MICAH 6
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
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?”
8 He has told 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. – Micah 6:6-8
MICAH 6 JUSTICE AND KINDNESS MANIFEST LOVE
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
What does God require from his beloved people?
The Lord wants them to be kind and impartial
No offerings and sacrifices can replace kindness
To show compassion mirrors God’s steadfastness
By fairly treating others without biases is loving
It is a clear indication that you are showing justice
Seek humbly God’s counsel by reading his word
You will have a strong weapon and edge over the world.
In this chapter, we hear God’s judgment over Israel for defying his commandments. In these following verses, we hear the Israelites trying to figure out how to appease God of his wrath over them for disobeying him. It seemed like verse 6 was something a covenant child of God would ask to deny admittance to their own sins and asking God what they needed to do to spare them of this judgment. This lack of accountability is almost just like when a little child did something mischievous and got caught and would try his best to cover up what he has done for fear of punishment. Verses 6-7 is almost washing their hands of the knowledge of God’s requirements stipulated in his laws. It is very childish to seem to forget who God is and what was required from them as part of the covenant between them and God. It almost sounded like sarcasm for them to ask a question they already knew the answer to.
Micah spoke in verse 8 and reminded them of God’s requirement from his people. He wants justice from his people, to love kindness and to walk humbly with the Lord. They need not do sacrifices and offerings which was probably easier for them to do. They didn’t want to take responsibility for their sinfulness and skip the punishment for their sins.
REFLECTION
- Why do humans tend to deflect their sins instead of confessing and asking for forgiveness?
