The object of our trust and worship (Mic 5:10-15)

I have a red-and-white striped tee that my husband calls my ‘Where’s Wally’ top. Not being familiar with the British puzzle book, I had to look up illustrations of Wally, a cartoon character in a red-and-white t-shirt, who is drawn into busy pictures with the intended challenge to spot him amidst all the colourful scenes and hectic activity. This is an apt metaphor for where we find ourselves as God’s people today. We are meant to stand out, to be spotted, but we merge so well with our surroundings that people only notice us with an effort. God’s purpose for His people is to offer the world something life-giving and refreshing, like dew (Mic 5:7, see my post here), but Israel’s sad story suggests that they, like Christians today, struggled to be distinctive.

Our passage outlines the areas where God will renew His people, who have bought into the philosophy and convictions of their day. First, they will have to learn that military might expressed in the accumulation of war chariots and the fortification of cities will not save and God will remove these objects that Israel placed their trust in (Mic 5:10-11).[1] It is often at times of crisis that we realise what we ultimately rely on: our own strength, abilities, achievements, a special person in our lives, or God. It is natural to feel shaken when our world is turned upside down, whether by illness, financial losses, thwarted dreams or through the death of someone we loved and relied on. Therefore, nurturing our relationship with God in the mundane is important, so that we have a firm anchor in the Lord, when the waves toss us about.

Secondly, Israel must learn that they cannot control their lives through sorceries and fortune-tellers (Mic 5:12). These avenues into the supernatural to find out the future and change outcomes through witchcraft and magic involved engaging with demonic powers and were forbidden to Israel (Deut 18:10-12). Today, we in the West have disproportionately more control over our lives than the ancients did (e.g. we can decide where we live, what we do, whom we marry and whether we marry at all). Yet, despite that or because of it, we are more nervous about losing control, of becoming dependent on others or circumstances outside ourselves. Even if we do not resort to occult practices (astrology, horoscopes, healing crystals or the like), the question for us is what we do with the things we cannot control. Obsessive pursuit of even beneficial or necessary things (e.g. physical fitness, healthy eating, material possessions) can be a sign of trying to compensate for something that feels out of our control, whether circumstances or even other people’s reactions to us. Can we entrust the Lord, our loving Heavenly Father with what we cannot control?

Thirdly, God will take away Israel’s false gods, the carved images and sacred pillars, which were tangible objects mediating the presence of deities and making them accessible. Among them were the Asherim, wooden poles representing Asherah, the fertility goddess, which embodied Israel’s hope for the fertility of land and people (Mic 5:13-14). The heart of the matter, then, is worship, which God programmed us to do. However, when we refuse to honour God and submit to Him, we look for other things to worship and trust, the creature instead of the Creator (Rom 1:18-25). Today, the primary object of worship in the Western world is, arguably, the self. Cut loose from the Creator, our self becomes the reference point for what is right for us and for our fulfilment. Being ‘true to oneself’ is a phrase even Christians use, when we should be asking how we can be true to the purpose God intended for us. Immersed, as we are in our cultures, it is hard to discern this all-pervasive influence on our thinking. That is why we need to fill our heart and mind with God’s estimate of us (redeemed sinners who belong to Him), what is right in His eyes, what His will is for us. Our security, our sense of purpose, our identity are all found in Him and in our connection to Him.

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[1] While the Bible often presents these choices in black-and-white terms to make a strong point, the key is not that we should be irresponsible (e.g. refuse conventional medicines, not take out an insurance nor save for retirement). Rather, we trust God whether He heals, protects or provides through conventional or miraculous ways.

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