CHAPTER 6
(710 B.C.)
THE LORDS CONTENTION WITH ISRAEL
1Hear you now what the LORD says; Arise, contend you before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. (In view of the tremendous Prophecies given through Micah by the Holy Spirit concerning Israel, the Prophet will now make a strident appeal to the people in order that some of them, hopefully, will repent.
Arise, contend you, has reference to the fact that Micahs task will not be easy. In effect, he is contending with a rebellious, stiff-necked, hard-hearted people!)
2Hear y ou, O mountains, the LORDS controversy, and you strong foundations of the Earth: for the LORD has a controversy with His people, and He will plead with Israel. (Hear you, O mountains, the LORDs controversy, is strong indeed! Once again, the creation of nature is called upon as a witness. For the LORD has a controversy with His People, makes the controversy extremely personal. He calls them His People, even though they are no longer living for Him, and they are actually heading rapidly toward an eternal doom.)
3O My People, what have I done unto you? and wherein have I wearied you? testify against Me. (In the entirety of the Bible, no pleading is done so graphically and tenderly as is here brought out. Testify against Me, is the same as a Court of Law. The Lord is bringing forth His case and He demands that Israel bring forth her case. It must be quickly said that throughout the entirety of the Earth, and for all time, no person can stand and honestly testify against God that He has wronged them in any way.)
4For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of servants; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. (The Lord reminds Israel that He is their Saviour. As well, He gave them great leadership in Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.)
5O My People, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that you may know the Righteousness of the LORD. (A period should follow the word him and the word remember should be repeated before from Shittim unto Gilgal. The idea of this Verse is as follows: After Israel experienced the great deliverance from Egyptian bondage, they now faced the sorcery of Balak king of Moab. The word consulted refers to the manner in which the snare against Israel would be laid. Balak would employ Balaam the son of Beor, seeking to ensnare Israel. It is recorded in Num., Chpts. 23-24.
Remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, speaks of Shittim as the Israelites last station before crossing the Jordan, and Gilgal, the first in the land of Canaan. God bids them remember all that happened to them between those places their sin in Shittim and the mercy then shown them [Num., Chpt. 25], the miraculous passage of the Jordan, and the renewal of the Covenant at Gilgal [Josh. 5:9].)
THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE LORD
6Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the High God? shall I come before Him with Burnt Offerings, with calves of a year old? (Even though the tone changes slightly, still, this is the Lord continuing to speak to Israel, in effect, telling Israel what she must do. Israel now held the idea that the ritual of Sacrifices offered Salvation, which it did not! [Heb. 10:4])
7Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? (The question, Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams?, insinuates that the people came to the place where they thought quantity enhanced the value, etc. In this Verse, the Lord is plainly saying that none of these things, even the offering up ones son or daughter, the fruit of my body, can atone for the sin of my soul. Consequently, He cuts through all the false ideas and false doctrine that permeated the society of His People. It permeates it no less today!)
8He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (The Revelation given here is found in Deut. 10:12; consequently, there was no excuse! In this Verse, the Lord proclaims not so much the Way of Salvation, but instead the results of true Salvation. The phrase, He has showed you, O man, what is good, draws Israel back to the Bible. The answer to the question, And what does the Lord require of you?, is here given:
1. Honesty!
2. Mercy!
3. Humility!)
9The LORDs Voice cries unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see your name: hear you the rod, and Who has appointed it. (The LORDs Voice cries unto the city, refers to Jerusalem. And the man of wisdom shall see your name, refers to true wisdom recognizing the just action of judging the city because of its evil. Hear you the rod, in effect, says, Hear, O Jerusalem, what punishment awaits you, and from Whom.)
10Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable? (The words, Are there yet....?, describe the practice of abominations of fraud, falsehood, and robbing of the poor. The entirety of the question, Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked?, means that all these sacrifices brought by these individuals to the Temple were treasures obtained by wrongdoing.)
11Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? (The idea is: the people thought their religious activity atoned for their crimes. In effect, the Lord is saying that these sacrifices offered up to Him were looked at in His Sight as deceitful and as wicked balances. Consequently, they turned the Temple into a house of the wicked instead of a House of God.
Due to the Cross presently being ignored in most Churches, this means that they are houses of wickedness instead of houses of Righteousness.)
12For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. (This is sad that Gods People were violent, liars, and deceitful!)
13Therefore also will I make you sick in smiting you, in making you desolate be cause of your sins. (The idea is: the Judgment will be awful and certain! As the sin, so the Judgment.)
14You shall eat, but not be satisfied; and your casting down shall be in the midst of you; and you shall take hold, but shall not deliver; and that which you deliver will I give up to the sword. (Money will not satisfy. Your casting down shall be in the midst of you, means that Jerusalem would fall because of internal distress rather than outward attack. Even though Nebuchadnezzar would be the instrument used by God, still, it was not his might and power that brought about the Fall of the city, but instead Jerusalems sin.
And you shall take hold, but shall not deliver, refers to their money-bags filled by fraud and their attempting to escape and carry them away, but being unable to do so. In fact, some few would escape, but they too would fall into the hands of the enemy, thereby being stricken by the sword. Man is foolish to think he can outwit God!)
15You shall sow, but you shall not reap; you shall tread the olives, but you shall not anoint yourself with oil; and sweet wine, but shall not drink wine. (All of this means that others would reap the harvest for which the Hebrews had labored. These Verses proclaim Gods Anger instead of His Blessing.)
16For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the work of the house of Ahab, and you walk in their counsels; that I should make you a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore you shall bear the reproach of My People. (All of this proclaims that Judah was immersed in idolatry; and because of such, the Lord would make you a desolation. This means that the punishment was connected with the sin.)