Complaining

Last week's section contained what Jerome called the harshest words of the book.

Job 9:22-24

It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

When disaster brings sudden death,

he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

he covers the faces of its judges—

if it is not he, who then is it?

This passage speaks of the sovereignty of God.  In English the repeated use of "he" identifies God as the first cause. With God being the first cause and Job seeing that death comes to both the blameless and the wicked, Job struggles with the justice of it all.

This week in class, we shared in his struggle as we grabbed hold of this slippery passage.  But in my efforts I think I went beyond the text and did it a disservice. The swift death of an innocent, while truly a gift compared to a protracted time of suffering, does not ease the truth of the prior statement.  In this life both the blameless and the wicked come to the same end and it appears injust.

In class, we also attempted to use the alternate meaning of massâ, that of a trial, to understand the mockery of God as the laughter that would occur as we attempted to prove our innocence.  This too adds to the passage by going past this life in which the injustice occurs. 

Both of these thoughts attempt to reduce the harshness of Job's statements. But stepping back and holding the text more loosely. Job is not speaking prophetically; He does not know the mind of God; He cannot hear the mocking voice.  Rather he is simply expressing the depth of his complaint.  From what Job can see of this "justice", it could as well come from a judge that laughed at the sentencing. 

Complaining is not a sin. Arguably the deepest complaint ever uttered came from the lips of Christ:

Matthew 27:46

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Alone in a Forest

Micah saw that God was going to take up the shepherd's rod against those who had placed themselves above the Law. This would be a terrible time of exile and would mean the scattering of the remnant. But he also saw that God would take up the staff to shepherd that scattered flock and that they would become a strong nation.

The Wise Men not only followed a star, but they also followed the prophecy of Micah, to the very birthplace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. You too can follow Micah's prophecy though this tumultuous time and glimpse the redemptive work of God in its final verses.

Praise God for His grace, because truly for a sheep it is a dreadful thing to be "Alone in a Forest".

Week 13 - Micah 7:10-20 - Surely Bless

Reading the New Testament as a kid, I raced through the Gospels (especially Mark) and Acts.  They were filled of adventure.  But when I got to Romans my heart sank.  It was theology, difficult and deep theology.  I remember particularly struggling over this passage:

Romans 3:21-26

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.  It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

I knew I sinned.  I knew my salvation was through the work of Christ.  But I could not grasp how those believers of the Old Testament were saved.  Christ had not yet taken their punishment.

Both Micah and Paul make it clear that the sins of the remnant were not forgiven, but rather passed over.  Their removal was foreshadowed in the promise to Abraham at the thwarted sacrifice of Isaac.

Genesis 22:15-18

And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

The phrase “surely bless” is same word (bāraḵ) repeated for emphasis first as its noun form then as an ongoing verb.  Paul explains this blessing in what took place in the work of Christ Jesus:

Acts 3:25-26

You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Praise the Lord, that we can see that now that work in the past.  But please understand Micah’s joy as foresaw it prophetically in the future!  The word "our" is literally "they" in the Hebrew and accurately identifies the past and present members of the covenant as the recipient of the blessing.

Micah 7:19b-20

You will cast all our sins

    into the depths of the sea.

You will show faithfulness to Jacob

    and steadfast love to Abraham,

as you have sworn to our fathers

    from the days of old.

Week 12 - Micah 7:1-9 - But as for me

Micah 7:7-9

But as for me, I will look to the Lord;

    I will wait for the God of my salvation;

    my God will hear me.

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;

    when I fall, I shall rise;

when I sit in darkness,

    the Lord will be a light to me.

I will bear the indignation of the Lord

    because I have sinned against him,

until he pleads my cause

    and executes judgment for me.

He will bring me out to the light;

    I shall look upon his vindication.

Just as when Lazarus must have squinted at the sun (John 11:38-44) when leaving the tomb, Micah will see God’s righteous justification of his people (ṣᵊḏāqâ).  

Micah does not explain how, but in some way, God will be both “faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9).  

This will be a glorious sight, something indeed that will make you squint.  So, he welcomed that justice even though he knew he was not without sin.  

This in contrast to the watchman’s day (Micah 7:4).  A watchman stares into the quiet of the night scanning the horizon for any approaching danger.  Micah and Isaiah were watchmen.  That is, prophets.  They looked out and saw the destruction of Israel coming for their actions.

This dichotomy is this essence of God’s steadfast love (ḥeseḏ).

2 Timothy 2:8-13

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

if we endure, we will also reign with him;

if we deny him, he also will deny us;

if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself.

Week 11 - Micah 6:9-16 - Differing Weights

Micah cries out in this passage against the detestable practice of differing weights.  

Micah 6:10-11
Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
    and the scant measure that is accursed?

Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales 

    and with a bag of deceitful weights?

A scale is used in commerce.  The product on one side and a weight on the other.  

If the proprietor has two bags of weights, one lighter than the other, he can reach for one when selling and one when purchasing.  This practice is forbidden by the Law.

Leviticus 19:36

You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

The proprietor can also use one for certain customers and one for others.  This is also forbidden.  The scales of justice should work the same for all.

Deuteronomy 25:13

You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’

How do we use differing weights?  Do we treat the powerful different from the weak?  The rich different from the poor?  The beautiful different from the ugly?  The theologically correct different from those with a different view?  The list goes on to include physical attributes of color and obesity, but also include voluntary activities of tattoos and sexual orientation.

Micah also reminds us of the rod of God.

Micah 6:9b 

Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it!

A rod hung on a hook in the kitchen pantry of my childhood home.  It was obviously old and has been my grandmothers.  It was to punish naughty child, or I was told.  To my knowledge it was never used, but it sure sent a message.

In this passage each injustice is met by God's consistent judgement.

Micah 6:13-15 

Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, . . .

You shall eat, but not be satisfied, . . .

you shall put away, but not preserve, . . . 

You shall sow, but not reap;

    you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;

    you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine

This is to our comfort.  As it says:

Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

    I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

    your rod and your staff,

    they comfort me.

In response to evil, we know the God will apply his punishment with absolute justice.  He does not show favoritism.  

In contrast, imagine a family, a team, a department, a company, or a country, where rules are applied differently.  There would indeed be no comfort.

So, in the age of critical race theory and the Woke culture, we must respond by treating people the same.  Showing love and ensuring justice for all. 

Week 10 - Micah 6:1-8 - God's Requirement

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:

• do (ʿāśâ) justice (mišpāṭ), 
• love ('ahăḇâ) mercy (ḥāsaḏ) and 
• walk (yālaḵ) humbly (ṣānaʿ).

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.

 

Week 9 - In that Day - Micah 5:7-15

As a youth my hobby was old cars.  I was a member in good standing of the “High Hopes Historic Auto Club”.  Car meets.  Barn finds.  Petromobilia.  Junk yards.  Some very fond memories.

If I collect cars, and spend an inordinate amount of time waxing/repairing/going to car meets, has it become an idol?

One can argue that anything that competes with God is an idol.  If something else consumes what would be your tithe is that an idol?  Not managing your finances properly is a sin, but simply having too much debt to service does not make it an idol.

In this passage, we are told of several idols that would be removed from Israel.  The first to be removed was horses and chariots, which were the ancient world's ’64 Corvair Convertible, but I digress.

How can a horse/chariot be an idol?

Psalm 20:7

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

It is not that you spend money and time on horses, it is that you put your trust in them.  Actually, the first word “trust” is not in the Hebrew, and the second is actually “remember” (zāḵar).  The Israelites did not need to trust in some future event, but simply remember all the past ones 

Trust-idols identify themselves.  Or better said they animate themselves into idols:

·       “My 401K will give us a comfortable retirement”

·       “My gun will protect us.”

·       “My exercise program will give me a long life.”

They become the subject (the actor), and not the object.  When these thoughts creep in, we are asked to “remember” that God is the source.  He is the dew and the rain, that no man can direct (Micah 5:7).  He alone is the source.

When does a tree become an idol?  Trees become Asherah, when the tree becomes a deity.  

Deity-idols are rarer today, but it only takes one.  And that one is usually us!  We reveal that with the tiny word “I”:

·       I built up a sizable 401K.  

·       I have made a great marriage.

·       I have made a great position for myself at work.

When we change the source from God to us, we have made ourselves a deity.  We are the idols.

The caution here is that God is jealous.  He will not stand by and allow idol worship.  Because in that day He will take away the chariot, as He did with my butter-yellow and black convertible.