GREAT EXPECTATIONS OF MAN'S LOVE:
IN THE PROPHETS—LOVE THAT DECIDES (Mic 6:6-8)
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Dr. Paul Manuel—2005
IN THE PROPHETS—LOVE THAT DECIDES (Mic 6:6-8)
Dr. Paul Manuel—2005
We face many choices in life. Some are easy to make; others are difficult. Occasionally, we may wish we had some help deciding—or not.
Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and ministered in the Southern Kingdom of Judah during the latter half of the eighth century. As with most of the prophets, Micah speaks out against the sin of God's people, calling them to repent and threatening divine judgment if they continue in their unrighteous lifestyle. He presents his oracles in the form of a lawsuit in which God charges the people with violating the covenant He made with them at Sinai, despite what He had done for them in Egypt. Please turn to chapter 6, where God demands that the people answer for their disobedience, calling creation itself to witness against them.
I. What is God's requirement? (vv. 6-7)
What more does God want? If He does not want bigger sacrifices, perhaps He wants better sacrifices...
By this series of questions, each of which marks successively greater devotion on the part of a worshiper, Micah brings his audience to the point of realizing that sacrifice of any kind or degree is not what God really wants.6 "So, what does He want, Micah?"
The Israelites Micah addresses still worship the true God, but they have adopted the attitude of their pagan neighbors and have reduced their religion to ritual. Do we ever reduce our religion to ritual? We do not call it that, of course. We prefer the term "tradition" because it has the weight of history behind it, as if habit or repetition validates what we do. The result, however, may not be much different from what Micah addresses here.
Church should be a welcome respite from the demands and chaos of a busy week. It is an opportunity to slow down and shift to a lower gear. Singing familiar hymns, reciting familiar prayers, hearing familiar scripture passages can be reassuring that, despite the changes around you, God remains the same. That is one of the chief benefits of liturgy (and even Baptists have liturgy): to provide a consistent and comfortable environment for worship. If, however, when you come to church, you shift into neutral and allow your mind to idle or, worse, to wander, you may still sing familiar hymns, recite familiar prayers, and hear familiar scripture passages, but they will be of no value to you. You decide whether your time here will be meaningless or meaningful.
The Israelites have assumed that because the form of their worship is similar to pagan worship, in that both entail sacrifice, they are doing essentially the same thing as their pagan neighbors, just for a different deity. That may, indeed, be what they are doing but, as Micah indicates, it is not what they are supposed to be doing.7 The form may bear some superficial resemblance, but the content of devotion to the true God is entirely different. Pagan worship is without moral obligation. The deity requires only a ritual offering not a reformed life. The Israelites have adopted this philosophy. They see no connection between the way they worship and the way they live, between how they relate to God and how they relate to each other, between what they believe and how they behave. They are acting as if God does not care what they do outside the temple as long as they do what He wants inside the temple, as if a different set of rules applies. That is, of course, not the case. In God's economy, faith and practice are inseparable. Sacrifices are important, but they must not be "empty religious acts" (McComiskey 1985:436).8 So, Micah tells them ...9
II. This is God's requirement! (v. 8)
The phrase "to love mercy" caught my attention in planning the sermon series and made me select this passage. What makes it one of the Great Expectations of Man's Love is that demonstrating mercy or kindness is not something we do only when convenient for us. It is often most needed when inconvenient for us, requiring a choice on our part to go out of our way to help someone; hence, it is Love that Decides.
There is a third expectation God has of His people....
As I mentioned before, you determine whether your time in church will be meaningless or meaningful. That decision, however, affects more than just your time here.
When you come to church, you generally do things a little differently than you do the rest of the week.
We are not in serious trouble, like the Israelites, but it is still important that we conform our lives to God's expectations. The more we read His word, though, the more daunting that task appears. There are so many areas to work on, so many ways we fall short. It is overwhelming. Just tell me what to do! Well, Micah has. He offers this helpful summary, easy to remember, and one you can apply to numerous situations.17
A young man, hitchhiking through Kentucky, got a ride from a farmer in an old pickup. After driving for a while, the farmer asked, "Have you ever had real moonshine?" "No," his passenger replied. "I don't drink much, and moonshine would probably be too strong for my taste." "Nonsense," said the farmer, as he reached for a small jug. "Try this." After several attempts by the young man to decline the offer, the farmer stopped the truck, pulled a shotgun off the rack behind him, and pointed it at his passenger. "I said, 'Take a drink!" "Okay!" the young man said. "I'll have some." When he took a swig, his throat muscles tightened, his eyes watered, and he made a choking sound. "Good, ain't it?" the farmer asked. "Yeah, I guess so" the young man gasped. The farmer grinned and said, "Now hold the gun on me, and make me drink." (Adapted from Hodgin 1998:225)Thankfully, when it comes to obeying God, He does not hold a gun on us. It is a choice He allows us to make, although He does gives us some guidance in Great Expectations of Man's Love, this morning In the Prophets with Love that Decides.
Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and ministered in the Southern Kingdom of Judah during the latter half of the eighth century. As with most of the prophets, Micah speaks out against the sin of God's people, calling them to repent and threatening divine judgment if they continue in their unrighteous lifestyle. He presents his oracles in the form of a lawsuit in which God charges the people with violating the covenant He made with them at Sinai, despite what He had done for them in Egypt. Please turn to chapter 6, where God demands that the people answer for their disobedience, calling creation itself to witness against them.
Mic 6:1 Listen to what the LORD says: "Stand up, plead your case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. 2 Hear, O mountains, the LORD's accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel. 3 "My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. 4a I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed You from the land of slavery."Following this charge, Micah poses a series of rhetorical questions in vv. 6-7 to highlight the people's wrong thinking about God. They have made religion solely a matter of ritual. Hence, the prophet asks...
I. What is God's requirement? (vv. 6-7)
Mic 6:6a With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?Those who come before God must do so a certain way, and not "empty-handed" (Exod 23:15; 34:20), but does it entail what they think? For example...
A. Is it the simplicity of an offering?A Babylonian sage summarized the worshiper's task with this advice (Lambert 1960:105; quoted in Greenberg 1983:65):1
Present your free-will offering to your god....In other words, when worshiping Babylonian deities, the right ritual guarantees a rich reward. Israelites adopted this mechanical concept in their worship. They saw the obvious similarity—all deities, including the LORD, require sacrifice—and they assumed that was all He expected.2 The Israelites just needed to make the prescribed offerings in order to satisfy God — a calf a year old. Micah asks them to reconsider their assumption: "Is it the simplicity of an offering?" ...If not that...
Prayer, supplication, and prostration
Offer him daily and you will get your reward.
B. Is it the size of an offering?Perhaps God is not content with one measly sacrifice; He prefers volume, "thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil." Bigger is better.3 Yet Micah asks, "Is it the size of an offering?"
What more does God want? If He does not want bigger sacrifices, perhaps He wants better sacrifices...
C. Is it the significance of an offering?The next level of devotion would be to offer a human being—child sacrifice. Their pagan neighbors occasionally did this, as did some of their own king4 ("Didn't the Lord command our forefather Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac?")5 Maybe God wants something from His people that has more meaning to them than a mere animal—"my firstborn...the fruit of my body"—but Micah asks: "Is it the significance of an offering that God desires?"
By this series of questions, each of which marks successively greater devotion on the part of a worshiper, Micah brings his audience to the point of realizing that sacrifice of any kind or degree is not what God really wants.6 "So, what does He want, Micah?"
The Israelites Micah addresses still worship the true God, but they have adopted the attitude of their pagan neighbors and have reduced their religion to ritual. Do we ever reduce our religion to ritual? We do not call it that, of course. We prefer the term "tradition" because it has the weight of history behind it, as if habit or repetition validates what we do. The result, however, may not be much different from what Micah addresses here.
Church should be a welcome respite from the demands and chaos of a busy week. It is an opportunity to slow down and shift to a lower gear. Singing familiar hymns, reciting familiar prayers, hearing familiar scripture passages can be reassuring that, despite the changes around you, God remains the same. That is one of the chief benefits of liturgy (and even Baptists have liturgy): to provide a consistent and comfortable environment for worship. If, however, when you come to church, you shift into neutral and allow your mind to idle or, worse, to wander, you may still sing familiar hymns, recite familiar prayers, and hear familiar scripture passages, but they will be of no value to you. You decide whether your time here will be meaningless or meaningful.
The Israelites have assumed that because the form of their worship is similar to pagan worship, in that both entail sacrifice, they are doing essentially the same thing as their pagan neighbors, just for a different deity. That may, indeed, be what they are doing but, as Micah indicates, it is not what they are supposed to be doing.7 The form may bear some superficial resemblance, but the content of devotion to the true God is entirely different. Pagan worship is without moral obligation. The deity requires only a ritual offering not a reformed life. The Israelites have adopted this philosophy. They see no connection between the way they worship and the way they live, between how they relate to God and how they relate to each other, between what they believe and how they behave. They are acting as if God does not care what they do outside the temple as long as they do what He wants inside the temple, as if a different set of rules applies. That is, of course, not the case. In God's economy, faith and practice are inseparable. Sacrifices are important, but they must not be "empty religious acts" (McComiskey 1985:436).8 So, Micah tells them ...9
II. This is God's requirement! (v. 8)
Mic 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.What is God's requirement?10 He has not kept them in the dark on this matter.11 Quite the contrary, He has given a detailed description of what they must do in order to benefit from His presence with them. Of all that Micah could have cited from the many commands God gave to Israel, he chooses just three things, yet each one relates to a specific charge God brings against the people. This is what He expects of them. First...
A. It is to act justly.This means doing what is right, proper, and fair. As we read elsewhere in Micah, such behavior has not characterized Judean society. In fact, they have been acting quite unjustly.12
- Government officials have been abusing their authority and selling political patronage.
- Court officials are also corrupt, all too willing to bend the law if it will line their pockets.
- This attitude affects the local economy, as merchants increase their profits by cheating their customers.
- Even the religious leaders, those who should know better, show more concern for personal gain than for meeting the needs of others.
B. It is to love mercy.This entails demonstrating a benevolent concern for someone else's interests. Again, Micah states that such an attitude does not characterize current Judean society.14
- Predators lie in wait for the unsuspecting and the weak.
- There is a bitter and vindictive spirit that crosses class boundaries.
- It is as if, in the absence of some external foe, the people have turned on each other, even within the same family.
The phrase "to love mercy" caught my attention in planning the sermon series and made me select this passage. What makes it one of the Great Expectations of Man's Love is that demonstrating mercy or kindness is not something we do only when convenient for us. It is often most needed when inconvenient for us, requiring a choice on our part to go out of our way to help someone; hence, it is Love that Decides.
There is a third expectation God has of His people....
C. It is to walk humbly with Him.This means being in constant awareness of His presence and ready "to be guided by him in all life's ventures" (Allen 1976:374). The Judeans think they are safe from the political turmoil around them, despite the start of another Assyrian campaign in their direction. Micah warns them of impending judgment, but other prophets are predicting what people want to hear.
Mic 3:5b [I]f one feeds them, they proclaim 'peace'.... 11b [T]hey... say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us."The people are smug, certain of their own safety, and it shows in their demeanor.
Mic 2:3 Therefore, the LORD says: "1 am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity.God's people are not to "walk proudly," as if they answer to no one and can handle anything. Rather, they are to "walk humbly," in obedience to God and trusting in the sufficiency of His resources.15
As I mentioned before, you determine whether your time in church will be meaningless or meaningful. That decision, however, affects more than just your time here.
- In Canaanite worship, a person's religious requirements were limited to the shrine. He could fulfill his responsibilities mindlessly, then leave to live as he pleased. Because the Canaanite worshipped without thought or deliberation, his religion had no positive affect on his life.16
- In Israelite worship, a person's religious requirements extended beyond the sanctuary. He could only fulfill his responsibilities mindfully, then leave to live as God pleased. Because the Israelite worshipped with thought and deliberation, his religion had a decidedly positive affect on his life.
When you come to church, you generally do things a little differently than you do the rest of the week.
- You wear your good clothes and not what you would throw on to work outside.
- You take greater care in your grooming, making sure that your hair is not disheveled.
- You are generally on your best behavior. You watch your language and try not to be argumentative. You are cheerful, kind, and forgiving.
- Do you act justly, treating people properly and fairly?
- Do you love mercy, going out of your way to help others?
- Do you walk humbly with God, trusting and obeying Him?
We are not in serious trouble, like the Israelites, but it is still important that we conform our lives to God's expectations. The more we read His word, though, the more daunting that task appears. There are so many areas to work on, so many ways we fall short. It is overwhelming. Just tell me what to do! Well, Micah has. He offers this helpful summary, easy to remember, and one you can apply to numerous situations.17
Mic 6:8b-c [W]hat does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.Micah's task is not an easy one. People are not pounding on his door, begging for his prophetic counsel. Many are quite satisfied with a purely ritualistic understanding of God's expectations. There are some, though, who truly want to please God. For them, the prophet offers a short but challenging list of how they can do just that. One of the items on that list is among the Great Expectations of Man's Love, and it is something God expects you to demonstrate as well—Love that Decides.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes see the pdf here.
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