God brings an indictment against Israel with the questions:
“O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
Has the Lord asked too much of Judah?
Following the Septuagint translation of “wearied” from Hebrew (lā'â) into the Greek (parenochleō), we see the example in Acts 15:19-21, where at the Jerusalem Counsel they decided that Gentile believers need not to follow Jewish law. They were not to be “troubled” with that burden.
So, God’s indictment starts by questioning if the Covenant conditions had been too burdensome. But then proceeds to recall some of what he has done to hold up His end of the bargain:
- Protection from famine and the escape from Egypt (1 Chronicles 6:2-4).
- Protection from Balak, when God used a donkey to command Balaam to bless them (Numbers 22-24) instead.
- Miracle at Shittim and Gilgal, when they crossed the Jordan River on dry ground during the harvest floods (Joshua 3-4).
He then asks the questions that they should be asking themselves. With what would God be pleased (rāṣâ)?
“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?
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?”
This word indicates the payment of a satisfactory transaction. It pokes fun at the religion-for-hire that was being practiced and was being condemned by Micah (Micah 1:7).
The passage concludes with another convicting question:
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?
So, what payment is actually required of us? None. What purification by us is actually required? None. What piety by us is actually required? None.
Instead, we are to:
Hebrew normally does not have the precision of Greek. Here however, the words are very, very, specific. Our personal acts should be just; our desire for ourselves and others should be for mercy (rather than judgement), and we should walk knowing we are indebted to God (with no ability to repay Him).
God does not desire any action on our part that would attempt to remove that need for humbleness, that would remove that need for mercy, or remove the need for the just punishment for our sin. He has already paid the penalty for our sin, he has already been merciful to us, and we Ought to walk very humbly as a result.
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