Commentary on Micah [1:3-5]; 5:2-5a; 6:6-8

The message of Micah, a prophet working in the late eighth century BCE, is an evergreen message for people of faith across time. Speaking words of judgment as well as hope, Micah (like his contemporaries, Isaiah and Amos) appeals for faith and religious practices that emphasize justice and love, rather than hollow performances of ritual. His eloquent and powerful words have become some of the most quoted verses of the Hebrew Scriptures. We would be wise to consider them carefully, and with fresh eyes, today.

This week’s reading gives us a series of excerpts from the prophet, and congregations will certainly benefit from an awareness of the broader context. Micah is most likely writing to people who anxiously face an expansive and aggressive global superpower, the Assyrian Empire. He addresses both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah to warn that both are at risk (1:3–5), and he anticipates the eventual destruction of both. Assyria will indeed violently conquer the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE. Judah, for its part, will manage to avoid the same fate in the south by offering a costly tribute to the Assyrian king (2 Kings 18:14–16).

Like other biblical prophets, Micah attempts to explain why and how God could allow these traumatic events to happen to God’s people. Our first clue to Micah’s response is that he labels both Samaria and Jerusalem as “high places” (1:5), which hints at idolatry and unfaithfulness to God. The religious elites who were based in the Jerusalem temple were known to condemn Israel for its “high places”—elevated, open-air shrines often associated with images of various deities. Ironically, Micah says Jerusalem and its temple are also idolatrous.

Other clues in Micah’s writings offer an indication of why the prophet condemns these religious and political elite. For example, Micah condemns the elite who leverage their wealth and power to exploit the poor: “They covet fields and seize them, houses and take them away; they oppress householder and house, people and their inheritance” (2:2). Micah 3:1–3 offers graphic imagery of political and religious leaders exploiting the people: 

And I said:
Listen, you heads of Jacob
    and rulers of the house of Israel!
Should you not know justice?—
    you who hate the good and love the evil,
who tear the skin off my people
    and the flesh off their bones,
who eat the flesh of my people,
    flay their skin off them,
break their bones in pieces,
    and chop them up like meat in a kettle,
    like flesh in a caldron.

Micah calls them out for their oppression of the poor (“those who put nothing into their mouths” verse 5), disregard for justice and equity (verse 9), and corrupt judicial practices (verse 11). Social injustice amounts to idolatry and a lack of faithfulness to their covenant with God. For these reasons and more, Micah expects God’s judgment.

Yet in spite of that, the prophet offers words of encouragement and hope. In today’s reading, Micah anticipates a new Davidic ruler who hails from Bethlehem. The messianic poem in 5:2–5a offers a humble leader (from one of the “little clans” of Judah; verse 2), who cares for and “feed[s] his flock” (verse 4), and who champions peace (verse 5a).

But many will find a pivotal message from today’s reading in the famous verses from chapter 6. This chapter begins with a divine lawsuit in which God makes God’s case against the people. The response comes in the form of a series of questions (verses 6–7): What does the Lord require? How shall the faithful come before God? The defendant offers a series of increasingly dramatic sacrifices: burnt offerings of calves, thousands of rams, ten thousands of rivers of oil, and even the sacrifice of one’s own child. Yet Micah, speaking on behalf of God, declares that even that is not enough. People of faith are required “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (verse 8).

The biblical vision of justice (mishpat) signals more than simply legal fairness. It speaks to a communal vision where people live in right relationship with one another, and where the most vulnerable people are cared for and protected, rather than exploited. The Hebrew word for “loving kindness” (ḥesed) is also a deeply theological word, encompassing steadfast love, mercy, kindness, and covenantal faithfulness, lived out in relationships and community. 

Neither mishpat nor ḥesed can be understood simply as a private spiritual practice—each speaks to the way in which one’s religious and spiritual values are embodied in public life and relationships. Finally, “walking humbly with God” describes a spiritual posture that also has public and communal implications. It requires decentering oneself while centering God and others. Each of these demands is intentional and active: “do,” “love,” “walk.”

On the one hand, the instruction in Micah 6:8 may sound easier than sacrificing thousands of rams. Yet at the same time, it is ironically a much harder task, and one that people of faith still struggle to live into today. As we move toward Advent, Micah offers a hard but necessary word. If we are simply going through the motions of our religious practices, but these do not result in personal and communal transformation, we have entirely missed the point. 

PRAYER OF THE DAY

God of justice, you sent your servant Micah to proclaim justice and peace to a world that lacked both. Make us instruments of justice and peace, so that your world might prosper. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

HYMNS

Let justice roll like streams ELW 717
Amazing grace ELW 779, H82 671, UMH 378, NCH 547, 548
Take my life, that I may be ELW 583, 685, H82 707, UMH 399, NCH 448

CHORAL

Help us accept each other, John Ness Beck