Title: Messenger of Justice Micah 6:6-8
Contents
Messenger of Justice Micah 6:6-8
1. Name and background
Micah means [who is like the Lord]. One of the 12 minor prophets active in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, contemporaries of Isaiah and Hosea, a native of Moreseth and the author of the book of Micah (Micah 1:1). The situation at that time is well recorded in (2 Kings 15-20). He prophesied against Israel in a dark and despairing state. It is a message that offers hope in times of distress, freedom in times of oppression, and sure promises in times of chaos. The book of Micah prophesied that the Messiah promised to Abraham would be born in the future in Samaria and Jerusalem. (Micah 5:2) “Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” The nameless city of Bethlehem is prophesied as the saint. It later turned out to be true.
He was from the countryside, so he didn't like the glamorous city of Jerusalem. Micah is fluent in language and sometimes creatively uses writing to make prophecies efficacious. As a prophet, no other prophet dared to follow in the simplicity of his sentences and the essence of his faith.
2. Micah pointed out the corruption in society
Jehovah intends to judge Israel and Judah, but he prophesied that Samaria would be turned to rubble and that Jerusalem would soon be invaded by the enemy. The reason was that the upper classes of Judah were corrupt. A prince plots evil on his bed and plots deceit, the landowners forcibly plunder the poor people's houses and land and abuse them (2:1-2) When there is light, there is power in their hands, and woe to those who do it, they covet fields and take them, and they covet and take houses, and they oppress men and their households and their industries." It is also said that he stole women and young children. (2:9) "You drive out the women of my people from their delightful houses, and you take my glory from their little children forever." He threatened the prophets not to prophesy because they did not want to hear the right words. (2:6) "They say, 'Do not prophesy, for this is not prophesy, but swearing will not cease."
Entrepreneurs accumulated wealth by forging weights and eating lies in greed for illicit profits. (6:10-11) "Is there any unrighteous wealth in the house of the wicked, or is there an abomination of abominations that are reduced? If I had used unclean scales or had false weights in my pocket, would I be clean?" The good people have been cut off from the world, there are no honest ones, and brothers are netted, the judges demanding bribes, and the great people are greedy and become a gang (7:1-4).
Neighbors couldn't depend on each other, husband and wife couldn't trust each other, and fleshly relatives despised and slandered each other. (7:5-6) "You must not trust your neighbor, nor trust in your friends, and guard the door of your mouth, even to the woman who lies in your arms; for sons despise their fathers, daughters against their mothers, and daughters-in-law against their mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be those of his own household." The priest instructs for wages, and the prophet divination for money, saying, “The Lord is among us, so no calamity will come upon us” (3:11). . Because all the people were corrupted in this way, the LORD decided to raise up foreign enemies and destroy Jerusalem. The outside looks plausible, but the inside is rotten. That was the situation at the time. The same is true today. Micah's warning is that God will not allow this fall to stand still.
3. What is true religion?
Micah explained and showed the way to the LORD, the God of Israel. The climax of Micah's prophecy is the content of our reading today in 6:6-8. Jehovah has shown what is good and how to keep the covenant. Jehovah, he showed me what was the way to go before him, and showed that God's demands were good, not formal religion.
Rather than the ram of thousands and thousands of rivers of water, he demands justice, kindness, and love rather than oil. The Lord requires only good works. In the corrupt society of that time, God's grace was also departing. At this time, Micah alone showed the way to God and what God requires.
It is asking about the characteristics of right religion, how to ask for forgiveness from God, and what to bring before God. It is not a quantity paid by the sacrifice of thousands. It is not an overflowing expensive perfume. It's not about burning your own children. God is not satisfied with offering material sacrifices. God is good and just. There are only three ways to get to God. To practice justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. (Psalm 51:17) "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." It was the prophet Micah who exclaimed what the Lord's true heart was.
4. What to learn
1) Courage to point out social evil
(Micah 3:1-3) “And I say again, listen, now, chieftains of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, do not you know that justice is not yours? They skin it, and tear their flesh from their bones, and eat their flesh; they skin them, they break their bones and mince them like meat to be put in the middle of a pot and a pot." Christians today must have the ability to properly see the evils of society. The moral insensitivity of 'I have no choice but to live that way because other people live like that' doesn't work before God.
2) It gives hope in the midst of despair.
It is not wise to display only images of sin. It is not the attitude of a good man of God to end up being critical. As is the nature of God's love, it announces that he binds and forgives. (Micah 7:18) “What god is like you? You forgive iniquity, and pass over the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance, and because you delight in kindness, you are not always angry.
But there are conditions. That is, when you confess your sins to the Lord. (Micah 7:7) “But I look to the Lord, and I look to God who saves me; my God will hear me.”
3) Proclamation of Promise
As mentioned briefly earlier, Micah's Messianic prophecy is very famous. (Micah 5:2) “Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from ancient times and from the beginning.” (Matthew 2:6) “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, are not the least among the towns of Judea, for you have said that out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.”
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