Justin Houtz

Micah 6

DateVersionReading Plan
@November 29, 2023ESV (2016)ESV Prophets Plan 2023

Pericopes

  • The Indictment of the Lord
  • What Does the Lord Require
  • Destruction of the Wicked

Notes/Application

Micah proclaims to the people how the LORD would state His case against Israel before the mountains. God asks what He has done to weary His people and recounts how He had rescued them from slavery and prevented Balak from cursing them. Micah puts himself into the role of the worshiping Israelite and asks what the LORD requires. He proposes options of burnt offerings, rams, rivers of oil and even their firstborn. His questions are answered by God’s interest in the offerer rather than the offering; to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with their God. The LORD cries out an indictment on the people for their sins, describing their vile conduct. Their sin will bring them destruction, making them an object of contempt for walking in the counsel of the wicked.

It was the the LORD’s requirement among the people that seemed worthy of further reflection. We tend to make this either based on empty box-checking or presume it to be overly complicated. Troublingly, we can make it about works and many have (and continue) to fall into this trap. The reality is actually quite simple: He wants you. ALL of you. Note, however, that while this is simple, it is not easy. Our sin so bends us away from the giving of our ourselves that we favor giving Him anything else. But there is nothing we possess that He has not already provided. The only thing left is our sin, which is the only thing we bring to the table. In exchange, He gives us Himself; His presence through His Spirit and eternal salvation. It is a transaction of immeasurable grace and disproportion. What a wonderful God we serve, redeeming the utterly broken and lost that it would all be for His glory.

Scripture Journal Notes

Commentaries & Resources Used