Hear what the Lord says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.
3 “O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”
What Does the Lord Require?
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
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 thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Destruction of the Wicked
9 The voice of the Lord cries to the city—
and it is sound wisdom to fear your name:
“Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it!
10 Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
and the scant measure that is accursed?
11 Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales
and with a bag of deceitful weights?
12 Your rich men are full of violence;
your inhabitants speak lies,
and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,
making you desolate because of your sins.
14 You shall eat, but not be satisfied,
and there shall be hunger within you;
you shall put away, but not preserve,
and what you preserve I will give to the sword.
15 You shall sow, but not reap;
you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
16 For you have kept the statutes of Omri,
and all the works of the house of Ahab;
and you have walked in their counsels,
that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing;
so you shall bear the scorn of my people.” Micah 6 ESV
Micah 6
Arise, plead your case before the mountains - Court is in session and God is the plaintiff and the Great Judge. He brings it before witnesses who have stood silently throughout time. The mount has witnessed the threshing floor on Moriah, David's purchase of the mount for an altar unto God, the temple, millions of sacrifices and then the One, that One had not yet come.
…39But some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!” 40“I tell you,” He answered, “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.” 41As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it… Luke 19: 39-41
How have I wearied you - Scary question, and it is not only they, but mankind who somehow feels that God is a strain upon them. He makes a covenant with them, they break it straight away, they repent, He relents, but they are always blaming God. "It was the woman, that YOU gave me, she made me eat of the fruit." They murmur and complain yet all He has ever owed any and every man is death, just for that thing you call a white lie, and roll your eyes at the thought of a God Who could ever be upset with you.
I brought you out of Egypt - As soon as God didn't jump through hoops and give them what they lusted for, well then they thought they remembered having it better in the last place they complained of.
Redeemed you from the house of slavery - Yea, but I asked You for a new car today and You didn't pull through. What is this Manna? There is no sauce or cheese on it.
…11They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.… Exodus 14: 11-13
Moses, Aaron and Miriam - He gave them leaders, they were not left alone, and He guarded them Himself, provided a cloud by day to shield them from the sun, and fire by night to keep the wolves at bay.
c. Remember now what Balak king of Moab counseled: Numbers 22-24 tells the story of Balak and Balaam. After meeting with King Balak of Moab, Balaam prophesied over Israel four times. As he spoke forth God’s word, he did not curse Israel – but he blessed them each time. When he was unsuccessful in cursing Israel, Balaam answered Balak on how to bring Israel under a curse. Instead of trying to have a prophet curse them, the Moabites would lead them into fornication and idolatry, and thus God would curse idolatrous and disobedient Israel. Balak did just that, sending his young women into the camp of Israel to lead Israel into sexual immorality and idolatry. Because of their sin, God did curse Israel – He brought a plague of judgment upon Israel that killed 24,000. - Enduring Word
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams - They had the sacrificial system, but the reality that it taught was that the blood of bulls and rams did not take away sin. "Is it more blood You want, God?" They are disrespectful in this as if they had paid the price, yet God has said that obedience is better than sacrifice. This sacrificial system was never ending and of course would increase as sinners increase. It all points to the necessity of a final, infinitely perfect sacrifice, the One Whom God promised from the fall, the seed of the woman.
…21The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.” 22But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”… 1 Samuel 15: 21-23
…4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. 6In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight.… Hebrews 10: 4-6
“Blinded to God’s goodness and character, he reasons within his own depraved frame of reference. He need not change; God must change… His willingness to raise the price does not reflect his generosity but veils a complaint that God demands too much.” (Waltke)
He has told you, o man, what is good - They wanted to relate it to the sacrifice, then to human sacrifice, oil, but He asked for repentance and for them to show mercy to others since that was what they needed from God.
…17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. 19So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification.… Romans 14: 17-19
15Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name. 16And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 17Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account. To this end, allow them to lead with joy and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you.… Hebrews 13: 15-17
…16For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings. 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. 18In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.… Psalm 51: 16-18
Hear the rod - If we hate our children we leave them to continue in their sin, never confront evil, yet God says of those He loves, He disciplines.
i. “We can rest contentedly in our sins and in our stupidities; and anyone who has watched gluttons shoveling down the most exquisite foods as if they did not know what they were eating, will admit that we can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists on being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” (C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain)
Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales - In their minds they probably already had, as these were the purses that impressed them, the money in the church. "It's just business," how many times have you heard that?
“No society is ever entirely upright or godly; there are always evil people in it. But in a well-functioning society the evil are suppressed and those of good character are prominent and rule the land. In times of moral breakdown this is inverted.” (Boice)
…10A divine verdict is on the lips of a king; his mouth must not betray justice. 11Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are His concern. 12Wicked behavior is detestable to kings, for a throne is established through righteousness.… Proverbs 16: 10-12
You shall put away but not preserve - They were saving for a rainy day, taking the extra they had made at the expense of integrity lost, making storehouses for their retirement and leisure. This is not kingdom life, God's will not be like this world's, so your store will rot, and what doesn't rot will be taken by someone who didn't store it.
You have kept the statutes of Omri - Not God's statutes, Daniel was willing to go to the Lion's den and his friends to the furnace in order to obey God rather than men, but these obeyed men against God. People always throw up the excuses even after they have been made aware of the truth, "it's just business, I was just following orders, it's our society, our culture," but guess what God's going to go by?
“Omri, king of Israel, the father of Ahab, was one of the worst kings the Israelites ever had; and Ahab followed in his wicked father’s steps. The statutes of those kings were the very grossest idolatry.” (Clarke)
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