The Wise Counsel of the Prophet Micah
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
He has told you, O
man, what is good; And what does the Lord
require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness, And
to walk humbly with your God?
The voice of the Lord will call to the city—
And it is sound
wisdom to fear Your name: “Hear, O tribe. Who has appointed its time?
Micah 6:8–9 (NASB95)
Micah was a
prophet who spoke the “word of the Lord” during the reigns of three kings of
the southern kingdom of Judah: Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. The wickedness of King
Ahab must have deeply impressed Micah, and he gave three messages (prophecies
proclaiming messages from the Lord. He
focused his first message on the judgment to come to Samaria and Jerusalem for
their insincere worship and idol worship (chapter 1), their injustice and false
prophets (chapter 2) and their leaders’ love of evil and abuse of people (chapter
3).
His second
message (chapters 4 and 5) extolled the “last days” when a new king will be
born in Bethlehem to be victorious over the oppressing nations and to bring
peace and prosperity as He rules over the people. Perhaps Micah’s most
well-known passage is 5:2: “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of
Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings
forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” Here, Micah foretold the
Birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.
The Indictment of the Nation
The context
of our verse today is Micah’s third message (chapters 6 and 7) providing a
direct accusation or indictment of the nation of Judah for its sin, and the
insincerity of its worship. The strong indictment of the nation in chapter 6, is
followed by the promise of a future blessing in chapter 7. The indictment is this:
· The Lord brings a
dispute, a legal case, against the nation and asks how He has wearied the
people, reminding them of his rescue of them from slavery in Egypt (6:1–5)
· Micah responds to
the indictment – asking the nation, what shall they bring to the Lord to be
restored to a relationship with their God. (6:6-9)
· The Lord responds (6:9–12) with an enumeration
of their sins: 1) dishonesty in their dealings with others. 2) violence, 3)
lying, and 4) deceit
· For this reason,
the nation will be made desolate because of their sins (6:13-16)
Chapter 7 then laments the coming desolation of the nation, yet
provides hope for the future restoration to “pardon iniquity” in His “unchanging love”,
and to “cast their sins into the depths of the sea”.
Micah Speaks for the nation
In Micah’s response to the indictment at the top of this devotional, he focuses on the core topic of being wise before God:
- He asks the people what he should bring to the Lord as an offering for their sins – burnt offerings? Yearling (prize) calve offerings? Thousands of rams? Or 10,000 rivers of oil? Or, perhaps he might offer his first borne child??!! (6:6 and 7)
- Of course Not!! God told them what is good and required of God – and they know it, too. It is to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. (6:8) This is authentic outward righteous living and inward worship of the Lord.
Miicah’s Wise
Counsel
In verse 9 Micah transitions
to listening to the voice of the Lord Who will enumerate their sins. And Micah coundels - “… And it is sound
wisdom to fear Your name” (NASB95). Before listening to God, Micah warned
that listening in fear (reverence, obedience) was the wise response to God’
judgment. The opening of the Proverbs,
written 300 years before Micah concurred: “The fear of the LORD is the
beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Prov. 1:7
NASB95)
We too, are soundly
wise to listen to God’s voice in Scripture in reverence with an intent to obey.
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