July 1, 2007

Background Scripture: Micah 2:1-4; 3:1-5, 8-12; 6:6-8

Devotional Reading: Hebrews 12:6-12

It was the eighth century before Christ, a time of national insecurity for tiny Judah.

The century had already witnessed the colossal military might of Assyria gobbling up Judah’s neighbors – Syria, in 732 B.C., and Israel 10 years later. Judah stuck out like a vulnerable sore thumb between Assyria and Egypt.

Still, Judah was experiencing relative prosperity – at least the rich and powerful were becoming more rich and powerful. Further, along with the threat of the Assyrian steamroller was Judah’s self-confidence, rooted in its role as the sole claimant to be “the people of God.” They basked in the Hebrew equivalent of “In God We Trust.”

Proof, they assumed, was that God had allowed Assyria to destroy Israel while Judah alone survived. Too, they were faithful in their observance of all the rituals and holy days of the Hebrew religion.

The only fly in the ointment of their self-satisfaction was Micah, an unpatriotic, even treasonous, prophet from the “hick town” of Moresheth in the backwater foothills south of Jerusalem. If there had been an election, Micah would have lost by a landslide. But prophets were neither elected by the people nor chosen by the monarch; only God can make a prophet.

Infuriating messages

It was his message – actually, God’s message – that galled them. The core of it was that they did not enjoy the status under God that they assumed, their lives and society were an abomination to the Lord and there would be a terrible price to pay. The people were at first shocked, then outraged, at this message. How could God be so displeased with his people?

Bringing their sacrifices, “thousands of rams” and “ten thousands rivers of oil” (6:7a), they were doing all that He required, weren’t they?

So, what does He want of us? “Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (6:7b).
It was not their sacrifices in the temple that so stirred the Lord, but what they did when they left the temple: “Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil upon their beds! When the morning dawns they will perform it, because it is in the power of their hand” (2:1).

They did these evils because they had the power to do so and the people upon whom they wrought injustice were powerless. The powerful “covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his inheritance” (2:2).

The power to do so

This is not so ancient a situation, is it?

I read that citizens of an area community are protesting the condemnation of their land by the city government so that a professional sports team may acquire it to build a stadium. I live in a community that historically has been composed of both moderate- and high-income residences, a fruitful mix of people.

But today, on practically every block modest, adequate homes are being bulldozed so that top-heavy mansions can be erected in their places. Rising valuations and taxes are driving out the moderate-income families. The developers have the money and, therefore, the power to do so.

Our television tells us that the same county judge who gave a life sentence to a man guilty of a minor parole violation also gave probation to a campaign contributor accused of murder. He had the power to do so.

But not to worry: We are a community of big, powerful churches.
How could the people of Judah not have known what God wanted? And in a nation whose coins proclaim, “In God we trust,” how can we not know what God expects of His people?

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (6:8).

This farm news was published in the June 27, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.