Day 269. Micah 5-7

The face of rising menace of Assyria, and with the city of Jerusalem under siege (5:1), the prophet recalls the promise of God made to the house of David—2 Samuel 7—and predicts that a Davidic king ruler will soon be born in Bethlehem, the shepherd David's home town. This king will deliver—the biblical word is "redeem"—the covenant people from their enemies. This oracle is recalled by both Matthew and Luke when they record that Jesus is born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:6) and tell us how the infant Jesus is adored by shepherds (Luke 2). Micah emphasizes the Messiah's role as a shepherd who will "stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD his God" (5:4). Under his protection they shall no longer live in fear of invasion because of his strength which will reach "to the ends of the earth." He shall not only be "the one of peace" (5:5), also one of strength who will be able to defend his flock if "the Assyrians come into our
land," as a shepherd might defend his flock against wild animals.
Under Davidic rule, "the remnant of Jacob" will be like "dew from the LORD," which falls unbidden and depends upon no mortal (5:7). In battle it will be impossible to withstand them; they will be as irresistible as "a young lion among the flocks of sheep" (5:8-9). But vindication will come at the cost of suffering in the immediate future. The people must learn to put their trust in the LORD rather than in themselves and their own devices. Therefore, "in that day" the LORD will destroy all those things upon which his people depend in preference to putting their faith in him—not only their horses and chariots and fortifications, but also their "sorceries" and "soothsayers," which they consult to predict the future. But in order to destroy their images and uproot the phallic pillars and poles sacred to the pagan fertility gods they worship, the LORD must "destroy [their] towns" (5:14) and uproot their villages, executing
vengeance on all "the nations that did not obey" (5:15)—including Israel.
In chapter 6 we are again transported into the cosmic courtroom where we have been so many times before. The history of the covenant people is seen as a trial. The natural world is called upon to witness to the awesome power of the LORD and to judge in the "controversy" the LORD has "with his people" (6:2). In his own defense the LORD recalls the great acts he did in choosing and delivering Israel from bondage in Egypt. He has made them his own chosen people; now what response to his mercy and grace does the LORD require? Does God ask for lavish and extravagant sacrifices? Does he ask for human sacrifice as the pagan gods do? "Shall I give the firstborn for my transgression?" (6:7), the prophet asks. God does not require ritual acts of sacrifice. Indeed he looks for a holy pattern of thought and action—obedience, in short. The people already know what they should do—they have the Law of Moses. And in accordance with the
Law they are required to "do justice, and . . . love kindness, and . . . walk humbly with [their] God" (6:8). Religious observances do not please God, unless with them the covenant people give an offering of integrity, honesty, and compassion in dealing with other members of their community.
In this their rulers have set a bad example. The kings of the northern kingdom of Israel particularly—"Omri" and the "house of Ahab" (6:16) -- were notorious in their time for their callous exploitation of the poor and their grotesque distortions of justice—see 1 Kings 21. Now the people of both kingdoms "have followed their counsels" and become corrupt in their business practices, tolerating what the LORD cannot endure "wicked scales, and a bag of dishonest weights" (6:11). All of the prophets--including Jesus of Nazareth-- took aim at the wealthy, who exploit the poor and live in callous disregard of their suffering. Speaking to his Israelite contemporaries, Micah tells them that "[their] wealthy are full of violence, [their] inhabitants speak lies" (6:12). Therefore because of the prevailing atmosphere of dishonesty, the land will suffer a diminishing prosperity--a lingering economic recession. Wealth and comfort will depart,
to be replaced with poverty and dissatisfaction.
But even in judgment the prophet Micah is not detached from his people; he includes himself in the message of condemnation he brings. He laments the spiritual want and longing in his own heart which mirrors the emptiness of this people —"there is no first-ripe fruit for which I hunger" (7:1), he says. He hungers and thirsts for righteousness which has departed from the land; "there is no one left who is upright" (7:2), he laments. The officials are corrupt and the powerful distort justice for their own benefit. The best of them is like a "thorn hedge" (7:4), prickly and harsh. In a passage echoed in Jesus prediction in Luke 21:16, he marks the climate of mistrust and the disruption of family relationships which mark the dissolution of society—7:5-6.
In the midst of all this, however, the prophet puts his trust in the faithfulness of the LORD and waits "for the God of [his] salvation" (7:7) to save. With his confession of faith and trust, the mood of the book changes from despair to hope. He will not be overcome by his "enemy"—even when he sits in darkness, "the LORD will be a light for [him]" (7:8). The prophet shares in the guilt of this people and their judgment—"I must bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him" (7:9), he says. But his humiliation—and that of his people--will not last forever. He will see his "vindication" against some unnamed female "enemy"—which may be the personified Israel—who has wronged him and then asked derisively—"Where is the LORD your God?" (7: 10) This may be a play on Micah's own name, which means "Who is like the LORD?" But the "enemy"—whether "she" is an individual or the corrupt
nation—"will be trodden down like the mire of the streets" (7:10).
And for Micah and for the faithful remnant of the people the LORD will prove himself an incomparable savior. After uprooting a day of replanting will come. In the midst of a "desolate" earth, restored Israel will flourish, and the scattered exiles "from Assyria and Egypt" shall return to their homeland to be ruled by an ideal king of the house of David. The prophet now addresses the Messiah and summons him to be the "shepherd [of his] people," exhorting him to call forth his flock into "the midst of a garden land" (7:14). His kingdom will include lands—"Bashan and Gilead" on the far side of the Jordan--long since lost to foreign powers. The restoration will be a time of wonders. As in the time of the Exodus, the Messiah, like a new Moses, the liberator, will "show [his people] marvelous things" (7:15). And when they see these "marvelous things," erstwhile enemies will be crushed with fear at what the LORD is doing for his
people (7:17).
The Book of Micah ends with a sort of doxology of praise to the God who alone is glorified for his mercy—"pardoning iniquity" (7:18) and "showing clemency" even to the undeserving. He shows his "faithfulness to Jacob" and his "unswerving loyalty to Abraham" (7:20) by forgiving his people "all their sins" and treading their "iniquities under foot" (7:19), raising them up again and again from death to new life in him.