Who is like the lord?
Micah
Main Idea: We are to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly because of the Lord’s gracious redemption.
I. The Lord’s Rebuttal (6:1-5)
Micah 6 describes a courtroom setting with the Lord as the plaintiff, Micah serving as the prosecuting attorney, Israel as the defendant, and the “mountains” called as witnesses (cf. Dt. 4:26, 30:19, 31:28).
The specific indictments against Israel have already been given in Micah:
Idolatry (1:7)
Oppressing the vulnerable (2:1-2)
Robbing refugees and taking advantage of widows (2:8-9)
Unjust & violent civil leaders who take bribes (3:1-3, 9-11)
False prophets driven by greed (3:5-7)
The rich dealing in deceit and violence (6:9-12)
Israel has accused the Lord of ‘wearying’ them (6:3). The Lord’s rebuts that rather than wearying them, he has provided:
Redemption in the Exodus (6:4a)
Leadership through Moses, Aaron, & Miriam (6:4b)
Blessing through Balak & Balaam (6:5a; cf. Num. 22-24)
Safe entry into the Promised Land (6:5b; cf. Josh. 2-4)
God had always found it easier to get his people out of Egypt than to get Egypt out of his people. The words I … ‘redeemed you’ (6:4) were wonderful, but it now looked as though they had become a memory, not a motivation… Remembering in the Bible is not merely a matter of calling to mind, but of actualizing the past into the present. That kind of remembering brings events so vividly into people’s experience that they take part in them afresh for themselves. Remembrance equals participation.
~ David Prior, The Message of Joel, Micah and Habakkuk: Listening to the Voice of God
II. The Lord’s Requirement (6:6-8)
Micah’s rhetorical question (“With what shall I come before the Lord”) reveals the concerning spiritual state of God’s people; they were willfully ignorant of what God had clearly communicated.
Micah presents an elaborate list of increasingly extravagant sacrifices. The people wrongly assumed that God’s presence among them assured his blessing and protection (3:11), and that they could “appease” God with their offerings for the “sin of their soul” (cf. Hos. 6:6; Amos 5:21-24, Mt. 23:23-24).
The Lord reminds his people what is “good” and what he has already told them:
1. Do justice (mishpat) (cf. Isa. 1:17). Justice has a number of categories and associations in the OT related to “neighbor love:”
Punitive / Retributive Justice (Lev. 24:19-20)
Structural / Commutative Justice (Lev. 19:15-18, 24:22)
Restorative Justice (Prov. 31:8-9; Deut. 10:18-19)
Generous Justice (Lev. 19:9-10; 25:8-17)
The righteous (just) are willing to disadvantage themselves to advantage the community; the wicked are willing to disadvantage the community to advantage themselves.
~ Bruce Waltke
2. Love kindness (hesed). This speaks not to the actions of justice, but a heart and an attitude that loves to treat others with mercy, kindness, and grace.
3. Walk humbly with your God. Humility (attentive, careful living) is necessary in order to “do justice” and “love mercy.” Humility is a life of remembering how God has generously acted toward us, the undeserving, as we walk with Christ.
In the mind of the OT prophets as well as the teaching of Jesus, an encounter with grace inevitably leads to a life of justice. [The prophets] all leveled the charge that, while the people attended worship, observed all religious regulations, and took pride in their biblical knowledge, nevertheless they took advantage of the weak and vulnerable. The prophets concluded, therefore, that their religious activity was not just insufficient: it was deeply offensive to God. The implications of this accusation are clear. Justice is not just one more thing that needs to be added to the people’s portfolio of religious behavior. A lack of justice is a sign that the worshippers’ hearts are not right with God at all, that their prayers and all their religious observance are just filled with self and pride… In Jesus’ view, this revealed that they did not know God or his grace at all.
~ Tim Keller, Generous Justice
III. The Lord’s Remnant (7:18-20)
As we humbly walk with God, we become more like him who has “righteousness and justice as the foundation of his throne” (Ps. 89:14) and who “delights in steadfast love (hesed)” (7:18). Rather than abusing or exploiting his power and authority, Jesus Christ comes in the incarnation to show us what the Lord “requires” and what is “good.”
Philippians 2:3–5: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…
These wonderful promises of redemption are all given before the coming of Christ. These truths find their ultimate fulfillment in his finished work, as the “yes and amen” (2 Cor. 1:20) of all the promises of God sworn to Abraham and the fathers from the “days of old,” now given to the “remnant of his inheritance” (cf. 2:12, 4:7, 5:7-8).
