MICAH 5
10 And in that day, declares the Lord,
I will cut off your horses from among you and will destroy your chariots;
11 and I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds;
12 and I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes;
13 and I will cut off your carved images and your pillars from among you,
and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands;
14 and I will root out your Asherah images from among you and destroy your cities.
15 And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey.
– Micah 5:10-15
MICAH 5 IF YOU IDOLIZE THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
If the Lord your God made a covenant with you, He must be first
If you love and serve the work of your hands, you have sinned
God is a faithful God and he saved you from your sinfulness
He gave you a new life through his Son’s greatest sacrifice
Why would you pledge allegiance to objects that you have made?
Are you not defying and being unfaithful to the One true God?
Remember that the Lord cuts off anyone who make idols
It doesn’t matter what kind of gods you bow down to
He hates sin and he punishes those who rely on their own minds
He made each person so that they can have a relationship with him
You will be cut off from his presence if you continue to worship idols
It is an insult for the Maker of heaven and earth to be desecrated.
In this account, the prophet Micah addresses the remnants of Israel the promise of a Messiah but the Lord made it very clear that there are conditions that the Israelites need to do in order that they’ll receive the fulfillment of the promise. They can no longer continue to do what those pagan nations influenced them with. In verse 10, the Lord points out the status symbol that those pagans brought in with the horses and chariots. It was a symbol of wealth and power which God didn’t want them to participate in.
Most of the “cut-off” statements in these following verses were addressed to the pagan nations but also a warning for the Israelites regarding how God separates his people from these practices. The theme of this chapter is for the purification of God’s people. They were admonished clearly about the consequences when humans create anything and place it above their relationship and worship for the Lord God. The wrath of God will be what they’ll receive if they follow the ways of those pagan nations who are idolaters.
REFLECTION
- Why do you think there was a focus on the work of man’s hands as the source of idolatry?
