Miquéias 6

Miquéias 6

MacArthur notes that this courtroom motif moves "back and forth between 3 speakers: the Lord pleading His case, the people responding under conviction, and the prophet as the lawyer for the plaintiff." While Micah 4 and Micah 5 speak of a deliverance, a future and a hope, Micah 6 and 7 generally speak of denunciation, of doom and gloom. If Israel (or anyone) fails to respond to the gracious message, God will be forced to speak the message of judgment. However even in Micah 6-7, He is calling His wayward people to return. Indeed, even in the midst of wrath, God remembers mercy (Hab 3:2-note). Hear (Listen) (Shama)(8085) conveys the basic idea is of perceiving a message or a sound, but also connotes the idea of hearing with attention, reverence and obedient assent. It is a call It's the idea of giving God one's undivided attention. It is not a suggestion but a command and calls for the reader (hearer) to give his full attention! This command reminds us of Jesus' repeated phrase "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Mt 11:15, 13:9, 43, Mk 4:9, Lk 8:8, 14:35). It is most unwise to turn away our ear when the Lord is speaking! Do you (I) ever do this? Do we (I) read a portion of God's precious Word in the morning and totally forget what I have read even before noon? This also reminds me of the warning in Hebrews "Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS." (Heb 3:7-8-note quoting Ps 95:7-8-note cp Heb 3:15-note, Heb 4:7-note) "See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned [them] on earth, much less [shall] we [escape] who turn away from Him who [warns] from heaven." (Heb 12:25-note) The point is... Listen! God is speaking! This is important! Hear (shama) was also the introductory call of the previous two major oracles (both also in the form of commands) and all three serve to introduce important messages - see Micah 1:2-note, Micah 3:1-note Now what the LORD is saying - Micah is but a mouthpiece for Jehovah (a prophet - forth teller) and he is addressing Israel. Israel is to hear Jehovah, for the words Micah speaks are God's words. It is always wise to listen to God's voice. Arise - This is a command to "Stand up! and is a call to action for "court is now in session" (cf Job 23:4-5). We've all seen the people in the court stand up when the judge enters the room! Moses addressing Israel in the section on blessing and cursing (Dt 28-30) says... Deut 29:10 “You stand today, all of you, before the LORD your God: your chiefs, your tribes, your elders and your officers, [even] all the men of Israel...15 but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the LORD our God and with those who are not with us here today Plead your case - command - Israel defend yourself. Plead your case (07378)(riyb [see noun riyb used in Mic 6:2]) means to strive, plead, contend, conduct a lawsuit, make a charge. Riyb is found in both biblical and modern Hebrew. This verb is used again in Micah 7:9-note. Baker - Riyb means to conduct a lawsuit or legal case and all that it involves. The Lord conducts His case against the leaders of His people (Isa 3:13). He relents in His case from accusing humankind, knowing how weak they are (Isa. 57:16). David pleaded with the Lord to give him vindication in his case (1Sa 24:15) as did Israel when God contended for them (Mic. 7:9). The word means to contend or to strive for some reason in a non-legal setting as well. The servants of Isaac and Abimelech contended over wells they had dug or claimed to own (Ge 26:21). Two men could quarrel and come to blows (Ex 21:18; Jdg. 11:25). Jacob and Laban disputed with one another (Ge 31:36). The people of Israel complained bitterly against the Lord at Meribah (Nu 20:13). The word means to raise complaints or accusations against others. The tribes of Israel complained because some of their women were taken and given as wives to the Benjamites (Jdg. 21:22). An arrogant Israel would dare to bring charges against the Lord (Isa. 45:9; Jer. 2:29; 12:1). The tribe of Levi contended with the Lord at Meribah as well (Dt. 33:8; cf. Nu 20:13). The causative stem of this verb means to bring a case against (i.e., to oppose). The Lord will judge those who oppose Him (1Sa 2:10). Vine - Riyb It appears in the text for the first time in Ge 26:20 (the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled)” Such “striving” with words is found frequently in the biblical text (Ge. 31:36; Ex. 17:2). Sometimes contentious words lead to bodily struggle and injury (Ex 21:18). The prophets use riyb frequently to indicate that God has an indictment, a legal case, against Israel (Isa. 3:13). In one of his visions, Amos noted: “ the Lord GOD was calling to contend [with them] by fire” (Amos 7:4 = “calling for a judgment”). Contend (Webster) - to strive or vie in contest or rivalry or against difficulties. To strive, or to strive against; to struggle in opposition. To strive; to use earnest efforts to obtain, or to defend and preserve. Rib is translated in NAS as argue(2), complain(2), contend(22), contended(9), contends(1), dispute(1), ever strive(1), filed(1), find fault(1), have a quarrel(1), judge(1), plead(9), plead my case(1), plead your case(1), pleaded(2), pleads(1), quarrel(2), quarreled(3), quarrels(1), reprimanded(2), strive(1), vigorously plead(1). Rib - 60x in the OT - Ge 26:20-22; 31:36; Ex 17:2; 21:18; Nu 20:3, 13; Dt 33:7-8; Jdg 6:31-32; 8:1; 11:25; 21:22; 1Sa 2:10; 24:15; 25:39; 2Chr 19:8; Neh 5:7; 13:11, 17, 25; Job 9:3; 10:2; 13:8, 19; 23:6; 31:13; 33:13; 40:2; Ps 35:1; 43:1; 74:22; 103:9; 119:154; Pr 3:30; 22:23; 23:11; 25:8-9; Isa 1:17; 3:13; 27:8; 45:9; 49:25; 50:8; 51:22; 57:16; Jer 2:9, 29; 12:1; 50:34; 51:36; Lam 3:58; Hos 2:2; 4:4; Amos 7:4; Mic 6:1; 7:9 Here are representative uses of riyb in the Psalms... Ps 35:1 A Psalm of David. Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; Fight against those who fight against me. Ps 43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! Ps 74:22 Do arise, O God, [and] plead Thine own cause; Remember how the foolish man reproaches Thee all day long. Ps 103:9 He will not always strive [with us;] Nor will He keep [His anger] forever. Ps 119:154 Plead my cause and redeem me; Revive me according to Thy word. Before the mountains and let the hills hear your voice - The creation in a sense is called to be witness to this courtroom drama. Kaiser says "its as the judge, with the prophet Micah as His counsel. The jury on this case is a rather unusual assemblage as well, for the ancient hills and mountains are called to hear the complaint that God has raised against the defendants, His people Israel.. NET Note - "As in some ancient Near Eastern treaties, the mountains are personified as legal witnesses that will settle the dispute between God and Israel." Kaiser - The mountains and the hills will serve as the jury, since they were present when Yahweh ratified His covenant with His people (Deut. 4:26; 30:19; 31:28) and served as witnesses to that covenant (Deut. 32:1; Ps. 50:4; Is. 1:2). In the Near East literature, mountains serve as witnesses in other treaties, so it is not unusual here. Obviously, however, to appeal in this way to the mountains in the context of a lawsuit is a gripping rhetorical device that emphasizes how serious the situation is and how solemnly Judah—and we who read this text—should take these proceedings. Patterson - Yahweh calls the mountains to witness the trial because they have “stood” over humanity from the beginning of creation and have “seen” the history of Israel and all humanity unfold. The cosmic witnesses serve to validate the legal proceedings and testify (since heaven and earth are invoked) as witnesses in Moses’s song of witness sealing the covenant at Sinai (Deut 31:19; 32:1; cf. Hillers 1984:77).