Micah 6:9-16

GOD'S JUSTICE DEMANDS THE WICKED BE PUNISHED. Micah 6:9-16

RV. The voice of Jehovah crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom will see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a scant measure that is abominable? Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies; and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore I also have smitten thee with a grievous wound; I have made thee desolate because of thy sins. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt put away, but shalt not save; and that which thou savest will I give up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine. For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I may make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing: and ye shall bear the reproach of my people.
LXX. The Lord's voice shall be proclaimed in the city, and he shall save those that fear his name: hear, O tribe; and who shall order the city? Is there not fire, and the house of the wicked heaping up wicked treasures, and that with the pride of unrighteousness? Shall the wicked be justified by the balance, or deceitful weights in the bag, whereby they have accumulated their ungodly wealth, and they that dwell in the city have uttered falsehoods, and their tongue has been exalted in their mouth? Therefore will I begin to smite thee; I will destroy thee in thy sins. Thou shalt eat, and shalt not be satisfied; and there shall be darkness upon thee; and he shall depart from thee, and thou shalt not escape; and all that shall escape shall be delivered over to the sword, Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt press the olive, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with oil; and shalt make wine, but ye shall drink no wine: and the ordinances of my people shall be utterly abolished. For thou hast kept the statutes of Zambri, and done all the works of the house of Achaab; and ye have walked in their ways, that I might deliver thee to utter destruction, and those that inhabit the city to hissing: and ye shall bear the reproach of nations.

COMMENTS

Micah 6:9-12.

The prophet, speaking with the voice of the Lord, calls upon the city, Jerusalem, to see the reason why He must punish her wickedness.

WISDOM SHALL SEE THY NAME. Micah 6:9

The Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac texts all have fear rather than see. Proverbs 9:10 tells us the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom.

The course of wisdom is to seriously heed God's warnings. He is God and is therefore perfectly capable of doing what He says He will do.

HEAR THE ROD. Micah 6:9(b)

The warning has been given. Micah entreats the people to hear the rod before it falls, before they feel it. They are also entreated to hear Him Who has appointed this punishment for His children.
God's messengers are ever required to explain God's providences and to quicken and direct men to learn the lessons taught by them.

... SHALL I BE PURE? Micah 6:10-12

Those who had wealth and power abused it. Those who did not have such advantages found other means of defrauding those with whom they dealt. If they could not use force and violence they used fraud and deceit. False weights and measures and deliberate lies were common devices for making a good bargain. They even spoke falsely concerning God. (Cp. Ezekiel 8:12)

How can God remain pure and yet withhold righteous judgment from such people? Can He be pure and go along with such ethics? This is ever the dilemma of God's justice and mercy.
It is very popular today to believe a God of mercy is not capable of stern judgment. There have been other times (e.g. the Puritan era) when it seems to have been believed that a just God could not possibly be merciful.

To the informed Christian, or for that matter the informed Jew, the answer has always been God's Messiah. This is the message of Romans 3:21-26. It is also the message of Micah as he alternately warns of judgements and promises Messiah's coming.

Micah 6:13-16.

THEREFORE I ALSO HAVE SMITTEN THEE. Micah 6:13

The persistent fact of sin is a prime factor in Micah's message. He did not see it as mere maladjustment or even failure to attain to some objective religious standard. Sin is against the person of God. It is unfaithfulness to His covenant, it is disloyalty to His purpose, it is disobedience to His authority. Exploitation of the poor, bribery, drunkenness, harlotry, idolatry are evil because they are an affront to a moral, ethical God!
The God Who cannot give countenance to sin will not save from destruction those who persist in it.
He will not abandon His mercy. The remnant will be redeemed and received by the Messiah.
But aside from the Messiah, and until He comes, God's rebellious people can expect to reap the consequences of their own evil ways.

... EAT. NOT BE SATISFIED

As they have swallowed down the riches of ill-gotten gain, so they shall vomit them up again. (Cp. Job 20:15) Their unethical affluence will not bring them satisfaction.

Such affluence never does. We are experiencing unparalleled social dissatisfaction in the midst of plenty in our time, largely because those who have been unconcerned for those who have not. and because much of our affluence has been gotten at the expense of the poor.

THY HUMILIATION SHALL BE IN THE MIDST OF THEE. Micah 6:14(b)

Their country will not harbor and protect them. God can cast a nation down by what is in the midst of them. They shall not be able to preserve what they have by force nor recover what they will lose. Their tainted wealth shall be removed by a foreign sword.

THOU SHALT SOW. BUT SHALL NOT DRINK WINE. Micah 6:15

Either their crops will be blasted and withered until there is nothing to reap, or an enemy shall come and reap what they have sown. When they are carried away captive they will not return to harvest what they have tilled.

THE STATUTES OF OMRI ARE KEPT. THE WORKS OF AHAB. Micah 6:16(a)

Here Micah alludes to the idolatrous reign of Omri (1 Kings 16:21 -f) as symbolic of the current unfaithfulness of the people. Omri had become king in the north, in the dynastic line of Jeroboam. He consolidated his power by defeating Tibni.

Omri reigned six years in Tirzah, after which he bought and fortified the hill of Samaria as his capital city.
It is said he did more evil than all his predecessors, beginning with Baal worship, that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah.
After a six year reign in Samaria, Omri died and was succeeded by his son, Ahab. Micah here refers to the works of the house of Ahab. What Bible student could be unfamiliar with the works of Ahab? It was he who married the infamous Jezebel whose missionary zeal for her god, Baal, puts the Israelites to shame in their apathetic neglect of Jehovah.
Micah here accuses Jerusalem of following the same idolatrous course as Omri and Ahab. In so doing, he presents us with another evidence that the chief concern of the prophet is to call the people away from idolatry and back to the covenant. There was all sorts of evil rampant in both kingdoms, but the root of it allthe fundamental reason for God's wrath against themwas their going off after Baal and in so doing breaking their covenant with Jehovah.
The Law which made Israel a nation was primarily designed to preserve the covenant and to move it forward toward the time when God, in the fullness of time, would bless all the nations of the earth in Abraham's seed. The gross violations of the law which brought about the preaching of the pre-exilic prophets were simply symptoms of the much deeper and more significant unfaithfulness to the covenant.

DESOLATION. HISSING. REPROACH

The desolation mentioned here is described vividly in Micah 3:12. The proud city of Jerusalem will lay in ruins for the seventy years of Babylonian captivity, and never again regain the splendor of her former glory.

The term hissing is reminiscent of Lamentations 2:15 -f. There the prophet depicts the sad wonder of those who pass by Jerusalem in her desolation. They clap their hands and suck their breath through closed teeth in expression of their amazement of the sad state of the city once called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth.

Because of their haughty claim to be God's only people, while failing in their covenant relationship to Him, the Jews will bear the reproach which comes from such a claim. Because of their disgraceful use of the Law of Jehovah, that which should have been a great honor, i.e. their chosen people status, shall become the occasion of their being despised by the peoples of the earth.

Here, it would seem, is at least a partial key to the historic phenomena mistakenly called anti-semitism.

Chapter XQuestions

Jehovah's Controversy With His People

1.

Micah Chapter s six and seven are composed of a series of __________.

2.

Just as the sins of society's leaders filter down through all classes so __________ are applied to all people.

3.

Jehovah's first controversy with His people is occasioned by their having forgotten __________.

4.

God's controversy with His people is before all creation because __________.

5.

How does Micah connect the final section of his book to the first section?

6.

In Micah 6:3-5 the __________ is made. In Micah 6:9 to Micah 7:6, the case will be __________.

7.

The cry of Micah 6:3-5 is the plea of a __________.

8.

Explain Micah's reference to Balaam. (Micah 6:5)

9.

Why remember from Shittim to Gilgal? (Micah 6:5(b))

10.

Show how Micah 6:1-5 is timely in our day.

11.

What is alluded to by shall I give my first-born for my transgression? (Micah 6:7 (b))

12.

Discuss Micah 6:8 in connection with Matthew 26:16 and Hebrews 2:1-4,

13.

God's insistence upon faithfulness is not unreasonable when we remember __________ His __________ and __________.

14.

How does Micah answer the question, what doth Jehovah require of thee? (Micah 6:8)

15.

The __________ is the Bible quoted by Jesus and the apostles.

16.

Micah 6:8 does not claim that __________ an attribute of God's character is required of God's people.

17.

Rather than compassion, Micah insists that we are required to __________.

18.

Discuss Micah 6:8 in connection with Matthew 23:23.

19.

Why must the outward forms of obedience always be expressive of inner reality?

20.

Compare Micah 6:9 and Proverbs 9:10.

21.

What is the significance of shall I be pure? Micah 6:10-12

22.

The persistent fact of __________ is a prime factor in Micah's message.

23.

Compare Micah 6:14 and Job 20:15.

24.

What is meant by Micah 6:15?

25.

What are the statutes of Omri? Micah 6:15(a)

26.

Compare Micah 6:16(b) and Micah 3:12.

27.

Discuss the historic phenomena known as anti-semitism in light of Micah 6:16.

28.

Compare Micah 7:1-2(a) and Psalms 14:1-2.

29.

Discuss Micah 7:1-2 in light of Romans 3:9-18.

30.

Micah 7:2(b) - Micah 7:4(a) refers to __________.

31.

Compare Micah 7:2(b) - Micah 7:4(a) with 2 Samuel 23:6-7, Isaiah 55:13, and Ezekiel 2:6.

32.

Who are listed as those whom honest men cannot trust? (Micah 7:5-6)

33.

Discuss Micah 7:5-6 in connection with Matthew 10:35-36 and Luke 12:53.

34.

Discuss Micah 7:7 in connection with Joshua 24:14-15.

35.

Despite the wickedness of his time, Micah is unshaken in the conviction that __________.

36.

Discuss Micah 7:8-10 in light of Romans 8:31-39.

37.

Compare Micah 7:9 to Psalms 22:1-24 and Romans 7:24 to Romans 8:1.

38.

What is meant by a day for rebuilding thy walls? (Micah 7:11-13)

39.

If one requires proof of Micah's highest motives in writing his prophecies, his prayer for __________ provides it amply.

40.

The nations shall see what and be ashamed?