What does the Lord require of you?

Micah 6:1-16 NASB

Hear now what the Lord is saying,
"Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice. "Listen, you mountains, to the indictment of the Lord,
And you enduring foundations of the earth,
Because the Lord has a case against His people;
Even with Israel He will dispute. "My people, what have I done to you,
And how have I wearied you? Answer Me. "Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt
And ransomed you from the house of slavery,
And I sent before you Moses, Aaron and Miriam. "My people, remember now
What Balak king of Moab counseled
And what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
And from Shittim to Gilgal,
So that you might know the righteous acts of the Lord."
With what shall I come to the Lord
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
The voice of the Lord will call to the city--
And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name:
"Hear, O tribe. Who has appointed its time? "Is there yet a man in the wicked house,
Along with treasures of wickedness
And a short measure that is cursed? "Can I justify wicked scales
And a bag of deceptive weights? "For the rich men of the city are full of violence,
Her residents speak lies,
And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. "So also I will make you sick, striking you down,
Desolating you because of your sins. "You will eat, but you will not be satisfied,
And your vileness will be in your midst.
You will try to remove for safekeeping,
But you will not preserve anything,
And what you do preserve I will give to the sword. "You will sow but you will not reap.
You will tread the olive but will not anoint yourself with oil;
And the grapes, but you will not drink wine. "The statutes of Omri
And all the works of the house of Ahab are observed;
And in their devices you walk.
Therefore I will give you up for destruction
And your inhabitants for derision,
And you will bear the reproach of My people."


My thoughts -

You see it time and time again. God consistently tells his people that, although the law demands offerings and sacrifices for sin, what God really desires is for people to stop sinning. Here you have God through the prophet Micah explaining to the people what has been done for them. They have been delivered from Egypt. They are no longer slaves. They are free. They have land. They have wealth. They have life and a way of life in good fertile land that has been good to them.

So then they are asked a ridiculous question. What does God want with their offerings and sacrifices? What would God do with them. Forget your first calf or ten percent of your flock, what would God do with a ridiculous number even? Say thousands? Could God use them? What for? What good would it be to God?

And oil? Does God need oil? What good would even, say, thousands of rivers of oil be to God? Is God that short on oil? Does God smell bad and need it to mask his divine odor? What does that do for God?

So if God doesn't need your stuff, even ridiculous amounts of it, what does God need?

He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?

God can't use your stuff. God doesn't need anything. God is God. What God desires is your life. God desires a restored relationship and for you to live within God's will. God desires that you, that we all, do good. That we do justice. That we love mercy. And that we walk humbly with our God.

There is injustice here. Although they are already rich, Micah describes the rich in Jerusalem as being deceitful and violent oppressors. They cheat. They lie. They steal. They use rigged scales and dishonest measurements and cheat others to further increase their wealth. They're swindlers.

God doesn't want their offerings. God doesn't desire for the rich to steal from the poor and then make amends for it by giving God a cut off the top. God wants them to not steal!

God will pursue justice. God will punish the wicked. God will deal with the oppressors. But most of all God desires mercy. God wants to deal restorative justice that makes things right and doesn't just punish wrongdoers. God would rather they just not sin.

This is what God desires. Do God's will. Do what is good. Do what is right. Care for the needs of others. Don't abuse what wealth and power you have. Show others the grace and mercy that God has shown you. And walk humbly with God. Don't be a proud, rude, arrogant, selfish jerk.

God doesn't want for stuff. What would that which made the universe do with what little wealth we have. God's not hurting for money. God doesn't need it. God wants us to do what is right. And yes, that involves our money. But it involves so much more than just that. It involves our lives.

God doesn't want stuff. God wants us.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8