What Does The Lord Require of You?
24020 Micah 6:7,8 The Context: This week’s question may not technically be a question God asks us, but it is one that God through the prophet Micah prompts us to ponder. The Jews considered themselves special in God’s eyes because they had built a Temple and had offered untold numbers of sacrifices there. They kept the commandments meticulously, although most of the time it was with their hands and not their hearts.
God had seemed to bless them with His providential rescues so many times, even during their half-hearted obedience. Micah was warning that like the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Judah and beloved Jerusalem was about to suffer the same judgment. So Micah says think about it:
God Asks Us: 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?” :8 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?
jne: Micah is asking: Can any number of sacrifices, offerings, or ceremonies, no matter how valuable, actually earn God’s forgiveness for the sinful condition of my heart? I have the tendency to be confident of my religious ceremonies, I am equally proud of my sense of justice and kindness. This tendency only reveals the lack of humility I have before God. To believe that I could earn or deserve God’s love and forgiveness by anything I do or say or think only reveals my lack of humility before God. It reveals how little I truly understand about either the awfulness of my sin or the amazing desire and willingness of God to make the sacrifice necessary for my forgiveness.
God had seemed to bless them with His providential rescues so many times, even during their half-hearted obedience. Micah was warning that like the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Judah and beloved Jerusalem was about to suffer the same judgment. So Micah says think about it:
God Asks Us: 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?” :8 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?
jne: Micah is asking: Can any number of sacrifices, offerings, or ceremonies, no matter how valuable, actually earn God’s forgiveness for the sinful condition of my heart? I have the tendency to be confident of my religious ceremonies, I am equally proud of my sense of justice and kindness. This tendency only reveals the lack of humility I have before God. To believe that I could earn or deserve God’s love and forgiveness by anything I do or say or think only reveals my lack of humility before God. It reveals how little I truly understand about either the awfulness of my sin or the amazing desire and willingness of God to make the sacrifice necessary for my forgiveness.