Thomas J Parlette
“Nothing Minor about Micah”
Micah 6: 1-8
2/2/20
I admit this morning’s meditation is a little different from what I normally do. This is really less of a sermon and more of a study of a little known figure in the Bible – the prophet Micah.
We don’t hear that often from Micah in our lectionary. I think something from his short book comes up just a couple of times a year, at best. Micah is the sixth of what is called the Minor Prophets. We call the prophets writing in the last 10 books of the Old Testament minor, not because they are less important, but simply because their books are shorter. The Major Prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah, they have a lot more to say, but the Minor Prophets, like Micah, they are much more succinct. But when you read what Micah has to say, Micah is anything but minor.
The name Micah in Hebrew means “who is like unto God.” Our modern names Michael and Michelle derive from it. Oddly enough, Micah used his own name as the theme of his book. His brief seven chapter, six page prophecy is all about what God is like, and how we can be more “like unto God.”
Micah lived in the 8th century before Christ. Ministering during the reign of 3 different Kings, named there in verse 1, and he was careful to write down his sermons and prophecies. It helps to understand that the book of Micah is not one sermon, but a collection of Micah’s greatest hits, so to speak, condensed and summarized over a lifetime of preaching.
Of further interest, I hope, is that Micah followed both Amos and Hosea as Israel’s prophet. He was also a contemporary of Isaiah, one of those long-winded major prophets, so it’s not surprising that their books have many similarities.
Micah was from a small village called Moresheth, about 30 miles southwest of Jerusalem. His town happens to be on the main coastal caravan highway where there was a lot of coming and going, a very high traffic area. So Micah would have grown up with a fair amount of knowledge regrading world events.
The outline for Micah’s book is pretty easy to follow:
1. Chapters 1-3 are all about the failure of Judah and Israel to be Godly, and Micah predicts God’s judgement is coming.
2. Chapters 4 and 5 offers some hope, as Micah also predicts that one will come to give restoration and peace, someone who is God-like – the Messiah.
3. Chapters 6 and 7 plead with the nation to change their ways and live more Godly lives.
Furthermore, 2nd Kings 15-20 gives us the historical background of Micah. God had desired to reveal himself to a people. So, God began by selecting the Jewish nation. God freed them from Egyptian slavery, gave them a law, and gave them a land.
It was God’s desire that Israel live in community, keeping the divine law, loving both God and people and establishing justice. God would make them prosper, the other nations of the world would see and want such order for themselves. And so, naturally, they would come to know Israel’s God.
It’s the same sort of plan that car dealers might use. Put your sportiest, brightest, coolest looking car out front, polish it till it gleams like a diamond, put banners up, some dramatic lighting and get your best sales people hover nearby. The idea is you’ll see it, want it, buy it, and tell all your friends where you got it. God has sort of the same plan here.
At first, it worked pretty well. The Queen of Sheba in Africa travelled to Israel to meet King Solomon and worship his God. She said of Solomon’s great reign, “The half of it was not told to me.”
But as time went by, Israel got a little lazy in their covenant with God. There rumblings about why they didn’t have a King, like other nations. The people starting taking some short cuts, morally. They married outside their faith, false worship, idolatry – crept in. Their religion became a convenience. They took God on their own terms and began to treat each other horribly.
At this point, the prophets start to appear and Micah was one of them. You can get an idea of the general tone of his message from the very first chapter. “The Sovereign Lord will testify against you… the people of Israel have sinner and rebelled against God… Who is to blame, who is guilty… Samaria, the capitol of Israel and Jerusalem, the capitol of Judah.” Micah says that God will make Samaria a pile of ruins in the open country. From sleek, gleaming sports car on the showroom floor to a rusted out, faded wreck up on cinder blocks. From first to worst. That’s the picture Micah paints of Israel.
Clearly God is saying that Israel is going to be removed as a chosen nation because of the embarrassment God feels at having his name associated with a corrupt people. The same thing was said to the churches in Revelation 1-3. Jesus called us “the light of the world.” But when are ways are darkness, God promises to “remove the lamp stand”.
The trouble with Micah’s audience is that they were in denial. “Come on, Micah, we’re not that bad,” they said. “Who’s to say God speaks through you anyway? Get a life Preacher, don’t be so serious. The Good Lord would never do that to us.”
So, like any preacher who feels he is being dismissed, unheard – Micah turns up the volume. He becomes more dramatic. Look at Chapter 1, verse 8 for example… “I will walk around barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and wail like an ostrich.” That would be pretty hard to ignore, don’t you think? Sounds like a two year- old having a meltdown – walking around barefoot and naked, wailing and howling till they get what they want. And we all know how impossible it is to ignore a 2 year old.
Micah also used humor on his audience, particularly puns. For instance, in chapter one, verse 10, he preaches, “Don’t tell our enemies in Gath…” Gath sounds a lot like the Hebrew word for “tell.” So Micah is saying, “Don’t tell our enemies in tell city.”
Next he cries out, “In Beth-le-aprah roll in the dust.” Aprah means “dustiness”. So his word here is “In the city of dustiness, go roll in the dust.”
The he cries out, “Those who live in Zanaan do not dare to come out of their city.” Zanaan means “to march” or “go out”. So he is saying, “Those who live in march out city, will not go out.”
It’s as if I stood up here and said that America’s sin is so bad that Pittsburgh really is the pits. Or, we are so dirty as a nation that Washingtonians need to wash, and Wisconsin is living up to its name – WisconSIN, or there are no saints in St. Paul.
Now for the clincher! Micah shaves his head bald and invites others to do the same, in verse 16. You see, when foreign armies conquered a nation, they shaved the people’s heads, not only as a sign of shame, but also for easy identification.
“Get ready,” says Micah, “God’s judgement is coming. The Syrian army is on the move and they are the instruments of God’s anger.”
Maybe that’s why we don’t spend much time with Micah. It’s hard to be around a naked, wailing, bald man who complains so much and tells bad jokes. But if we keep on reading, Micah will tell us the specifics of what’s upsetting God about Israel’s behavior, and perhaps we will hear a word that applies to us as well. It’s all there, very current – greed, selfishness, a religion that only tells people what they want to hear, and leaders who use their position for their own personal benefit. Micah was preaching to a culture not to different from our own.
But Micah is not entirely negative. After describing Israel’s slide into sin and political collapse, Micah softens up a bit. In chapter 5, he predicts a coming Savior, a Messiah. “Bethlehem, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose Family line goes back to ancient times.”
800 years later, this very scripture was to guide the wise men to Bethlehem in their quest to find this new born King of the Jews.
Remember Micah’s outline:
1. Israel is ungodly and doomed.
2. A Messiah, who is God-like, will come.
3. A final plea for God’s people to be Godly.
That brings us to chapter 6: 1-8, our passage for this morning. God invites the people to plead their case. “If you’ve got a problem with me,” says God, “spit it out.” But know this. I, God, have a problem with you.” Then God takes them on a brief history tour, reminding them of his plans for them and of his strong deliverance over the course of the years.
Next comes what God is really after: God-fearing, or I think a better to say it, God-respecting behavior. I know that you all recognize Micah 6:8, it’s one of my favorites, I often use it as a charge at the end of our service – “What does the Lord require of you…” It’s one of the most famous, and beautiful passages in the Bible.
Some of you who are devoted students of Presidential history will recall that when Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia was sworn in as President of the United States, the Bible he had his hand on was open to this very verse. “What does the Lord require of you but this: to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.”
That is what God is after. That is perhaps the best description of what religion, any religion, means. Whenever anyone asks you, “What does your religion, what does your church believe in, what does your church do? Answer with this verse and you can’t go wrong.
Micah maybe a minor prophet, but there’s nothing minor about what he has to say. He may only have 7 chapters on 6 pages of our bibles. But what he has to say is definitely major. What does the Lord require of us but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.
Words to live by. May God be praised. Amen.
