GOD HAD A QUARREL AGAINST HIS PEOPLE MICAH 6:1-16biblestudyworkshop.com/download/old/micah/Micah6(2).pdf · Commentary . By . Charles Box. Text: Micah 6:1-16, 1. Listen to what the

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Commentary by Charles Box Questions by John C. Sewell

GOD HAD A QUARREL AGAINST HIS PEOPLE

MICAH 6:1-16

Landmark Publications, Inc., 1045 Maynor Street, Nashville, TN., 37216, U.S.A. John C. Sewell, Ph.D., Editor


God Had a Quarrel Against His People

Commentary

By

Charles Box

Text: Micah 6:1-16, 1. Listen to what the Lord says: “Get up! Defend yourself before the mountains! Present your case before the hills!” 2. Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains, you enduring foundations of the earth! For the Lord has a case against his people; he has a dispute with Israel! 3. “My people, how have I wronged you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! 4. In fact, I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I delivered you from that place of slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. 5. My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, how Balaam son of Beor responded to him. Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal, so you might acknowledge that the Lord has treated you fairly.” 6. With what should I enter the Lord’s presence? With what should I bow before the sovereign God? Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? 7. Will the Lord accept a thousand rams, or ten thousand streams of olive oil? Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion, my offspring—my own flesh and blood—for my sin?



8. He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord really wants from you: He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful, and to live obediently before your God. 9. Listen! The Lord is calling to the city! It is wise to respect your authority, O Lord! Listen, O nation, and those assembled in the city! 10. “I will not overlook, O sinful house, the dishonest gain you have hoarded away, or the smaller-than-standard measure I hate so much. 11. I do not condone the use of rigged scales, or a bag of deceptive weights. 12. The city’s rich men think nothing of resorting to violence; her inhabitants lie, their tongues speak deceptive words. 13. I will strike you brutally and destroy you because of your sin. 14. You will eat, but not be satisfied. Even if you have the strength to overtake some prey, you will not be able to carry it away; if you do happen to carry away something, I will deliver it over to the sword. 15. You will plant crops, but will not harvest them; you will squeeze oil from the olives, but you will have no oil to rub on your bodies; you will squeeze juice from the grapes, but you will have no wine to drink. 16. You implement the regulations of Omri, and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; you follow their policies. Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, the city’s inhabitants will be taunted derisively, and nations will mock all of you.” (NET) Introduction: I. It was God’s desire that the entire world hear Him as He spoke about the controversy that He had against His people.

A. He told Micah to speak as if He were in a court of law pleading God’s side of the case.



1. He wanted the people to understand what was right and what was wrong. 2. God challenged the people to testify against Him and prove any bad thing that He had done against them. 3. He asked them what He had done to have made them tired of Him.

II. God could not understand why they were so rebellious against Him.

A. He had been so good to them.

1. He had delivered them from the slavery of Egypt.

a. He provided leadership through Moses, Aaron and Miriam.

2. Even when Balak king of Moab hired Balaam to curse God’s people, God turned his curse into a blessing. (Numbers 22-24)

a. Numbers 22:1-41, The Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan River across from Jericho. Balak son of Zippor saw all that the Israelites had done to the Amorites. And the Moabites were greatly afraid of the people, because they were so numerous. The Moabites were sick with fear because of the Israelites. So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “Now this mass of people will lick up everything around us, as the bull devours the grass of the field.” Now Balak son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at this time. And he sent messengers to



Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates River in the land of Amaw, to summon him, saying, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are settling next to me. So now, please come and curse this nation for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.” So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fee for divination in their hand. They came to Balaam and reported to him the words of Balak. He replied to them, “Stay here tonight, and I will bring back to you whatever word the LORD may speak to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent a message to me, saying, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Come now and put a curse on them for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them out.” But God said to Balaam, “You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, for they are blessed.” So Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land, for the LORD has refused to permit me to go with you.” So the princes of Moab departed and went back to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.” Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first. And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak son of Zippor: ‘Please do not let anything hinder you from coming to me. For I will honor you greatly, and whatever you tell me I will do. So come, put a curse on this nation for me.’”



Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment of the LORD my God to do less or more. Now therefore, please stay the night here also, that I may know what more the LORD might say to me.” God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them, but the word that I will say to you, that you must do.” So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. Then God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand, so the donkey turned aside from the road and went into the field. But Balaam beat the donkey, to make her turn back to the road. Then the angel of the LORD stood in a path among the vineyards, where there was a wall on either side. And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed herself into the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he beat her again. Then the angel of the LORD went farther, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she crouched down under Balaam. Then Balaam was angry, and he beat his donkey with a staff. Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “You have made me look stupid; I wish there were a sword in my hand, for I would kill you right now.”



The donkey said to Balaam, “Am not I your donkey that you have ridden ever since I was yours until this day? Have I ever attempted to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.” Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand; so he bowed his head and threw himself down with his face to the ground. The angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you because what you are doing is perverse before me. The donkey saw me and turned from me these three times. If she had not turned from me, I would have killed you but saved her alive.” Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road. So now, if it is evil in your sight, I will go back home.” But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you may only speak the word that I will speak to you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at a city of Moab which was on the border of the Arnon at the boundary of his territory. Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send again and again to you to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able to speak just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth.” So Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. And Balak sacrificed bulls and sheep, and sent some to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him. Then on the next morning Balak took Balaam, and brought him up to Bamoth Baal. From there he saw the extent of the nation. (NET)



b. Numbers 23:1-20, Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each altar a bull and a ram. Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went to a deserted height. Then God met Balaam, who said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” So he returned to him, and he was still standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying, “Balak, the king of Moab, brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’ How can I curse one whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce one whom the LORD has not denounced? For from the top of the rocks I see them; from the hills I watch them. Indeed, a nation that lives alone, and it will not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let the end of my life be like theirs.” Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary you have only blessed them!” Balaam replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD has put in my mouth?” Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of



them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.” So Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. And Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD there.” Then the LORD met Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” When Balaam came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?” Balaam uttered his oracle, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, son of Zippor: God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. (NET)

c. Numbers 24: 1-25, When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go as at the other times to seek for omens, but he set his face toward the wilderness. When Balaam lifted up his eyes, he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him. Then he uttered this oracle: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor; the oracle of the man whose eyes are open; the oracle of the one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, although falling flat on the ground with eyes open: ‘How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, and your dwelling places, O Israel! They are like valleys stretched forth, like gardens by the river’s side, like aloes that the LORD has planted, and like cedar trees beside



the waters. He will pour the water out of his buckets, and their descendants will be like abundant water; their king will be greater than Agag, and their kingdom will be exalted. God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull; they will devour hostile people and will break their bones and will pierce them through with arrows. They crouch and lie down like a lion, and as a lioness, who can stir him? Blessed is the one who blesses you, and cursed is the one who curses you!’” Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless them these three times! So now, go back where you came from! I said that I would greatly honor you, but now the LORD has stood in the way of your honor.” Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the LORD to do either good or evil of my own will, but whatever the LORD tells me I must speak’? And now, I am about to go back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future.” Then he uttered this oracle: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor; the oracle of the man whose eyes are open; the oracle of the one who hears the words of God, and who knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, although falling flat on the ground with eyes open: ‘I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand. A star will march forth out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab, and the heads of all the sons of



Sheth. Edom will be a possession, Seir, his enemies, will also be a possession; but Israel will act valiantly. A ruler will be established from Jacob; he will destroy the remains of the city.’” Then Balaam looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle: “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end will be that he will perish.” Then he looked on the Kenites and uttered this oracle: “Your dwelling place seems strong, and your nest is set on a rocky cliff. Nevertheless the Kenite will be consumed. How long will Asshur take you away captive?” Then he uttered this oracle: “O, who will survive when God does this! Ships will come from the coast of Kittim, and will afflict Asshur, and will afflict Eber, and he will also perish forever.” Balaam got up and departed and returned to his home, and Balak also went his way. (NET)

B. Still the people rebelled by not appreciating and honoring God. God had blessed His people from “Shittim unto Gilgal.”

1. “Shittim” was the place of Balaam’s wicked counsel.

2. “Gilgal” was the place of Israel’s first encampment in the Promised Land.

a. Joshua 5:2-11, At that time the LORD told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites once again.” So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites on the Hill of the Foreskins. This is why Joshua had to circumcise them: All the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt died on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt. Now all the men who left were circumcised, but all the sons born on the journey



through the desert after they left Egypt were uncircumcised. Indeed, for forty years the Israelites traveled through the desert until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the LORD, died off. For the LORD had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn on oath to give them, a land rich in milk and honey. He replaced them with their sons, whom Joshua circumcised. They were uncircumcised; their fathers had not circumcised them along the way. When all the men had been circumcised, they stayed there in the camp until they had healed. The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have taken away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” So that place is called Gilgal even to this day. So the Israelites camped in Gilgal and celebrated the Passover in the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the plains of Jericho. They ate some of the produce of the land the day after the Passover, including unleavened bread and roasted grain. (NET)

C. The Lord saved His people many times, but still they were ingrates.

III. God’s message seemed to somewhat get the attention of the people.

A. Some asked, “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?”

1. They appeared to be willing to offer an immense number of sacrifices, or very expensive offerings or even to offer their own children.

B. They said that they were willing to give anything that God wanted.



1. There was really no need for them to ask what God required.

a. He had shown them a long time before this.

b. “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord they God require of thee, but to fear the Lord they God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all they heart and with all they soul.” (Deuteronomy 10:12)

C. God wanted the people to love and obey Him, and to show justice and mercy to their fellow men!

IV. The people were dishonest, deceitful, violent and full of lies.

A. They would now see the words of Leviticus 26:26 fulfilled. “And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.”

1. God warned them that they would sow, but would not reap.

2. The curses came straight out of Deuteronomy 28.

a. Deuteronomy 28:15-68, “But if you ignore the LORD your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. Your children will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and



the lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. “The LORD will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you in everything you undertake until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. The LORD will plague you with deadly diseases until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess. He will afflict you with weakness, fever, inflammation, infection, sword, blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish. The sky above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron. The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed. “The LORD will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. Your carcasses will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to chase them off. The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, eczema, and scabies, all of which cannot be healed. The LORD will also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind. You will feel your way along at noon like the blind person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do; you will be constantly oppressed and continually robbed, with no one to save you. You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it. Your ox will be slaughtered before your very eyes but you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be stolen from



you as you watch and will not be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be given to your enemies and there will be no one to save you. Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it. As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives. You will go insane from seeing all this. The LORD will afflict you in your knees and on your legs with painful, incurable boils—from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. The LORD will force you and your king whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there. You will become an occasion of horror, a proverb, and an object of ridicule to all the peoples to whom the LORD will drive you. “You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because locusts will consume it. You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink wine or gather in grapes, because worms will eat them. You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with olive oil, because the olives will drop off the trees while still unripe. You will bear sons and daughters but not keep them, because they will be taken into captivity. Whirring locusts will take over every tree and all the produce of your soil. The foreigners who reside among you will become higher and higher over you and you will become lower and lower. They will lend to you but you will not lend to them; they will become the head and you will become the tail! All these curses will fall on you, pursuing and



overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has given you. These curses will be a perpetual sign and wonder with reference to you and your descendants. “Because you have not served the LORD your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty you will serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you. They will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. The LORD will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young. They will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with any grain, new wine, olive oil, calves of your herds, or lambs of your flocks until they have destroyed you. They will besiege all of your villages until all of your high and fortified walls collapse—those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the LORD your God has given you. You will then eat your own offspring, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege by which your enemies will constrict you. The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will turn against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will



constrict you in your villages. Likewise, the most tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, and will secretly eat her afterbirth and her newborn children (since she has nothing else), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages. “If you refuse to obey all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God, then the LORD will increase your punishments and those of your descendants—great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses. He will infect you with all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will persistently afflict you. Moreover, the LORD will bring upon you every kind of sickness and plague not mentioned in this scroll of commandments, until you have perished. There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, because you will have disobeyed the LORD your God. This is what will happen: Just as the LORD delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess. The LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the LORD will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair. Your



life will hang in doubt before you; you will be terrified by night and day and will have no certainty of surviving from one day to the next. In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’ because of the things you will fear and the things you will see. Then the LORD will make you return to Egypt by ship, over a route I said to you that you would never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.” (NET)

B. God was saddened that the statutes of Omri were kept. 1. Omri was the father of Ahab.

a. It was he that had arranged the marriage of Ahab to Jezebel. b. Those were the two that brought Baal worship into Israel. c. Therefore, the statutes of Omri were statutes of Baal.

Commentary:

The Lord’s Challenge to His People

Micah 6:1-5, Listen to what the LORD says: “Get up! Defend yourself before the mountains! Present your case before the hills!” Hear the LORD’s accusation, you mountains, you enduring foundations of the earth! For the LORD has a case against his people; he has a dispute with Israel! “My people, how have I wronged you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! In fact, I



brought you up from the land of Egypt, I delivered you from that place of slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, how Balaam son of Beor responded to him. Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal, so you might acknowledge that the LORD has treated you fairly.” (NET)

I. God called upon Israel (Judah) to present any complaints that they might have against Him in the presence of everyone.

A. Micah moved from his prediction of the remnant’s returning from the captivity to again discussing God’s complaint against Israel because of their unfaithfulness.

B. He called upon Israel (Judah) to defend their conduct before the whole world.

1. The Lord’s message to the people was, “Come and present your case to the hills and mountains.”

2. The Lord’s complaint against Israel (Judah) would be made just as publicly as any defense that Israel (Judah) could make.

a. The sad truth is that there is no defense that this ungrateful nation could make.

C. God called His people to name any way that He had mistreated or wearied them.

1. Of course they could name only good things that God had done.

II. Israel (Judah) could offer no legitimate complaint against God.



A. Instead they could only name things for which they should have been grateful.

1. After 430 years in Egypt, a part of which time was spent in servitude, God brought them out as a free people.

2. He gave them good leadership in the wilderness in the form of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

a. Moses dealt with the application of God’s law.

b. Aaron was the spokesman.

c. Miriam encouraged the people with her songs.

3. God likewise reminded them how he had turned the evil conspiracy of King Balak of Moab and Balaam son of Beor into something good for Israel.

a. Near the end of the journey through the wilderness Israel was confronted by these two evil men.

b. Balaam was a prophet that had become wicked.

c. He hired out to Balak to curse God’s people.

d. However, God turned Balaam’s curses into blessings.

e. Each time he tried to curse the people, God caused him to bless them instead.

f. What complaint could Israel have against God?

God Required True Obedience

Micah 6:5-8, With what should I enter the LORD’s presence? With what should I bow before the sovereign God? Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? Will the LORD



accept a thousand rams, or ten thousand streams of olive oil? Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion, my offspring—my own flesh and blood—for my sin? He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the LORD really wants from you: He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful, and to live obediently before your God. (NET)

I. Few in Israel (Judah) had any interest at all in being an honor to God.

A. It seems, however, that some few in Israel (Judah) asked, “What offering should I bring when I bow down to worship the Lord God Most High? Should I try to please him by sacrificing calves a year old? Will thousands of sheep or rivers of olive oil make God satisfied with me? Should I sacrifice to the Lord my first-born child s payment for my terrible sing?”

1. We would all do well to remember that outward sacrifice means nothing if the heart remains corrupt!

2. Israel (Judah) did not need to ask or wonder what God required.

3. He had previously said, “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord they God require of thee, but to fear the Lord they God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord they God with all they heart and with all they soul.” (Deuteronomy 10:12)

II. The requirements of God are simple: (1) See that justice is done, (2) love mercy and let it be a major concern in your life, and (3) humbly obey your God.

A. The presence of these attitudes would then have allowed their animal sacrifices to have been acceptable to God.

1. God showed man, “What is good.”



B. The Law provided many shadows of the coming Messiah.

1. This should have kept Israel (Judah) focused on God.

2. Justice and mercy are valuable characteristics to God.

3. Through the prophet Hosea He said, “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)

4. What could be more valuable than a humble walk with Godduring which one prays, serves and watches.

5. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Luke 11:42)

God was displeased with Cheating and Violence

Micah 6:9-11, Listen! The LORD is calling to the city! It is wise to respect your authority, O LORD! Listen, O nation, and those assembled in the city! “I will not overlook, O sinful house, the dishonest gain you have hoarded away, or the smaller-than-standard measure I hate so much. I do not condone the use of rigged scales, or a bag of deceptive weights. (NET)

I. A wise man will listen to and obey the voice of Jehovah.

A. He is the Lord and it makes sense to respect His power.

1. He has power to bless and He has power to punish.

B. He especially appealed to Jerusalem to hear and learn from the chastening rod of the Almighty.



1. God charged them with talking about honoring Him and at the same time storing up things gotten by dishonest means.

2. “Are there not still treasures gained by wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a false measure for grain that is abominable and accursed?”

3. Amos said the people want the worship to quickly be over so that they could get back to their dishonest business dealings.

4. They said, “When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? And the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?” (Amos 8:5)

5. God expects more than lip service and partial obedience!

II. God could not tolerate their wrong

A. “Can I be pure Myself, and acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights?”

1. If God accepted or tolerated their evil deeds, He himself could not be pure.

a. The purity of Jehovah demanded punishment for their evil deeds.

b. The purity of God led Him to say, “But I, the Lord, will punish you for cheating with weights and with measures.”

2. We often think “no one will find out.”

a. But God knew exactly about their deceitful weights and now they will face the deserved punishment.



Idolatry Destroyed the Nation

Micah 6:12-16, The city’s rich men think nothing of resorting to violence; her inhabitants lie, their tongues speak deceptive words. I will strike you brutally and destroy you because of your sin. You will eat, but not be satisfied. Even if you have the strength to overtake some prey, you will not be able to carry it away; if you do happen to carry away something, I will deliver it over to the sword. You will plant crops, but will not harvest them; you will squeeze oil from the olives, but you will have no oil to rub on your bodies; you will squeeze juice from the grapes, but you will have no wine to drink. You implement the regulations of Omri, and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; you follow their policies. Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, the city’s inhabitants will be taunted derisively, and nations will mock all of you.” (NET)

I. God levied some serious charges against the rich.

A. The charges were made not because they were rich, but because of how they had obtained their wealth.

1. He said, “For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.” (Micah 6:12)

a. These people were guilty of (1) violence, (2) lies, and (3) deceit.

b. The people were also guilty because they failed to rise up and come to the aid of the helpless.

c. Jeremiah wrote, “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?” (Jeremiah 5:31)



2. God promised the common people punishment for their sins.

a.“Because of your sins, I will wound you and leave you ruined and defenseless.”

b. Both the leaders and the people would feel the wrath of God.

II. God promised many sad lines of punishment that would be brought upon His disobedient people.

A. “Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.” (Micah 6:14)

B. God promised: (1) you will eat, but still be hungry, (2) you will store up goods, but lose everything, (3) you will be captured in war, (4) you will not harvest what you plant, (5) you will not use the oil from your olive trees, and (6) you will not drink the wine from grapes you grow.

1. These things literally came true when the people were taken into captivity.

III. Sadly God promised, “For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk 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.” (Micah 6:16)

A. God said, “But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities.” (1 Kings 16:25-16)



1. Omri’s legacy is one of great evil.

2. “He must be remembered as the progenitor of four sovereigns whose capacity for evil was unmatched: King Ahab, King Ahaziah, King Jehoram, and Judah’s Queen Athaliah.”

a. Omri’s evil had continued to Micah’s day.

b. He spoke of it in the present tense even though this was at least 150 years after the time of Omri himself.

Conclusion:

I. Let us arise with hearts filled with repentance and serve God.

A. Become a child of God and stand strong in the faith.



Questions

By

John C. Sewell

Micah 6:1-16

(Questions based on NIV text)

1. What controversy did God have with this people? _______________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 2. What role did Micah have in presenting God’s side of the controversy? _______________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 3. Do people understand right from wrong? Explain your answer. Give examples. _________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________



4. What wrongs, according to the people, had God done to cause them to rebel against him? ___________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 5. How can it be said that the omniscient God “could not understand why they were so rebellious against Him”? _______________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 6. According to Micah 6, what good things had God done for his people? ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 7. The Lord’s people did not appreciate nor honor God? How common is this kind of attitude? Give examples to support your answer. ______ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 8. What is the significance of Shittim and Gilgal? __________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________



__________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 9. Why did the people’s willingness to offer an immense number of expensive sacrifices not please God? ____________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 10. What does Deuteronomy 10:12 say God requires? _______________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 11. ______________ wanted the _____________ to _______________ and ______________ _______________, and to show ______________ and ________________ to their ______________ _________________! 12. The _______________were ______________, _______________, _________________ and _________________ of _______________. They would _____________ but would ____________ _____________. 13. What were the statues of Omri? Why was God saddened that the people had kept Omri’s statutes? _______________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________



14. Describe Omri’s character and that of his family. In what ways did they influence God’s people? __________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 15. What complaints did Israel have against God? What complaints do you have against God? _______________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 16. ______________ ______________ means _______________ if the _________________ remains _______________! 17. A _____________ ______________ will ______________ to and ______________ the _____________ of _____________. He is the ______________ and it makes ______________ to ___________ his ______________. 18. Give examples of God’s chastening of Israel. Has God chastened you? If so, why and what were the results of this chastening? ________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 19. Monetary gain was more important to Israel than religion. Why does this sound familiar? __________________________________________



__________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 20. To what extent does God tolerate evil? ________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 21. Of what sins were Israel’s rich guilty? According to the newspapers, of what sins are today’s rich guilty? Is it wrong to be rich? __________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 22. Israel’s rich were full of _____________, had ______________ ______________, and their _______________ is _______________ in their ______________. They also had failed to come to the ________________ of the ________________. 23. What punishments would God bring upon his sinful people, rich and poor alike? _________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 24. For what is Omri remembered? For what will you be remembered?



__________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 25. Therefore let us _____________ with _____________ filled with ________________ and _______________ ____________. Let us ________________ _____________ in the ____________. How long will our influence, for good or evil, last? _________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________


Documents

GOD HAD A QUARREL AGAINST HIS PEOPLE MICAH 6:1-16biblestudyworkshop.com/download/old/micah/Micah6(2).pdf · Commentary . By . Charles Box. Text: Micah 6:1-16, 1. Listen to what the