Micah: He has showed you, O man.

  It's October, and I'm getting close-ish to the end of this year-long Read Through The Bible in alphabetical order. But I have a ways to go yet, and actually I'm way behind on writing up my blogs!

So. Micah. It's nice and short. You might think of it as "Isaiah Lite" but that's probably not fair. He was a contemporary of Isaiah, and sections of the two prophets are the same. Scholars aren't sure whether one of them copied from the other or whether they both used a common source. I like Micah because it ends on a positive, hopeful note.

Micah may be best known for two passages. One is the prophecy about the birthplace of Messiah: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small amongh the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." This is what the chief priests and teachers of the law read to King Herod when he asked them where the new king of the Jews would be born, Matthew 2:6.

The other passage, and one of my personal favorites, is Micah 6:6-8:
With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer the firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Ok, this is old-fashioned, Old Testament-type language, asking "What are we supposed to DO to please God?" Going through the motions of religion, even "sacrificial giving" won't cut it. Actually, the only thing we can do to "get right" with God is trust and believe Him that He sent Christ to die for our sins.

The passage continues:
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Remember--this won't get you into heaven; only saving faith does that (see above!)

However, this is really excellent advice about how we are to live our lives as godly people. It applies to anyone, of course, including Christians.

I think it's interesting to compare this with Jesus' reply when He was asked, "What is the greatest commandment?" See Mark 12:28-34 and Matthew 22:34-40. His answer was: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength," a direct quote from Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Also, "Love  your neighbor as yourself," a direct quote from Leviticus 19:18.

If I had students to whom I could make writing assignments, I would have them write an essay comparing the two passages. Briefly, I think the comparison would go something like this:

To act justly and to love mercy reflects the way we are to relate to our fellow man; it parallels "Love your neighbor as yourself." Wouldn't we want everyone to treat us with justice and to be merciful toward us?

To walk humbly with your God reflects the way we are to relate to God. If we see God as our greatest object of worship, love and respect, does it not follow that we are in a humble position before Him? And "to walk" is another way of describing our sense that God is always present in our lives.