here necessarily brought down to the first years of Hezekiah, when a general sense of sin and the favorable disposition for the orderly restoration of Jehovahs worship may have existed in the higher strata of the people, while the mags still strove against the ethical portion of the law, is disproved by the contents of the section, Mic 7:1 ff. (cf. Mic 6:16). There we find no word of any difference between the good disposition of the great and the stupidity of the iBBltitr.de, but, rather, the description runs completely parallel to that in Micah 3. Nor is there otherwise any soiid support for maintaining the date of the whole to be either earlier or later than for chaps, 15., and we mast he content with saying, that in a completely similar situation, this concluding discourse distinguishes itself only by its peculiar rhetorical character from the former portion of the book. This is true in respect to matter, inasmuch as the subject is not particular manifestations of present sin, but the sins of the whole people, and not particular moments of the future, but judgment and salvation in their spiritual nature; and in respect to form, inasmuch as it is not directly parnetic or eschatological, hut, lyrical and of the nature of a psalm. It closes the book of Micah very much as Habakkuk 3. and Isaiah 60-66. close those books, and as Rom 11:33-36 the Jewish historical exposition of the Epistle to the Romans.

In its plan also this peculiarity of the closing address appears. It falls into three parts, and the fundamental number which prevails is (apart from the introitus and the transitus) 13. The scheme is as follows:

a. The introitus, Mic 6:1-2 (seven lines). Then

I. The first stage of the suit (Mic 6:3-8); and

1. Mic 6:3-5. Gods complaint (thirteen lines).

2. Mic 6:6-8. Israels anxious reply (thirteen lines).

II. Second stage of the suit (Mic 6:9 to Mic 7:8); and

1. Mic 6:9-16. Gods reproof (twenty-six lines).

2. Mic 7:1-6. Israels complaint (twenty-six lines).

b. The transitus, Mic 7:7-8 (seven lines); and following upon this,

III. The closing psalm : humiliation, confidence, and praise, Mic 7:9-12 (13+26+13 lines).

Introitus, chap, 6, Mic 6:1-2. Hear ye now; thus begins, like the opening discourse, 1., 2., the closing address also; hear ye what Jehovah saith, dicturus est, namely, to me, the prophet. Arise, bring a suit toward the mountains! In the name of Jehovah, and as his advocate, should the prophet enter into the controversy with the people, and utter the complaint so loud that the mountains, which, as appears from the following clause, and the hills shall hear thy voice, and from Mic 6:2, are present as witnesses of the trial (cf. Deu 32:1; Isa 1:2), may murmur with the echo. The explanation, bring a suit against the mountains, accuse the mountains, is senseless in itself, and therefore must be taken as a sign of direction, as Jdg 19:18; Isa 66:14.

Mic 6:2. The prophet, following the command, calls out to the mountains : hear, ye mountains, Jehovahs cause, and ye unchangeablefrom their unchangeableness Israel might have taken an example; Balaam had long before called the rocks of Canaan changeless (Num 24:21)ye foundations of the earth, that cannot be shaken, but that should now tremble before the solemn message, and weighty judgment of Jehovah (Isa 24:18). For Jehovah hath a suit against his people (cf. Hos 4:1), and with Israel will he have a settlement.

First Stage, Mic 6:3-8.

Mic 6:3-5. The Comalaint. Jehovah speaks not with the thunder of the law, but with the much sharper cordiality of wounded love. My people, thou that belongest to me alone, brought up by me, what have I done to thee, and wherein have I wearied thee? The Hithpael, to have a settlement, was not without significance. He is in earnest, if Israel has aught against Him, to hear it. Jehovah might have wearied Israel by over rigorous requirements (Isa 43:23), or by unfulfilled promises (Jer 2:31). But much more should the expression recall how Israel has wearied the Lord (Isa 43:24). Answer me! properly, as the instead of the customary ace. shows : defend thyself against Me, make reply to my charge (Job 31:35).

Mic 6:4. Gods language continues in a tone of the deepest irony : Is it in that I led thee up out of the land of Egypt (Amo 2:10), and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage? (cf. Exo 20:2)plur. cone, for abstr., Ewald, 179; and that I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam? With special fondness the sacred writers bring forward, when they would impress upon the people the goodness of the Lord, his earliest deeds, and, above all, those connected with their deliverance from Egypt, because through that Israel became his peculiar possession (Psalms 114.), and also in it, as the actus primus of his gracious choice of the people, there lay enfolded, so far as regards its direction and shape, all the subsequent development; all the following acts of grace are only confirmations of the first purpose of grace.

Mic 6:5 glances at these tokens of love in the history of the planting of Israel until their arrival in the Holy Land : My people, remember now, what counsel Balak took, the king of Moab, and what answer was given him by Balaam, Beors son; cf. Num 22:24. It was no light thing that Israel, ready to enter into the Holy Land, is sent forward, not cursed by him, but rather blest by God through him, to his great and arduous task. The curse would, through the superstition of many of the Israelites, have discouraged them, and inspired their superstitious foes with confidence. So much the more must the blessing have raised the spirits of the people, as it indicated that the Lord had so completely blessed them in the eyes of all nations, that even enemies who would curse were obliged to bless them. Caspari. The little clause : from Shittim to Gilgal, is a new object to : Remember what occurred from Shittim to Gilgal, i. e., between the first station after Balaams (Num 25:1) blessing and the first station on the soil of the Holy Land (Jos 4:19). Remember this, that thou mayest know the covenant grace (properly: the righteousnesses) of Jehovah. Jehovahs deeds of mercy are called exhibitions of righteousness, inasmuch as after the original establishment of the covenant with Abraham, or (as the case may be) of the covenant of the law on Sinai, all following grace was only fulfillment of what had been before promised, i. e., .cum inf. as Amo 2:7.

Mic 6:6-8. Reply and Decision. As Jehovah addressed primarily the prophet, so the discourse of the people is directed immediately to him, standing as he does between God and the people. He is the mouth of God toward the people (Hos 1:1; Deu 5:5 ff., cf. Exo 4:16). Israel, in so far as it is really such, cannot close its ears to the voice of truth (cf. Joh 18:37), hence owns itself guilty without parley, and asks only after the way of expiation. Wherewith shall I meet Jehovah?, to meet with gifts, in order to gratify any one, and to render to him honor and duty (Psa 105:2; Deu 23:5). Wherewith bow myself? belongs to both clauses, and to bow ones self, , imperf. Niph., from , Olsh., 265, e., is, like the meeting Him, an expression of respect, which is appropriate before the God on high, who looks down on men, and in whose sight they are as grasshoppers (Isa 40:22). Shall I meet Him with burnt offerings? That is the first thought with men who look at what is external; thither they naturally turn to fill the aching void in the soul with outward things, and as naturally also to try to expiate the sins which spring from the heart against God, according to the outwardly written letter: work-righteousness, and the idolatry of the letter. With calves of a year old? Not as if these alone were proper to be offered (Caspari, Hitzig, against Lev 22:27.), but because they were accounted as the most important (Lev 9:3).

Mic 6:7. Hath Jehovah pleasure in thousands (hecatombs) of rams ? in myriads of oil-brooks? (cf. Job 20:17). The questions, as the connection shows, are not rhetorical (Luther), but express the good resolution, the spirit of anxious and earnest inquiry : if so, then we would fain offer them to Him. Libations of oil were an essential element of the meat-offering;, and the thank-offering (Lev 2:1; Lev 2:15; Lev 7:12). The climax culminates with the latter half of Mic 6:7 : Shall I give up my first-born, the best and last that I have, as a sin-offering for myself? As elsewhere and , so here stands, the sin for the offering which is brought as its equivalent. The fruit, offspring, of my body, as an atonement for my soul ? Cf. Deu 7:13. The external disposition, as it is of heathen origin and nature, so it proceeds, even to the final consequence, to atone for sin by sin, even by murder. Thus the kings of Moab sacrificed their first-born (2Ki 3:27). According to Israel-itish principles the firstlings belonged naturally to God, so that the offering might not once have been a strange gift for God, but the law directed that the first born of men should be ransomed (Exo 13:13); it demands a disposition most completely ready to offer all, but not the external act (Genesis 22.). And to this direction of the entire life, which alone gives all its moral value and accepta-bleness with God to each particular deed, the prophet also points in what immediately follows.

Mic 6:8. He, namely, God (Hitzig and Hessel-berg, indefinitely: they), hath made known to thee, O man, what is good. Ye know, why do ye ask? Is it not an idle question, contrived that, instead of the answer, an escape for thy conscience should be offered thee ? And what Jehovah seeketh of thee (cf. Luk 13:7). Since , repeated in the two preceding clauses, is used in the sense of nothing as in the rhetorical question, Ecc 1:3, it may be followed by , nisi: nothing else does Jehovah seek of thee, but to do right, suum cuique, and love mercy, the disposition from which flows the beneficent discharge of the duties of the law (Pro 21:21), a contrast toch. Mic 3:2; and walk humbly (on the const, cf. Ewald. 280, c. [Text, and Gram, on Oba 1:4]) before thy God (cf. 1Sa 15:22; Hos 6:6). Micahs accurate acquaintance with the whole Pentateuch, which stands out through these chapters especially, appears here also, and here in a way doubly important for historical criticism, since it involves Deuteronomy : the passage referred to as Gods word connects itself exactly, in matter and form, with Deu 10:12; cf. also Deu 16:12; Deu 8:14).

Mic 6:9 to Mic 7:6. Second Stage. Mic 6:9-16. The Judgment in the Case. The voice of Jehovah, that judges mightily (Amo 1:2), calls concerning the city, i. e., Jerusalem, the representative of the sins of the people, Mic 1:5 ( as Oba 1:1); and after the true, wisdom, which has in itself the pledge of its prosperous issue and result (Job 5:12; Job 6:13), thy name looks out, the holy manifestation of thyself in the judgment (Isa 30:27 : cf. for the sense of the phrase, Psa 14:2.Benary (De Leviratu Hebr., p. 70), Keil: Wisdom has regard to thy name. Caspari: O, what wisdom, if one sees thy name. In the last-named writer see also many other explanations of the passage. [Cf. Text, and Gram, note.]The sudden variation of the person is common in all the prophets; and thus the discourse turns back again here in what immediately follows to the people: Perceive the scourge, the judgment appointed by Jehovah, here by metonomy for the discourse which treats of it, as in Isa 10:5; Isa 10:24, for the Assyrian power which executes it, and who hath appointed it! has a double construction, first with the ace. obj., then with an object-clause. is gen. comm., not merely masc, cf. Num. 17:22. He has appointed the rod whose law is continually broken. The rod itself is not described until Mic 6:13 ff.; the reason for it is first given, Mic 6:10 ff.

Mic 6:10. Are there yet, he asks (, more Aram, for , 2Sa 14:19) in the house of the wicked the treasures of wickedness, gained by wickedness, as e.g., by what is immediately indicated; yea, the lean Epha, accursed? The epha of leanness is the false measure of grain, forbidden in the law (Deu 25:14 ff.), too small, contrasted with , the right measure, which, as opposed to the crime before us, is called (Lev 19:36) an epha of righteousness (Caspari). This connection shows that in the interrogation in the first member, the point is, not that former sins have not been expiated by the restoration of ill-gotten treasures, but that still new sins are ever heaping up, and thus Gods requirement in Mic 6:8 is ever broken anew.

Mic 6:11. In the same sense he proceeds, looking back to Deu 25:19 ff.: Can Ias much as to say : can one now; an exemplification in the first person, common also in English (cf. Glassii, Phil. Sac., p. 898 f.)remain pure with the balance of wickedness, and with the bag with weights of deceit? The sinners dream that by their offerings before God they shall stand pure, in spite of their daily repeated sins; that is the faulty moral apprehension which the prophet would destroy. The sins of trade and exchange here named may have been particularly rife with the Jewish national character, but they stand palpably representative of all injustice (cf. 1Th 4:6).

Mic 6:12. Over these instances this verse, by the relative applying to the city, reaches back to Mic 6:9 : Her rich men are full of violence. Such relative connections ( ) have the character of an exclamation, or direct call, cf. Amo 6:3 ff.; Mic 6:3 (quos ego!). And her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deception in their mouth. As this array of their sins rests on the Psalms, so that of threatened penalties (Mic 6:13 ff.), rests on the Pentateuch (Lev 16:25 f.; Deu 28:39 f.). And so also I, as intimated in Mic 6:9, have made sick the blows upon thee, i. e., I smite thee mortally; cf. for the expression, Nah 3:19; for the matter, Isaiah 1.; Mic 1:9; with devastation (inf. abs., probably gerund, Gesenius, 131, 2; the form, Gesen-ius, 67, Rem. 10) on account of thy sins.

Mic 6:14. Thou shalt eat and not be satisfied; cf. for the fulfillment, Jer 52:6; Hag 1:6; and thy emptiness shall remain in thy bowels! Thou shalt carry away, flee with thy goods and family, and not save; and what thou shalt save, will I give to the sword. Cf. Jer 50:37; Jer 42:16.

Mic 6:15. Thou shalt sow not drink wine. The enemy shall reap thy harvests and plunder thy stores (Amo 5:11, cf. the reference in Isa 62:8 ff.).

In Mic 6:16, finally, sin and punishment are oncemore briefly grouped together : Yea, they observeinstead of the customary Kal, he designedly chooses the strongest form, Hithpael, the reflexive of Piel (Jon 2:9), to express the carefulness of the observance (Hitzig)the statutes of Omri and all the doings of the house of Ahab, the Baal worship (1Ki 16:31 f.) and all the other abominations (e. g., 1Ki 22:27), by which this abandoned dynasty had from the beginning disgraced the ungodly throne (Psa 94:20) of the kingdom of Israel; human statutes instead of Gods Word (Lev 20:23), such as indeed had under Ahaz broken into Judah also (2Ki 16:3; 2Ch 28:2). And so ye walk in their counsels, that (ironically; the actual results of the corruption represented instead of the desired fruits of their luxurious prosperity, as Hos 8:4) I may make thee, c. inf. as Mic 6:5) a ruin (Mic 3:12), and her (Jerusalems) inhabitants a hissing; and the disgrace of my peopleye shall bear it; the present generation is ripe for the curse, which the Lord had cast forth in the law for the future of his people (Isa 65:7).

See Mic 7:1 for DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL and HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.

Footnotes:

[1][Mic 6:7. and are regarded by many as used by metonomy for sin-offering, expiation. Perhaps however they are quite as well taken to be adverb, ace. (Gesen. 118, 3); and at all events, the rendering of the Eug. Vers, gives the sense : and so Zunz. Tr.]

[2][Mic 6:8. Our author with Hitzig, disregarding the accentuation, makes also dependent on : and what Jehovah seeks of thee ; and then translates : nothing but. Maurers refutation of Hitzig at this point is harsh and petulant, but effectual. Tr.]

[3][Mic 6:9. Kleinert, with Maurer and many others, inverts the order of these words, with the advantage of thus securing an obvious agreement in gender between and its subj., and a thought at least equally appropriate. But as there is some doubt about the meaning, look out for, circumsprctare, chcumspicere thus ascribed to , And as wisdom may very well stand for the wise man., it seems preferable to adopt the simplest translation, following the very order of the Hebrew words. The Exegetical note will give several of the many renderings which have been proposed. Tr.]

[4] [Mic 7:4. Kleinert treats as an ace. of time, translating :

In the day of thy seers,
When thy visitation cometh,

and in the next member would have in the second pers. maso.: Thou shalt be ensnared by them. Tr.]

[5][Mic 7:8. I do not think the pleonastic here, but rather as giving the ground of the hostile joy. Tr.]

[6][Mic 7:12. , properly signifying, bulwark, or fortification, strength, is here almost certainly used of Egypt, probably with a play on the name of the latter. Pusey : The name Matsor, which he gives to Egypt, modifying its ordinary dual name Mitzraim, is meant at once to signify Egypt [Isa 19:6; Isa 37:25], and to mark the strength of the country. Tr.]

[7] [Mic 7:14. Kleinert changes the punctuation, putting a period after c, and then reads :

In the forest in the midst of Oarniel may they feed,
In Bashan, etc.

Dwelling alone is in either case parenthetic, but it seems just as well to connect what immediately follows with the feed, etc., in the first member, as is done above Tr.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

This is a beautiful Chapter, inasmuch as it sets forth the graciousness of the Lord in his expostulations with Israel.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

This seems a new Sermon of the Prophet’s, opening at this Chapter. The stile is as usual in the prophetic way. Not only the people are called upon, but the inanimate part of the creation, to be witness of Israel’s stupidity. See Isa 1:2 , etc.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The Divine Requirements

Mic 6:6

Such is the question which the Prophet urges upon the people of Israel. He answers it for them in words which we can hardly ever forget, ‘He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?’ Of these words it is sometimes said that they are the greatest words in the Old Testament They are, indeed, golden words, and should be carried about by every one who desires to be well inspired and rightly guided in his journey through life. And yet it may be doubted whether they hold anything like the place they deserve to hold in the life and thought of most of us; for, as a rule, we give far too little attention to these writings and appeals of the Hebrew Prophets. Yet it is certain that he who neglects these inspired and inspiring utterances of the Lord’s Prophets thereby impoverishes both his moral and spiritual life. This inquiry, for instance, which Micah puts before us with such emphasis ‘Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?’ has within it whole departments of life which men scarcely profess to bring before God for inspiration and for guidance in regard to them, and yet it is an inquiry which should surely be repeated continually concerning all our lives by every soul that looks upward. The Divine answer is always the same, unchanging, pointing the way of the true life: ‘What doth the Lord require of thee, O man, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly’. He puts it before us, you see, as embracing the whole duty of man, and this neglect of the prophetic portion of our Bible, of its searching criticism of life and conduct, involves a great loss both to individuals and nations. Some results of it are plainly obvious in the common life.

I. The Prophets and National Life. What gives special value to the life and work of these inspired Prophets of Israel and eternal power to their words is that they rise before us as the Divinely illuminated words to a God-fearing people, and they apply as it should be remembered in every congregation, for it is a supremely important part of the matter to every quarter and to every grade of the national life. These Prophets represent no class particularly they represent the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon the heart of the people. One day it is the voice of Amos, the obscure and humble shepherd of the hill country of Judea, hearing the call of God amidst the silence of the hills. Another day it is Isaiah who speaks to us, a man at home in the presence of the royal court. Or it is Jeremiah or Ezekiel, from the heart of the priesthood, or Micah the Prophet of the poor. From every point of the compass in the field of the nation’s life they come before us, awakening, assisting, arousing, questioning, appealing, and denouncing, in the name of Jehovah. They are preachers of right conduct. We should live all our life in the presence of the Lord, the righteous judge, in all public affairs as in every private relationship. These preachers of righteousness come as guides, searching national and individual conscience; they voice the will of Jehovah as of a father with his children, and their searching appeal runs through every individual and every national omission or neglect. To these men, the makers of Israel, the only true and faithful precept was that man should strive to put all his life and the life of his country into obedience to the mighty Jehovah, Who loveth righteousness. The result of their teaching, the infection of their spirit, and the power of their message is seen in the uplifting of the national life on the wings of national education, while the rest of the world was morally stagnant

II. Teaching for Our Own Age Surely such teachers are our teachers through all time, and we should do well to uphold their teaching in our day as much as we can, and love this portion of our Bible wherein they are enshrined, which has, as a rule, so little influence over our common life. And in the light of such consideration we take up the grateful words of this Prophet Micah. He flung them out into the life of his countrymen 2600 years ago as the medicine then needed for their souls’ good, and we, brethren, have to confess that the medicine is still needed, and the words are never dead he still speaks as a living contemporary to every one of us in this direct and searching appeal: ‘What doth the Lord require of thee? To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly.’ As we look over our lives, over our own hearts or our present habits, over our usual ways and customs, our political servitude to parties rather than to principles a servitude which seems sometimes to endanger public morals as we think of the vice with which a great deal of our modern life is filled, as we think of the gospel of pride and appearance which rules in so many of the departments of our life, or the gospel of amusement and self-indulgence which prevails in so many others, we can hardly deny, I think, that we need to be called back to the direct simplicity of ancient and honest faith. It is in these simplicities and sincerities that the moral power of the Hebrew Prophet is especially found. He comes to us straight from communion with God he is simply the mouthpiece. He has no ambition in his heart but to speak as a preacher of right conduct, and he has no fear of the consequences.

III. Our Duty is Simple. But many of us, unlike this Hebrew Prophet, are in the habit of talking much about the complexity of moral life or society, and we do not always bear sufficiently in mind that life may be very complex all round, and yet your own duty in the midst of it plain and simple. In matters of conduct or opinion, of custom or of fashion, we feel, very likely, the diversity of the manifold influences playing upon us the force of many currents that direct us this way or that; or to change the metaphor we feel what a tangled web of divers threads it is in which our life is but a part, and so we make our excuses. If our life is, in the main, a purposeless thing, following no clear call of God, moved by no persistent enthusiasm or devotion, doing little or nothing for any of the greater calls that are always appealing to us as it is all too often is it not futile to urge as our apology that life is so very complex? This ancient man of God, with his Prophet’s mission, tears off all the web of sophistry with this plain question ‘What doth the Lord require of thee?’ And his answer solves for us, if we are sincere, the riddle of our hesitation and uncertainty and ambiguities. The whole character of your life depends on what you seek first of all. I have said that this word of the Prophet has been called the greatest word in the Old Testament, and we feel its greatness much more when wo listen to the voice of the Saviour Himself in the New Testament: ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and. thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And whoever among you carries about in his heart these inspiring words as the guide of his purpose and his conduct, by whatever name he may be called, has learned the secret of the true life in Christ, and the secret we learn from these voices of the Prophets and these words of Jesus is that the motive power of our lives and conduct, the character of it for good or ill, is in the things we think, and not merely in the things we do.

Worship and Conduct

Mic 6:6-8

It is not right to say that this inspired summary of wherein true worship, true ritual, true religion consists, was a wholly new thing when Micah spoke. ‘Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice.’ The notes of this trumpet-call had never died away since Samuel uttered them to the ashamed Saul. It was, however, given to a man of the soil, a simple vinedresser, to whom ‘life was real, life was earnest,’ to put into words that bum and shine for ever the noblest views as to the reality of religion ever delivered by a Prophet of Old Testament times to the world.

I. It was the crofter trouble of these old times which in part caused Micah to speak burning words. It was a time of splendid luxury up at the Capital, and the worst of it all was that the rich tyrant class felt itself so respectable that it could not think the judgment was possible. Meanwhile the great palaces at Jerusalem were rising upon the ruin of the people.

II. The patriot Micah perceives that the sin of Jerusalem is not want of zeal in worship, nor rebellion against God, but the real lack of understanding that religion to be anything must mean conduct and character, and that Jehovah, if He is God, is a God who demands that men should give Him their reason and thought as well as their emotions and desire to fulfil the minutest regulations of ritual or religious ceremonial. He urges them to believe that like as a father pitieth his children, so will God reason with their reasonable minds.

III. As one gazes back upon the Old Testament heroes, one sees that with all their faults their righteousness lay in conduct Righteousness was for them not holiness so much as right dealing and kindly dealing between man and man as members of a nation. Not purity of heart so much as right doing this was what the Prophets demanded. They lifted up their voices in protest against the mistaken importance given to outward forms of religion. They did not denounce sacrifice, for the idea of sacrifice was as much a matter of course as our idea of going to church on Sunday. But they did denounce the hypocrisy of all this outside show of worship when the heart refused to humble itself upon the altar by deeds of mercy and justice.

IV. Micah’s voice has never been silenced. It may sound paradoxical, but the very fact that men are forsaking the ordinances of religion in all the churches in this money-seeking age of commerce and competition and unreality in religion is a sign that they feel that till our ways are more just and kind, and full of reverence in our dealings between man and man, it is mockery to attend church services, and for a pretence make long prayers.

H.D. Rawnsley, Church Family Newspaper, 1907, vol. lxxii. p. 912.

References. VI. 6, 7. R. Winterbotham, Sermons on Holy Communion, p. 34. J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes (2nd Series), p. 50. VI. 6-8. C. Kingsley, Sermons for the Times, p. 93.

Three Marks of a True Man

Mic 6:6-8

1. A Rebuke of the Religion of Mere Outward Ceremony and Ritual. Very few people indeed now go to a church because they have to; it is a far more healthy condition that religion is being regarded less as a ceremony and more as a life.

II. A Rebuke of the Religion of Ostentation. Are there not gifts made to religion whose main purpose is, How will it impress the public? Can I buy God’s favour with my gifts? Also, there is an ostentation in the religion of our churches. The lavish expenditure is too often not an effort to do honour to God, but an effort to advertise the particular church which can afford it.

III. A Rebuke of the Religion of Fanaticism. The fanatic of religion is the man or woman who is carried away with a fad, who runs to extremes in some ism, who, yielding to some emotion, devotes his or her life to the propagation of some little idea in religion which, according to their view, is going to transfigure the world.

IV. A Rebuke of Exclusiveness. The tendency is to build fences of privilege. The dominant note of false religion is railed spaces. But these ideas form the antithesis of a world-wide religion.

D. S. Mackay, The Religion of the Threshold, p. 272.

Leviticus Old and New

Mic 6:8

If we could know that, we need not desire to know any more. Our life is best spent when spent in asking, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? We are not to consult ourselves, but to consult God; the law is written; it is not a conjecture, it is a statutory declaration, and it is to be found in the law-book: to the law and to the testimony, therefore, and to no supposition, fancy, or conjecture of mortal man.

I. Where can we begin? God has given us a thousand points at any one of which we can begin. We might, first of all, think it impossible to know the will of God, because it would be so stupendous, that is to say, so comprehensive, so vast, and so overwhelming, that it would be utterly impossible for the finite imagination to conceive what God intends us to do. The Lord delivers us from that difficulty; He has written down His will in little words, He has come right into our daily life and told us how to manage ourselves, and how to conduct the economy of life. He does not always talk theology to us, He talks about daily things in our mother tongue, and says in effect, You may begin there. And wherever we can begin God begins along with us, hears us spell a little lesson, tells us just the quantity of the syllable, the measure of the rhythmic foot, and repronounces the music to us in order to make us sure of its accent and its balance. He comes down from all the mountains of eternity and meets us at the base of the hill, and says, Little children, I will speak your language until you are able to speak Mine.

II. What doth the Lord thy God require of thee? If I could know that I should know all philosophy. You may know it, you may know it at least in parts, and you may proceed from one part to another. Revelation is progressive; moral education adds to itself increment by increment until the final topstone is put on with the acclaim of the universe. I could tell you where you could begin: ‘Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the blind’. Is that religion? Yes; you thought religion was talking an unknown language, but the mistake is yours, not the Bible’s; you thought that religion was an act of clasping hands and turning up eyes into the immeasurable heavens and speaking into an infinite void in the hope of getting some blessing out of it. Nothing of the kind: ‘Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block in the way of the blind’. The further and implied Hebrew meaning of the word is, Thou shalt not curse the absent, and therefore by so much the deaf that is to say, by so much deaf, because the absent cannot hear you; you shall not be slanderers, you shall not be critics of those who cannot speak to you for themselves; you shall not make anonymous attacks upon the absent and the deaf or those who are known by reputation; you shall not hide yourselves behind a hedge and sling stones at those who are walking in the open highway.

III. But this was all said by Moses, there is nothing of the kind said by Jesus Christ, some persons may insinuate. But they are utterly wrong in their sophistical if not their ignorant and criminal suggestion. Jesus Christ said every one of these things in His own way; He did not destroy the law, He fulfilled it; the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, and grace and truth are law at its best, law in blossom and in autumnal fruition. The Sermon on the Mount is the new Leviticus; the Sermon on the Mount is the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus written or spoken in Christian language. No man can fulfil the moral obligation imposed upon him by the Sermon on the Mount without repeating in solid visible conduct the whole Decalogue as written by Moses. We must, therefore, again and again insist upon the moral quality of the Gospel; that is to say, upon the moral meaning of the most abstract doctrines.

Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. vii. p. 50.

The Message of Micah

Mic 6:8

I. The simplification of religion has always been the Prophet’s vocation. These were the men of brains, the men of conscience, the men of power. They were the thinkers of their age. True, they differed in social position. Isaiah was a courtier, Micah a yeoman farmer voicing the grievances of his class. The one thing common to the man of the court and the man of the field was the faculty to see that the salvation of their times was not to come from princes but from God. Micah is a grand example of the way these heroes faced the community. At the opening of this chapter the Prophet pleads for man to use his reason. The priest seeks to suppress reason and fall back on authority, but Micah asserts God challenges us to use our reason.

II. Religion is not in the treadmill of duties, nor in the bewilderment of ritual, costly though it may be. If not in these things it is natural they should ask in what does it consist. The Prophet appeals to two things for his reply. The first is history, the second is reason. He turns their thought to the incidents of their great national history (vv. 4, 5). It told of the God who delivered them from Egypt, whom they had forgotten; then he directed them to the prophecy of Balaam.

III. Micah does not turn their thought to philosophy for relief of the people’s problems. Neither does he go to Samuel or some other outstanding Prophet of the past. He went to an outsider. He went to one who even did not belong to the Church at all. Very often God gives some great truth to a messenger outside the Church rather than within. From that strange utterance against Israel they might gather the Lord had shown them what was good, not the round of their ritual, but the justice, mercy, and humble walk with God.

IV. The thing God wants before all else is not form, but qualities of the heart. These are set forth in this programme, which is good both in itself and in its results. These qualities of life are given in their right order. It is first justice It is the fundamental principle of all great lives. The first word in heaven and earth is justice. But justice is not enough; you must also have mercy. These two qualities are things which make men Godlike. But there is one step farther. I can imagine a man saying, why bring the religious element in it at all? If a man does justice, loves mercy, what need is there for the humble walk with God? This is necessary as the inspiration and power for the two.

V. The solution of our modern problems, as those of Micah’s day, will not be found in legislation or machinery, but in realizing the sufficiency of God. No great and permanent solution of social problems has ever been reached without religious influence. The only way is to get back to God, to go to the house of the Lord and there find the power to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. Then will be found the true bond of brotherhood.

S. Chadwick, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvii. 1905, p. 317.

The Perfect Ideal of Religion

Mic 6:8

I. Social Justice. Consider the three requirements of the text; and first of all, God requires us to ‘do justly’. The highest welfare of society depends upon its observance. The laws, for example, which are framed for the peace of the nation and the prosperity of the community, must be just such as are equal and reasonable, useful and beneficial; and it was to this latter or to social justice that the Prophet specially referred. The immense majority of our people consider themselves the victims of social wrong believe that their lot is much harder than it need be, than it ought to be, and are finding ways and means whereby they may be released from the galling fetters which bind them and the depressing conditions in which they are compelled to live and work. There is much to be said in favour of the social movement; but it must be remembered that in order to help the toiling millions there must be no injustice done to those who are privileged. What is wanted is not legislation, although that would help considerably, but true Christian justice, not the justice of Shylock, who pertinaciously insisted upon his pound of flesh, not the justice of Rob Roy, who maintained that ‘They should take who have the power, and they should keep who can’; but the eternal justice of the Lord Jesus Christ who said, ‘As ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them’.

II. Compassion. God requires us to ‘love mercy’. This is a far higher quality than mere justice. It postulates greater goodness, for while justice implies a debt, this means favour and kindness. It means pity and compassion towards the poor and needy, the fallen and oppressed. The mercy which God requires is not necessarily confined to mere charity in the commonest acceptance of the term, to mere giving of alms. It is not so much your money that is wanted, your doles of charity, though these are needful and will come in due course as God prospers you, as your mercy, your love, and sympathy; not so much, in short, yours as you.

III. Walking with God. This third requirement of the text the ‘walking humbly with God’ alone enables us ‘to do justly and to love mercy’. But how are ordinary mortals ‘to do justly and to love mercy’ unless and until we walk humbly with God. The Prophet Micah realizes this, as his language clearly and manifestly shows; and we realize it even more fully than he, for the sun of the Saviour’s revelation which he only dimly foresaw strikes full and free upon us, and we know for we have often tried it and failed that it is not in human power alone and unaided to be just and merciful and all that the moral law of the New Testament requires. The best of men are but men at the best But ‘walk humbly with thy God’. Surrender your heart therein lies the secret of power and your all to Him, and He will work in you both to will and to do of His own good pleasure.

J. Cameron, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 22.

Mic 6:8 ; Pro 3:34 ; Pro 16:19 ; Psa 138:6

The absolute freedom of the Christian man is absolute allegiance to God: his independence rests in utter dependence. His freedom is from the tyranny of partial claims, individual desires and objects, from the halfnesses and weaknesses of our nature: and it is won by identification with the universal. It is, in short, here that there comes in what is called humility. To define it exactly is difficult, if not impossible; for, like all goodness, it has the defect of its quality, and to be precious it must never part with its correlative independence. Humility is the sense of solidarity and community: the controlling and regulating power of the consciousness that we are not our own, that we are God’s and our neighbour’s. Humility is the attitude of an individual who recognizes his individuality, his partiality, his dependence, his immanence in the whole, and his conformity with all the parts, and yet of an individual who knows himself his own, and not another’s, a free man of God, a son and heir. To be genuine, it must go hand in hand with the good conscience and the faith unfeigned.

Prof. W. Wallace, Gifford Lectures, pp. 50-57.

References. VI. 8. F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. v. p. 279. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvi. No. 1557. H. C. Beeching, Seven Sermons to Schoolboys, p. 13. J. Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. vii. p. 50. F. J. A. Hort, Village Sermons (2nd Series), p. 214. H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No.’ 2125. R. Balgarnie, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii. p. 322. VI. 8, 9. G. W. Brameld, Practical Sermons (2nd Series), p. 34. VII. 1. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi. No. 945. VII. 7. Ibid. vol. xxxi. No. 1819. VII. 8. J. Keble, Sermons for Easter to Ascension Day, p. 220.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

Hypocritical Eagerness

Mic 6:6-8 .

“Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God?” What a delightful state of mind! Here is a man asking himself the greatest of all possible questions. “Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?” The only question which I have to put is, How to come before God? I want to come before him; I long to see him; I wish to do the will of God. “Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?” only let him say how many rams he wants, and how much oil would please him, for my supreme question is, Wherewith shall I come before God, and bow myself before his majesty? How spiritually delightful; how sentimentally blessed; how beauteous in outline; how tender and suggestive in all high colouring of thought and purpose! Not at all. You are as far wrong as you can be. There is nothing of that tone in the text. How stands the matter then? It stands as a picture of hypocritical eagerness. This is all hypocrisy. The figure is very graphic, and may be seen almost by the eyes of the body, certainly by the vision of a fancy that is just beginning to take in the real magnitude, proportion, and colour of historical objects. Here is a people, lacerated, flogged into a kind of religious considerateness, and now they are each asking for himself the question, “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God?” Let me see if I can answer that inquiry; let us take counsel upon the subject if you please. And one says, “Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?” That is a very excellent suggestion. Now what do you say? “Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams?” That is very liberal. What do you say? What would he say to ten thousands of rivers of oil? Well, if that would not overcome him, and make a friend of him, I think the case is absolutely hopeless. Whoever heard of ten thousands of rivers of oil? I am overwhelmed by the thought myself, and I suppose that the Deity cannot be much less overwhelmed than I am. What do you say? “Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” Would you? Yes! What would you do? I would slay every child I have got if that would please the Lord, and I may continue drinking and body-feasting and robbery and oppression; he might take every child in the house. This is the counsel. The question is partly an intellectual one, partly a moral one, and here is a self-constituted conference or debating society, and one man proposes to come before the Lord with burnt offerings and with calves of a year old; another proposes to contribute thousands of rams; and another has conceived the magnificent idea of making a whole Ganges of oil; and last of all, a man comes ready to commit murder, filicide; he will kill his children one by one; the very firstborn that ought to inherit the name and the property may go down under the knife just as soon as anybody else, if the Lord will only allow the murderer to drink and feast and enjoy himself at the devil’s table. That is the right explanation of the passage.

Now upon all this inquiry there comes an answer; say if it come not from another world: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good;” do not make a mystery of it “and what doth the Lord require of thee” calves of a year old, thousands of rams, ten thousands of rivers of oil, thy firstborn for thy transgression? no “but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” That is a right religion. You cannot get behind that. All controversy, all resentful intellectualism, all selfish calculation, all vicious political Christianity, must fall before that sublime revelation. You do not understand the last part of the text until you have really got into the meaning of the former. The answers are contrastive. Consider the case well, and get it vividly before the mind before attempting to press the incident to its highest uses. On the one side you have a number of ceremonialists, hypocrites who are willing to pay for religion, men who are prepared to buy themselves off from the highest duty and the most strenuous discipline. See, they have their hands in their pockets, and they say, What doth God want calves? There is the money to buy a whole field full. Ten thousands of rams? Here is gold, go and buy up the cattle markets of the world. Ten thousands of rivers of oil? Let him have them, Ganges and Amazons, and Mississippis, and let the oil flow like a sullen beauty through all the meads of earth; if he likes oil let him have it. Another man gets to another point, supposed to be still further on, and says, Does he want sons and daughters? I am prepared to play Abraham he can have them all. The Lord says, This is all wrong: keep your calves and your rams and your rivers of oil, and lay not a finger upon any child you have; all I want is that thou shouldst, O man, do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God. My thought is not as your thought, neither are my ways as your ways; for as the heaven is high above the earth, so is my thought high above your thought, and my way above your way. Let the wicked forsake his way, let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. You cannot appease God with calves and rams; you cannot lubricate your way to heaven by ten thousands of rivers of oil: the great settlement must be upon moral bases justice and mercy and humble-heartedness. We thought we had in the first instance a picture of earnest men, really anxious and solicitous inquirers as to the way to heaven. Learn from this the possibility of our repeating this hypocrisy. There are men who are willing to give any number of thousands of pounds to charitable institutions if you will not call upon them for any moral tribute; they will pay handsomely if you will leave their character in their own keeping, and assure them of heaven at the last. And this cannot be done. Behold the severity of the divine requirement, and yet its gentleness, and its thoroughness, and its clemency, and yet its comprehensiveness.

Look at this answer as revealing the character of God himself. We shall know what God is by inquiring what he requires of us. We say water cannot rise above its own level a character cannot rise above itself, though it may make many fantastic and ridiculous attempts to do so; and God will in asking his questions and putting his propositions reveal himself in the very doing of it. What then does God want? Justice, mercy, condescension. Is God just? He wants men to be just; he must therefore be just himself. Let his providence reply. We must not take providence to pieces. There is a vicious and absurd system of analysis which misses the great purpose, by wasting itself upon the incidental and often insignificant detail. God’s great scale of measurement must be apprehended before you can estimate any one thing God himself does in the administration of his economy. It is impossible to draw a straight line. We have often shown that men who suppose they are drawing straight lines are doing nothing of the kind; it is only straight within given points; but if we had the right eye, the lens properly adjusted, we should see that any line purporting to be straight is part of a circle. The earth on which the line is drawn is itself a sphere; who can draw a straight line upon a globe? We are victimised by distance and by size, and by much intermediate action of light and cloud and wind, the whole mystery of atmosphere, so that we do not oftentimes know what we are talking about, even when we erect ourselves and say, These are facts. Take care lest facts make fools of you; be sure first of the facts. So in judging the justice of God we must not take this instance or that instance, or some particular decade of history, either favourable or unfavourable; it would seem as if God, when he turned over a page, turned over a thousand years. We must await the sum-total. We do not audit our house every five minutes of the day; we must let the allotted period run its course, and then say, How stands the account? God’s appeal is to the everlasting; we must follow him into his own court. Is God merciful? He demands that men should walk in mercy, in the spirit of love, pity, compassion, tenderness. Is God himself merciful? Let history reply; let our own consciences be heard herein, and let us look back upon our own handful of days that we call our life, and who will not say, Goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life? God was good when he gave, and good when he denied; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, and, now that we have had a little time to think about it, blessed be the name of the Lord? The planted body is a planted flower, the tomb is the richest part of the garden; he hath done all things well. And does he walk humbly with men? He does: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” None has stooped so lowly as God.

Taking the text, therefore, as a revelation of the character of the Speaker himself, we may say that God does in his own economy and sphere what he asks us to do in ours; he has shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

What does this revelation do? It does away with all ostentatious piety. Many of us would be glad to buy ourselves off from judgment. We may not put the question into words; it is not, therefore, less a question of the soul. What can I buy my liberty for? No amount of oil shall stand between me and release; no number of calves and rams shall for a moment deter me from paying the fine, if so be I can have the arrow drawn out of my heart and the poison withdrawn from my blood. The Lord will not have this. He does not want your gaiety, but your simplicity; he does not want you to drive up to his door in chariot of gold and with steeds of fire that he may receive your patronage; he sends word down to you by the first and humblest servant he lights upon Go and say all I want is that thou shalt do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God. This will take all the paint off our religion; this will deplete our decoration; this will leave us in ruins as to external appearance; but there are ruins that are true palaces. It will do away with all our ostentation of another kind than that which is merely physical, ornamental, or decorative; it will do away with all our intellectual contributions and displays of patronage in reference to the Cross. The Cross does not want your intellectual homage; the Cross says, with heartbroken pathos, Stand out of the way, that guilty self-condemned sinners may see me. No sooner does the Cross become intellectualised than it breeds infidels by the thousand. The Cross is God’s heart. O man, veil thy reason, and make it bend with thee in lowliest reverence and worship; then when it speaks it will speak with finer eloquence, with nobler strength, its self-distrust will be the first element of its majesty and usefulness.

What does this revelation do, in the second place? It vindicates God from the charge of delighting in animal sacrifices. Will the Lord be pleased with burnt offerings and calves of a year old? or will he be pleased with thousands of rams? Does he love to see the smoking hecatomb? No; when he has required blood of a merely animal kind it has always been symbolically, typically, or prefigurately; it was a necessary part of the alphabet of spiritual history. He must begin his lessons where the scholar can begin. He began his account of creation where the babies of the world could begin. If he had told us about fire-mist and protoplasm, he would have defeated his own object, and there would have been no Bible thousands of years ago; so he just set up the heavens and the earth as we could understand them in some little degree, and he said, It is better they should begin where they can rather than not begin at all, and as they go through the ages they will be able to understand figure and type and parable and dream, and find in colour and in music the truest, widest, grandest facts. The Lord is not pleased with the blood of calves and of rams. He turned from it; he said, I cannot away with your ceremonies and oblations rendered only by your fancy or by your hand. Everything the Lord did require of a physical and external kind was only in a temporary sense, the whole thought of God leading up to spirituality. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

What does this answer do, in the third place? It destroys the notion of piety by proxy: “Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” We are always willing to make away with other people; we are exceedingly liberal with the lives of others. We philosophise and theorise with admirable serenity, as if we had abundance of leisure in which to contemplate the tragedy of mankind, and we say, If a thousand perish, and ten thousand be saved, the gain is on the side of salvation. No! That is false; that is a misuse of the principle of majorities. There ought to be no man lost. And no man will be lost but the son of perdition. If after the Lord has dealt with a man by his providence and by his Spirit, and by all the mystery of the Cross, there is found in that man nothing but devil, he must go to his own place and to his own company. But the Lord will do the handling upon a scale we cannot comprehend, and if the Lord gives up any human soul we may well say sadly, Amen.

Reading this passage, does any man say, Then the way is most easy? Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God why, here is alphabetic piety. How foolish is such talk! Is it easy to be just? The question is not, Is it easy to be nearly just, almost just just upon the whole taking in life as it goes, there is no doubt that on the average there is justice? That is not the inquiry at all. To do justly between man and man, to do justly to thyself there is an ease that holds in it all the difficulty of the most complete and strenuous discipline, and we never know how difficult such ease is until we try to work it out in detail. What have you done? Hold up your deeds to the sun. Many things look well in artificial light which do not look well in the noonday blaze. Examine your justice in the light of the sun; not in the light of a clouded sun, but when the sun is in its summer fulness, when there is least of cloud about him, when every beam is a dazzling revelation, then hold up your finest morality and be ashamed of it. Is it natural to be just? Or is it natural for strength to triumph over weakness? Is there not a high and mighty philosophy which says, The weakest must go to the wall; if there is any survival it must be the survival of the fittest; we cannot stop the progress of the world in order to accommodate ourselves to the weakness of imbeciles; we make an offer, we make it in haste; we say, Take it or leave it, and the answer must be given before the clock strikes the next hour? Is that justice? Are there no slow-moving minds? Are there not some minds that do not know themselves, and that require not to be despised, but to be sustained? Is there not a justice that sits down beside ignorance, and says, You do not know all the case; I will show you what you ought to be and to do and to ask? What, is a man to be both buyer and seller in one? Yes, O thou proud, sharp-dealing, clever thief yes! That would put an end to business. So much the better. We have had “business” enough; we want now a little justice and commonwealth and brotherhood and sympathy. That would take away the crown from some men. Better be without it. They are not kings, they are clowns. Let the crown go, and then they will begin to see themselves as they are. But some men are nothing but sharpness; then let them play their sharpness upon themselves. They have no right in the sanctuary; in the sanctuary justice sits down beside ignorance, and helps ignorance to make the best of its little possession. Is it natural to be merciful? Who does not like to assert his mastery? Mercy stops that it may do good; mercy says, Have you had enough, or could you take more? Do you require a softer pillow for your aching head? Shall I stay with you all night until the morning come? then your other friends will gather around you. Mercy has no clock; mercy has no scales by which to mete out the exact pound; mercy is the other name of love mercy is love in tears, mercy is pity that cannot speak because of the sob of its sympathetic grief.

“What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” not intellectually, not as who should say, We understand the mysteries of providence, and if you do not, well, what can ignorance expect? The greatest Christian should be the humblest. There need be no difficulty in going before a great man. “Take those children away,” said the disciples: “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not,” was the word of the Master. There is no difficulty with the Master. You insist upon seeing the Master himself. If you see the little priest at the door he will forbid you, and drive you away; go right past him, and ask for the Master. You will have no difficulty with Jesus. Simon said, This man is not a prophet; if he were a prophet he would know who, and what manner of woman this is, for she is a sinner. And Jesus said, “She hath loved much, and her sins are all forgiven her.” The multitude murmured that he is gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner; and Jesus said, He also little rich Zacchus hath a heart, he also is a son of Abraham. You have never seen the Master perhaps. You have seen the minister, the ecclesiastic, the preacher, the priest, the fool who thinks he has the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and he only can open the door into the light. O man, thou couldst see Christ, thou couldst work thy way to the Cross, and if thy faith be small this thou couldst say: I may not speak, to him, or throw my arms around him, or be on reverential familiarity with him; but if I may only touch the hem of his garment, the little craspedon corner, I shall be made whole. That is the mystery. Christ’s Godhead is in every word he spake; Christ’s deity is in every look he bestows upon man; Christ’s eternity is in every tone of his voice. Oh, touch him touch him somewhere, anywhere, but with the finger of faith, and though thou hast had flux of blood, leprosy, lameness, destitution of soul, whatever be thy complaint, thou shalt be made whole. This is the Gospel. Let us preach it with fearlessness and with tender love.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XXIX

THE BOOK OF MICAH PART 2

Micah 3-7

The title of this section (Micah 3-5) in the analysis is “A Gross Sin, a Great Salvation (Restoration), and a Glorious Saviour.”

The prophet characterizes their sin in Mic 3:1-4 . In Mic 2 we have a painful picture of their sins but in this paragraph we have a more detailed account of their sins and the punishment. He again addresses the heads of Jacob and the rulers of the house of Israel, and asks them the question, “Is it not for you to know justice?” You are the men that should do right: you are the men appointed to bring justice to the people, but what are you like? “You hate the good, and love the evil.” And then he gives another and more terrible description of their oppression and the way they have treated the poor, “who pluck off their skin from off them and their flesh from off their bones; and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron,” which of course) is an extremely strong way of putting it. Before the French Revolution it was much the same. A peasant said, “They crop us as a sheep would crop the grass,” and another peasant made the remark, “They treat us as if we were but food.” This condition existed many times previous to the time of Micah, and many times since. The result will be destruction: “Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them; he will even hide his face from them at that time.”

Micah attacks the false prophets in these words: “Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people to err; that bite with their teeth.” Most people thus bite, but these prophets had a peculiar purpose in biting with their teeth; they did all their prophesying that they might have something to bite. “They bite and cry, Peace; and whoso putteth not into their mouths they even prepare war against him.” Just as in Jeremiah’s day so they did in Micah’s day; both prophets had to contend with the false prophets. “And whoso putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him,” that is, if a person did not feed them or give them something they proclaimed a war against him in the name of God. Because of this, the result would be darkness, mental, moral, and spiritual as well as political: “It shall be night unto you that ye shall have no vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.”

The seers, the soothsayers, the diviners, the visionaries, the fortunetellers, and the class that live by preying upon the people, shall be ashamed and confounded; “Yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.”

Now, the contrast between those false prophets and Micah, the true prophet of God, follows: “But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.” The difference is an ethical and a spiritual one. One is indwelt and filled with the power of the Spirit, the other is indwelt and filled with the power of his own selfish ambition and desires. The difference is fundamentally one of character. In Mic 3:9-12 we hear Micah, again addressing the heads of Jacob, accusing them of abhorring justice and perverting equity. He says, “They build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us: No evil can come upon us.”

They felt this way when Jeremiah prophesied their downfall; they said, “The Temple ! The Temple! The Temple! It is impossible! This city, this temple, this people of Jehovah: God will protect us.” And in reply to this plea of false safety Micah says, “Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.” This, the princes in Jeremiah’s time said, produced in Hezekiah a deep repentance, and was largely influential in producing the reformation under that excellent king.

Micah’s vision of the mountain of the Lord’s house is found in Mic 4:1-5 . This magnificent passage is to be found almost word for word in Isaiah. Micah says,

In the latter days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow unto it. And many nations shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. Mic 4:1-4

If we compare that with Isa 2:1-4 we see the verbal likeness between the two.

And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go and say. Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. Isa 2:2 ff.

As we stated before these two prophets were contemporaries. Now the question arises, Which of these two copied from the other, which borrowed the other’s thought and the other’s phraseology, or are they both original, or did both Isaiah and Micah borrow from another prophet? It is the idea of a great many of the critics that both borrowed from another prophet, an earlier one, but it is not necessary to infer that Isaiah was the kind of man who needed to borrow from any other prophet. He himself was one of the most sublime poetic geniuses the world had ever seen; he possessed an imperial imagination, and he never needed to borrow or plagiarize. It seems more probable that Micah borrowed from Isaiah, if any borrowing was done. They lived in the same age, they prophesied at the same time and in the same city, and no doubt were acquainted with each other. They moved in a similar circle of ideas, and it is possible that a similar idea would come to both at the same time; that the Spirit of God would present a vision to each mind very much the same. That is possible, but the most reasonable explanation is that this is Isaiah’s vision, his phraseology, his picture. It is Isaiah’s imagination and Isaiah’s literary genius that is behind this, and Micah being familiar with the thought incorporated it into his prophecy and adds Mic 4:4-5 which we do not find in Isaiah, thus:

But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all peoples walk every one in the name of his god; and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.

For the interpretation and fulfilment of this great prophecy see, Interpretation on Isa 2:1-4 , pp. 115-117.

The thought is carried forward in Mic 4:6-8 . This is the promise of the restoration. Here he takes up the same thought from a little different standpoint. He comes now to the details and peculiarities of the age and deals with the conditions of those people to whom he is speaking, thus: “In that day, saith Jehovah, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted.” This refers to the exiles. “And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off, a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.” This agrees with Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah. This is a picture of the restoration, while the other was a picture of the restored kingdom. This picture of the former power and dominion is expressed thus: “Thou, O tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, yea, the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”

A period of anguish must precede this restoration. This is indicated by Micah’s questions, thus: “Now why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee?” There didn’t seem to be when we remember the king was such a weakling. “Is thy counselor perished, that pangs have taken hold of thee as of a woman in travail?” All good counsellors had perished. He goes on: “Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now shall thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt come even to Babylon: there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord will redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.” This statement, that they should go into Babylon troubles the critical school. They say that Babylon was not in the ascendancy in the time of Micah. Assyria was the nation that loomed upon the horizon as the power that would destroy, therefore they reason that Micah could not have conceived of Babylon being the place of exile because Babylon was not the leading nation. Of course, according to their theory Micah could not see into the future one hundred years.

They also say that this is an interpolation, in fact many of them say that Micah did not prophesy this at all, but it was spoken during the exile or after by some anonymous writer. But in Mic 4:11 he pictures the attitude of the other nations toward Judah and Jerusalem, thus: “Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye see our desire upon Zion.” Isn’t that exactly why Ezekiel prophesied against all these nations and buried his threats of denunciation against them? Now Micah gives the reason why they act thus: “They know not the thoughts of Jehovah, neither understand they his counsel; for he hath gathered them as the sheaves into the threshing-floor.” Because of his attitude toward Judah they will be gathered as sheaves on the floor to be threshed.

The call of Mic 4:13-5:1 is a call to liberty and dominion. The prophet is now speaking of triumphant Israel whose time of deliverance is at hand, and through whom the nations are to be beaten and threshed in punishment. He says to the people of Israel, “Arise, and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples: and I will consecrate their gain unto Jehovah, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.” The figure is that of a great threshing floor upon which the sheaves lay, and the threshing instruments are driven over them, Israel is to be as a threshing instrument of iron which shall be driven over the other nations, and shall break in pieces many people, and their wealth shall be taken by Israel and devoted to the worship of Jehovah. That corresponds with Isa 60 one of the finest passages in Isaiah’s writings.

It also resembles his prediction of Tyre, which shall be destroyed and her whole wealth devoted to the worship of Jehovah. In Mic 5 he again summons Israel to activity: “Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us; they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.” A strange expression, “they shall smite.” In spite of the fact that “thou hast been smitten, arise, smite back and conquer; your time has come, your dominion ye shall receive again.”

Mic 5 is devoted to the glorious Saviour and consequent deliverance, or the messianic King and the Blessedness of Israel. This is another view of the same glorious age of the restoration, a different vision, a different point of view, but essentially the same.

The king of this blessed age arises from among the poor (Mic 5:2-4 ). We saw in the last chapter that Micah was the prophet of the poor, that his sympathies went out for them in particular and now when he pictures this glorious age, and its king as rising, he represents him as rising from the poor class: “But thou Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Bethlehem, the home of David, the village where the shepherd boy, who afterward became the shepherd king, lived, the place dear to the heart of every Israelite; this is to be the place whence the king shall come. It is one of the smallest places, the most insignificant and most obscure little villages.

It was no accident that the Saviour of the world rose from among the poor, the working class. Is it not the most fitting thing that could possibly have happened that a king of the world should rise from among the poor? Whether it be wise or not in our estimation it certainly was in God’s estimation, and a little thought along that line will convince us that God could not have done a wiser thing than to have Christ rise from among the poor people. “Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting,” that is, there have been prophecies of him that had been looking forward, expecting him, and he had been manifesting himself in various ways from the beginning, and had been set forth in types and shadows as the one who should come and appear in his glory. Then he goes on with his picture: “Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.” And then this king, this shepherd-king, this descendant of David, as it says in Mic 5:4 , shall stand and shall feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. This is the picture of the Shepherd so common in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea, and again in that immortal parable of the shepherd as found in Joh 10:1 . “And they shall abide, for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.”

Micah’s vision of him as a deliverer is found in Mic 5:5-6 He is here presented as the one who shall deliver them from the Assyrian. He uses the Assyrian here because the Assyrian was the great barbaric power that was rising up on the horizon of the world at that time and extending her power over every nation. The very name itself sent terror to the people of that time. “And this man shall be our peace. When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.” These officials will surround him as his cabinet, to stand by, to support, to give aid, and he will be amply and ably supported on his throne. “And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof.” On time’s horizon the end seems close with Micah. Twenty-six hundred years or more have passed by since, and time’s horizon is yet enlarging. The Assyrians have been extinct since a hundred years after Micah’s time. So the Assyrian here is used to represent the enemies of the Messiah’s kingdom and thus includes all the nations that know not God.

The relation of Israel to her friends and to her foes is stated in Mic 5:7-9 . To her friends the remnant of Jacob shall be as dew from Jehovah, as showers upon the grass that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.” That is true yet regarding the remnant of Israel. But for their enemies, “the remnant of Jacob shall be among all the nations in the midst of many people, as a lion among the beasts of the forests and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.” This is not to be taken literally. There is a sense in which God’s people go forth like a lion, conquering, but the Messiah’s kingdom is spiritual.

Israel’s relation to idolatry in this new condition is set forth in Mic 5:10-15 . All idolatrous connection shall be rooted out: “I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: and I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds. And I will cut off witchcraft out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.” Israel shall be cleansed of her idolatry.

The title of Micah 6-7 in the analysis is “Jehovah’s Controversy with His People.” This is a different section of the book of Micah, different problems arise here, different modes of expression. A great many of the critics maintain that this was written during the reign of Manasseh when idolatry was revived, and heathen sacrifices were carried on. It would fit in with the reign of Ahaz, however, and Micah prophesied during the reign of Ahaz, Jotham, and Hezekiah. The conditions found here existed during that time.

The case of the controversy of Jehovah with his people is stated in Mic 6:1-9 . Here Jerusalem is called upon, thus: “Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, the Lord’s controversy and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.” All nature is called upon to hear. This is not mere poetry: there is eternal truth underlying it. “The Lord hath a controversy with his people and he will contend with Israel.” He goes on to describe the controversy. What is it about? Not about sin. Jeremiah calls the people to a great controversy regarding their sin; Micah does not. It is how they shall serve Jehovah, how they shall worship him.

Jehovah speaks: “O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.” A marvelous statement, Jehovah asking his people to testify against him, if they have anything to testify. What condescension! Just like Isaiah I “Come now and let us reason together.” Then he goes on, “For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.” “Remember what happened between Shittim and Gilgal,” that plain bordering on the Jordan in Moab, and Gilgal across the Jordan. What happened between these two places? “Ye know the great miracle I performed, the stopping of the waters, and the multitude crossing over on dry ground; remember that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah.” Mic 6:6 gives a little glimpse into the religious condition of the people, “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?” They had been doing that in abundance. “Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? and shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” The numbers used are an exaggeration of course, for purposes of rhetoric and making it effective “with ten thousands of rivers of oil.” Oil was a part of the sacrifice and worship. “Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” This gives us an idea of what the people were doing, and how they were worshiping. They were sacrificing the first-born, and seemed to seriously believe that Jehovah required them to do so.

Mic 6:8 is one of the greatest passages in the Old Testament. Micah sums up the whole of religion in one little verse; he gives one final answer to all such questions as to how we should serve and worship God, thus: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” No prophet or writer ever summed up the whole duty of religion better than Micah does here to do justly, righteously in all conduct, i.e., kings, rulers, business magnates, commercial princes, millionaires, land owners, workmen. That is the first thing. And more than that, “love mercy,” go beyond strict justice; go farther than that, delight in tenderness, show mercy. That goes as far as Christianity almost. And then finally, “humble thyself to walk with thy God,” or “walk humbly with thy God”; the better translation, perhaps is, “Humble thyself to walk with God.” This is the finest expression that has ever been used to describe the service of true religion: “Do justly,” there is our relationship in all civil life. “Love mercy,” there is, our relationship in all home life, family life, all social life; there is the tender side of human life. “Walk humbly with God”; there is the divine side. There is just one passage that equals this, says Dr. George Adam Smith, and that is where Jesus says, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest” (Mat 11:28-29 ).

The charges here against the city (Mic 6:9-16 ) are their various sins which are the reasons for Jehovah’s visitation. Here we have the city’s life pictured in a vivid and lurid way. Mic 6:9 , “The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.” Mic 6:10 , “Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?” Mic 6:11 , “Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.” And because of this he utters his threat of destruction and predicts the utter desolation of the country and the people. In Mic 6:16 he charges them with following the example of Omri: “For the statutes of Omri are kept and all the works of the house of Ahab.” Ahab seized Naboth’s vineyard and they followed his example, “and ye walk in their counsels: that I may make thee a desolation and the inhabitants thereof an hissing; therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.”

The prophet’s part in the case is found in Mic 7:1-6 . He appears as the prosecuting attorney here in this passage and bewails the utter corruption of society: “Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first ripe fig. The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.” It does not necessarily mean literal blood, but when one takes away a man’s means of support, his wages, his necessities of life, he takes away his life because he will have less of the necessities of life. The oppression of the poor is simply the taking of the blood of the people. “They hunt every man his brother with a net,” and how many businessmen there are in this age that do love to get the net around another man! “That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, uttereth his mischievous desire; thus they weave it together.” There is a lot of sharp dealing among them, a hard people to deal with; “The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.” No one can be trusted. When a man dare not confide in his own wife, it is about as bad as it can be. “For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.” How desperate the entire life of the nation must have been with every form of deceit practiced. Jesus Christ used this very expression to tell how his gospel was going to cause division and enmity.

The righteous remnant takes part in the case (Mic 7:7-13 ). They plead guilty and hope for mercy and pardon. It is the voice of the prophet and in the prophet the voice of the righteous kernel the true Israel that speaks here, not the voice of the people nor the rulers, but the righteous kernel, the true Israel, the mother of sorrow. Notice what she says in resignation: “As for me, I will look unto the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” That is a fine text, and the next one is even better: “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” To translate it literally: “I have fallen, I will arise.” Faith seldom, if ever, in dark moments, uttered a more hopeful, a more blessed sentiment than that. In Bunyan’s immortal allegory, where he describes Christian in the Valley of Humiliation and fighting with Apollyon, and Apollyon throws him to the ground, Christian thrusts him with his sword, quoting these words, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise.” In Mic 7:9 we have a note of resignation that is beautiful: “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me; he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.” How hopeful and trustful that is!

Now the effect upon his enemies: “Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.” He gives another glimpse of the future: “In that day thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.” That reminds us of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls. Micah says the time will come when the walls will be rebuilt. “The decree”; we do not know just what is meant here, perhaps the marginal reading, “boundary,” is correct. Then he goes on to picture in glowing language the return of the people from all nations whither they have been scattered: “They shall come unto thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress, even to the River, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain,” but that is to be after the desolation takes place, for in Mic 7:13 , it says, “Notwithstanding, the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.”

The prophet’s final plea for and hope held out to Israel is as follows: “Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.” This seems to imply that Northern Israel had not been depopulated in Micah’s time, for just before this Tiglathpileser had deported all Palestine beyond the Jordan; that seems to have taken place and Micah pictures the return here as the people coming to feed in Bashan in the land from which they had been taken.

The hope here is that the nations, when they see this, shall come in dread and dismay, Mic 7:17 . “The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth; their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like the serpent,” referring to the account in Gen 3 regarding the serpent, saying that dust should be his meat, and that he should move along close to the earth and should lick up the dust. “They shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.” A picture of the terror of the nations after the Restoration. Ezekiel pictures them as being utterly subdued, so does Jeremiah to some extent, but Micah pictures them as being in abject submission and terror, crawling like servile beasts in fear before the presence of Israel.

Now come the beauties of the doxology (Mic 7:18 ): “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.” Isn’t that a beautiful picture of God? There are several texts there. “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us: he will subdue our iniquities: and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” How deep is the sea? In some places it is five miles deep. If their sins are cast down to the bottom of the sea they are gone forever. And he closes this beautiful statement thus: “Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to ABRAHAM, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” He goes back to Abraham, God’s promise to him: “All nations shall be blessed in thee,” and that promise must be fulfilled.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the title of this section (Micah 3-5) in the analysis?

2. How does the prophet characterize their sins in Mic 3:1-4 , what instances in modern history, and what is the result of the sin of Jacob?

3. Describe Micah’s attack on the false prophets and his contrast between himself and them.

4. What charge does Micah bring against the heads, the priests & the prophets, respectively, what their reply and what the consequent result?

5. What is Micah’s vision of the mountain of the Lord’s house (Mic 4:1-5 ), how does it compare with Isa 2:1-4 . Who borrowed in this case?

6. How is the thought carried forward in Mic 4:6-8 ?

7. Describe the period of anguish that must precede this restoration, the radical critics’ position on this passage, and the attitude of the other nations toward Judah and Jerusalem.

8. What is the call of Mic 4:13-5:1 ?

9. To what is Mic 5 devoted?

10. What Micah’s vision of this king as to his origin and place of birth?

11. What Micah’s vision of him as a deliverer and why the mention of the Assyrian in this connection (Mic 5:5-6 ) ?

12. What the relation of Israel to her friends and to her foes (Mic 5:7-9 )?

13. What shall be Israel’s relation to idolatry in this new condition (Mic 5:10-15 )?

14. What the title of Micah 6-7 in the analysis and what can you say in general of this section?

15. State the case of the controversy of Jehovah with his people (Mic 6:1-8 ).

16. What can you say of the beauty and meaning of Mic 6:8 and what the application of its several points?

17. What are the charges here against the city (Mic 6:9-16 )?

18. What is the prophet’s part in the case (Mic 7:1-6 )?

19. What part does the righteous remnant take in the case (Mic 7:7-13 ), and what hope do they see?

20. What is the prophet’s final plea for and hope held out to Israel?

21. What are the beauties of the doxology (Mic 7:18 )?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Mic 6:1 Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

Ver. 1. Hear ye now what the Lord saith ] Exordium breve est, sed plane patheticum, saith Gualther. This is a short, but pithy and pathetic preface, wherein he woos their attention: Audite quaeso, Hear, I pray you. Ministers are spokesmen for Christ, and must therefore give good words: and yet remembering on whose errand they come, it is required that they be found faithful, 1Co 4:2 .

Arise, contend thou ] Surge, age, O Micah! Debate thou God’s cause against this rebellious and ungrateful people, as it were in judgment; calling all, even the insensible creatures, to be judges. See the like Deu 32:1 Isa 1:2 Mic 1:2 (for these two prophets have many things common), and be sensible, that some sit as senseless before a preacher still as the seats they sit on, pillars they lean to, dead bodies they tread upon; so that we have need (as one did once in my hearing) to call to the walls and windows to hear the word of the Lord. This heavy ear is meted for a singular judgment, Mat 13:13-14 Isa 30:8-9 . The philosopher was angry with his Boeotians: telling them that they had not their name for nought, since their ears were ox ears, and that they were dull creatures, and incapable of counsel. Demosthenes also, for like cause, called upon his countrymen of Athens to get their ears healed; and Diogenes used to tell his tale to the statues and images, that he might inure himself to lose his labour, as he had so often done, in speaking to the people. Let us, to the wearing of our tongues to the stumps, preach and pray never so much, men will on in sin, said blessed Bradford, in that excellent sermon of his of repentance. We cry till we are hoarse (saith another rare preacher), we speak till we spit forth our lungs; but all to as little purpose as Bede did, when he preached to a heap of stones. Asino quispiam narrabat fabulam: at ille movebat aures. But shall people thus carry it away, and God lose the sweet words? Never think of it. Those that will not hear the word shall bear the rod, Mic 6:9 : and if they could but see their misery they would do as the prophet requires, cut their hair and cast it away, under the sense of the horror of God’s indignation, Jer 7:27 ; Jer 7:29 , they would beg of God a hearing ear (which is as an earring of gold, Pro 25:12 ), and beseech him to make the bore bigger, that his word might enter; yea, to draw up the ears of their souls to the ears of their bodies, that one saving sound might pierce both at once. Let him that hath an ear to hear, hear; or if yet any think good to forbear, let him forbear, Eze 3:27 , but he will certainly repent it. He that now gives God occasion to call to the hills, &c., shall one day tire the deaf mountains, saying, Fall on me, hide me, dash and quash me in a thousand pieces. Oh that I might trot directly to hell, and not stay to hear that dreadful discedite, Go, ye cursed!

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mic 6:1-5

1Hear now what the LORD is saying,

Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

And let the hill hear your voice.

2Listen, 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.

3My people, what have I done to you

And how have I wearied you? Answer Me.

4Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt

And ransomed you up from the house of slavery,

And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5My people, remember now

What Balak king of Moab counseled

And what Balaam son of Beor answered him,

And from Shittim to Gilgal,

In order that you might know the righteous acts of the LORD.

Mic 6:1-2 Hear There are several IMPERATIVES in Mic 6:1-2 :

1. Hear (BDB 1033, KB 1570, i.e., in the sense of a prayer petition) – Qal IMPERATIVE

2. Arise (BDB 877, KB 1086) – Qal IMPERATIVE

3. Plead your case (DBD 936, KB 1224) – Qal IMPERATIVE

4. Hear (BDB 1033, KB 1570) – Qal IMPERATIVE used in a JUSSIVE sense

5. Listen (BDB 1033, KB 1570) – Qal IMPERATIVE

Hear is a way for Micah to start a new section (cf. Mic 1:1; Mic 3:1; Mic 6:1). The second IMPERATIVE arise is MASCULINE SINGULAR. It could refer to Micah as God’s spokesman or collectively to the nation. Option #1 fits best.

This chapter is a court scene, like chapter 1. Notice the number of terms with a legal connotation:

1. Arise (i.e., to testify, e.g., Deu 19:15-16 and false witnesses in Psa 27:12; Psa 35:11), Mic 6:1

2. Plead (i.e., to contend in court; negatively, e.g., Isa 1:17; Isa 3:13; Isa 66:16; positively Mic 7:9; Psa 103:8-14, esp. Psa 103:9; Jer 50:34)

3. Hear (i.e., in the sense of a jury or judge, e.g., Mic 1:2)

4. Listen (same word as #3)

5. Indictment (same word as #2)

6. A case (same word as #3 and #5)

7. Dispute (BDB 406, KB 410, Hithpael IMPERFECT, i.e., adjudication of a judge, e.g., Isa 2:4; Mic 4:3)

YHWH is divorcing His covenant people because of their repeated unfaithfulness (Hosea) and sin (Amos). This court scene may continue through Micah 7.

before the mountains. . .hills In the OT it takes two witnesses to confirm truth (cf. Num 35:30; Deu 17:6; Deu 19:5). YHWH calls the mountains and hills to witness against Israel and Judah as He does heaven and earth (cf. Deu 4:26; Deu 31:28; Deuteronomy 32 :l; Psa 50:4 and Isa 1:2). Several times in the OT mountains are personified (e.g., 2Sa 1:21; Psa 68:15-16; Isa 35:1). These were the very places (i.e., high places) Ba’al and Asherah were worshiped.

Mic 6:2 This verse is legal metaphor. YHWH turns from addressing His collective people, Judah, to address the permanent, foundational, personified witnesses, the mountains and hills.

His people Privilege (covenant people, cf. Mic 6:3; Rom 9:4-5) brings responsibility!

Even with Israel He will dispute This does not refer to the Northern Ten Tribes (i.e., Israel) only (cf. Mic 6:16), but here to all of the tribes, the descendants of Jacob (Israel).

Mic 6:3-5 YHWH asks His people why, when He has been faithful, they have continued to be rebellious. YHWH is using a covenant treaty pattern (i.e., Hittite Suzerein Treaties of the second millennium, which also form the outline of the book of Deuteronomy and Joshua 24) to recall His faithful acts.

Mic 6:3 what have I done to you YHWh asks them to bring their complaints or charges against Him (cf. Jer 2:5). Where, when, how has He not been faithful to His covenant responsibilities?

Answer Me This is a legal term (BDB 772, KB 851, Qal IMPERATIVE), which means to give evidence against (cf. Exo 20:16; Deu 5:20; 2Sa 1:16). YHWH is acting as one party in a divorce case.

Mic 6:4 I brought you up. . .Egypt This refers to YHWH’s promise to Abraham in Gen 15:6 and relates to the events of the exodus. The exodus is the foundational act in the history of national Israel (cf. Exo 20:2; Deu 5:6; Deu 7:8). This event clearly showed YHWH’s faithful commitment to His covenant responsibilities (e.g., Amo 2:10; Amo 3:1; Amo 9:7). God’s grace came before the Mosaic law.

ransomed This word literally means to buy back (BDB 804, KB 911, Qal PERFECT). It was used in the sense of buying someone back from slavery or a prisoner of war. See Special Topic: Ransom/Redeem .

I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam God had provided the needed revelations and godly leadership, but His people had rebelled, even during the exodus. God’s people have a track record of rebellion (cf. Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7).

Notice Miriam is mentioned in a parallel way to Moses and Aaron.

SPECIAL TOPIC: WOMEN IN THE BIBLE

Mic 6:5 remember now This (BDB 269, KB 269) is a Qal IMPERATIVE. YHWH wants His covenant people to remember an earlier time of testing and revelation (i.e., Num 22:5-6).

Balak. . .Balaam This event is recorded in Numbers 22-25.

Shittim This was the last camping site of Israel before entering the Promised Land. It is also the scene of the sin of Israel with Moabite women (i.e., fertility worship, cf. Num 33:49 and Jos 3:1).

Gilgal This was the first camping site within the Promised Land (cf. Jos 4:19). Even in the midst of their sin and rebellion at Shittim, God forgave them and brought them safely through the raging, flooding Jordan into the Promised Land.

Taken together the mentioning of these two locations would imply the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River during its flooding season.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 6

Hear ye now what the LORD says; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’S controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. O my people ( Mic 6:1-3 ),

Still His people after all of this.

what have I done unto you? ( Mic 6:3 )

And listen to God’s pleading with the people. God says, “What have I done? What have I done wrong? What have I done against you?”

and wherein have I wearied you? ( Mic 6:3 )

Go ahead and tell Me, witness against Me, give a testimony against Me. What have I done? Where have I wearied you?

For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and I redeemed you out of the house of servants ( Mic 6:4 );

I took you from bondage and from slavery. You were nothing but a bunch of slaves.

and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD ( Mic 6:4-5 ).

Now he says, now go back and read the prophecies of Balaam when Balak the king said, “Come and curse these people.” And so he said, “Built me an altar,” and he built an altar. And as he began to look over tents of Jacob he began to declare, “O how beautiful are the tents of Jacob. O how glorious is their redeemer. O that I may die the death of Jacob.” And he began to declare the glory. And the king said, “Shut up. I don’t want you to bless them. I want you to curse them.” And he took them to another mountain, built another altar. He said, “Go back and read what I had to say about you. Read the blessings that I declared concerning you.” And God is saying go back and read them. So you ought to go back when you get home tonight in Numbers and read the prophecies of Balaam concerning Israel.

O my people, remember now the words that were spoken through Balaam; that you may know how righteous I have been towards you. Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? ( Mic 6:5-6 )

“How can I approach God?” the prophet is saying.

Will the LORD be pleased if I should offer a thousand rams, or ten thousand of rivers of oil? ( Mic 6:7 )

What can I offer to God as a sacrifice for all of God’s blessings and goodness?

shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? ( Mic 6:7 )

Should I offer my own son to God? What can I do? What does God want of me? What does God require of me?

And the prophet answers,

He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, just to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? ( Mic 6:8 )

You say, “Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.” But look at it again. God requires that you do justly. Have you always done the right thing? Have you always been fair and honest? Have you never cheated in a deal? Have you never concealed or hid a part of the truth? Well, scratch that one off.

To love mercy; do you really love mercy? Do you really love to just forgive and say, “Oh, forget it. It doesn’t really matter. That’s all right.” Or, do you love to get even? Do you go around saying, “I’ll get even with him if it’s the last thing I do. You just wait. I’ll get even.”

and to walk humbly with thy God? ( Mic 6:8 )

“Six things God hates; yea, there are seven that are an abomination (now I don’t really know what an abomination is, but it sounds bad) unto Him” ( Pro 6:16 ). Top of the list of the things that God hates that are an abomination, at the top of the list is a proud look. “Pride goes before destruction,” the Lord said, “and a haughty spirit before a fall” ( Pro 16:18 ). God hates the pride of men. God wants you to walk humbly with Him. That is what God requires. That is what God insists upon, but I have failed. I have not walked humbly before the Lord. I have not loved mercy. I have not done justly. What does God want? A thousand rams, rivers of oil? What can I give to God? What does God want from me? What does God require? He doesn’t require a thousand rams. He doesn’t require rivers of oil to be offered in sacrifice. All He says is, “Hey, I’ve shown you the good way. It is: do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.” Well, Lord, I can’t even do that. What now do You require?

They came to Jesus and said, “What must we do to do the works of God?” And Jesus said, “This is the work of God: just believe on Him whom He has sent” ( Joh 6:29 ). All right, I can handle that. That I can do. This is the work of God: that you believe on Him whom He has sent. So God’s actual requirement for us tonight is just to believe in His Son Jesus Christ as our own Lord and Savior. And by your believing in Him, He will come into your life. He will begin to indwell your life and He will begin to give you the power to do justly. He will begin to transform your heart to where you’ll love mercy. And as you look upon His face, there is no way you could be proud, but you’ll walk humbly before the Lord. So God’s requirements.

The prophet is crying out, “What can I do? Does God want me to give Him my first-born son, rivers of oil, whatever? What does God require?” And the Lord answers, “He has shown thee O man what is good. This is what God requires.”

The LORD’S voice cries unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. Are there not yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, does God hate the scant measure that is abominable? ( Mic 6:9-10 )

I was reading one time where a baker filed a suit against a farmer in court in England. And in his suit he charged that the farmer was continually giving him less butter as he sold it to him. He said, “When he first started out selling me butter he gave me a true pound of butter, but gradually he has been giving me less and less butter for the pound, until now he is only giving me about twelve ounces of butter and charging me for a pound.” The farmer in his own defense said to the judge, “Sir, I only have balance scales to measure the butter.” And he said, “I always take the baker’s pound loaf of bread and put it on the scale to weigh the butter.” God speaks here against the scant measures that are an abomination unto him.

And then those that have a bag full of deceitful weights. Now they used the balance scales and they had deceitful weights. They had one set of weights that they would buy with and another set that they would sell with; deceitful weights, bag full of deceitful weights. God says, “I hate that.” Dishonesty in dealing with our brothers. What a violation that is to the law of God where Jesus said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” What a violation to that law to cheat or to defraud my brother, to use deceitfulness in dealing with him.

For the rich men are full of violence [he declares], and the inhabitants have spoken lies, their tongues are deceitful. Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, and in making thee desolate because of your sins. You will eat, but not be satisfied ( Mic 6:12-14 );

And how true this is of a man who gives himself over to unbridled lust; he eats, but he is never satisfied.

and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but you will not deliver; and that which you delivered you will give up to the sword. For you will sow, but you will not reap ( Mic 6:14-15 );

Someone else will reap the benefits of all of your efforts and work.

thou shalt tread the olives, that they shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but you will not drink it. For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab ( Mic 6:15-16 ),

Omri and Ahab, the two wicked kings of Israel that led the people into such abominable practices and sins.

But you’re walking in their counsels ( Mic 6:16 );

You’re following after their ways.

that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing: therefore shall ye bear the reproach of my people ( Mic 6:16 ).

A sign of great disdain was just hissssss. They wanted to show just utter disdain for people, they would just hiss at them just like you do a cat, hiss. So it showed a sign of total disdain and God said, “You will become a hissing. People will see you and they’ll just hiss at you. They’ll just give you the ‘ol hiss.” It is sort of an irritating thing to have a person do that to you. They still do it. I’ve had them do it to me over there in Israel. They’ll hiss at you if you don’t buy their merchandise and you go to leave and they’re angry with you and they’ll hiss at you. They’ll also spit, and that too is a sign of great disdain. In the Oriental customs if you want to show total disdain, you spit on a person. Of course, I guess that would show disdain here too, but we’re a little more cultured. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Mic 6:1. Hear ye now what the LORD saith;

And yet some doubt the infallible inspiration of Scripture. I would commence every reading of the Scripture with such a word of admonition as this: Hear ye now what the Lord saith. That is what the prophet said; but God spake by the prophet: Hear ye now what the Lord saith.

Mic 6:1. Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

As men were hardened, and turned away their ears, the prophet was bidden to speak to the mountains, those mountains which had been disfigured with the shrines of idols, with altars on every high hill, or, perhaps, those higher hills that were never cultivated, and that remained untouched by the defiling hand of men. God makes an appeal to these ancient things.

Mic 6:2. Hear ye, O mountains, the LORDS controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath, a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.

It was wonderful condescension on Gods part that he should deign to come as a defendant before the august court of the mountains, and in the presence of the deep foundations of the earth. It is a noble conception, in poetry most excellent; in grandeur, worthy of God. He made his appeal to the ancient hills to hear his pleading while he condescended to argue and ask his people why they had rejected their God, and turned aside to idols. Then he pleaded with Israel.

Mic 6:3. O my people, what have I done unto thee?

What but good, what but mercy, have I done unto thee?

Mic 6:3. And wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.

He asks them to give any reason whatever why they had turned away from him. Beloved friends, have any of you, who are the people of God, grown cold in your love to him? Are you neglecting the service of the Most High? Are you beginning to trust in an arm of flesh? Are you seeking your pleasures in the world? Have you lost the love of your espousal, your first love to your blessed Lord? Then hear him plead with you. Be not as Israel was, but let the Lord speak to you rather than to the hills: What have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. O Lord, we have nothing to testify against thee! We have very much to testify for thee; and we blush to think that we have not done so oftener. Oh, that we had felt more love to thee, and had borne a bolder and more consistent testimony to thy love, thy grace, thy faithfulness!

Mic 6:4. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

God constantly refers to Israels coming out of Egypt; on every great occasion he begins, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And to his people the Lord still says, I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of slavery. Is it not so? Do we not still delight in his redeeming work, in the sprinkling of the blood of the Paschal Lamb, and in the high hand and outstretched arm with which the Lord delivered us from the bondage of our sin? Remember that thou also wast a bondman; forget not who bought thee, and with what price; remember who delivered thee, and led thee out, and with what mighty power. Remember this, and let thy cold love burn up again, and let thine indifference turn to enthusiasm. O Lord, revive thy people! The Lord further says to his people, I sent before thee Moses (the lawgiver), Aaron (the priest), and Miriam (the prophetess); one to teach thee, another to plead for thee, and to sacrifice for thee, and the third to sing for thee, to sing thy song of gladness at the Red Sea. God has given to his people many ministries in divers forms; and they are all concentrated in his Son, who is everything to us. Oh, by the greatness of his gifts to us, let us come back to our former love to him, and to something more than that!

Mic 6:5. O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.

Balak endeavored to get Balaam to curse the people of God; but they could not be overcome by human power. He sought to destroy them by superhuman agency; but Balaams curses turned to blessings. God would not permit the false prophet to curse Israel; and he has in our case turned the curse of the great adversary into a blessing. He has delivered us, and our trials have strengthened us, and taught us more of God. Will we not remember this? Shittim was the last encampment on the further side of Jordan, Gilgal the first in the promised land; therefore they are united here with Gods righteousnesses to his people, for the word is in the plural. It is a remarkable idiom: That ye may know the righteousnesses of the Lord. He is righteous always, in every way, towards everything, and under every aspect. I wish we knew this, for sometimes we begin to think that he deals harshly with us. When we are severely tried, we begin to doubt the righteousness of the Lord. Remember all that he has done to you from the first day to the last, that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord. Now the plaintiff takes up the case, but he, too, turns defendant, and asks what he can do to bring about a reconciliation.

Mic 6:6-7. Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or 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?

The people will give God everything but what be wants. They begin, you see, by saying that they will bring burnt offerings; they are ready to do that. The axe shall fall upon the head of numberless young bullocks, such as God demanded under the law. The people are ready enough for that sacrifice; and as for rams, they will shed their blood by thousands. If oil is wanted for the meat offering, rivers of it shall flow. When they have offered what God would have, they offer what he would not have, what God abhorred and loathed, for they offered to give their firstborn for their transgressions. They insulted Jehovah with the sacrifices of Moloch, with human slaughter, offering their children to obtain atonement for their sins. They were willing to go even that length, and to do anything but what God wants; and men will still give to God anything but what he asks for; majestic edifices, gorgeous services, ecstatic music, gold and silver; anything but what the Lord demands. Here is Gods answer:

Mic 6:8. He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

It was a spiritual worship that the Lord required; not externals, not outward gifts, but the heart. If thou wilt bring an offering, bring thyself; there is no other gift that the Lord so much desires. The prophet mentions three things that the Lord required of his people: To do justly: here are the equities of life. To love mercy here are the kindnesses of life, which are to be rendered cheerfully. The prophet does not say, to do mercy, but to love it, to take a delight in it, to find great pleasure in the forgiveness of injuries, in the helping of the poor, in the cheering of the sick, in the teaching of the ignorant, in the winning back of sinners to the ways of God. And to walk humbly with thy God. These are the things which please him; and when we are in Christ, and be becomes our righteousness, these are the sacrifices with which God is well pleased; they make an offering of a sweet smell, a holy incense which we may present before him. Talk no more of your outward ordinances, your will-worship, with abundance of music, or human eloquence and learning, and what not. These things delight not the Lord; no offering is acceptable unless the outward conduct shows that the heart is right with him.

Mic 6:9. The LORDS voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

Gods voice to his people is often uttered by means of their affliction Hear ye the rod. He wishes us to understand that judgments and calamities are his voice crying to the city. Oh, that we were men of wisdom, that we would hear what God has to say! Alas! Israel did not hear, and Judah would not listen, even to Gods own voice!

Mic 6:10. Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?

Here he comes to practical details. In Micahs day, men had grown rich by oppression, by a want of justice; they had wronged their fellow men, and God asked them whether they expected to be pleasing to him when their houses were full of treasure which they had virtually stolen by giving scant measure and short weight. God condescends even to point out these minute particulars of moral conduct, and so should his servants do. It is not for us, his ministers, to be soaring into the clouds, to astonish you with the grandeur of our thoughts and words; but to come to your shops, to look at your bushel-measures and your pecks, your yard-sticks and your weights.

Mic 6:11-12. Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

They were, I suppose, very much what Orientals are still; you cannot trade with them without having need of more than two eyes. Their price has to be beaten down; their quantities must be counted. God would not have his people like this. He says nothing about the Moabites or the Babylonians doing this, but for his people to do it was very grievous to him.

Mic 6:13. Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.

They lied, and they cheated; so God would give them a sorry tongue, betokening their ill-health. He would make their present distress to get worse and worse, till they should be sick through their wounds.

Mic 6:14. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied;

The satisfaction that comes to us through eating is of his mercy, and when he wills, he can say, Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied.

Mic 6:14. And thy casting down shall he in the midst of thee;

Thou shalt feel an inward sinking; even when thou hast eaten, thou shalt be faint, as a man who has eaten nothing.

Mic 6:14. And thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.

So that in every project they would be disappointed; in every design they would be frustrated, because God would be against them.

Mic 6:15. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.

God can let men have every form of outward prosperity, and yet make nothing of it. I fear that some, perhaps some present, have every outward religious blessing; yet nothing comes of it. You hear sermons, you come to meetings, you tread the olives, but you are not anointed with the oil. The grapes are in the wine-vat; but you drink not the wine. God save us from that sad condition!

Mic 6:16. For the statutes of Omri are kept,

They would not keep the statutes of God; but they could keep the foul statutes of Omri, which appear to have been specially objectionable to God.

Mic 6:16. And all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels;

He was an arch rebel against God. Remember his murder of Naboth to get his vineyard; and these people followed his evil example.

Mic 6:16. That I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

Very hard was it to bear that reproach, when there would be none of the comforts of the Spirit to go with it. There are some professors who bear the reproach of Christ, but will never share his crown; that is a fearful state of things. Gladly enough would we take up that reproach that we may be truly his; but if we profess to be Gods people, and act inconsistently, we shall bear all the reproach, but have nothing to sustain us under it. O Lord, of thy mercy, save us from this!

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Mic 6:1-8

FORGOTTEN ACTS OF SALVATION (Mic 6:1-8)

The first controversy of Jehovah against His people is occasioned by their having forgotten His saving activities on their behalf in times past. Centuries later, Stephen would level the same charge against them. To him this was the story of their national life. (Cf. Acts, chapter 7) Arise . . . contend . . . (plead your case) before the mountains . . . Mic 6:1-2

Zerr: Mic 6:1. The writers of the Bible do not always adhere strictly to chronology in their treatment of subjects. The preceding chapter closes with a prediction of the return from the captivity; the present one comes back and resumes the complaints against Israel for her unfaithfulness to God. Israel is called upon to contend or defend herself if such a thing can be done truthfully. Before the ‘mountains. If you have a just defence for your conduct let the whole world hear it. Mic 6:2. But while the universe is to hear the defence of Israel (if she can produce any), the Lord will also make His complaints just as public. He has a controversy or accusation to make against the ungrateful naLion.

The judgments pronounced against both the northern and southern kingdoms in the three cycles which compose chapters 1-3 of Micah are harsh. The denunciation of the nation, the casting off of the race per se which is evidenced in the promised blessings to the remnant (chapters 4-5) are sure to be decried as unfair by those who are to be cast off. To prove His fairness in these things, God calls the prophet to set the sins of the people before them.

Because the fulfillment of the covenant will issue in Gods blessing all the nations of the earth, this controversy is to be before the whole of creation. Thus the prophet comes full circle, connecting this final section of his prophecy to the first (see comment on Mic 1:2 -ff). As the justice of Gods judgments against the leaders of the nation was established before all people and nations in the opening cycle, so the fairness of His complaints against the people will now be openly seen of all. The equity of Gods cause will be pleaded and sinners themselves forced to confess that Gods ways and judgments are fair.

O MY PEOPLE WHAT HAVE I DONE (Mic 6:3-5)

In these verses the complaint of God is made. In Mic 6:9 to Mic 7:6, the case will be judged.

(Mic 6:3) The cry of Mic 6:3-5 is not the stern judicial pronnouncement of chapters 1-3 against broken law. Here we have rather the plea of a broken heart. What have I done unto thee? Wherein have I wearied thee? They have sinned against His love as well as His law.

Zerr: Mic 6:3. The Lord challenges his people to point out any fact that they can justly call mistreatment from Him.

(Mic 6:4) I brought thee up . . . The nation of Israel did not exist until the mercies of God brought an enslaved race out of a foreign land because of the covenant of blessing made with their father] (Cp. Exo 2:24) It was the law, given them through Moses and the priesthood instituted in Aaron that turned the race into a nation . . . the very law whose flaunting now occasioned the heart-break of their God at the necessity of judging His people.

Zerr: Mic 6:4-5. We know (and Israel knew) that no truthful complaint could be made against God in his treatment of his people. On the other hand, God had clone much for Israel that should have induced her to cling faithfully to a life of true devotion. After being in bondage under the Egyptians for four centuries, the Lord brought them out a free people and started them on their way toward the land that had been promised to their fathers. And they were not left to wander in uncertainty as they journeyed toward their goal, but had the helpful presence of the three members of one family; Moses to give them law, Aaron to assist him in the addresses to kings, and Miriam to strengthen their morale with her songs and music. Mic 6:5. God reminds his people of some things that were done in their defence against the enemies. After they had about completed their journey through the wilderness they were opposed by the Moabite king Balak. His iniquity was made worse in that he consulted with another wicked person who was a degenerate prophet. The Bible always regards sins that are done as a conspiracy in a worse light than done independently of others, and this sort of conspiracy was committed between Balak and Balaam.

O MY PEOPLE, REMEMBER NOW WHAT BALAK KING

OF MOAB DEVISED AND WHAT BALAAM THE SON OF

BEOR ANSWERED HIM (Mic 6:5) (a)

Micahs allusion here is to Numbers, chapters 22-24. The prophet places himself in the position of Balaam and asks those to whom he speaks to see the parallel. Israel, drawing near the promised land had encamped on the plains of Moab opposite Jericho on the east bank of the Jordon. Balak, king of Moab, seeing what Israel had done to the Amorites, was terrified and sent to Pethor near the Euphrates to the prophet Balaam with the request that he come and curse Israel. When Balaam went before God for direction, he was directed not to return with Balaks messengers, the elders of Moab. Balak, assuming that Balaam could be bribed, sent ambassadors of higher rank with greater gifts. Again Balaam went to God in prayer and this time was instructed to go with the princes of Moab but to say only what God gave him to say.

Next morning Balaam went with the princes toward Moab. And God was angry, apparently because Balaam had been tempted enough by the bribe to question His first instruction. As Balaam rode toward Moab, an angel appeared to his ass, but not to him. The animal, seeing the angel block her way, turned aside into a field, whereupon Balaam beat her. Again the ass saw the angel and, instead of obeying Balaam, crushed his foot against a wall, and Balaam beat her a second time. A third time the animal saw Gods angel blocking the way, and this time she balked, for which Balaam struck her with his rod.

Then the Lord opened the asss mouth and she asked her master what she had done to be beaten. When Balaam answered it was because she had provoked and ridiculed him and wished for a sword to kill her, the animal reminded him that she had served him well all her life and asked if this had ever happened before. Then Balaams eyes were allowed to see the angel standing in the way with drawn sword. He fell on his face before the angel and was asked why he had beaten his ass when the angel had come to stand against him. The prophet then confessed he had sinned in attempting to force his way past the angel of the Lord.

Understanding that he had done wrong in asking again and again for permission to curse Israel, Balaam asked for instructions and was told to go on to Moab but to say only what the Lord would instruct him to say.

Seeing Balaam coming, Balak rushed to meet the prophet assuming he was going to curse Israel

Balaam ignored the kings rebuke for not having come at once and warned him he would say only what the Lord gave him to say.

Balak took Balaam to Kireath-huzoth, overlooking the outskirts of Israels encampment. There the Moabite offered sacrifices and sent portions of the sacrifice to Balaam.

Next day Balak took Balaam to the high places of Bamoth-Baal from which he could see the Israelites.

The prophet required the king to again build altars and sacrifice. When this was done, he instructed Balak to wait by the sacrifices while he inquired of God.

God met Balaam and gave him a message, How can I curse those God bas not cursed. How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?

Hearing this, Balak took Balaam to yet another high place, to the top of Mount Pisgah, hoping he would be permitted to curse Israel from this vantage point. Again Balaam waited on the message of God.

This time the message was, God is not a man that He should tell or act a lie nor feel compunction for what He has promised, I have received His command to bless Israel.

Then follows Balaams discourse to Balak concerning Gods deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. (Num 23:22-26)

Seeing Balaam would not curse Israel, Balak requests that he neither curse nor bless her, to which Balaam answered, All the Lord speaks I must do.

Again Balak took Balaam to another high place in a last effort to have his way against Israel. But Balaam no longer looked for signs of Gods permission to curse His people. Instead he looked the other way.

Then Gods Spirit came upon Balaam and the prophet blessed Israel in Balaks presence. Upon this, the king of Moab became angry, In answering Balaks anger, Balaam said, I cannot go beyond the command of the Lord to do either good or bad of my own will, but what the Lord says, that I will speak. (Num 24:13, Emphasized Bible)

It is Balaams progressive willingness and final determination to speak only what the Lord gave him to say that Micah here appropriates to himself. He too has said what his listeners do not want to hear. His reply is, O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him . . .

Micah is also determined to say, good or bad, only what the Lord gives him to say.

REMEMBER FROM SHITTIM TO GILGAL, THAT YE MAY

KNOW THE RIGHTEOUS ACT OF JEHOVAH (Mic 6:5)(b)

After God had steadfastly forbidden Balaam from cursing Israel and had actually brought this alien prophet to bless Jehovahs people, the people themselves turned to idols! (Num 25:1 -ff) Having settled down in Shittim the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab . . . (and) so Israel joined himself to Baal of Peor. (Num 25:1-3, Emphasized Bible) As a result, Gods anger had been kindled against Israel so that He had instructed Moses to hang their leaders and 24,000 Israelites were smitten.

Micah again asks that those to whom he speaks remember Gods past dealing with Israel. He has formerly punished her for unfaithfulness. If they will recall this truth, they will see the validity of Michas warning of the same wrath. Again Micahs message is timely in our day.

WHEREWITH SHALL I COME BEFORE JEHOVAH (Mic 6:6-7)

Micahs question is simply whether he, as Balak, shall continually, with animal sacrifices, attempt to alter the will of God, Having placed himself in the way of Balaams determination to do Gods will, whether good or bad, he now implies that his hearers are in the same position as Balak, king of Moab!

Zerr: Mic 6:6. This and the following verse sound like a penitent and complete confession on the part of Israel for the sins of the nation. It doubtless might have been the sincere senti-ments of some individuals in the nation, but it certainly was not an expression of the nation as a whole. I understand the passage to be the prophet’s way of showing what should have been the attitude manifested, and my comments will be made on that basis. The nation as a whole had become so corrupt, that it was inconsistent to come witli the outward rituals of animal sacrifices. Such for-malities had been ordained by the law of Moses and were right in themselves, but whem they were performed in con-nection with so much abomination as these leaders practiced, the whole service was displeasing to God and he rejected it all. See the long note offered with the comments on Isa 1:10.

SHALL I GIVE MY FIRST-BORN FOR MY TRANSGRESSION? (Mic 6:7)(b)

Micah pursues the issue further, insinuating they would have him turn to Baal in their behalf. It was one of the abominable practices of Baal worship that the first born son of the worshipper be tossed into the fiery bowels of the idol to atone for the parents sin . . . would they have him resort to this despicable practice to atone for having pronounced the judgment of God against them? The sarcasm is scathing!

Zerr: Mic 6:7. The suggested appropriate confession is continued through this verse, but with stronger terms as to the offerings made to God. The great number of animals would not avail anywise if the corruptions in their general lives were continued. Olive oil in small amounts was prescribed by the law and the Lord blessed the service when it was accompanied by a consistent life; but if not, even thousands of rivers of it would count for nothing. God never authorized human sacrifice although some heathen people practiced it. The performance furnished an appropriate illustration to be used as a most significant, kind of emphasis. For a sinful Jew to sacrifice his child in atonement for his spiritual iniquity, would in reality be offering a part of his flesh to atone for the corruption of his soul.

HE HATH SHOWED THEE, O MAN, WHAT IS GOOD;

AND WHAT DOTH JEHOVAH REQUIRE OF THEE,

BUT TO DO JUSTLY, AND TO LOVE KINDNESS,

AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH THY GOD (Mic 6:8)

Here is one of the classic questions of Scripture. It ranks with that of the Lord, What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own life? (Mat 26:16) And the Hebrew writers How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? (Heb 2:1-4) For such questions there is no answer. Gods insistence upon faithfulness is not unreasonable, particularly when His past blessings and present promises are remembered. Nor is His punishment for unfaithfulness unreasonable when one remembers that it is His purpose through such faithfulness to benefit not only the faithful but all man-kind.

What doth Jehovah require of thee? The Law set down innumerable requirements. From the direct catalogue of eternal mortality in the decalogue to the detailed requirements of Sabbaths and sacrifices, the sum and substance of such requirements is that Gods worshippers shall do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God. Failure to keep the commandments and precepts expressed in outward forms inevitably leads to failure to do these simple yet profound elementals: do justly, love kindness, walk humbly. The Septuagint text contains three terms whose meanings shed much light on this verse: literally the to be doing the justice; love mercy; and to be ready, in reference to the go (as on a journey) with your Lord, God. What is described here is the life style required by God. To be doing justice is to have just actions as the habit or style of ones life. But what is justice? It has to do with the keeping of Gods law . . . His commandments and ordinance. Far from removing the necessity for keeping Gods commandments, this passage states in simple, yet forceful, terms the necessity to do so. But to obey the commandments formally-to go through the motions of conformity to Gods law without any corresponding effect on ones life makes such obedience a hollow mockery and an affront to God. The second requirement is to love mercy.

Zerr: Mic 6:8. As if the preceding two verses were the actual inquiry of a penitent man of Israel, the prophet makes an almost verbatim quotation from the wTlting of Moses in Deu 10:12. The requirements were general in their statement, hut had they been honestly respected it wouid have prevented the leaders from committing their cruelties against the poor, and then their sacrifices of animals would have been acceptable to God as a discharge of a duty enjoined by the divine law.

Again the Greek of the Septuagint is clear. (And since the Septuagint is the Bible quoted by Jesus and His apostles, it behooves us to understand.) The phrase, rendered mercy, means-literally, to have pity, to have compassion. This latter is mentioned as an attribute of God. (Exo 33:19 cp. Rom 9:15) To have compassion is to place ones self in the sufferers situation . . . to suffer with him. This God does. Micah is not claiming this is required of Gods people. Obviously, it is an ideal to be sought, but what is required is pity, a feeling sorry for, objectively.

We are to love such mercy! Here is one of those rare pre-Christian uses of the word love-the love of the will, not the emotions. The love that is deliberate self-giving. God requires deliberate giving of self to pity, the objective concern for others. Without this all formal religious obedience is hollow. Jesus said as much, These (the keeping of specific commandments) ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other (justice, mercy, trust) undone. (Mat 23:23) The church member today who is meticulously correct in doctrinal matters and unconcerned for mercy where there is human suffering has missed the mark as far as those to whom Micah promised Gods wrath missed it.

The third requirement of God is that His people live constantly in an attitude of readiness to go with God as Lord. The phrase to walk, means literally, proceed or go ones way. God requires His people to be alert to His authority. As we go our way, we are to do so in the awareness that God is our Lord. This attitude is imperative to the accomplishment of the first two requirements listed by Micah. The Psalmist tells us that God trieth the minds and hearts. (Psa 7:9) Pro 20:27 describes the lamp of Jehovah searching all His innermost parts. la Psa 139:23 the Psalmist prays, search me, O God, and know my heart. In 1Ch 28:9 David informs Solomon, . . . Jehovah searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.

God does not require by simply issuing commands and edicts. The heart of Gods ordinances is His intimate knowledge of the hearts and minds of men. It is for this reason that outward form must always express inner reality and both must proceed from a constant alertness to the Lordship of Him with Whom we have to do.

Questions

Jehovahs Controversy With His People

1. Micah chapters six and seven are composed of a series of __________.

2. Just as the sins of societys leaders filter down through all classes so __________ are applied to all people.

3. Jehovahs first controversy with His people is occasioned by their having forgotten __________.

4. Gods controversy with His people is before all creation because __________.

5. How does Micah connect the final section of his book to the first section?

6. In Mic 6:3-5 the __________ is made. In Mic 6:9 to Mic 7:6, the case will be __________.

7. The cry of Mic 6:3-5 is the plea of a __________.

8. Explain Micahs reference to Balaam. (Mic 6:5)

9. Why remember from Shittim to Gilgal? (Mic 6:5(b))

10. Show how Mic 6:1-5 is timely in our day.

11. What is alluded to by shall I give my first-born for my transgression? (Mic 6:7 (b))

12. Discuss Mic 6:8 in connection with Mat 26:16 and Heb 2:1-4,

13. Gods insistence upon faithfulness is not unreasonable when we remember __________ His __________ and __________.

14. How does Micah answer the question, what doth Jehovah require of thee? (Mic 6:8)

15. The __________ is the Bible quoted by Jesus and the apostles.

16. Mic 6:8 does not claim that __________ an attribute of Gods character is required of Gods people.

17. Rather than compassion, Micah insists that we are required to __________.

18. Discuss Mic 6:8 in connection with Mat 23:23.

19. Why must the outward forms of obedience always be expressive of inner reality?

20. Compare Mic 6:9 and Pro 9:10.

21. What is the significance of shall I be pure? Mic 6:10-12

22. The persistent fact of __________ is a prime factor in Micahs message.

23. Compare Mic 6:14 and Job 20:15.

24. What is meant by Mic 6:15?

25. What are the statutes of Omri? Mic 6:15(a)

26. Compare Mic 6:16(b) and Mic 3:12.

27. Discuss the historic phenomena known as anti-semitism in light of Mic 6:16.

28. Compare Mic 7:1-2(a) and Psa 14:1-2.

29. Discuss Mic 7:1-2 in light of Rom 3:9-18.

30. Mic 7:2(b) – Mic 7:4(a) refers to __________.

31. Compare Mic 7:2(b) – Mic 7:4(a) with 2Sa 23:6-7, Isa 55:13, and Eze 2:6.

32. Who are listed as those whom honest men cannot trust? (Mic 7:5-6)

33. Discuss Mic 7:5-6 in connection with Mat 10:35-36 and Luk 12:53.

34. Discuss Mic 7:7 in connection with Jos 24:14-15.

35. Despite the wickedness of his time, Micah is unshaken in the conviction that __________.

36. Discuss Mic 7:8-10 in light of Rom 8:31-39.

37. Compare Mic 7:9 to Psa 22:1-24 and Rom 7:24 to Rom 8:1.

38. What is meant by a day for rebuilding thy walls? (Mic 7:11-13)

39. If one requires proof of Micahs highest motives in writing his prophecies, his prayer for __________ provides it amply.

40. The nations shall see what and be ashamed?

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

This closing section is dramatic and magnificent. The prophet summoned Israel and the mountains to hear the controversy of Jehovah with His people. The key-word is “Jehovah . . . will plead.”

From that point the address falls into dramatic form. It sets forth the controversy in which Jehovah, the prophet, and the people take part. Jehovah utters a plaintive appeal in which He asks His people what He has done to weary them. In answer, the people inquire how they may appear before Him, in view of the complaint made against them in His appeal. The prophet answers the inquiry, telling them what Jehovah required of them. Immediately the voice of Jehovah is heard crying to the city, and describing its aims, declaring them to be the reason of His visitation. This constitutes a terrible charge against them. The sins of the city’s wickedness are in the city, in its treasures of wickedness, and in its false weights and measures. The rich men are rich through oppression, and all the sore and grievous judgments of God are the result of this wickedness.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

What Doth the Lord Require of Thee?

Mic 6:1-16

In Mic 6:1-4 the prophet returns from his vision of the future to the actual condition of his people, which was utterly desperate. The mountains, as the most enduring monuments of nature, are summoned as witnesses in the great trial between Jehovah and His people. Like Israel, we have been delivered from the house of bondage with infinite love, but how wayward and willful we have been! Mic 6:5-8 prove the impotence of a religion which is only external.

Few have known more sublime truth than Baalim, Mic 6:5, but he loved the wages of unrighteousness; and this eclipsed the divine radiance that became overcast and finally overwhelmed. Mic 6:9-11 reveal the fruitlessness of a life of sin. Sooner or later nature herself becomes unresponsive-sowing, but no harvest; the treading of the press, but no juice. The only path to real satisfaction and peace is in the love and faithful service of God. Why are we so slow to tread it?

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Chapter 6

The Lords Controversy

We now enter upon the third division of the book. It is no longer the future that the prophet is especially looking forward to, either of joy or of sorrow; but he directs the attention of the people to their ways, and presses home upon the conscience moral truth of great moment. In other words, this final message is the practical application of what has gone before, and is, in large measure, of the same character as the major part of the prophecy of Jeremiah and much of Hosea.

The mountains and the hills (an oft-used simile for chief cities and their tributary villages) are called upon to give ear to the searching words of the Lords controversy. We are told, The Lord hath a controversy with His people, and He will plead with Israel (vers. 1, 2).

God always has a controversy with those who walk in disobedience. There can be no fellowship or communion while His Word is not bowed to. He desires truth in the inward parts: nothing else will satisfy Him that is holy, Him that is true. The moment the conscience is reached, and the heart bows before Him in true self-judgment, controversy ceases, and communion is reestablished.

Let the reader note: it is not of union we write, but of something which flows from it, and which should ever be maintained with it-communion.

Union implies being partakers of the common life of all Gods children. He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one (Heb 2:11). All such are eternally united to Him from whom they derived that new life. This is a link that can never be broken. Otherwise the life communicated would be forfeitable, and not eternal.

But communion is the normal state of one who has thus been made a child of God. It is the practical manifestation of that life in abiding fellowship with the Father and the Son. For the saints of Micahs day it was, according to the revelation then made, enjoyment of Jehovahs favor. This Israel had forfeited by disobedience; and it could only be regained by self-judgment. The principle abides. Only when that which is known to be contrary to the Word of the Lord is unsparingly condemned in my own life and walk, will I enjoy communion with God.

That Israel might be stirred up to desire this, He takes them back over their early days, reminding them of His patient grace with them from the day when He first brought them out of the house of bondage (vers. 3-5). He had led them like a flock through the wilderness, permitting none to curse them, but, in His holy discipline, dealing with them Himself when they sinned, that they might know the righteousness of the Lord.

All His chastening was with a view to their blessing. Therefore the humbled soul might well ask, Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Did He demand sacrifices and offerings? Was it these that were lacking? Would He be pleased with thousands of rams and myriads of rivers of oil? Even though one gave upon the altar his dearest and best, his first-born, would that avail for the sin of the soul? Was it by means such as these the interrupted communion was to be restored? (vers. 6, 7).

No! It was righteousness that was lacking. Righteousness, then, must be maintained. He hath showed thee, 0 man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (ver. 8). Only when they bowed before Him, to own the sin of the past, and sought strength to walk as here outlined, could there be that happy sense of the Lords favor which lifts the soul above all circumstances, and enables it to joy in God Himself.

But that this might indeed be, The Lords voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it! (ver. 9). This is the beginning of blessing. When the soul bows before God and owns the righteousness of His disciplinary dealings, then he is in the place where restoring grace can meet him. As long as he kicks against the goads, so long must he go on under chastisement. But when he hears the rod, confessing his need of it, he has reached the point where restoration begins.

The next three verses itemize the sins to which general reference had been made; that the people may the more readily pass judgment upon them selves and all that is unholy in their ways. Covetousness, extortion, unrighteousness in business dealings, violence, deceit-all these evil things are the evidence of their wrong state of soul (vers. 10-12). Therefore governmental wrath must fall if there be no sign of repentance: they would be made desolate because of their sins. In vain should they seek satisfaction while the will was insubject and the walk opposed to holiness. They might sow, but they should not reap; in fact, all their labor should be for naught. The work of their hands would fail to meet the needs of the body till they came to themselves, like the prodigal, and owned their guilt (vers. 14, 15; see also Deu 28:38-40 and Hag 1:6).

The chapter closes with the record of the melancholy fact that Jehovahs law was despised; but the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing; therefore ye shall bear the reproach of My people (ver. 16). Solemnly and tenderly had the Lord pleaded, and set forth the grounds of His controversy with them; but the words fell on deaf ears and calloused consciences. They seemed bent upon their own destruction-and these things are written for our admonition. May we have ears to hear and hearts to understand!

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Mic 6:6-8

Many and various, in all ages, have been the answers to this question, but in spirit and principle they reduce themselves to the three which in these verses are tacitly rejected, that the fourth may be established for all time.

I. The first answer is, Will Levitical sacrifices suffice? “Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?”-i.e. “Shall I do some outward act or acts to please God?” Men are ever tempted to believe in this virtue of doing something-to ask, as they often asked our Lord, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” There have been attempts in all ages to revive such ceremonials as the Levitical institutes, because they are easier than true holiness, and tend to pacify and appease the perverted conscience. But God’s own Word about them is plain: they perish in the using, they cannot sanctify to the purifying of the flesh.

II. If, then, we cannot please God by merely doing, can we by giving? “Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil?” Surely not one of us is so exquisitely foolish as to imagine that he can by gifts win his way one step nearer to the great white throne.

III. What third experiment shall we try? Shall it be by suffering? Shall I, lacerating my heart in its tenderest affection, “give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” Has any man ever found these sufferings sufficient? Has any man ever testified that he found forgiveness through voluntary torture? Or is not that true which is said of the prophets of Baal: “They leaped upon the altar, and cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner, and it came to pass that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.”

IV. What, then, is the true way of pleasing God? What is the prophet’s answer? By being. By being just and merciful, and humble before our God. It is the answer of all the prophets, it is the answer of all the Apostles, it is the answer of Christ Himself. God needs not our services, He needs not our gifts, least of all does He need our suffering; but He needs us,-our hearts, our lives, our love.

F. W. Farrar, Silence and Voices of God, p. 71.

References: Mic 6:6-8.-J. Vaughan, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 237; Old Testament Outlines, p. 274; A. Watson, Good Words, 1872, p. 131; C. Kingsley, Sermons for the Times, p. 93.

Mic 6:8

Morality and Religion.

I. Morality is good in itself, but when inspired with religious faith and love it becomes better still; then it unites what is fairest on earth with what is most glorious in heaven. Not only does religion add a new and higher beauty to virtue, it is sometimes the only secure defence against temptation to vice and crime. Human weakness, when unsustained by the fear of God, the love of Christ, and the power of the Holy Ghost, is very likely to be mastered by the world, the flesh, and the devil; and there is not a man amongst us who should dare to say: “Let temptation do its worst, and whether God helps me or not I am strong enough to stand against it.” There are hundreds who need the resoluteness of heroic strength, and almost a martyr’s constancy, to preserve the commonest human virtues.

II. But while I maintain that religion is the best friend to morality instead of its rival or its foe, I am far from thinking that the Christian Church in our own times is doing all it might for the morals of its own members and for the morals of society at large. I believe that a defective and erroneous theology has enfeebled the religious motives which should sustain and perfect common human virtues; that the discipline and cultivation of the moral character of Christian people is too much neglected, that ah undue emphasis is laid upon the worth of religious emotion, and that the sacredness of the practical duties of life is depreciated. You fall into a ruinous mistake if you suppose that a solitary precept of the moral law was repealed, or its authority weakened, or its sanctions and penalties withdrawn, when you repented of sin and trusted in the mercy of God. Every common duty is a common duty still, whether you are a Christian or not; the neglect of it provokes the displeasure of God, and whether you are a Christian or not that displeasure will be manifested.

III. There is one pernicious principle which is acted upon by some sincere and earnest religious people in the cultivation of moral character which deserves a most serious refutation. They are anxious that all goodness should spring from one solitary motive. They desire that the thought of God should not only be the supreme but the only active power in the soul. He is, indeed, a happy man to whom the remembrance of God is ever present as a living and practical energy in the soul; but wherever that energy works freely, naturally, and vigorously, it will not work alone. It will inspire us with a more fervent loyalty to truth and honesty, and with a deeper disgust for falsehood and injustice; it will reveal itself not only in the intensity of the spiritual affections, but in the strength and resoluteness of the moral principles.

R. W. Dale, Discourses on Special Occasions, p. 27.

I. The Lord requires thee to “do justly.” The whole question of the ground of moral obligation is raised by this sentence. It seems to tell me that some one is commanding a certain course of action, which I am bound to follow because He commands it. And this course of action is described by the phrase “doing justly.” Is justice, then, nothing in itself? Are actions made right because a certain power insists that they shall be performed? Did Micah believe that the Lord was a mere power, who commanded certain things to be left undone? If He did, He set at nought the law and history, which He confessed to be divine. That law and history declared that the I AM, the Righteous Being, had revealed Himself to the creatures whom He had formed in His image; and had said to them “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” If you would have the command “do justly” in place of a weight of rules and observances and ceremonies, you must have justice set before you-not in words, formulas, decrees; but lovingly, personally, historically.

II. But the prophet says that the Lord requires of men to “love mercy.” This is a higher obligation, still harder to fulfil. Mercy is no doubt a beautiful quality; all religions confess it to be so. When it comes forth in life, men generally are disposed to pay it a frank, unquestioning homage. But there is a limit to this admiration. If mercy meets an unmerciful habit of mind in us, its works will be explained away. Neither priest nor philosopher can teach us how we may both do justly and love mercy. Believe that the Spirit of mercy and forgiveness does, indeed, proceed from the Father and the Son, and you see how that very forgiveness which is shown to man becomes a principle in him able to overcome his unforgiving nature, able to go out in acts of forbearance and gentleness.

III. The Lord requires man to “walk humbly with Him.” We are humble in ourselves only when we are walking with God, when we are remembering that we are in His presence, that He is going with us where we go, and staying with us where we stay. It is this thought which lays a man in the dust, for then His eyes are upon him in whose sight the angels are not clean. It is this which raises him to a height he had never dreamt of, for the Lord God has been mindful of him, and come near to him, and fitted him for converse with Himself.

F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. v., p. 279.

I. A great deal is required of man, when it is required, amongst other things, that he “walk humbly with his God.” We conclude from the singular favour shown to Enoch, that though every converted man is “at peace with God,” it may be only of those who love Him with a more than common affection, and serve Him with a special consecration of every power that we can really declare that they “walk with God.” (1) Walking humbly with God indicates an habitual sense of His presence a nearness to God, a communion with God; not merely a consequence on the fact that “God is about our path and about our bed, and spieth out all our ways;” but consequent on the practical belief of this fact, on its being realised as a great truth-a truth gifted with an influence over the whole range of our conduct. (2) Walking with God denotes a complete fixing of the affections on things above. It is the description of a man, who, while yet in the flesh, might be said to have both his head and his heart in heaven. He lives in the very atmosphere of the invisible world, holding communion with its mysterious and glorious inhabitants, and finding his great delight in anticipating its enjoyments.

II. Consider the strangeness of the expression of the text: What doth the Lord require of thee but-this or that? This must excite some surprise if it be not shown that more could have been asked; but it quite removes the appearance of strangeness from the expression to consider that man gives little in giving all; and that what is now demanded of him is as nothing when compared with what God might have asked from His creatures. (1) We may safely affirm of the Divine commandments that man is sure to procure himself happiness or unhappiness, according as he does or does not readily conform to them. And if man’s own interests are deeply involved in his yielding himself up to the service of God we may readily understand why, when giving all, we should only be reckoned as giving little. (2) God requires of us literally nothing in comparison with what He might have required. He might have left us to struggle in the dark; He might have hidden from us all the shining of His favour; He might have left us wounded, and given no balsam for the wound; He might have inclosed us in a prison, and left no lattice for the sunbeams. It is only needful that we remember that the fear and love which God demands from us make our pilgrimage pleasant, whereas He might have excited horror and dread which would have made that pilgrimage appalling. It is only needful to compare what God actually requires with what He might have required, and the heart must be cold which does not thankfully confess that He requires but little.

H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2,125.

References: Mic 6:8.-Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times” vol. x., p. 1; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1557; R. Balgarnie, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 322; A. Rowland, Ibid., vol. xxxi., p. 266; S. Cox, Expositions, 3rd series, p. 70. Mic 6:9.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii., No. 155; G. D. Macgregor, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 392. Mic 7:1.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi., No. 945; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 189.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

THE THIRD PROPHETIC DISCOURSE (6-7)

CHAPTER 6

1. The words of Jehovah to His people (Mic 6:1-5)

2. Israels answer (Mic 6:6-7)

3. The moral demands of Jehovah (Mic 6:8)

4. The Lord must judge them (Mic 6:9-16)

Mic 6:1-5. This chapter is cast in the form of a controversy. The utterance has been called by some the most important in the prophetic literature. It is hardly this, nor is, as critics claim, the eighth verse a definition of religion, the greatest saying in the Old Testament.

The beginning is sublime, Hear ye now what Jehovah saith! The prophet is to arise and contend before the mountains so that the hills may hear his voice. The mountains and the enduring foundations of the earth are to hear the controversy the Lord has with His people and how He pleads with Israel.

Then follows the tender loving pleading of Jehovah, who still loves His people, in spite of their wickedness, O My people, what have I done to thee? What matchless condescension! The Lord whom they had rejected, from whom they had turned away, does not denounce them for their sins, nor does He enumerate them, but He asks whether He had been at fault. Had He done anything amiss towards them? Had He wearied His people? He is willing that they should testify against Him. Had He done anything that they should get tired of Him? We may imagine a pause here, as if He were waiting for an answer. But there is no answer.

He continues to speak. He had brought them out of Egypt, redeemed them out of the house of bondage; He had given them Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, by whom He led them. He reminded them of Balak, King of Moab, and Balaam, the son of Beor, who wanted to have Israel cursed. But what had Balaam been forced to say? How shall I curse whom God has not cursed! What a faithful, loving God He had been to them.

Mic 6:6-7. Here the people speak, but it is significant that they do not address the Lord, who had spoken to them by the prophet. They knew themselves guilty and condemned. So they address the prophet and ask what to do. Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? For generations they had brought burnt offerings, thousands of rams and rivers of oil. But it was nothing but an outward worship; inwardly they remained the same. But they were willing to do more in this outward service, even to the sacrifice of the firstborn .Isa 1:10-31 is an interesting commentary to these questions, showing how the Lord despised these ceremonies of a people who were evil doers and corrupters. (See also Psa 50:7-23.)

Mic 6:8. The prophet gives the answer of Jehovah. He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Where has God made the demand? In the law. There is no more deadly error than to hold up this verse as the essence of the gospel and the one true, saving religion. Yet this we hear today on all sides. But the most loud-mouthed advocates of this saving religion practise what the Lord demands the least. And there is a good reason for it. Israel did not act in righteousness, nor did they love mercy, nor did they walk humbly in fellowship with the Lord. Why not? Because they were uncircumcised in their hearts. To do right, to love mercy, to walk in humility with God is impossible for the natural man; in order to do this there must be the new birth, and the new birth takes place when the sinner believes and expresses his faith in true repentance. Only a blind leader of the blind can say this verse is the gospel, and that faith in the deity of Christ and in His atoning, ever blessed work on the cross is not needed. Israel never has been anything like this which Jehovah demands. The day is coming when the Lord in His grace will give them a new heart and take away the stony heart, and fill them with His spirit. (See.Eze 36:1-38.)

Mic 6:9-16. The Lord speaks again and puts before them once more their moral degeneration. Wicked balances, deceitful weights, the deeds of unrighteousness. They were destitute of mercy, for they were full of violence, lies and deceit. Therefore judgment must now fall upon them.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

ye: Mic 1:2, 1Sa 15:16, Jer 13:15, Amo 3:1, Heb 3:7, Heb 3:8

Arise: The manner of raising attention, says Abp. Newcome, in Mic 6:1, Mic 6:2, by calling a man to urge his plea in the face of all nature, and on the inanimate creation to hear the expostulation of Jehovah with his people, is truly awakening and magnificent. The words of Jehovah follow in Mic 6:3-5, and God’s mercies having been set before the people, one of them is introduced in a beautiful manner, asking what his duty is towards so gracious a God, Mic 6:6, Mic 6:7. The answer follows in the words of the prophet, Mic 6:8.

contend: Deu 4:26, Deu 32:1, Psa 50:1, Psa 50:4, Isa 1:2, Jer 22:29, Eze 36:1, Eze 36:8, Luk 19:40

before: or, with, Mic 1:4, Isa 2:12-14

let: Eze 37:4

Reciprocal: Lev 19:35 – in meteyard Deu 30:19 – I call heaven Psa 50:7 – Hear Psa 114:7 – Tremble Isa 34:1 – let the Isa 34:8 – General Isa 41:1 – let us Isa 41:21 – Produce Jer 2:4 – Hear ye Eze 6:2 – the mountains Eze 20:35 – and there Mat 11:20 – upbraid

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Mic 6:1. The writers of the Bible do not always adhere strietty to chronology In their treatment of subjects. The preceding chapter closes with a prediction of the return from the captivity; the present one comes back and resumes the complaints against Israel for her unfaithfulness to God. Israel is called upon to contend or defend herself if such a thing can be done truthfully. Before the ‘mountains. If you have a just defence for your conduct let the whole world hear It.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mic 6:1-2. Hear now what the Lord saith Here begins a new discourse, respecting the causes of the evils which hung over the Jewish nation. Arise This is Gods command to Micah; contend thou before the mountains Argue the case between God and thy people; and speak as if thou wouldest make the mountains hear thee, to testify for me. Hear, O ye mountains God often appeals to inanimate creatures for the justice of his proceedings, thereby to upbraid the stupidity of men; the Lords controversy Or the Lords cause or matter of complaint. Here the prophet begins to execute what he had been commanded in the preceding verse. And ye strong foundations of the earth He alludes to a fabric raised on immoveable foundations, but, strictly speaking,

The earth self-balanced on her centre hangs.

For the Lord hath a controversy with his people He will enter into judgment with them, for their impieties, as being injurious to his honour, and for which his justice demands satisfaction.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Mic 6:5. Oh my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted. He went to Balaam the false prophet for advice; and both he and his people, and the prophet perished together. Had he hearkened to Moses, the prince of prophets, and given a free passage to his relatives, all had been peace and glory. Moab would have known the great righteousness of Jehovah. Micah makes a good use of this fine argument, to dissuade the Israelites from going, like Balak, to idols.

Mic 6:6. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord. Here is a striking case; the prophet found some in Ephraim bemoaning themselves like a bullock when first yoked. How can I come before the Lord, and worship in his courts. I who have danced at the feasts of Ashtaroth, the wanton Venuses; who have given my child to Moloch; insulted and stoned the prophets! Alas, alas, I have gone too far ever to think of returning to the Lord. What are hecatombs of burnt-offerings; what are rivers of oil, numerous as the streams of Israel And what if I should, like the ancient druids in all lands, or recently like the king of Moab, 2Ki 3:27, offer my firstborn son for the sin of my soul; all these could never wash out the deep stains of sin, nor appease my guilty conscience. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 1Sa 15:22. Thus the prophet in his answer gives a lucid comment on the words of Moses. Deu 10:12. He hath showed thee, oh man, what is good; to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. Then the live coal from the atoning altar shall take away thy sin; then the evangelical fountain, which can wash Davids house from blood, and Jerusalem from her filthiness, can wash and cleanse thy heart. The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, can effectually cleanse the soul from all unrighteousness.

Mic 6:16. The statutes of Omri. These respected idolatry, and were issued to restore the worship of the golden calves. 1Ki 16:25. Omri was father of Ahab, and laid the foundation of all the wickedness which followed in his house and kingdom.

REFLECTIONS.

We here find in God every attribute of paternal tenderness towards a foolish, a guilty, and a hardened nation. He stoops as Judge of all the earth to the bar of the hills and mountains, and invites the rebellious nations to come to this bar and impeach him! Yea, to testify against him for breach of covenant, and to assign reasons why they would not serve him. Oh sinner, oh ungrateful professor, put thyself in the condition of these Israelites, and hear thy Maker give thee the same challenge. Say now, why thou wilt not serve him.

He recites his kindness by Moses, in delivering them from Egypt; and his protection from the curses of Balaam; and the completion of his faithfulness in bringing them from Shittim, the last encampment in the desert, to Gilgal, the first repose in the promised land. Sinner, if God has never been wanting to thee in kindness and care, he has a sovereign right to require obedience, and by ten thousand arguments to demand thy heart.

When a man has gone greatly astray, and more especially when the crisis of mercy or of judgment is just at hand, he should most seriously enter into his state, and enquire the way of reconciliation. He should say, wherewith shall I come before the Lord. In thought, in word or deed, I am guilty of every crime; and a thousand aggravating circumstances have deepened the dye of all my sins. I am surely the greatest of sinners, nor can I number myself with the least of saints. Mercy, in regard of me, is about to withdraw her tender arm, and hell is enlarging her mouth to receive her prey. I tremble, I shudder for the misery of my guilty soul; nor know I what to do to appease an offended God, whose thunderbolts are impatient to hurl me down to the dark abyss. Oh what what shall I do to be saved! Of gold and silver, house and land, I make no account. I will give the fullest scale of burnt-offerings. I will give ten thousand libations of oil; my firstborn for the sin of my soul.Thus sinners, under anguish and terror of conscience, abound with vows and resolutions; but vows in anguish, and habits of holiness, are different objects in the eyes of the Lord. A contrite heart, fixed in its abhorrence of sin, and love of holiness, is more with God than thousands of exterior services.

Grace delights to calm and appease the troubled conscience, and to make the way of salvation plain and easy to the penitent. He hath showed thee, oh man, what is good. The Lord requires of thee, oh Israel, no extra sacrifices; those enjoined in the law being quite sufficient as references to the atonement of Christ. He requires thee, oh prince, to do justly on the bench, to love mercy in sharing thy superfluities with the poor, and to walk humbly with thy God. These are still the unchangeable and easy laws of reconciliation. The Lord will make no bargain with guilt, no compromise with sin. He requires the penitent to rely solely on the atonement, to be converted by beholding the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Then, after this conversion, for a carnal man can never become a moralist, he requires men to show the image of God by imitating his ways, by doing to others what is right, by giving to the poor, supporting the gospel, and walking in all humility of heart before the Lord. This humble walk implies an abiding consciousness that our sins have merited death; that all our enjoyments are purely the gifts of grace; that our crosses and afflictions are far less than we deserve, Eze 16:63; and that we conscientiously obey the precepts from an unfeigned love to God. Enoch having walked with God, had the testimony of pleasing him.

The prophet having said this, resumes his sermon, and farther enforces repentance from the visitations of the rod on those that walked contrary to the Lord. They had scarcity of bread, their councils were distinguished by weakness and indecision, and they were about to be made a hissing and a desolation among the gentiles. These are the fruits of forsaking the Lord.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Mic 6:1-8. Popular v. Prophetic Religion.The classical summary of prophetic religion in Mic 6:8 is introduced by the figure frequently employed (Hos 4:1; Hos 12:2, Isa 3:13, Isa 43:26, Jer 25:31) of a legal controversy between Yahweh and His people. Possibly this figure did not originally precede Mic 6:6-8, as the terms of the address O man! are broader than we should expect if Israel had been addressed. The period of Manassehs reign, i.e. the seventh century, is usually felt to be the most suitable for this passage; that Micah wrote it, however, seems, on the whole, improbable (see Introduction). Yahweh bids the prophet represent Him before the mountains, which are personified as the witnesses of Israels redemptive history, and as the present court of appeal (Mic 6:1). The prophet accordingly addresses them, and will argue (rather than plead) Yahwehs cause (cf. Isa 1:2, Deu 32:1). Yahweh asks (through His prophet) on what grounds His people have deserted Him, who has not wearied them (e.g. with the demands of a costly ritual; cf. Jer 7:22 ff., Isa 43:23). On the contrary, He has ever deserved their gratitude, as by the deliverance from Egypt, the gift of leaders (Psa 77:20, Exo 15:20; cf. Num 12:1 ff.), the prevention of Balaams curse (Num 22:1 ff., its objective power, if uttered, being here admitted, cf Gen 9:25*), the crossing of the Jordan (from Shittim unto Gilgal, Jos 3:1 to Jos 4:20), all of them examples of His interventions (righteous acts; cf. Psa 103:6, 1Sa 12:7) on behalf of Israel, which ought to be remembered (Deu 8:2). The (individualised) people ask how by their worship they may win the favour (cf. 1Sa 10:3, Exo 23:15) of the God of the height (of heaven, Jer 25:30), whether by sacrifices wholly burnt for Him (Lev 1:9), by well-grown calves (Lev 9:3), by vast numbers of rams (Gen 22:13; (cf. 1Ki 8:63), or quantities of oil (Gen 28:18, Lev 2:1 ff.), or, as a supreme and outstanding act of devotion, the sacrifice of a mans own child to atone for his sin? To this inquiry, the prophet answers that Yahwehs will is known, and within mans power to perform (Deu 30:11-14); it is for man to practise justice (Amo 5:24), kindness (Hos 6:6) and humility (Isa 6:5; cf. Isa 57:15; the primary religious virtue in the OT (Cheyne). This closing verse may be taken as the best epitome of the religious morality and the moral religion of the OT; for a fuller statement of the meaning of justice and kindness in the social relationships of the Hebrews, see the not less noble apologia in Job 31. The present passage also illustrates the characteristic attitude of the pre-exilic prophets towards sacrificial offerings; these are not so much condemned as subordinated to the moral and spiritual condition of the offerer.

Mic 6:2. the foundations of the earth are here the mountains themselves, or their bases, set in the midst of the world-sea; for the Heb. ideas on this subject, see article Cosmogony in HDB, and cf. Psa 18:7, Deu 32:22.

Mic 6:4. the house of bondage is Egypt (Jer 34:13); for the constant appeal to the initial act of redemption, the deliverance from Egypt, which is the historic basis of OT religion, cf. Amo 2:10, Isa 63:11, Jer 2:6, Hos 11:1; Hos 13:4.

Mic 6:7. On child-sacrifice Jer 7:31*; it is said to have been offered by Manasseh himself (cf. 2Ki 21:6).

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

6:1 Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the {a} mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

(a) He took the high mountains and hard rocks as witnesses against the obstinacy of his people.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

A. The Lord’s indictment against His people 6:1-5

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

In this litigation speech, Micah called his audience to hear what Yahweh had told him to say. Yahweh had a case (lawsuit, Heb. rib) to bring against His people. The Lord was summoning Israel to defend herself in a courtroom setting. He addressed the mountains, hills, and foundations of the earth as the jury in this case (cf. Deu 32:1; Isa 1:2). The Lord called this jury, which had observed Israel’s history from its beginning, to hear His indictment against the nation. Compare the function of memorial stones (Gen 31:43-50; Jos 22:21-28). If these jurors could speak, they would witness to the truthfulness of the Lord’s claims.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

THE REASONABLENESS OF TRUE RELIGION

Mic 6:1-8

WE have now reached a passage from which all obscurities of date and authorship disappear before the transparence and splendor of its contents. “These few verses,” says a great critic, “in which Micah sets forth the true essence of religion, may raise a well-founded title to be counted as the most important in the prophetic literature. Like almost no others, they afford us an insight into the innermost nature of the religion of Israel, as delivered by the prophets.”

Usually it is only the last of the verses upon which the admiration of the reader is bestowed: “What doth the Lord require of thee, O man, but to do justice and love mercy and walk humbly with thy God?” But in truth the rest of the passage differeth not in glory; the wonder of it lies no more in its peroration than in its argument as a whole.

The passage is cast in the same form as the opening chapter of the book-that of the Argument or Debate between the God of Israel and His people, upon the great theatre of Nature. The heart must be dull that does not leap to the Presences before which the trial is enacted.

The prophet speaks:-

“Hear ye now that which Jehovah is saying; Arise, contend before the mountains, And let the hills hear thy voice! Hear, O mountains, the Lords Argument, And ye, the everlasting foundations of earth!”

This is not mere scenery. In all the moral questions between God and man, the prophets feel that Nature is involved. Either she is called as a witness to the long history of their relations to each other, or as sharing Gods feeling off the intolerableness of the evil which men have heaped upon her, or by her droughts and floods and earthquakes as the executioner of their doom. It is in the first of these capacities that the prophet in this passage appeals to the mountains and eternal foundations of earth. They are called, not because they are the biggest of existences, but because they are the most full of memories and associations with both parties to the Trial.

The main idea of the passage, however, is the trial itself. We have seen more than once that the forms of religion which the prophets had to combat were those which expressed it mechanically in the form of ritual and sacrifice, and those which expressed it in mere enthusiasm and ecstasy. Between such extremes the prophets insisted that religion was knowledge and that it was conduct rational intercourse and loving duty between God and man. This is what they figure in their favorite scene of a Debate which is now before us.

“Jehovah hath a Quarrel with His People, And with Israel He cometh to argue.”

To us, accustomed to communion with the Godhead, as with a Father, this may seem formal and legal. But if we so regard it we do it an injustice. The form sprang by revolt against mechanical and sensational ideas of religion. It emphasized religion as rational and moral, and at once preserved the reasonableness of God and the freedom of man. God spoke with the people whom He had educated: He plead with them, listened to their statements and questions, and produced His own evidences and reasons. Religion-such a passage as this asserts-religion is not a thing of authority nor of ceremonial nor of mere feeling, but of argument, reasonable presentation and debate. Reason is not put out of court: mans freedom is respected; and he is not taken by surprise through his fears or his feelings. This sublime and generous conception of religion, which we owe first of all to the prophets in their contest with superstitious and slothful theories off religion that unhappily survive among us, was carried to its climax in the Old Testament by another class of writers. We find it elaborated with great power and beauty in the Books of Wisdom. In these the Divine Reason has emerged from the legal forms now before us, and has become the Associate and Friend off Man. The Prologue to the Book of Proverbs tells how Wisdom, fellow of God from the foundation of the world, descends to dwell among men. She comes forth into their streets and markets, she argues and pleads there with an urgency which is equal to the urgency of temptation itself. But it is not all the earthly ministry of the Son of God, His arguments with the doctors, His parables to the common people, His gentle and prolonged education of His disciples, that we see the reasonableness of religion in all its strength and beauty.

In that free court of reason in which the prophets saw God and man plead together, the subjects were such as became them both. For God unfolds no mysteries, and pleads no power, but the debate proceeds upon the facts and evidences of life: the appearance of character in history; whether the past be not full of the efforts of love; whether God had not, as human willfulness permitted Him, achieved the liberation and progress of His people.

God speaks:-

“My people, what have I done unto thee? And how have I wearied thee-answer Me! For I brought thee up from the land of Misraim, And from the house of slavery I redeemed thee. I sent before thee Moses, Aharon and Miriam. My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab counseled, And how he was answered by Balaam, Beors son-So that thou mayest know the righteous deeds of Jehovah.”

Always do the prophets go back to Egypt or the wilderness. There God made the people, there He redeemed them. In law book as in prophecy, it is the fact of redemption which forms the main ground of His appeal. Redeemed by Him, the people are not their own, but His. Treated with that wonderful love and patience, like patience and love they are called to bestow upon the weak and miserable beneath them. One of the greatest interpreters of the prophets to our own age, Frederick Denison Maurice, has said upon this passage:

“We do not know God till we recognize Him as a Deliverer; we do not understand our own work in the world till we believe we are sent into it to carry out His designs for the deliverance of ourselves and the race. The bondage I groan under is a bondage of the will. God is emphatically the Redeemer of the Will. It is in Chat character He reveals Himself to us. We could not think of God at all as the God, the living God, if we did not regard Him as such a Redeemer. But if of my will, then of all wills: sooner or later I am convinced He Will be manifested as the Restorer, Regenerator-not of something else, but of this roof the fallen spirit that is within us.”

In most of the controversies which the prophets open between God and man, the subject on the side of the latter is his sin. But that is not so here. In the controversy which opens the Book of Micah the argument falls upon the transgressions of the people, but here upon their sincere though mistaken methods of approaching God. There God deals with dull consciences, but here with darkened and imploring hearts. In that case we had rebels forsaking the true God for idols, but here are earnest seekers after God, who have lost their way and are weary. Accordingly, as indignation prevailed there, here prevails pity; and though formally this be a controversy under the same legal form as before, the passage breathes tenderness and gentleness from first to last. By this as well as by the recollections of the ancient history of Israel we are reminded of the style of Hosea. But there is no expostulation, as in his book, with the peoples continued devotion to ritual. All that is past, and a new temper prevails. Israel have at last come to feel the vanity of the exaggerated zeal with which Amos pictures them exceeding the legal requirements of sacrifice; and with a despair, sufficiently evident in the superlatives which they use, they confess the futility and weariness of the whole system, even in the most lavish and impossible forms of sacrifice. What then remains for them to do? The prophet answers with the beautiful words that express an ideal of religion to which no subsequent century has ever been able to add either grandeur or tenderness.

The people speak:-

“Wherewithal shall I come before Jehovah, Shall I bow myself to God the Most High? Shall I come before Him with burnt-offerings, With calves of one year? Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, With myriads of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for a guilt-offering The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

The prophet answers:-

“He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; And what is the Lord seeking from thee, But to do justice and love mercy, And humbly to walk with thy God?”

This is the greatest saying of the Old Testament; and there is only one other in the New which excels it:-

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

“For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary