CALEB CUNNINGHAM: YHWH HAS CASE AGAINST HIS PEOPLE (Micah 6:1-6)

“YHWH Has a Case Against His People”
Micah 6:1-8

Micah 6:1-8 – Hear now what the LORD is saying, “Arise, plead your case…Because the LORD has a case against His people…

In this text we read of trial that is taking place. God is the plaintiff, we are the defendants, and the mountains will hear the case. Could you just imagine if God took you to court? The book of the prophet Micah is God’s case against His people. The LORD and Israel had entered into a covenant, a contract, with one another. YHWH had been faith to His end of the agreement, but Israel had violated their end in many ways.

Since Israel had defaulted on their contract with the LORD, a prophet named Micah was sent to summons them to court; a man who in his own words is “filled with power—with the Spirit of the LORD—and with justice and courage to make known to Jacob his rebellious act, even to Israel his sin.” (Micah 3:8). Though he is considered one of the Minor Prophets because of the small size of his book, he is also considered to be a major prophet because of the power of his message.

Micah is a shortened form of Micaiah, an earlier prophet who served Israel faithfully during the days of Jehoshaphat of the south and wicked king Ahab of the north (1 Kings 22). His name means “Who is like YHWH?” which implies, “No one is like YHWH”. In an age of religious pluralism this name has special significance because all the false gods collapse before YHWH and there is none like Him.

Micah is from a place called Moresheth-Gath (modern day Beit-Jebrin) located about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem. It is not mentioned anywhere else in Scripture but it was possibly one of the 46 cities that were conquered by Sennacherib of Assyria when he made war against Hezekiah Jerusalem. MAP, PICS

The time of Micah’s prophecy is found in Micah 1:1, “The word of the LORD which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah…”. This gives the length of time for prophecy to be a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 55 years. Homer Hailey gives the date to be from about 735 B.C. to 700 B.C. During this same period Micah’s contemporary Isaiah was prophesying in Jerusalem. Just a little earlier, Hosea was prophesying in Israel.

Micah’s prophecy was “concerning Samaria and Jerusalem” (1:1), the capitals of the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. It was a tumultuous time for these two nations.
Assyria was emerging as a formidable military threat.
They conquered Damascus, the capital of Syria in 732 B.C. and Israel was next in their path.
Samaria, the capital of Israel would fall in 721 B.C.
And then in 711 B.C. Judah was invaded by the merciless Assyrians.
Jerusalem, the city of God’s dwelling, was besieged around 702 B.C. but was spared because of the efforts of Hezekiah and Isaiah.
However, Forty-six Judean cities fell to Sennacherib, king of Assyria, possibly including the home of Micah.
Their crumbling economy, the constant threat of enemy attack, and the frequent injustices they faced, were all happening because Israel had adopted the ways of the surrounding pagan nations, serving foreign gods, and acquiescing to foreign lifestyles that were out of harmony with God will.

As God builds His case against His people, let us consider whether or not if God has a case against us for anything in our lives. Let us consider what the consequences would be if we didn’t settle our dispute with God and resolve to be reconciled to Him in peace. And finally, let us remain faithful to Him as we consider His passion, provision, and promises, for us after the Day of Judgment.

As we begin our study we’ll see…

1. God’s Case Against His People

“Hear, O peoples, all of you; Listen, O earth and all it contains, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple.” (Micah 1:2)

A). The capital cities were the sources of sin:
“What is the rebellion of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?” (1:5).

B). They committed premeditated sin:
“Woe to those who scheme iniquity, who work out evil on their beds! When morning comes, they do it, for it is in the power of their hands.” (2:1).

C). They were guilty of theft:
“They covet fields and then seize them, and houses, and take them away. They rob a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.” (2:2).
Using “wicked scales” and “a bag of deceptive weights” (6:11).

D). They committed injustices against strangers, soldiers, women and children:
“You strip the robe off the garment from unsuspecting passers-by, from those returned from war. The women of My people you evict, each one from her pleasant house. From her children you take My splendor forever.” (2:8-9).

E). They worked against the Lord:
“Recently My people have arisen as an enemy” (2:8)

F). They elected smooth talkers to tell them that all their sins were good:
“If a man walking after wind and falsehood had told lies and said, ‘I will speak out to you concerning wine and liquor,” He would be spokesman to this people.” (2:11)
Micah 3:5 – Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; When they have something to bite with their teeth, they cry, “Peace,” but against him who puts nothing in their mouths they declare holy war.

G). They preferred the devil’s wickedness to the LORD’s righteousness:
“You who hate good and love evil” (3:2)
Micah 7:3 – Concerning evil, both hands do it well…

H). The leaders were guilty of many usurpations of their jobs:
Micah 3:9-11
Micah 7:3

I). “The rich men of the city are full of violence” (6:12, 7:2)

J). “Her residents speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.” (6:12)

K). Their relationships are filled with distrust and hatred:
“Do not trust in a neighbor; do not have confidence in a friend. From her who lies in your bosom guard your lips. For son treats father contemptuously, daughter rises up against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.” (7:5-6)

All of this was happening because “The godly person has perished from the land, and there is no upright person among them.” (7:2).

2. God’s Judgment Against His People

A). God will ruin their economy:
“All of her idols will be smashed, all of her earning will be burned with fire and all of her images I will make desolate, for she collected them from a harlot’s earnings, and to the earnings of a harlot they will return.” (Micah 1:6-7)
“You will sow but you will not reap. You will tread the olive but will not anoint yourself with oil; and the grapes, but you will not drink wine.” (6:15)

B). God will send a wasting disease among them:
Micah 6:13-14 – So also I will make you sick, striking you down, desolating you because of your sins. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied, and your vileness [excreta, bodily waste] will be in your midst. You will try to remove for safekeeping, but you will not preserve anything, and what you do preserve I will give to the sword.

C). God will destroy their city
“I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country” (1:6)
Micah 2:3-5
God says to the women who’d been wrongfully evicted from their homes, “Arise and go, for this is no place of rest because of the uncleanness that brings on destruction, a painful destruction.” (2:10).
Micah 3:12 – Therefore, on account of you [leaders, priests] Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins…

D). God’s judgment is irreversible, it will come to pass:
“For her wound is incurable, for it has come to Judah; it has reached the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.” (1:9).
“Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time because they have practiced evil deeds.” (3:4).

E). Their children will suffer the most:
“Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, because of the children of your delight; extend your baldness like the eagle, for they will go from you into exile.” (1:16).
Shaving your head was a sign of mourning in the Middle East. The children they so delighted in would be the ones taken in exile.

F). God will destroy their military and all the false securities they trust in: *Micah 5:10-15

All of these judgments were going to take place because Israel and Judah had not faithfully met the requirements of God in their contract with Him. They had even confused the requirements of God with what they thought would make them be acceptable in His sight.

3. God’s Requirements of His People

When ever a student starts a new class in school as soon, as soon as the teacher passes out the syllabus was is the first thing he or she looks at? Course objective? Maybe. Course description? Possibly because it is the first thing mentioned. How about Course Requirements? Every student wants to know, “What is required of me?” Required reading, papers, attendance, etc. We do the same thing on new jobs: What are the job requirements. Most of us wouldn’t dream of accepting a job without a good idea of the job requirements. We’d be foolish not to ask.

What about when it comes to church membership? Should we ask about requirements before we try to become members of the local church?

More importantly, what does God require of us? Should we even ask what He requires? It doesn’t sound very “spiritual” to ask such a question. But don’t we all sometimes ask or at least want to know, “What does God require of me?” Is it faithful church attendance? Daily Bible study? Weekly giving? These are all good things, which are even commanded in Scripture. But is going through these motions really the essence of what God wants from us?

This is the question that Micah presented to God’s people in Micah 6:
“With what shall I come to the LORD and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (6:6-7) [something Ahaz did (2 Ki. 16:1-3)]
If we attend enough church services will that satisfy the LORD? What if we give enough money? Do enough praying? Is that what will finally appease our God?
Micah then gives the answer we’re all looking for, the Great Syllabus of the Bible.
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (6:8).
Treat people fairly. Treat people with kindness. And walk every day in step with God.
This was basically a summary of what Moses had written centuries before in Deuteronomy 10:12-13.

If we will be reconciled to God, then we can experience…

4. God’s Promise to His People

God’s contract with Israel was never meant for harm. His word to us still today is always for our own benefit: “Do not My words do good to the one walking uprightly?” (2:7). To those who remain faithful to YHWH several promises are given.

All of this calamity God was working for the good: “And now many nations have been assembled against you who say, ‘Let her be polluted, and let our eyes gloat over Zion.’ But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, and they do not understand His purpose.” (Micah 4:11-12). Compare to Romans 8:28.

A). God will save a remnant: (2:12-13)

B). God will bring the people back from exile:
“Go to Babylon. There you will be rescued; there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.” (4:10).

C). God will make His people strong again:
“Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion, for your horn I will make iron and your hoofs I will make bronze, that you may pulverize many peoples, that you may devote to the LORD their unjust gain and their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.” (4:13).

D). A Great Ruler will come forth from Bethlehem Ephrathah: Micah 5:2-5
“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ao, from the days of eternity.” (5:2).

E). Micah 4, the prophecy of the Lord’s Kingdom, the church.

F). God will plead our case for us, not against us:
“I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness.” (7:9)
Micah 8:18-19 – Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

“Though all the peoples walk each in the name of his god, as for us, we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.” (Micah 4:5).

Conclusion

Does God have a case against you? Do you have a good idea of what the verdict would be if you stood in God’s courtroom today? Would it be guilty?

Maybe like the people in Israel you’ve gone through all the motions of worship and church activities, but you haven’t met His ultimate requirement to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God” (6:8). Thankfully, the LORD gives us opportunities to change our ways. Today is your opportunity; it may be the last so make the most of it.

Like Micah, let us “watch expectantly for the LORD” and “wait for the God of my salvation” (7:7). And with Micah let us say, “Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.” (7:8).

Caleb Cunningham