Micah 1-7

This is Tuesday's reading, but I wanted to get it in front of you, thus completing this blog for our class.

You have made it to the final reading of our "Teach the Bible Class." My favorite verses of this prophecy are found in Micah 6:6-8:

"'What 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? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?' He has told you O mortal, 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 is another early prophet who speaks to both the north and the south.

After Micah shares judgment on the north (1:2-7) and the south (1:8-16), he shares judgment upon the social sins among the people. As United Methodists, we do believe that there is social as well as individual sin (including that in our membership vows), and salvation is needed from both! More to the point, Christians have this interesting way of separating the two - so that individual salvation often does not lead to social salvation. This is contrary to the Old Testament prophets and to Jesus Christ.

At the end of chapter 2 (vs. 12), we have the prophetic concept of "the remnant" (included in 4:7; 5:3,7-8; 7:18), which is spoken of by the prophets more than 60 times. Remnant refers to that which remains or is leftover. God does not seem to require a majority vote to get things done. All He needs is a remnant, a faithful and resilient minority. I shared in an earlier blog my call from God to be an agent for the renewal of the mainline Church. A friend of mine asked me a few years ago, "What if you stand before the conference at your retirement and the United Methodist Church as well as the other mainline churches are smaller than when you entered?" I couldn't answer that one well at that time. In my earlier years, I really did think the whole mainline Church was going to renew. The prophets, Church history, and now my own experience together show that God will renew the Church through a faithful and resilient remnant. Our job is to be part of God building the remnant. I'm still working on this and I invite your thinking as well.

Chapter 3 tells the problem of false prophets who mislead the people by telling htem everything is OK when things are not. This is one of my major quarrels with the prosperity gospel, that it hides from the injustice (avoiding our responsibility to change that)and the very real ugliness around us (avoiding the faith challenges in taking those things head on), creating a false world. Chapter 4 should sound familiar, in that the image is the same as Isaiah 2 (which you read nearly a week ago - "of course you remember!"). The rhythm of punishment and return from exile finishes the chapter.

In Chapter 5, we have a Messianic passage that Matthew quotes (verse 2). When you get to verse 4, you can recall our readings from Isaiah as well as in the gospel of John about the Good Shepherd. The last section promises wrath against the invaders, which will also be included in 7:8-13.

Chapter 6:6-8, quoted above, is a great summation of the lessons learned in the fall, exile and return. The rituals were about creating a kind of people who were in a loving and holy growing relationship with a holy and loving God. They were not primarily about proper execution of the rituals (the professional hazard of being religious). Once the northern and southern kingdoms no longer had the place or ability to do the rituals correctly, they were brought a new understanding of who they were and what they were to do. The three princles are clear, simple and often difficult to follow: act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. Notice how counter-cultural they are to society's way(act according to your own best interests, "no mercy," and stand proud), and how much these principles of Micah are like the ministry of Jesus.

Chapter 7 repeats themes we have already seen, but do notice 18-19,

"Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."

What a great place for my sin and for yours, for the sins of our community, our state, our nation and our world.

Thanks for being part of this wonderful biblical journey. I hope you have had half of the God-surprises I have had in this course. God bless you all.

Will Cotton
March 9, 2009