Justice and mercy (Intro to Micah)
In the last year or so, a NZ politician who professes to be a Christian was once asked what difference her faith makes to being a politician. Her response was, ‘Absolutely nothing’. Presumably, her answer is indicative of some defensiveness in a secular society where Christianity is almost always mentioned in the media when someone expresses weird and wacky views and attitudes. It probably also reflects the emphasis on religion being a private system of beliefs that needs to be kept out of the public arena, hence religion and politics do not mix. From a biblical point of view, however, such a statement is staggering.
Micah, along with Amos (who prophesied some 20 years earlier in the northern kingdom of Israel), are two prophetic books that emphatically connect faith in God with integrity of living especially in the public sphere and in relation to one’s neighbour. The most well-known line from Micah sums up the heart of what God requires, ‘to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (Mic 6:8). As Jesus put it, ‘you will know them by their fruits’ (Matt 7:20). Wouldn’t it be wonderful if being a Christian were synonymous in people’s minds with honesty, faithfulness, reliability, fairness, kindness, generosity, and love?
Micah speaks to a people who are on the brink of disaster facing the threat of invasion by the Assyrian empire (see my intro to reading the prophets here). Coming from a small village called Moresheth (Mic 1:1) in the foothills of Judah and southwest of Jerusalem (see map here), Micah warns that God will not tolerate the people’s sinful lifestyle much longer. In his exhortations, he particularly focuses on the exploitative practices of the rich and powerful and the injustices to the vulnerable, with an emphasis on the responsibility of leaders (political as well as spiritual). During his ministry (about 740-700 BC), Assyria will take Israel into captivity and invade Judah, although Jerusalem will escape capture because the king at the time, Hezekiah, will repent and seek the Lord for help.[1] This background reminds us that prophecy calls for a response and those who turn to God in repentance find help in times of need.
While we often think of prophets in isolation, some of them operated around the same time and may well have known each other. Hosea is Micah’s contemporary in the northern kingdom of Israel (Hos 1:1), while Isaiah’s ministry overlaps with Micah’s in Judah (Isa 1:1). In fact, Micah and Isaiah share the same prophecy almost verbatim (Isa 2:1-4; Mic 4:1-3). It is also through Micah that the birthplace of the future Davidic king (Messiah) is revealed as Bethlehem (Mic 5:2; Matt 2:5-6).
Although most prophetic books contain a mixture of prophecies speaking of judgment and hope expressing God’s character of justice and mercy, Micah is particularly distinctive in the way these are structured into an ebb and flow concluding in each of its three sections with God’s merciful intervention (see below).
- Micah 1-2
- Mic 1:2-16; 2:1-11 judgment
- Mic 2:12-13 hope
- Micah 3-5
- Mic 3:1-12 judgment
- Mic 4:1-13; 5:1-15 hope
- Micah 6-7
- Mic 6:1-16; 7:1-6 judgment
- Mic 7:7-20 hope
While this does not diminish the severity of the Lord’s judgment and the need to awaken God’s people to their calling, it highlights for us the fact that God’s purposes are for good, for restoration, not destruction. He knows the depravity of sinful human nature and His justice requires that He put a stop to its destructive cravings, if for nothing else, for the sake of those suffering oppression and misery. Yet, hope is never an afterthought, a plan B, as if sin took God by surprise. Rather, even in Israel’s and Judah’s darkest moments of sin, God’s design is to save and renew not because His people deserve it, but because of the Lord’s character of love and mercy (Mic 7:18).
[1] For the background history of the period, see 2 Kgs 15:32-38 – Jotham; 2 Kgs 16:1-20 – Ahaz; 2 Kings 18:1-37; 19:1-37; 20:1-21 – Hezekiah.
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