Just the other day, one of my children (I won’t mention names but he is about five years old), was reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, and as soon as he uttered “with liberty and justice for all,” he paused, looked up at me, and with a crinkled face said, “I don’t like justice! Justice is for girls!” The line immediately made me laugh out loud and I thought to myself, “What an apt display of the cavalier attitude that many people have toward justice today.”
The prophet Micah dealt with similar attitudes toward justice during the eighth century B.C. This was a time of great wealth and prosperity in the land of Judah. On the outside it appeared that God’s people were thriving, but on the inside, they were rotting to the core. Political corruption was pervasive. Economic exploitation abounded! Ethical violations were voracious. The nation had drifted so far from God that they could no longer tell the difference between good and evil. Even though they were going through the outward motions of worship, their hearts were far from the Lord. Much like America today, their society was characterized by overconfidence and self-indulgence.
Micah blew the whistle on this blatant hypocrisy by announcing God’s ensuing judgment on his people unless they repented from their sin. His prophecy blends a harsh message of judgment with the hope of future restoration at the coming of the Messiah. Through it all, he pleads with his people to come back to the Lord.
Micah 6:1-8 forms the climax of Micah’s prophecy. He reminds them that God is not interested in hollow sacrifices or empty acts of worship. He sums up his whole prophecy in 6:8: Israel could please God simply by acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.
This passage takes the form of a legal controversy. Inanimate objects such as mountains and hills (vs. 1-2) take on the roles of witnesses in a court case. These mountains and hills are the everlasting foundations of the earth. They have been around longer than the Israelites and have witnessed the Lord’s faithfulness and Israel’s rebellion. These anthropomorphisms heighten the drama and intensify the sarcasm of the passage.
Once the court scene is set and the witnesses are in place, the Lord proceeds with his accusations against his people in verses 3-5. The Lord’s indictment begins with a series of scathing interrogatives? Their tone is sarcastic; for the Lord already knew that he was not guilty of anything. The Lord had been totally faithful to his people, but they had abandoned him. Not only has the Lord not harmed his people, but he has also lavished his grace and mercy upon them. Verses 4 and 5 provide three illustrations of the Lord’s faithfulness to his people.
The first illustration is the Lord’s faithfulness to Israel by raising them up out of slavery in Egypt. The second illustration of the Lord’s faithfulness to his people is the story of how he delivered his people by frustrating the plan of the Moabitish king Balak to use the curses of the soothsayer Balaam to destroy Israel. The third illustration of the Lord’s faithfulness to his people is the story of Israel’s journey from Shittim to Gilgal (Joshua 3-5). This progression of events in the oracle depicts one great sweep of Israel being delivered from Egypt to the conquest of the Promised Land. The Lord uses Micah to remind his people that he was faithful to his covenant promises even though they were not.
The first two strophes of this passage are direct address from God. Now, in verses 6-8, Micah speaks. He offers four rhetorical questions with increasing severity. The first question is vague and general: “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?” Micah is asking this question on behalf of the Israelite people. They wanted to know what they had to do to please God. The second through fourth questions ask about sacrifices specifically. Micah employs hyperbole to heighten the effect of his line of questioning.
The implied answer to all of these questions is “no.” God was not impressed or interested in thousands of animal sacrifices or any other forms of empty religion. He certainly would not have been pleased with the pagan practice of human sacrifice. He wanted something much deeper.
What does the Lord want from his people? How does he want them to live? What is pleasing to God? In verse 8, Micah finally answers the question he raised in verse 6—God wanted the hearts of his people.
The primary theological point of this passage is that we should be faithful to the Lord because he is faithful to us. We show our faithfulness through right ethical actions; not empty religious rituals. If we want to live a life that pleases the Lord, we must act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
Similar to the land of Judah in Micah’s day, America (and dare I say the American church) is experiencing a time of abundant wealth and prosperity; but it is plagued by the sins of overconfidence, self-sufficiency, and self-indulgence. Outwardly, we have more money and resources than any other period in history, yet we have drifted dangerously far from the Lord. People still go to church, but why are they there? Is it because they really want to worship and live for the Lord, or is it just the habit of empty religion?
So, what are we to do about it? How do we change from going through the motions to genuinely living for God? What does he really want from his people? How can we live a life that truly pleases God? Well, Micah answers these questions by showing us the three things God wants most: to act justly, love mercy, and walking humbly with him.
To act justly means to do what is right and truthful according to God’s Word. We are all presented with decisions like this all the time. When we see injustice, will we do something about it or will we ignore it and pretend like it isn’t happening. To act justly may mean blowing the whistle on unethical practices at our workplace—it might require calling the authorities on a neighbor who is physically abusing his wife or girlfriend—it might mean refusing to laugh at an ethnic joke or confronting a racial slur.
Historically, evangelicals have denounced liberals for abandoning the gospel to tend to social problems. While it is true that the gospel should always be at the center of our life and ministry, Micah reminds us that we have a responsibility to work for social justice in our society. God is pleased when his people work for justice against the sins of racism and discrimination. He is pleased when his people work together to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and heal the sick. Will you take the opportunities that God gives you to act justly?
In addition to acting justly, we also please God by loving mercy. There are so many ways we can be merciful. It can be as simple as volunteering at a homeless shelter or giving to a family in our church or community that is going through a financial crisis or taking a shut-in to the grocery store. But it can also be as difficult as forgiving someone who has wounded you with their words or injured you by their actions. Will you be a person who extends mercy?
These first two requirements emphasize our relationship with people, but the third focuses on our relationship with God. To walk humbly with God is too live in a proper fear and relationship with him. We do this through active prayer, seeking his guidance and will, and daily obedience and worship. It is to constantly bow our lives before him.
Now that we know how to live a life that is pleasing to God, let’s do it!!!