Chapter Six: The Lord Takes His People to Court

6:1-8...Hear ye now what the LORD says: Arise, contend thou with the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with his people, and he will reprove Israel. O my people, what have I done unto thee? and in what have I wearied thee? testify against me…I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt and ransomed thee out of the house of slaves; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam…remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal: that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD. (See Numbers 22-24 and Joshua 3-4)

With what shall I present myself before the LORD, how shall I worship the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my rebellion, the fruit of my bowels for the sin of my soul? He has declared unto thee, O man, what is good and what the LORD requires of thee: only to do right judgment, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself to walk with thy God.

Micah sees the Lord taking His people to court. The lawsuit addresses the relationship between God and Israel. Mountains, hills, and the foundations of the earth are the witnesses. The message is clear: Israel had no reason to abandon God and act like all the pagan nations around her. God has done no wrong--He has only acted in love and graciousness towards His people.

The Lord reproves us when we turn away and forget His great love for us. He pleads with us to walk righteously according to the code of conduct (Torah) and to love our neighbor. When we obey His commands things work out and we are blessed. He pleads with us and the nations: “…only to do right judgment, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself to walk with thy God.” Obedience is better than sacrifice! Are we "doing" or are we "becoming"?

6:9-16...The LORD’s voice cries out unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and he who has established it. Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked…Can I be pure with false balances and with a bag of deceitful weights? With which their rich men are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth…I have made thee weak in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.

Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take, but shalt not be saved; and that which thou dost save, I will give it up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with the oil…For the statutes of Omri have been kept and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye have walked in their counsels that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

What happens to those who do not live as God has asked of them? The Lord says to “hear the rod” because it is His chastisement for their wickedness (disobedience). In Isaiah 10.5 God says the Assyrians are the rod of His anger! God is talking to His church and especially the Laodiceans. God is saying, “Please don’t become my enemy--don’t make me discipline you!” His rod is chastisement through those who do not know Him!

Omri was the father of Ahab the most evil king in Israel. Ahab, through his evil wife Jezebel, brought in the worship of Baal--worse than the statues of his father. God is telling us to get rid of pagan mixture. He is urging us to understand church history and to come back to His feasts. Once we do this our understanding of his ways and His appointed times become clear. The Bible begins to make sense in a fresh way. The eyes of our understanding begin to open. He who has ears to hear will hear.

The Old Covenant teaches us God's Commandments and ways. The New Covenant teaches us how to walk out those commands. It teaches us Kingdom living--a taste of the millennium.

Next: Chapter Seven: The Response to Social Disintegration is To Trust in the Lord