You Know, O Mortal...
NL 110 for November 13th, 2022
The Text
The given text is: Micah [1:3-5]; 5:2-5a; 6:6-8
However, I am not convinced that is the best division, I would at least include 1:1-5 for an introduction, and am even toying with the idea of preaching the entirety of Micah as the sermon itself…
Last Time on ‘The Story’
Since the death of Elisha, the following kings reigned over Judah and Israel.
Israel (Northern, Samaria)
Jehoash son of Joahaz:
Captured king Amaziah
broke wall of Jerusalem and seized the gold, silver, and vessels from the Temple, and treasury of the palace.
Jeroboam II son of Jehoash: 41 years
did what was evil in the sight of YHWH
Zechariah son of Jeroboam II: 6 months (!)
Did what was evil
Killed (in public) by Shallum son of Jabesh
Shallum son of Jabesh: 1 month (!!)
killed by Manahem son of Gadi
Manahem son of Gadi: 10 years
Did what was evil
Pays off the Assyrian Empire
Pekahiah son of Manahem: 2 years
Did what was evil
Taken out by Pekah son of Remaliah (his army captain)
Pekah son of Remaliah: 20 years
Did what was evil
Laid siege to Jerusalem (Ahaz) along with king of Aram (Rezin)
Assyria captured a bunch of land
killed by Hoshea son of Elah
Hoshea son of Elah: 9 years
Did what was evil
Became vassal of Assyria (Shalmaneser), but also tried to align with Egypt (So); so the king of Assyria imprisoned him.
Assyria laid siege to Samarea, and conquered it.
Judah (Southern, Jerusalem)
Amaziah son of Joash (of Judah): 29 years
Followed the ways of David, but did not remove the ‘high places’
defeated Edom
Civil war with Israel
Captured by Jehoash (king of Israel and his dad)
Killed 15 years later by conspiracy
Azariah (a.k.a. Uzziah) son of Amaziah : 52 years
Did what was right in the eyes of YHWH
Jotham son of Amaziah: 16 years
Did what was right (Except the high places were not removed)
Ahaz son of Jotham: 16 years
Did not do what was right (Sacrificed his son by fire, and worshiped at the high places)
Jerusalem was under siege from Israel (Pekah) and Aram (Rezin)
Became a vassal to Assyria to defeat Israel/Aram.
Copied an altar from Damascus and had the priest Uriah put it in front of the Temple (and removed the Bronze Altar)
Hezekiah son of Ahaz: 29 years
Did what was right including taking down the high places, pillars, sacred poles, and bronze serpent that Moses had made (and the people were worshiping at)
Rebelled against Assyria
Assyria (Sennacherib) laid siege to several cities
Hezekiah promised 300 talents of silver/30 talents of gold, and strips the Temple to get it.
Jerusalem lies under siege of Assyria under the Rabshakeh
Time of Prophet Isaiah (Next week)
So Micah is a prophet called during the time of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Which are some eventful years. The kings of Israel, who are all terrible, have been a parade of coups and conspiracies. Micah is likely called during the fall of Israel to Assyria, and the very real threat of the fall of Judah as well. The kings of Judah tend to have been better, but Micah is serving during one of the worst kings, Ahaz, who even sacrificed his own son to an idol. Micah also serves under one of the best kings, Hezekiah, who despite his righteousness is also besieged by Assyria. Given the context clues, I would guess that the book of Micah is written during the reign of Ahaz.
Today’s Story
So as I mentioned before, today's paricape is kind of all over the place, so let’s get a big picture look at the book as a whole, so we see where it all fits together. Here the Bible Project’s video is a huge help.
Here is my breakdown: The book starts with a brief introduction to the prophet, and the time in which he lived.
The rest of the book shifts between judgment and signs of hope. As the book goes on, the Judgement sections get shorter, and the hope sections get longer.
Judgment I (1:2-2:11)
1:2-9 YHWH serves as witness against both Israel and Judah
the first part of our paricape comes from this section
1:10-16 YHWH calls other nations as witness against Judah and Israel
2:1-5 Accusation is laid against the rich and the powerful, the politically elite, because of their injustice against the poor, specifically taking property
2:6-11 Accusation against the Religious elite, because they preach false pace instead of repentance, and steal from widows and children.
Hope I (2:12-13): A short statement of hope claiming that YHWH will gather the survivors of the impending doom as a shepherd gathers scattered sheep.
Judgement II (3:1-12): Calling the leaders back to justice (using some very graphic imagery), the false prophets cry ‘peace’ in their comfort, yet declare war on the poor.
Hope II (4:1-5:15)
4:1-8 Future hope of the Kingdom (Kindom) of God where the ‘mountain of YHWH’s house/Zion/ Jerusalem will be established as the seat of all power and judgment/justice. The place where there will be true peace, and all (including the lame and those cast off) will be welcome.
4:9-5:1 Mini judgment against the current leadership which lacks courage as the ‘nations’ gather around Jerusalem.
We also have a counter-intuitive statement in 4:10 that they will indeed be captured by Babylon (another empire on the rise) but that through that capture they will be saved.
This siege language could be in reference to the siege under the Rabshakeh during the reign of Hezekiah, or the siege of Samaria during the reign of Hoshea
5:2-6 Present the contrast of a future ruler from Bethlehem. Who is both future and from ancient days. Who will bring about this New Jerusalem/Kingdom of God. New leadership (7 shepherds and 8 rulers) will be raised against the enemies of God.
Bethlehem is a clear connection to king David and perhaps to the promise to David of a future king who will reign forever.
This is the second section in our paricape, and one we often hear around the Advent season.
5:7-15 The future role of the ‘remnant of Jacob’ will be a scattered people, yet victorious like a lion. Victory over the horses/chariots of Empire, cities, sorceries, and all idol worship.
Judgment III (6:1-7:6)
6:1-2 YHWH calls for the people to answer the charge
6:3-5 YHWH reminds the people of God’s faithfulness
6:6-8 The repentant response: “With what shall I come before YHWH?” and the answer, “God has told you, O mortal, what is good;/ and what does YHWH require of you/ but to do justice, and to love kindness,/ and to walk humbly with your God?”
This is our third section in the paricape, and a familiar one for many of us.
6:9-16 YHWH calls the people to repentance for their dishonesty, for the gnawing hunger of exorbitant wealth, and generally being like Ahab (a fairly biting accusation)
Hope III (7:1-20) The Prophet’s Response.
7:1-6 The prophet’s dismay over the general shittiness of the people.
7:7-10 The prophet’s resolve to walk in the ways of YHWH, and ultimate victory over his enemies.
7:11-17 an oracle about the restoration of the wall, territory, and people.
7:18-20 praise for YHWH’s salvation and forgiveness.
The Case: The setting for the book of Micah is a courtroom. YHWH is making the case against this people who have failed to live up to the justice/judgment that they are called to. The opening verses call the jury for the case, all of humanity. It calls the witness, YHWH who serves as witness against Jerusalem and Samaria. This language is picked up later in chapter 6 when the accused are called on to answer for their crimes. The charge, a lack of justice.
Justice and Judgment: in Hebrew, the Word Mishpat can be translated as either the english concept of judgment or justice. In other words, the separate concepts in English are one and the same for the Hebrew mindset. Ultimately, the charge against the political and religious leaders is one of justice, God has judged their actions and deemed them to be unjust, therefore there will be coming judgment/justice. God’s judgment of the political and religious leaders is a restoration of justice for those who they have been unjustly taking money and dignity from.
At this point, we may need to remember that the biblical perspective on morality is often very different from our western one. In the modern Western world, we have been deeply infected with individualistic thought. In this mindset, all that we are responsible for is the things that we have personally and intentionally done. Salvation is about our personal sin, and the forgiveness of it. Righteousness is about our following all of the rules, and doing things correctly. Justice is about how we treat others alone.
The Biblical perspective; however, is much more communal. We are responsible for the things that we actively do, but we also have responsibility for the community in which we live. Salvation is not just a personal and spiritual concept, but a restoration of Shalom, a wholistic peace of body, mind, spirit, community, etc. Righteousness is less about checking off doing the right things and not doing the wrong things, it is about being in a right relationship with God, other people, and all of creation. This communal view is also deeply tied to the person’s status and opportunity. The poor, those who are simply surviving, have little control over or effect on the community around them, they are more victims of oppressive systems. Those in power, however, those who have money and influence, have far more control over their own destinies and the destinies of others. Therefore, they share the blame if there is injustice in the system. When Moses gave the Law to the people a second time in Deuteronomy, he makes the bold claim that if you follow these laws, specifically the Sabbatical year in which debts are forgiven, there will be no one among them who is poor (Deuteronomy 15:4-6). It is almost as if these laws were designed to disrupt a system where people cannot become debt-slaves, never able to catch up. Now, to be fair, he also says that this will never actually happen (he knows humans too well), but it is still the goal to work towards.
The shift towards ‘wokeness’ that we have seen in the last few years, is actually a shift to a more biblical mindset (tell that to your evangelical/conservitarian family members this Thanksgiving). There is much more interest and concern about how we participate in unjust systems and how we as individuals contribute to much larger systemic problems like racism and poverty. There is a growing awareness how those in positions of power are directly responsible for the challenges we face. Those with political power (no matter whether they have an R or a D next to their name) are far more concerned with maintaining that power, than doing anything for those without it. They kowtow to the economic elites (and in many cases are them as well) who happily trade away our futures and the futures of our children so that they can have enough money to build rockets. They encourage us to fight with one another, and blame their puppets for inflation and gas prices, instead of calling for true economic justice.
We as the religious leaders are complicit as well, instead of using our platforms (like Micah) to call out the injustice in our world and to stand with those oppressed. We play the same power games as the other elites, and are far more fearful about appearing to be too ‘political,’ saying “one should not preach of such things” (Micah 2:6) than we are in preaching the gospel of a liberative God.
The LORD is Coming: This is a common theme among the pre-Exile prophets, the promise of God’s destruction. This is multifaceted. First of all, proclaiming this justice/judgment is a condemnation of the status quo. Secondly, it goes against the imperial and nationalistic assumptions and rhetoric used by those in power. Both the political and religious leaders engender a sense that God would be with them no matter what, that God would always give them victory. It is if they took part of the lessons of the Deuteronomistic histories, that God is the source of victory, but skipped over the part where that victory is dependent on justice and righteousness. They conveniently forgot that a sovereign and also just Lord does not give victory to God’s people just because they are God’s children, but God also punishes the children when they do not live up to the justice to which they have been called. God allows the injustice of those in power come back upon them in order to restore the balance.
Hope: Yet the judgment of God does not last forever, nor will it be complete. After the prophet has proclaimed the destruction of Samaria and Jerusalem, he also proclaims the hope of restoration. This hope is rooted in Bethlehem, the house of bread. Bethlehem is an important setting in the Hebrew Scriptures, centering primarily around David. David was born, raised, and anointed in Bethlehem. It is not the big city of Jerusalem, and that is a part of it. It speaks to David’s (early, at least) humility. The reference to Bethlehem brings to mind the promise of a future king of David’s line who will reign forever. Bethlehem also has echoes of the story of Ruth, David’s ancestor who was a righteous woman from Moab, suggesting the blessing of the nations. Bethlehem is also a much more rural and small town compared to the cosmopolitan Jerusalem, which Micah complains about. Instead of the decadence and grandeur of the big city, this is a small city, in the smallest clan, from the youngest son Benjamin. Overall it is a reminder of God’s vision of a king whose power is not tied up in military might or any of the assumed trappings.
Childbirth: Interestingly, Micah brings in a very feminine image, that of childbirth. We will see next week Isaiah using another (through much more tragic) allusions to childbirth. Micah here marks the time of coming exile as a gestation, which will result in new life, and a new kind of leader. As we are approaching the season of Advent, when we often hear this reference, our minds quickly go to the promise of one particular child, born in Bethlehem, and a shepherd to the people.
What Can I Do?: The prophet asks the hypothetical question on behalf of all of humanity, which has been called to answer for our crimes. What is it that can make this all right? How can we pay for the injustice that we have done to our neighbors? What is the price for our crimes? Here Micah uses the images that would have been common for his day, animal sacrifice, oil, or even the sacrifice of a first-born son. Today we might use the images of fines, prison time, etc. But YHWH has already told us what the requirement is. There is no way that we can repay what we have done against neighbor and nature, there is no amount of money that can make up for the loss of life and livelihood. Here, Micah 7:18-20 can be brought in to remind us of God’s ultimate compassion and forgiveness. God is able and willing to look over our transgressions, but God still requires something from us. This is not something new, it too is from ancient days. You know, O mortal what YHWH requires of you, and it is to do justice, love kindness, and walk in humility with your God. It is that easy, and that hard.
Pop Culture References
I am not thinking of anything except for George Washington’s reference to Micah 4:4 (and other places) in Hamilton’s “One Last Time”
Hymn Suggestions
Today We All Are Called to Be Disciples (GTG 757, PH 343)
Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound (GTG 649, 280)
Take My Life (GTG 697, PH 391)
Come, Live in the Light (GTG 749)
Make Me a Channel of Your Peace (GTG 753)
Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy (GTG 415)
Praise My Soul the King of Heaven (GTG 620, PH 478)
Links
Bible Project recent podcast on Deuteronomy where they talk about Justice and Righteousness
Prayer of the Day
God of Justice and Righteousness. We know what is required of us, but we do not always do it. We know you require justice of us, but we want to look out for ourselves and not our neighbors. We know that you desire mercy, but we want vengeance. We know that you want us to be humble, but we think too highly of ourselves. You want us to walk with you, but we walk by ourselves. Help us to do justice, to love mercy, and walk humbly with you our God. Amen.