During stressful times, the prophet Micah spoke words of challenge to those in power, warning them that their injustice risked the fate of the nation.
Here’s a transcript:
I’m thinking about the third chapter of the prophet Micah (Micah 3:5-12).
Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. Both of them lived in the city of Jerusalem during a period when the Assyrian Empire was extending its power to the west and to the south toward Egypt. That meant that the Jewish nations, Israel and Judah, were right in the way.
The people there trusted that God would preserve them. Micah said their trust was at least somewhat misplaced. Oh yes, God had promised to be with them through thick and thin, but they had made promises as well. And according to Micah, they had not kept them.
In particular, they had a rash of prophets that were declaring God’s faithful protection for them, while ignoring the way in which the nations had not kept their covenant with God. They were prophesying for money and for a bribe, said Micah. The political leadership was also taking bribes and perverting justice. They had established the city, he wrote, on blood.
Now, a nation whose leaders do such things, who enrich or empower themselves at the expense of their people, who pervert justice: itt does not take divine intervention for those countries to crumble. It takes time (and it may take quite a lot of time), but in the end nations which act against their own people will fall. It took, in fact, divine intervention not to crush the nation of Israel (Assyria did that) — it took divine intervention to preserve the nation of Judah and Assyrian army camped around them and then withdrew the siege because of an outbreak of illness. They read that as the intervention of God, an intervention prompted by a reform effort of a pious king named Hezekiah.
Later on in his book, Micah noted that God does not hold grudges or maintain anger forever. God yearns to show forgiveness and steadfast love. It still remains our responsibility to build and maintain communities of justice and compassion. It remains our responsibility because if we do not do so, our communities will dissolve of themselves.
But it is also our privilege and our joy to rely upon our God to forgive our errors and to restore us when we stumble. Just remember Micah’s most famous words, “What does the Lord require of you? To do justice and steadfast love and to walk humbly with your God.”
That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear what you are thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d love to hear from you.