Michea 6:8 Commento

After the precious promises in the two foregoing chapters, relating to the Messiah's kingdom, the prophet is here directed to set the sins of Israel in order before them, for their conviction and humiliation, as necessary to make way for the comfort of gospel-grace. Christ's forerunner was a reprover, and preached repentance, and so prepared his way. Here, I. God enters an action against his people for their base ingratitude, and the bad returns they had made him for his favours (Mic 6:1-5). II. He shows the wrong course they should have taken (Mic 6:6-8). III. He calls upon them to hear the voice of his judgments, and sets the sins in order before them for which he still proceeded in his controversy with them (Mic 6:9), their injustice (Mic 6:10-15), and their idolatry (Mic 6:16), for both which ruin was coming upon them.

INTRODUCTION TO MICAH 6 This chapter contains reproofs of the people of Israel for their sins, threatening them with punishment for them. The prophet is bid to tell them of the controversy the Lord had with them, which he did, Mic 6:1; and the Lord calls upon them to declare if they had any thing to object to his attitude towards them, Mic 6:3; and then puts them in mind of the favours they had received from him, in bringing them out of Egypt, and giving them such useful persons to go before them, lead and instruct them, as he had, Mic 6:4; and also reminds them of what passed between Balak, king of Moab, and Balaam the soothsayer; the questions of the one, and the answer of the other; whereby the designs of the former against them were frustrated, Mic 6:5; but since the voice of the Lord by his prophet was disregarded by them, they are called upon to hearken to the voice of his rod, Mic 6:9; which should be laid upon them for their fraudulent dealings, injustice, oppression, lies, and deceit, Mic 6:10; and therefore are threatened with sickness and desolation, and a deprivation of all good things, the fruit of their labours, Mic 6:13; and that because the statutes of Omri, the works of Ahab, and their counsels, were observed by them, Mic 6:16.

He hath showed me, O man, what is good,.... This is not the answer of the prophet to the body of the people, or to any and every one of the people of Israel; but of Balaam to Balak, a single man, that consulted with him, and put questions to him; particularly what he should do to please the Lord, and what righteousness he required of him, that would be acceptable to him; and though he was a king, he was but a man, and he would have him know it that he was no more, and as such addresses him; and especially when he is informing him of his duty to God; which lay not in such things as he had proposed, but in doing that which was good, and avoiding that which was evil, in a moral sense: and this the Lord had shown him by the light of nature; which is no other than the work of the law of God written in the hearts of the Heathens, by which they are directed to do the good commanded in the law, and to shun the evil forbidden by it; see Rom 2:14; and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly; or "judgment" (e); to exercise public judgment and justice, as a king, among his subjects; to do private and personal justice between man and man; to hurt no man's person, property, and character; to give to everyone their due, and do as he would desire to be done by; which as it is agreeable to the law of God, so to the light of nature, and what is shown, required, and taught by it: and to love mercy; not only to show mercy to miserable objects, to persons in distress; to relieve the poor and indigent; to clothe the naked, and feed the hungry; but to delight in such exercises; and which a king especially should do, whose throne is established by mercy, and who is able, and should be munificent; and some Heathen princes, by their liberality, have gained the name of benefactors, "Euergetes", as one of the Ptolemies did; see Luk 22:25; such advice Daniel gave to Nebuchadnezzar, a Heathen prince, as agreeable to the light of nature; see Dan 4:27; and to walk humbly with thy God? his Creator and Benefactor, from whom he had his being, and all the blessings of life, and was dependent upon him; and therefore, as a creature, should behave with humility towards his Creator, acknowledging his distance from him, and the obligations he lay under to him; and even though a king, yet his God and Creator was above him, King of kings, and Lord of lords, to whom he owed his crown, sceptre, and kingdom, and was accountable to him for all his administrations: and this "walking humbly" is opposed to "walking in pride", which kings are apt to do; but God can humble them, and bring them low, as Heathen kings have been obliged to own; see Dan 2:21. (e) "judicium", V. L. Munster; "jus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

“But God,”[adulterers and fornicators say,] “is good and most kind.” He is “merciful, compassionate and rich in mercy,” which “he prefers to every sacrifice.” “He desires not so much the death as the repentance of the sinner.” He is “the Savior of all people, and especially of the faithful.” Therefore the children of God must also be “merciful” and “peacemakers,” “forgiving each other as Christ also forgave us,” “not judging, lest we be judged.” For to “his master a man stands or falls; who are you to judge the servant of another?” “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Yet many such things as these are only said, not done, merely bandied about, unmanning rather than strengthening discipline, flattering God and pandering to themselves.

“You have been told, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love mercy and to be prepared to walk with your Lord?” Accordingly, the gospel says to you, “Arise, let us go from here,” while the law says to you, “You shall walk after the Lord your God.” You have learned the method of your flight from here—why do you delay?

(Verse 8) I will show you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. LXX: It has been told to you, O man, what is good, or what the Lord requires of you: only to do justice, and to love mercy, and to be prepared to walk with your God. For you hesitate, O people of Israel, indeed the entire human race (for I am not speaking specifically to the Jewish people, but generally to all mankind, my message reaches everyone), how you can appease God for your sins if you do not have victims with which your wickedness can be atoned: I will answer you, what God seeks, indeed I have shown it already in the Law. For it is written in Deuteronomy: And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his statutes, which I command you today for your good? (Deut. X, 12) The Lord asks of us, seeking our necessary salvation, demands to receive what is profitable for the giver, so that we may exercise judgment, that is, do nothing without reason and counsel, and consider before our mind judges what it should do, and afterward complete it in action; so that we may love mercy, and not be merciful as if compelled or by necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver (II Cor. IX). And let us not say, go today, and return tomorrow, and I will give to you. And when we shall have done judgment, and loved mercy, what reward shall we receive? We shall walk with the Lord our God, as Enoch walked with God according to the faith of the Hebrew volumes (Genesis 5; Ecclesiasticus 44), and pleased him, and was not found, because God had translated him. For you have said, in what shall I obtain the Lord, or in what shall I apprehend him? I promise you more, do judgment, and love mercy, and you shall walk with your God. Certainly, to walk with God is not a reward, but a commandment. Just as we are commanded to do justice and love mercy, so we are instructed to be prepared to walk with our Lord God; we should not sleep at any hour, we should not be secure at any time, but always expect the coming of the father of the household, and fear the day of judgment, and in the night of this world say: I sleep, but my heart is awake (Song of Solomon 5:2). Theodotius expressed more significantly the phrase 'Verbum Esne' (which the Septuagint translated as 'ready to go and we have said, anxious to walk') as 'καὶ ἀσφαλίζου τοῦ πορεύεσθαι μετὰ Ἐλωαίχ', that is, 'and be careful to walk diligently with your God'. Or, as the fifth edition translated, 'καὶ φροντίζειν', meaning to act diligently and have this care, to walk with your God. For whoever says they believe in Christ should walk as He walked (1 John 2:6). And the Apostle Paul said: 'Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.' (I Cor. 11) The voice of the Lord cries out to the city, and salvation will be to those who fear your name. The Septuagint version says: The voice of the Lord will cry out to the city, and those who fear his name will be saved. In the Hebrew, this is the beginning of another chapter, but in the Septuagint, it is the end of the previous chapter. It means: God asks nothing else of you, O man, but that you do justice, love mercy, and be ready to walk with your God. For the voice of the Lord is heard in his city, the Church, and in the holy Scriptures, it resounds every day, that not only those who love mercy, but also those who are lowly and still fear the name of the Lord, may be saved by his teaching and mercy. But if the beginning of the following chapter is, let us recount according to the story, what is said about the metropolis of the ten tribes, which, as Michaeas prophesied, was captured, and let us say: The Lord rebukes Samaria, and he threatens the blows that are to come, so that the people of Judah, either out of fear of the name of the Lord, or out of fear of suffering other punishments, may themselves, being seized by fear, obtain salvation. For when a city is plagued by pestilence, not only the wise, but even the foolish become more prudent. And this itself applies to sinners in general and to the righteous, so that the suffering of others becomes an example to the rest. Indeed, the Lord also interprets this in the Gospel concerning those on whom the tower in Siloam fell (Luke 13): that they were not the only sinners among the people, but rather that their punishment would provoke the others to repentance.

You ask what you should offer: offer yourself. For what else does the Lord seek of you but you? Because of all earthly creatures he has made nothing better than you, he seeks yourself from yourself, because you have lost yourself.

Forget about burnt offerings, countless sacrifices and oblations of firstborn, he is saying. If you are concerned to appease the divinity, practice what God ordered you in the beginning through Moses. What in fact is that? To deliver fair judgment and decision in all cases where you have to choose better from worse, to continue giving evidence of all possible love and fellow-feeling to your neighbor, and be ready to put into practice what is pleasing to God in every way. He means, in short, “You will love God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul, and you will love your neighbor as yourself,” as was said of old through Moses. Do this, he is saying, as something preferable to sacrifices in God’s eyes.

A brother asked a hermit, ‘Tell me something good that I may do it and live by it.’ The hermit said, ‘God alone knows what is good. But I have heard that one of the hermits asked the great Nesteros, who was a friend of Antony, ‘What good work shall I do?’ and he replied, ‘Surely all works please God equally? Scripture says, Abraham was hospitable and God was with him; Elijah loved quiet and God was with him; David was humble and God was with him.’ So whatever you find you are drawn to in following God’s will, do it and let your heart be at peace.’

A hermit was asked by a brother, ‘How do I find God? With fasts, or labour, or vigils, or works of mercy?’ He replied, ‘You will find Him in all those, and also in discretion. I tell you many have been very stern with their bodies, but have gained nothing by it because they did it without discretion. Even if our mouths stink from fasting, and we have learnt all the Scriptures, and memorized the whole Psalter, we may still lack what God wants, humility and love.’

Here is a priest who serves at every hour with great fear while walking humbly with the Lord his God in accordance with the word of the prophet. Meanwhile another priest is hardly capable of having that much fear even when he is about to die and enter into the last judgment before his Lord. But the full expression of the priesthood is comprised of the combination of the teaching of truth with good works. This is in accord with blessed Luke’s comment that in writing his Gospel he had composed a treatise concerning all the things that Jesus began both to do and to teach.

This chapter reproves and threatens. The manner of raising the attention by calling on man to urge his plea in the face of all nature, and on the inanimate creation to hear the expostulation of Jehovah with his people, is awakening and sublime. The words of Jehovah follow, Mic 6:3-5. And God's mercies hawing been set forth to his people, one of them is introduced, in a beautiful dramatic form, asking what his duty is towards a God so gracious, Mic 6:6, Mic 6:7. The answer follows in the words of the prophet, Mic 6:8; who goes on to upbraid the people of his charge with their injustice and idolatry, to which he ascribes want of success in their lawful undertakings, and those heave calamities which are now impending, Mic 6:9-15.

He hath showed thee, O Man, what is good - All the modes of expiation which ye have proposed are, in the sight of God, unavailable; they cannot do away the evil, nor purify from the guilt of sin. He himself has shown thee what is good; that which is profitable to thee, and pleasing to himself. And what is that? Answer, Thou art: - I. To do justly; to give to all their due. 1. To God his due; thy heart, thy body, soul, and spirit; thy Wisdom, understanding, judgment. "To love him with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself." This is God's due and right from every man. 2. Thou art to give thy neighbor his due to do to him as thou wouldst that he should do to thee, never working ill to him. 3. Thou art to give to thyself thy due; not to deprive thy soul of what God has provided for it; to keep thy body in temperance, sobriety, and chastity; avoiding all excesses, both in action and passion. II. Thou art to love mercy; not only to do what justice requires, but also what mercy, kindness, benevolence, and charity require. III. But how art thou to do this? Thou art to walk humbly with thy God; הצנע hatsnea, to humble thyself to walk. This implies to acknowledge thy iniquity, and submit to be saved by his free mercy, as thou hast already found that no kind of offering or sacrifice can avail. Without this humiliation of soul there never was, there never can be, any walking With God; for without his mercy no soul can be saved; and he must be Thy God before thou canst walk with him. Many, when they hear the nature of sin pointed out, and the way of salvation made plain through the blood of the Lamb, have shut their eyes both against sin and the proper sacrifice for it, and parried all exhortation, threatening, etc., with this text: "God requires nothing of us but to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with him." Now I ask any man, Art thou willing to stand or fall by this text? And it would cost me neither much time nor much pains to show that on this ground no soul of man can be saved. Nor does God say that this doing justly, etc., shall merit eternal glory. No. He shows that in this way all men should walk; that this is the duty of Every rational being; but he well knows that no fallen soul can act thus without especial assistance from him, and that it is only the regenerate man, the man who has found redemption through the blood of the cross, and has God for His God, that can thus act and walk. Salvation is of the mere mercy of God alone; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. The manner of raising attention, says Bp. Newcome, on Mic 6:1, Mic 6:2, by calling on man to urge his plea in the face of all nature, and on the inanimate creation to hear the expostulation of Jehovah with his people, is truly awakening and magnificent. The wards of Jehovah follow in Mic 6:3-5. And God's mercies having been set before the people, one of them is introduced in a beautiful dramatic form; asking what his duty is towards so gracious a God, Mic 6:6, Mic 6:7. The answer follows in the words of the prophet, Mic 6:8. Some think we have a sort of dialogue between Balak and Balaam, represented to us in the prophetical way. The king of Moab speaks, Mic 6:6. Balaam replies by another question in the two first hemistichs of Mic 6:7. The king of Moab rejoins in the remaining part of the verse; and Balaam replies, Mic 6:8. Bps. Butler and Lowth favor this. I cannot agree.

APPEAL BEFORE ALL CREATION TO THE ISRAELITES TO TESTIFY, IF THEY CAN, IF JEHOVAH EVER DID AUGHT BUT ACTS OF KINDNESS TO THEM FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD: GOD REQUIRES OF THEM NOT SO MUCH SACRIFICES, AS REAL PIETY AND JUSTICE: THEIR IMPIETIES AND COMING PUNISHMENT. (Mic. 6:1-16) contend thou--Israel is called by Jehovah to pie ad with Him in controversy. Mic 5:11-13 suggested the transition from those happy times described in the fourth and fifth chapters, to the prophet's own degenerate times and people. before the mountains--in their presence; personified as if witnesses (compare Mic 1:2; Deu 32:1; Isa 1:2). Not as the Margin, "with"; as God's controversy is with Israel, not with them.

He--Jehovah. hath showed thee--long ago, so that thou needest not ask the question as if thou hadst never heard (Mic 6:6; compare Deu 10:12; Deu 30:11-14). what is good--"the good things to come" under Messiah, of which "the law had the shadow." The Mosaic sacrifices were but suggestive foreshadowings of His better sacrifice (Heb 9:23; Heb 10:1). To have this "good" first "showed," or revealed by the Spirit, is the only basis for the superstructure of the moral requirements which follow. Thus the way was prepared for the Gospel. The banishment of the Jews from Palestine is designed to preclude the possibility of their looking to the Mosaic rites for redemption, and shuts them up to Messiah. justly . . . mercy--preferred by God to sacrifices. For the latter being positive ordinances, are only means designed with a view to the former, which being moral duties are the ends, and of everlasting obligation (Sa1 15:22; Hos 6:6; Hos 12:6; Amo 5:22, Amo 5:24). Two duties towards man are specified--justice, or strict equity; and mercy, or a kindly abatement of what we might justly demand, and a hearty desire to do good to others. to walk humbly with thy God--passive and active obedience towards God. The three moral duties here are summed up by our Lord (Mat 23:23), "judgment, mercy, and faith" (in Luk 11:42, "the love of God). Compare Jam 1:27. To walk with God implies constant prayer and watchfulness, familiar yet "humble" converse with God (Gen 5:24; Gen 17:1).

III. The Way to Salvation - Micah 6 and 7 Micah having declared to the people of Israel not only the judgment that will burst upon Zion on account of its sins, but also the salvation awaiting in the future the remnant saved and purified through the judgment, now proceeds, in the third and last address, to point out the way to salvation, by showing that they bring punishment upon themselves by their ingratitude and resistance to the commandments of God, and that it is only through sincere repentance that they can participate in the promised covenant mercies. Exhortation to Repentance, and Divine Threatening - Micah 6 In the form of a judicial contest between the Lord and His people, the prophet holds up before the Israelites their ingratitude for the great blessings which they have received from God (Mic 6:1-5), and teaches them that the Lord does not require outward sacrifices to appease His wrath, but righteousness, love, and humble walk with God (Mic 6:6-8), and that He must inflict severe punishment, because the people practise violence, lying, and deceit instead (Mic 6:9-14).

The prophet therefore proceeds in Mic 6:8 to overthrow these outward means of reconciliation with God, and reminds the people of the moral demands of the law. Mic 6:8. "They have told thee, O man, what is good, and what Jehovah requires of thee, simply to do right, and love good, and walk humbly with thy God." הגּיד, impersonal, "one has told," or they have told thee, namely Moses in the law. The opinion that Jehovah should be supplied as the subject is a very improbable one, for the simple reason that Jehovah is expressly mentioned in the second dependent clause. The use of כּי אם, nisi, as in the similar connection of thought in Deu 10:12, may be accounted for from the retrospective allusion to the gifts mentioned by the people: not outward sacrifices of any kind, but only the fulfilment of three following duties: namely, above all things, doing righteousness and exercising love. These two embrace all the commandments of the second table, of whose fulfilment Israel thought so little, that it was addicted to the very opposite, - namely, injustice, oppression, and want of affection (vid., Mic 2:1-2, Mic 2:8; Mic 3:2-3, Mic 3:9 ff., Mic 6:10 ff.). There is also a third: humble walk with God, i.e., in fellowship with God, as Israel, being a holy priestly nation, ought to walk. Without these moral virtues, sacrificial worship was a spiritless opus operatum, in which God had no pleasure (see at Sa1 15:22 and Hos 6:6).