Today, I am reading and commenting on  Micah 3-7.

Usually when I read the prophets of the Old Testament condemning false prophets I think of people who use religion for their own benefit, but don’t actually believe in God.  I think that at the beginning of today’s passage Micah is referring to people who think they are preaching God’s message but have allowed their self-interest to distort what, and to whom, they preach.  Micah warns them that if they do not stop telling people what they reward them for saying rather than God’s message, God will stop speaking to them.  That would not be a punishment for those who do not believe in God.  Which causes me to think differently about a quote from an Old Testament prophet which I really love:
He has shown you, O mortal, 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.
All too often, those to whom God has given a message, or who think that God has given them a message, fail on that last line.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, those who seek to serve God all too often fail on the entire requirement, but it seems to me that it starts with a failure to walk humbly with God.  When we lose our humility it is not long until we stop loving mercy and acting justly.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Micah 3-7.

Micah warns Israel, both the Northern and Southern kingdoms, that God will bring judgement on them because their leaders hate what is good and love what is evil instead of embracing justice and because their religious leaders teach what those who are willing to pay want to hear while condemning those who will not bribe them.  But Micah also has a message for those who sincerely want to know what they should do in order to please God.  Micah tells us that God has shown us what is good, we have no excuse.  Let us act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.  I want to take a minute and go over what those three things mean.  To act justly means that we apply the same rules to those people we don’t like as we do to the people we do like.  To love mercy means that we forgive those who repent.  To walk humbly with our God means that we accept His judgement of ourselves and of others.  That one requires a little more because some of us struggle with this next part of its meaning: to walk humbly with our God also means that we recognize that we are not God, and that God is greater than we are.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Micah 3-7.

Micah condemns the people of Jerusalem because their political leaders made decisions based upon the bribes they received, their religious leaders taught what they were paid to teach, and those tasked with predicting the future did so on the basis of what they were paid to predict.  Despite this, they believe that God will support them and that they will suffer no disaster.  Such behaviors, Micah tells us, will lead to the destruction of a nation.  From there Micah goes on to prophecy that God will raise up a redeemer to bring His people back to Him so that He can bless them once more.  Then God asks why we find it so hard to do as He asks of us.  After all, what has God asked of us other than that we act justly, love and show mercy, and walk humbly with God?  Walking humbly with God means recognizing that we are not God and that He has the right to tell us to do certain things and not do other things.  Actually, it is more than that.  Walking humbly with God means recognizing that doing the things which God tells us to do, and not doing the things He tells us not to do, will bring us greater contentment and pleasure than acting contrary to His commands.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

So, leading up to our anniversary, I wished my wife happy anniversary for 20 days culminating on our anniversary yesterday.  I was tempted to continue for 20 more days, but decided not to do so.  However, since I am writing these a few days in advance, I am going to thank my wife on here every day until I am writing on the day after our anniversary

Thank you for marrying me. Darling!

Today, I am reading and commenting on Micah 3-7.

Micah continues his prophecy against those who have positions of leadership, religious and secular and those who have become wealthy through dishonesty, violence, and extortion.  He condemns the government officials whose rules and regulations serve only those who bribe them, the preachers and teachers who only provide their services to those who pay them, and then tell them what they want to hear rather than teach God’s word.  I read Micah’s condemnation of these people and see it happening again today.  God will bring His judgement down on those who twist justice and hate what is good.  Yet, for all of the fact that humans keep doing these same things, Micah prophesies that the day will come when God will call all nations to Him.  In that day, God will mediate between nations and peoples.  He will bring peace to the earth so that no one will train for war anymore.  For all the terribleness we see in the world around us, God promises that one day He will bring about peace, prosperity, and justice.  We need not fear the terrible times which come first if we put our faith in God.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Micah 3-7

Micah condemns government officials who make their decisions based on what is in it for them, and religious leaders who only preach God’s word to those who pay them.  Further, he writes that the latter alter what God’s word according to what those who pay them want to hear.  Despite the fact that they base their lives and wealth on lies and corruption, they believe that God will protect them and their patrons.  Micah warns us that such a society cannot stand.  Those who rely on fraud and deception to steal wealth from those who produce it will find that all of the wealth is gone and destruction is upon them.  The warning Micah issues here applies today, when so many leaders seek leadership positions in order to build power and wealth for themselves rather than in order to serve those whom they lead.

Micah writes that despite the destruction which will come, God will rebuild Jerusalem.  God’s teaching will go out from that rebuilt Jerusalem and draw people from all nations to Him.  Those drawn to God will learn from Him to walk in His ways and follow His paths.  They will learn to live in peace with each other, with each person thriving from the work of their own hands.  Micah tells us what encompasses walking in God’s way: 

to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Let each of us strive to walk humbly with our God.