Salvation from Dead Works in Order to Love Our Neighbor

Micah 6:1–2 (ESV) Hear what the LORD says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel.

The Prophet Micah brings another case against sinful Israel. And the Lord has questions.
Micah 6:3–4 (ESV) “O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! 4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

The questions are valid. Israel did not deliver itself from Egypt; God did that. He even reminds them in this chapter about those who intended to curse them, but God turned their curse into a blessing. 
Micah 6:5 (ESV) O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”

Israel did not win wars and secure their nation on their won. God raised up King David and others to lead and guide them. 

When we forget what God has done for us, we drift toward idolatry, selfishness, and exploiting others. 

Then the prophet speaks on behalf of the people, identifying with them in order to lead them back to repentance and righteous living. First, the question:
Micah 6:6–7 (ESV) “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?”

Empty religious ritual means nothing to the Lord and to us. The people of Micah's day took pride in their outward expressions of "church," but were at the same time exploiting the poor and treating each other wickedly. 

Even vain sacrifices offered merely for show were anathema to God's desire for His people. God is not looking for you to make some great sacrifice through your ritual. He does not need you to go hungry to make Him happy. He does not require your firstborn to appease His wrath. No. Even in verse 7, we have a hint of the Gospel. For the God who does not need our firstborn will offer His for us. And why? So that we continue in the vain practice of outward religion? No. So that we treat one another well because we have a right relationship with the Father. 

The answer to Micah's question is simple:
Micah 6:8 (ESV) 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?

Without the Lord changing our hearts, dead religion is the result. In the second half the chapter, we find the evil practices of Israel as they continued to attend to religious duties. 

Micah 6:10–12 (ESV) Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed? 11 Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? 12 Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

And God announces that these practices, which are often the habits of those who think they are the path to prosperity, will bring desolation to the nation. 
Micah 6:13–16 (ESV) Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins. 14 You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be hunger within you; you shall put away, but not preserve, and what you preserve I will give to the sword. 15 You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine. 16 For you have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels, that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing; so you shall bear the scorn of my people.”

Bigger picture: when we treat one another justly, we all benefit, we all do better. When we walk with the Lord through the love of Christ, it shapes us into a better community in which each part regards and loves the other, empowering fruitfulness and blessing for all. 


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