Craig Gaunt
2/20/10
Biblical Hermeneutics
#1204
Lord commanded Micah to instruct the people that they are to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God”, He was not instructing anything that was beyond their grasp. Rather, He was telling them to model themselves after Him and His actions. Throughout the Old Testament, God gives many examples of practicing what He preaches. By Micah’s time, his audience had enough historical instances of the Lord upholding these principles. Below are some of these instances where one can see God acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly.
“To Act Justly”
One of the key events of God acting with justice is the simple fact that He even gave Israel a law code at Sinai. Israel considered this a tremendous blessing because, in a time when none of the pagan peoples even knew what characteristics their “gods” had, Israel now had a clear-cut picture of what the true God was like and what He required of them. This is how God can say through Micah to both Israel and all people everywhere (“O man”) that He has revealed what good; it is seen as early as Ex. 20-23 & Deut. 10:12-13. McComiskey argues that the Hebrew word for “man” (adam) implies all humanity so none can claim ignorance.[1] Another instance of the justice of God is the Exodus itself. God brought an oppressive, evil empire low and exalted those who were its captives by freeing them and claiming them as His own (Ex. 7-20). This is one of the clearest examples of God’s grace in the Old Testament because Israel had done nothing to earn His favor, but He bestows it freely.
Not only this, but He gives them competent leaders who will show them His justice and holiness, including Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, who could be representative of law, priest & temple, and worship respectively.[2] This reminder in Micah 6:3-5 is not only meant to demonstrate God’s faithfulness but to answer the charges brought on by the attitude of the people in Micah’s time that were similar to those of the desert wanderings: God did not care about Israel. God asks the rhetorical question through Micah, “When have I ever been faithless to my promises?” The answer is never. God has even acted justly against His people because He has been faithful to His Word. In Judges, when sin was running rampant throughout the society, God would allow a foreign people to oppress Israel as punishment for disobedience, only to then send a military leader to free them once they had repented, showing His mercy. God also acts with justice when He allows Israel and Judah to be taken into exile in Assyria and Babylon respectively. Micah 6:13-15 emphasizes this when it is an indictment against Judah that it would be punished for the same sins that its northern neighbor Israel was punished.[3]
“To Love Mercy”
God also acts with mercy all throughout the Old Testament, and often it is within the same acts of His justice because the two are intertwined. Going as far back as Genesis, even though God acted with justice in destroying the earth with a flood, His mercy is seen in sparing Noah and his family by His grace and promising never to destroy the earth through flood again (Gen. 6-8). Although God acted with justice in destroying Sodom for its wickedness, His mercy is seen not only in sparing Lot and his daughters but also in the fact that He listened to Abraham’s plea to have mercy on the city even if only ten righteous people were found there (Gen. 18). The “bargaining” between Abraham and God exemplifies that the Lord was certainly not anxious or wanting to destroy anyone and that His loving-kindness is great. Looking again at Abraham’s story, God is merciful when He spared and even blessed Hagar and Ishmael even when they had been banished from Abraham’s tent and were not the chosen ones through whom God’s covenant promise would be fulfilled. Again, Hagar and Ishmael did nothing to earn God’s mercy, but He showed it to them simply because that is who He is (Gen. 16, 21). Still another is the very institution of Passover along with the Exodus. While God was showing His justice to Egypt, He was treating Israel with mercy by not destroying them and even blessing them with Egypt’s spoils, a language at Sinai, a covenant, an identity, and everything else needed to create a nation from a group of slaves. Even when the people of Judah are banished in exile as a necessary punishment for their sins, God promised (and fulfills it) a righteous remnant who loves Him and will keep His commands will return to the Promised Land. He will never completely destroy His chosen people because that is not in His nature to do so, and it gives God joy to show mercy to those who seek Him. He is never reluctant to do so. Allen summarizes it well, “The history of Israel is a history of covenant grace.”[4] This was supposed to create a loving relationship between God and Israel forever, all grounded in God’s mercy.
To Walk Humbly
Finally, God is seen as acting humbly throughout the Old Testament on numerous occasions. It can be seen by returning to the Exodus, as Micah does in his passage to demonstrate God’s faithfulness. When the Israelites are wandering through the desert God not only dwells with them, but He lives, not in an elaborate or ornate dwelling, but in a simple tent only slightly bigger than the average Israelite tent! By some estimation, Abraham’s caravan tent would have even been bigger than God’s was in the desert! This is parallel when the Temple is finally constructed in Jerusalem. Unlike other pagan temples at that time that were massive (some even being over 100 yards long), the Lord’s Temple is tiny by comparison. This shows God’s humility not only by His desire to dwell with His people but that He does not want to burden them with heavy labors to construct a massive piece of architecture. God also is humble in the fact that He even honors the most bizarre requests when they are asked with a simple faith and does not obliterate anyone simply for asking. A prime example would be Gideon the judge who gives God a strange request involving fleece to prove His faithfulness and God honors it without even being stirred to anger (Judges 6:36-40). Moving a bit further in biblical history, the Lord shows His humility by granting a request of the people when they desire a human king, even when He knew the results of it. He even comforts Samuel who was no doubt troubled when the people’s request reached him by telling Samuel that it was He not Samuel they had rejected (1 Sam. 8:7). Going even further, He tells Samuel to tell the people that they may have a king but warns them of the dangers of it. One final over-arching facet about God’s humility is that, when Israel goes astray throughout the Old Testament, God does not instantly bring a king to destroy them, showing His military might. Rather, He sends humble prophets to remind the people of His past actions, showing His faithful love.
The Significance of Micah 6:8
At the time of Micah’s work as a prophet, the wealthy in Judah have become especially wicked by committing violence, greed, and fraud.[5] Cheating weights and dishonest scales (both strictly forbidden by Torah in Lev. 19:35-36) had become commonplace and led to Judah’s economic exploitation of the weak. The material prosperity from acquiring land had led (as it often does) to an erosion of social and personal morality.[6] The parts of Mosaic Law instructing one how to watch over the poor and land agreement practices were being ignored. Micah was in Jerusalem and, being a Judean farmer, knew the exploitation of his kinsmen that had resulted. Verses 9-16 comments further on how Judah had spiraled out of control, and would be punished for the same sins that the Northern Kingdom had committed, especially under the wicked kings of Ahab and Omri. The rich exploit, lie, and commit all sorts of immoral acts (v. 10-12). It is also a warning for Judah that, despite their economic successes, nothing will be permanent as God will remove everything they have worked so hard for it, and it will all come to ruin (v. 13-15).
The main implication of God requiring His people do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him is the simple reality that God wants His people to be like Him. As noted above, this is opposite from how they were acting at this time in their history. This is also seen in the fact that God refers to Judah in Micah 6 as “My people” (v. 3). As Kaiser points out, this is meant to show God as a parent with a sense of outraged love and betrayal from His children.[7] God would demand these attitudes and actions from His children because they should have gratitude for what He has done for them similar to how a loving parent would have a right to desire gratitude from their children. Anyone not behaving in this manner simply acts as though they had never experienced God’s grace, and Israel had no right to claim that. He brought them out of Egypt, gave them freedom, sent them leaders, and even used those who would curse them to actually bless them, showing His sovereignty (6:4, 5).
The first half of Micah 6 is meant to call the people to attention that God has been faithful to His covenant obligations to them. The second half is to show how Israel has been faithless in their obligations. Verse 8 is meant to be the peak of the mountain between the two halves in showing what God requires, and unlike Israel trying to get away with sin by simply brining more or better sacrifices to try and bribe God, His desires have nothing to do with superficial ceremonial religion.[8] The second implication is that the people of Israel should know exactly what God requires because He has not only shown them through His actions but have spoken them through prophets several times (Deut. 6:5; 1 Sam. 15:22; Isa. 1:17; Hos. 6:6). Plus, in Torah the moral injunctions and commandments in Ex. 20-24 are first and foremost even before God gives Israel the cultic practices (Ex. 25-40). The bottom line is that the Lord does not want Israel’s possessions because they are ultimately His. Rather, He wants them to be in a relationship of gratitude with Him and each other based on His love and grace for how He has treated them in ages past. By putting these commandments here, God is showing that He desires the whole person to be obedient to Him.
[1] McComiskey, Thomas E., The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical and Expository Commentary, Vol. 2. Grand Rapids, Baker Pub. 1993. pg. 733
[2] Allen, Leslie C., The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1976. pg. 365
[3] Barker, Kenneth L. Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah. Nashville, Tenn. Broadman & Holman, 1999. pg. 118
[4] Allen, pg. 365
[5] Barker, pg. 118
[6] Allen, pg. 240
[7] Kaiser, Walt C., The Communicator’s Commentary: Micah-Malachi Dallas, Word Books. 1978. pg. 71
[8] Andersen, Francis I. & David Noel Freedman. Micah, The Anchor Bible 24E. Garden City, NY. Doubleday, 2003. pg. 504
Reference:
1) Anderson, K. (2005). Christian Ethincs in Plain Language. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.
2) Astley, J. (Ed.). D. Brown, A. Loades. (2003). Problems in Theology: War & Peace. London, UK: T & T Clark.
3) Cahill, L.S. (1994). Love Your Enemies: Discipleship, Pacifism, and Just War Theory. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
4) Christenson, R.N. (1983, May, 25). Christians and Nuclear Aggression. Christian Century, 100.17, Retrieved May 14, 2006, from http://newfirstsearch.uk.oclc.org/WebZ/FTFETCH?sessionid=fsapp1-51748-encpih6z-uhg6th:entitypagenum=4:0:rule=100:fetchtype=fulltext:dbname=ATLA_FT:recno=2:resultset=1:ftformat=GIF:format=BI:isbillable=TRUE:numrecs=1:isdirectarticle=FALSE:entityemailfullrecno=2:entityemailfullresultset=1:entityemailftfrom=ATLA_FT:
5) Cook, M.L. (2001, Nov, 14). Terrorism and ‘Just War’. Christian Century, 118 n31, Retrieved May 14, 2006, from http://newfirstsearch.uk.oclc.org/WebZ/FSQUERY?sessionid=fsapp1-51748-encpih6z-uhg6th:entitypagenum=9:0:numrecs=1:searchtype=locateFT:tdbname=WilsonSelectPlus_FT:query0=sc%3d%220009-5281+20011114+118+31+22+%3F+%3F%22:format=BI:entityfttoprecno=1:next=NEXTCMD%7FFTFETCH:rule=1:tdbname=WilsonSelectPlus_FT:issuesici=0009-5281+2001+118+31:fetchtype=fulltext:tdisplaydbname=WilsonSelectPlus_FT:thirdpartydbid=436:isbillable=TRUE:isdirectarticle=FALSE:numrecs=1:format=BI:ftformat=PDF:entityemailfullrecno=1:entityrecno=1:entityemailfullresultset=3:entityemailftfrom=WilsonSelectPlus_FT:%7F
6) Massaro, T., Shannon T. (2003). Catholic Perspectives on Peace and War. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publisher, Inc.
7) Richardson, A. (1969). A Dictionary of Christian Theology. London, UK: SCM Press Ltd.
8) Sheils, W.J. ed. (1983). The Church and War. Great Britain: Ecclesiastical History Society.
9) Williams, S (2003). God & Caesar: Personal Reflections on Politics and Religion. London, UK: Continuum.