Micah: The Standard, Corruption, Expectation, and Demonstration of Justice
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Last week when Morgan Proudfoot was with us, he said something that prompted and helpful discussion among the elders - not because it was controversial or unbiblical, but I think it promoted discussion because it was a true but often overlooked fact in our relationship with God. Morgan David that God’s mercy has a limit. There is a time when Gods mercy will end and His judgment will step in.
We often like to think of God as being a God of love - and He is - but He is also a God of holiness and justice. At some point in time, God will judge.
Today, we’re beginning a new series studying the book of Micah. If you have your Bibles, let me encourage you to open to this little book.
Introducing Micah
Introducing Micah
In the original canon, the major prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel each had their own scroll, but the scribes used to keep all of the minor prophets (like Micah) on one scroll.
Micah, himself, is from a town about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem (Longman, 450). He served in the second half of the 8th century BC during the reigns of three different southern kings - Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Mic. 1:1) - just prior to the fall of the northern kingdom.
While Micah lived in the south and seemed to focus much of his message toward Jerusalem, the northern Kingdom was not immune from his messages. In many ways he predicts the fall of the northern Kingdom (Mic. 1:2-7) and the latter fall of the southern kingdom at the hand of the Babylonians (Mic. 5:10).
Overall, the book of Micah can generally be divided into three different sections or sermons - each beginning with the word “hear” (1:2; 3:1; 6:1). The ESV Study Bible outlines the book in this way.
Judgment on Israel/Samaria and Judah/Jerusalem (1:2-2:13)
The Present Injustice and the Future Prospect of Just Rule in Jerusalem (3:1-5:15)
The Lord’s Indictment and Restoration of His People (6:1-7:20)
(ESVSB, 1694-1695)
There is one other thing that I’d like to point out in the book before we dive in. It is a difficult book. God, speaking through Micah, says some harsh things, but it is not without glimpses of hope. There is a lot of correction, but there is also hope for restoration and even hope for a future righteous king. As we study this book, you may notice times when it seems like the gloom and judgment is all there is - and yet there are contrasts with hope, restoration, and God’s faithfulness to His covenant and His people - in spite of their/our rebellion. God may bring judgment to us for our rebellion, but He will also remain faithful to His promises.
Today, as we consider the book of Micah, we’re going to consider it in light of justice - the standard, our corruption, God’s expectation and His demonstration of justice. Over the next several weeks we will look more closely at the details of Micah using smaller sections than what Micah might have preached.
First of all, Micah helps us to see that…
The standard of justice is God.
The standard of justice is God.
Micah’s name means “Who is like Yahweh?” (Longman, 450). Implicit in even the name of the book and its prophet is the incomparable nature of God. The name asks a rhetorical question that has only one response -
Who is like Yahweh? - no one.
But not only is God seen as the ultimate standard based on the name of the book and its prophet, but this very same question is asked at the end of the book. Consider how the book closes...
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
God demonstrates perfect justice by His character - He is forgiving and compassionate. He is faithful to His promises and demonstrates steadfast love to His people. There is none like God. He is the ultimate standard.
The book of Micah not only seems to show that God is the standard of justice, but it lays out an indictment against Samaria and Judah because of their corruption of justice - which in many ways could be seen as...
Our corruption of justice
Our corruption of justice
In the three sections or sermons of the book, Micah warns the people of coming judgment. He calls them to pay attention and to hear how God will bring justice to their injustice.
Micah’s charges against God’s people addresses several forms of injustice:
Woe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them away;
they oppress a man and his house,
a man and his inheritance.
As with many of the prophets, we don’t get to know exactly what was going on, but we can see clearly the nature of some of their actions. They were scheming wicked actions and then acting wickedly - unjustly. They were taking advantage of the disadvantaged and seizing opportunities to oppress the weak and vulnerable.
It wasn’t just the people who were acting unjustly, but it was the leaders too...
And I said:
Hear, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
Is it not for you to know justice?—
you who hate the good and love the evil,
who tear the skin from off my people
and their flesh from off their bones,
who eat the flesh of my people,
and flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones in pieces
and chop them up like meat in a pot,
like flesh in a cauldron.
these leaders were feasting on the people by taking advantage of them.
He continues...
Listen to me, you leaders of Israel!
You hate justice and twist all that is right.
You are building Jerusalem
on a foundation of murder and corruption.
The very people who should have been upholding justice were the ones who were corrupting it. Their lives had become so distorted and corrupted that they could no longer see right from wrong. Because this sinfulness was so deeply engrained in the fabric of their society - it seemed like there was systemic corruption and wickedness.
I’m thankful that we generally live in a society where there is justice and the leaders generally adhere to the same standards that we do. But imagine, where would we go if our leaders, our nation was filled with corruption? Vodie Baucham book Faultlines - move to Africa - corrupt policing, bribery, no recourse for people who are taken advantage of. That seems to be a bit like the picture Micah is painting of the leaders.
But what about in our lives personally, individually? Are we guilty of the same kind of injustices? We can be quick to cry “injustice” when something happens to us, but then slow to repent when we do that same thing to others.
For example (and this is a very minor example) - how often do I get impatient when I have to wait an unusual amount of time in line and then expect my family to just be okay with it when I run late without notifying them? I expect them to give me grace, but demand precision from others. We could think through circumstances like that with athletic teams, grades in school, the work place, and home. We want grace and mercy for us, but often demand justice from others.
Because God is the perfect standard for justice, no matter what we do, we will fall short; we will corrupt His standard.
But what’s more than just acting unjustly, the leaders and the people...
Refused to hear the truth.
It’s as though they plugged their ears. They weren’t even trying to be just. They used their power for their gain and control rather than for the flourishing of the nation.
“Don’t say such things,”
the people respond.
“Don’t prophesy like that.
Such disasters will never come our way!”
They refused to hear that God might bring judgment. They refused to hear of the pending destruction. They chose to hear only what would make them feel good.
Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you,
“I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and alcohol!”
That’s just the kind of prophet you would like!
The Apostle Paul warned Timothy about this same kind of behavior - stating that there will come a time when people will only want to hear select things...
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Often times the thing that we don’t want to hear is the very thing that we need to hear.
God’s prophets in the Old Testament were called to declare a pending judgment. They also called people back to a right and biblical way of living.
That is the essence of sound teaching. That’s the essence of what it means for us to submit ourselves to God’s word and align ourselves with His will. We need to be prepared to hear the hard truths from God.
While our society might want to label biblical values as old fashioned and out of date, we must remember that if God is the author of life, and if He has given us His word as a guide, then we are expected to yield to Him, to His ways, to His standards and not force His word to adjust to the changing values of the our ever-changing world.
While sometime’s the prophet’s words are hard to hear, they are necessary. In fact, the Word of God doesn’t only tell people what they are doing wrong, it also communicates what we should be doing. Here in the book of Micah, it reveals...
God’s expectation of justice from us
God’s expectation of justice from us
God expects the opposite of what He’s getting. Both today and back in Micah’s day, people seem to be asking similar questions about living and about some form of justification.
In Micah 6:6-7 the people essentially ask, “Is it the size of our offering or even the sacrifice of our children that would make God happy?”
Micah answers these questions with this familiar and simple response:
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
There are times when we want to assume that God will only use us if we do seemingly big things for him - start a ministry, go overseas to be a missionary, become a pastor, or serve as a deacon or elder, or become known for some big act of generosity.
I think all of those things are fine, but the things that God expects from us are not the big things only - but the little things, the consistent things.
To do justice - to take action and be decisive in a fair and equitable way - whether or not you get favor from it.
To love kindness or mercy - Sometimes we can think that it is a burden to be kind, to be merciful.
Kindness and mercy is not a religious obligation, but a relational privilege.
It’s not a guilt trip, but a generosity of the heart.
It’s helping the helpless, giving a hand up to the weary.
It’s spending time with the lonely.
These two actions (justice and loving mercy) are possible because of the third expectation that God has for us...
To walk humbly with God - this humility recognizes that we don’t deserve anything from God. There is no quid pro quo with Him. We are in a relationship with Him because He chose us and called us. This does not make us any better than anyone else. So our natural response should be a grateful and humble attitude.
You see, when we walk in this way with God, we can see how God already tilted the scales of justice in our favor by allowing His perfect Son to die as a substitute for our sin. Justice should be a natural response in the life that is transformed by God.
We can show kindness and mercy to others because we recognize how much we have received from God - how it was His kindness that led us to repentance (Rom. 2:4).
I believe God may have some big things for us to do, but mainly, He is looking for faithfulness, obedience - justice, lovingkindness, humility.
I guess the question is, are we content to do justice in small ways? Do we have hearts that overflow with love and kindness every day? Are we willing to walk a long road of humble communion with God?
So far, we’ve seen the standard of justice in God, how we’ve corrupted justice, and the justice God expects of us. Finally, the book of Micah seems to help us see...
God’s demonstration of justice
God’s demonstration of justice
God doesn’t just demand without first demonstrating it. God exists as a perpetual and perfect example. In Micah, we see at least three ways that God demonstrates justice...
First of all, God demonstrates justice by...
helping the helpless
helping the helpless
Just like many of the other prophets, Micah takes us back to show what God has done in Israel’s past to remind them.
“O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
The people of Israel were living as slaves in a foreign land. They had no rights or privileges. They could not fend for themselves. God helped them in powerful ways by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. He showed them how He acts righteously.
In much the same way, for us, God helped us in our helplessness.
Romans 5:6–8 (ESV)
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.... God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul refers to us as “dead” because of our sin. There is no greater helplessness than being dead - stuck in sin, blinded by our own corruption. God saw us in this place and sent His Son Jesus Christ as the perfect and truly only substitute for our sin.
Friend, if you are not yet a follower of Christ, if you’re just checking all of this out - let me encourage you to take a humble look at your life. What shapes your perspectives and attitudes? What helps you recognize right from wrong? Is there a standard? You see, God is the perfect standard and as the Bible says, we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) - we all fall short of God’s standard. But this Bible also says that
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Recognize your sinfulness, confess your sin to God, and be reconciled to God through the finished work of what Jesus did on the cross. If you don’t understand how to do that, let’s get together this week. It would be a joy to open the Word of God with you and help you understand this more.
God has demonstrated His generous justice by helping the helpless - including you and me.
God also demonstrates justice by...
restoring his people
restoring his people
The people of Judah had sinned against God. They had committed heinous acts of injustice. God eventually disciplined them through the exile to a foreign nation. But again, in God’s loving kindness, He restored the people after 70 years in exile. Micah gives some insight into this...
In that day, declares the Lord,
I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away
and those whom I have afflicted;
and the lame I will make the remnant,
and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
from this time forth and forevermore.
God’s justice has a healing element. The punishment was completed and God restored.
How should we do the same - be people of reconciliation - restoring those who have sinned and repented, reconciling with those who have offended us - rather than holding grudges - imagine the massive offense that we have committed against God - and how he willingly restores us.
Finally, God demonstrates justice by...
providing a future hope
providing a future hope
As if the promise of a future restoration wasn’t enough for the people of Judah, Micah reveals a hope that is long into the future, a hope that we celebrate at Christmas, a hope that we live in as His Kingdom people on Earth today...
(Micah 5:2-5a)
Micah 5:2,4, 5a (ESV)
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace.
Jesus Christ was born nearly 700 years after Micah’s prophecy in the small town of Bethlehem. His origin did not begin at his birth, but came from of old. After all, he told some who were asking him...
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Barely 30 years old according to our timeline, as God Himself, He had no beginning. He simply was.
As He walked on this earth, preached, lived, died and rose again, He set up a kingdom that crosses geographic and political boundaries - a Kingdom of people who are marked by belief in His salvation; who are marked by hope. His people walk with Him by the indwelling of His Spirit. He is the one who brought peace between God and humanity by His death on the cross. He truly is our peace.
God gave the people of Judah a future hope. He has given us a future hope as well as we look forward to the day when Jesus will come again and we will get to reign with Him.
We have a future hope - but we don’t just get to sit back and wait. We get the joy of humbly walking with God each day, doing justice, and loving mercy.
Closing Thoughts
Closing Thoughts
So Micah helps us to see that
God is the perfect standard of justice
We have corrupted justice with our sin
He expects us to life with justice, lovingkindness, and humility
He demonstrates perfect justice toward us with restoration and a future hope.
Let’s pray.
Benediction:
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
References:
Craigie, Peter C., The Old Testament: It’s Background, Growth, and Content (Abington, Nashville, 1987)
Dever, Mark, The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made, (Crossway, Wheaton, 2006)
Longman III, Tremper; Raymond B. Dillard; An Introduction to the Old Testament, 2nd Ed. (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2006)
McConville, Gordon. Exploring the Old Testament: The Prophets. Vol. 4. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2002.
Prior, David. The Bible Speaks Today: The Message of Joel, Micah & Habakkuk. Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 1998.
Um, Stephen. Micah for You. The Good Book Company, 2018.
https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/micah/
https://bibleproject.com/explore/category/how-to-read-biblical-poetry/
ESV Study Bible