The wisdom of heeding God’s Word (Mic 6:9-16)

Have you ever travelled a long distance and run out of petrol before you had a chance to refill? Despite modern cars telling us when petrol is getting low, we can choose to ignore it thinking there will be enough to get to our destination. While there is a comfortable lag-time between such an alert and the car coming to a halt, it is easy to become complacent only to find we have miscalculated. What does it take, then, to get our attention? For some, a simple warning is sufficient, for others, only the trauma of things going badly wrong is enough to learn a lesson. The prophecies in chapter 6 have spelt out both God’s immense grace and loyalty to His people in covenant (Mic 6:4-6) and reminded them of the need to respond likewise (Mic 6:8). Now Micah admonishes them to pay attention and not treat God’s warning lightly (Mic 6:9).

Parents who have raised children know the delicate balance between patient love and discipline. There comes a point when granting them the benefit of the doubt and making space for repentance must give way to the consequences of wrongdoing. Similarly, it is God’s character to be gracious, but He will not gloss over sin indefinitely. The rich have piled up wealth through unjust means by using defective scales and weights that did not measure quantities accurately, so they could pay less for more goods if they were buying or get more money for less produce if they were selling (Mic 6:10-11). Those who had the power may have employed violence to get what they wanted and then lied about it in court (Mic 6:12). The story of Naboth’s vineyard demonstrates such tactics (1 Kings 21:1-16). Naboth refused to sell King Ahab his family’s inheritance, whereupon Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, employed false witnesses to testify that Naboth cursed God and king (a capital offence). Once Naboth was executed, the king could take possession of his vineyard.

As so often, God’s punishment fits the crime. The sword in Mic 6:14 suggests an enemy invasion, so that those who employed violence to gain wealth will become victims of violence and others will take what they have hoarded or tried to hide. They have deprived the poor from enjoying the fruit of their honest labours through cheating, now they will be cheated out of benefiting from their possessions (Mic 6:15). Oil and wine were key in Israel’s agriculture and symbolised the blessings of the land. Wine was associated with joy and festivals, while oil was used in cooking and rubbed into the skin to alleviate dryness in a hot and arid climate.

The summary statement compares God’s people to two infamous kings, Omri and Ahab about 150-200 years earlier (Mic 6:16). Omri, an army commander, seized power in Israel and blatantly worshipped idols (1 Kings 16:16, 25-26). His son, Ahab married Jezebel, a Sidonian princess, and this led to his worship of Baal and Asherah (1 Kings 16:31-33). Best known to us from this time is Elijah’s showdown with the Baal priests (1 Kings 18:20-40). We may be surprised that a section on economic injustices compares the people to these two kings who were primarily known for their idol worship, but this is no accident. How we live will be affected by what we worship.

Yet, even as God announces judgment, the future is not set in stone – otherwise why would Micah warn the people to take heed (v.9)? Our sins may not compare to the gross injustices listed here, but Scripture presents us with a mirror, nevertheless. When we sin and the roof does not fall in, it is easy to assume that things are not so bad because there are no immediate consequences. Perhaps it is true that the issue is a minor one, but it is the nature of sin to draw us deeper in until habits are formed that are difficult to shake off. We are warned to be careful, to remember God’s character, His mercy, as well as His justice, and what He requires (Mic 6:8). Let us not wait until He has to discipline us but heed Him when He corrects our thinking, attitude and actions.

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