God had a message for the citizens of Samaria and Jerusalem, the capitals of Israel and Judah (Micah 1.1). The two Jewish nations had split after the death of Solomon. While the message concerned the failings of the Jewish nations it was not for them alone. This is clear from verse 2: ‘Attention! Let the people of the world listen! Let the earth and everything in it hear. The Sovereign Lord is making accusations against you; the Lord speaks from his holy Temple.’
We may well ask why an Old Testament prophet would relay a message for the entire world and not just Israel. First, the Old Testament, although primarily about the relationship between God and the Jewish people, looks beyond the narrow confines of Palestine to reveal God’s concern for the well being of all nations and peoples. Secondly, we need to understand the nature of the relationship between God and His People.
Israel had a covenant relationship with God. Their part in this arrangement was to live according to the directions He gave. Their legal code included provisions to protect the poor and the vulnerable among them and to prevent exploitation, abuse of power and the accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few. It forbade idolatry, a form worship prevalent at the time that was associated with a range of vile practices, including temple prostitution and human sacrifice.
God wanted Israel to be a model nation, one that would stand in marked contrast to the surrounding nations, a nation that would make the worship of God attractive. Reading out the Law Moses said in Deuteronomy 4:5-8:
“Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?
There was a downside to this relationship. If the people disobeyed God and continued to heed the warnings He sent, they would be expelled from the land.
God had a real stake in this. Remember, He had delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. He drove out the nations that had lived in the land to make way for His people. The conduct of these nations, marked by idolatry, incest, human sacrifice, beastiality and more, was abominable to God. If He allowed Israel to go down the same path what would the surrounding nations say of Him? What of His claims to be fair? And if Israel, who claimed to follow God were no better, or perhaps worse, than the nations around them, how did that portray Him?
Micah’s message was to the point: the rich are exploiting the poor; they ‘have become wealthy through extortion and violence; the merchants ‘use dishonest scales and weights’; lying comes easier than truthfulness; and they worship idols. They are warned they will be taken captive to Babylon and Jerusalem destroyed.
God’s warnings are always calls to repentance, to return to His ways. Micah, as with all the prophets, holds out the hope of God’s deliverance and restoration of the faithful. But He makes one thing clear, He is not swayed by religiosity. The question is asked in Chapter 6:6-7:
“What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins?”
God did institute a system of sacrifices that involved calves, rams and olive oil, including the first born of the flock. This is reflected in the above. Human sacrifice was deemed by God to be an abomination. That it is included in this list perhaps reflects the depths of depravity to which the people had reached. The sacrificial system was meant, in part, to help the people remember what God had done for them, but it was never meant as a way of appeasement. Ultimately, one thing, and one thing alone, pleases God and this is expressed in verse 8
“No, O people, the LORD has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”.
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