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WHAT WILL SATISFY HIM? Micah 6:6-8 INTRODUCTION at The

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WHAT WILL SATISFY HIM? Micah 6:6-8 INTRODUCTION at The WHAT WILL SATISFY HIM? Micah 6:6-8 SERMON NOTES FOR LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION INTRODUCTION At the heart of the question in today’s passage is an honest desire to know how God wants us to respond. And the suggested responses show our tendency to attempt to do something spectacular, but ultimately something that doesn’t require our personal involvement. God does not call us to do the spectacular. He calls us to do the ordinary in a spectacular manner. Spectacular in its simplicity. Spectacular in its consistency. Spectacular in its aim. Spectacular because it flows out of our love for him and for others. THE CONTEXT OF MICAH’S MESSAGE Context is essential for right interpretation and application. There is a local business I trade with on a frequent basis. I have a friend who works there, a young black man. Over the past ten years we have developed a good relationship filled with lots of joking. Over the years, I have noticed other people watch us go back and forth at each other. Some knew that we were joking, and they grinned. Others, at times, have looked very concerned when they heard us talking to each other and looked around to see if anybody else was hearing what they thought they were hearing. The last time I saw my friend, I wanted to talk about the recent racial conflict in America. So I said, “You know what bothers me about these recent troubles?” He raised one eyebrow and cocked his head at me, obviously not knowing where I was going with this comment. He said, “What’s that Mr. Barbee?” I said, “People might hear us joking with each other and misunderstand the nature of our relationship.” With a straight face he took a step back and began holding up his hands, and said, “Mr. Barbee, if that happens, I have already decided that I’m going to step back, hold up my hands, and say, ‘I don’t know who this man is and why he’s saying these things to me.’ “And we couldn’t speak for a couple of minutes because we were laughing so hard. It’s important that we be careful what we say to one another. It’s equally important that we understand the context in which things are being said. The basic context of the Book of Micah is that he is ministering at the same time as Isaiah, during the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. As he writes to Israel and Judah, Micah is addressing two issues: one external and one internal. The external issue was the spreading power of the Assyrian empire. They had briefly stopped their expansionism as they heeded the prophetic call of Jonah in the previous generation. But time has passed and now they are bent on world domination. According Micah 6:6-8 6.28.20 Page 1 of 9 to Bruce Waltke, they are invading and subduing kingdoms in order to use the wealth and resources of the other nations to fund their expansionist efforts. This was a serious issue, but it was not as deadly as the internal issue they faced. Richard Phillips says the prophets saw the political and military problems as mere symptoms of a graver problem; Judah was rotting at the core. She clung to an outward show of religiosity but her heart no longer belonged to God. In the midst of this turmoil, Micah is ministering faithfully among the nation. God gave him favor with Hezekiah, who took his advice and briefly averted disaster. (Jeremiah 26:17-19) 1. WHAT KIND OF A SACRIFICE DOES GOD REQUIRE? – 6:6a God rescued Israel from Egypt. In 6:1-2, God tells Judah and Israel to plead their case before the mountains. In 6:3-5 he lays out the evidence against them; He brought them up from Egypt, he rescued them from the curse of Balaam, and he delivered them across the Jordan into the Promised Land. And what have his people done? They have abandoned him. God spared Israel from the curse of Balaam. The story of Balaam is found in Numbers 22- 24. Balak is concerned about the size of Israel as she is marching toward the Promised Land. So he sends for Balaam to come and curse Israel for him. Balaam seeks God’s direction and God tells him not to go. But Balak is offering Balaam a sizable sum of money if he will come and curse Israel. So he inquires of God again. God tells him to go but to only say what God specifically tells him to say. Once in place, he refuses to curse Israel, and infuriates Balak in the process (Numbers 24:13). Balaam gives the appearance of being faithful, but he was disobedient in going at all. In the end, Balaam loses his life (Numbers 31:8). Peter tells us that it was Balaam’s love of gold that caused him to disobey God. And it cost him his life. (2 Peter 2:15-16). Jerusalem is now guilty of the same sin. Her love of gold has caused her to walk away from God. She has retained the appearance of religiosity but her heart is elsewhere. It was a time of prosperity, and Micah denounced the wealthy, who were oppressing the poor, and warned of impending judgment. (K&D) It is in this context of the deliberate disobedience of God’s people that the questions come forth; what does God require of them? 2. HERE ARE SOME POSSIBILITIES – 6:6b-7 God desired his people to seek restoration with him, so what will it take? What evidence can they produce to prove their love? Micah’s hearers know that they should not come empty-handed, so what gift should they bring to the Lord? (Phillips) Micah 6:6-8 6.28.20 Page 2 of 9 BURNT OFFERINGS Each of the proposed offerings is expensive. The petitioner knows that they cannot bring a cheap gift to satisfy God. The burnt offering was expensive because it was totally consumed. When a worshiper offered a fellowship offering, a part of the offering was returned to him. But not so with the burnt offering; it was totally consumed. The offer of a calf carried with it not just the offering of the animal itself, but also the sunk cost of all the feed and care that had gone into raising the calf. If a year old calf was to be offered as a burnt offering, the worshiper was also offering the feed and care that had been expended upon that calf for a whole year. (Phillips) RAMS AND OILS The idea of a burnt offering was centered on the idea of quality. The offering of rams and oils was centered on the idea of quantity. (K&D) It is possible the questioner has in mind the example of a king like Solomon. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings at a time (1 Kings 3:4), and for the dedication of the temple he sacrificed 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep (1 Kings 8:63). Would something like that suffice, or oil offerings in the tens of thousands? (Phillips) MY FIRSTBORN What could be a more costly sacrifice to bring to God other than the offer of a family member? The very thought of it immediately brings to mind the horror of the pagans who offered up their children to appease the gods. (Jeremiah 32:35; Ezekiel 20:31) Or else they have in mind the example of God calling Abraham to offer up Isaac on Mount Moriah. Except in that case God provided a substitute so that Isaac did not have to be offered up. (Genesis 22:1-2) The problem with these offerings is that, even though they are expensive, none of them are personal. They are all attempts at appeasing God. God is not interested in us using the things he has created to appease him and buy him off; he does not want our things, he wants our hearts. This was the problem with Israel’s attitude toward the Lord. They would offer burnt offerings, year-old calves, thousands of rams, and tens of thousands of rivers of oil. But they would not offer God what he asked for: themselves, their hearts, their undivided faith, their unfeigned devotion. (Phillips) Micah 6:6-8 6.28.20 Page 3 of 9 3. NO, HERE IS WHAT GOD REQUIRES – 6:8 The impersonal use of “he” that is used here is Moses in the giving of the law. So when we read 6:8, we might read it as “Moses has already shown you what you are to do.” (K&D) Note the connection with this passage and that of Deuteronomy 10:12-13, which also speaks of doing righteousness and exercising love. In many ways it is almost a direct quote. This is a good reminder for us that one of our principles for understanding Scripture is to interpret it by using Scripture. Note also that God addresses this to the singular man, not to the plural men. (Phillips) That is not to say that all aren’t held accountable for doing these things. But rather it is to say that each person must do them at an individual level rather than to sit back and expect someone else to do them, in their place, at the collective level. DO JUSTICE To “do justice” is to take action. The word used for “justice” here is “mishpat,” which puts an emphasis on action.
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