Moment in the Word

Micah 6:8  I will shew thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee: Verily, to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk solicitous with thy God.  DRB 

 

 

The Micah Mandate (Micah 6:8) provides the answer that humanity has always secretly sought from the dawn of history in every religion of the world, "What does my god require of me?" 

The prophet Micah worded that original question this way, "What shall I offer to the Lord that is worthy? Wherewith shall I kneel before the high God? Shall I offer holocausts (sacrifices) unto him, and calves of a year old? May the Lord be appeased with thousands of rams, or with many thousands of fat he goats? Shall I give my firstborn (child) for my wickedness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" Micah 6:6-7 DRB 

Oddly, our search for relevance and reality has not changed since the days our ancestors constructed wooden totems, arranged stone monoliths, painted red ochre cave art, or buried their dead in crypts with prized earthly possessions. The ancient question "What does my god want?" is now rephrased in modern society, "What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? What is my existence all about?" 

Micah very simply answered that question by stating three concise points: 

 

First, do judgment!  Today, the Church of Jesus Christ has largely been snookered into the false doctrine that "Christians should not judge."  Although Jesus did forbid judging individuals based on personal bias or prejudice, yet the entire volume of God's Word requires the righteous to publicly declare God's judgments under fear of death (Ezekiel 3:16-21) Our world is going to a burning hell, but the Church has been bullied and muzzled into silence. 

However, besides merely declaring God's judgment to the lost, Micah tells the righteous to "do judgment" or live according to the same Word we preach! God's high expectations are clearly stated in His Word, and we must absolutely, unequivocally obey. 

 

Second, Micah said to love mercy. Sadly, in today's world, the concept of mercy has been distorted into "license," condoning what God expressly forbids.  Whether the issue is "murdering unborn children" or "validating the abomination of sodomy," many religious leaders have jumped on the secular band wagon to destroy God's Holy Law. However, the same God (who is as capable of retribution as He is divine favor) demands, "Who is he that hath commanded a thing to be done, when the Lord commandeth it not? Shall not both evil and good proceed out of the mouth of the Highest?" Lamentations 3:37-38 DRB 

 

Rather than blindly sanctioning sin, mercy allows repentance and restitution for sin... a way back from the jagged edge of eternal damnation. Here is the Scriptural essence of true mercy, "Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes: cease to do perversely, Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow. And then come, and accuse me (hold Me accountable and put Me to the test), saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land. But if you will not, and will provoke me to wrath: the sword shall devour you because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isaiah 1:16-20 DRB  Mercy is the possibility of being forgiven for sin that we acknowledge and renounce, not tolerance, acceptance,  or condoning sin. 

 

Third, Micah said to walk "solicitous" with thy God. In other Bible translations, the word "solicitous" is watered down / over simplified into humility; however, the original term encompassed more than mere meekness. Solicitous means "full of anxiety and concern or showing hovering attentiveness." 

Today, we are anxious and concerned for many things... health, wealth, appearance, popularity and approval, just to name a few.  Jesus said, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things: But one thing is necessary." Luke 10:41-42 DRB  And that one necessary concern was and still is God.

 

Like rubbing a magic lamp to summon a jinni, we often expect God to facilitate our every desire, while carelessly ignoring what He expects from us. However, what would happen in our lives and in our world, if we were as obsessively anxious to satisfy God's expectation as we are "solicitous" of Him to fulfill our every whim?  

 

Thus, this is the ageless requirement consigned to us, "...to do judgment, to love mercy, and to walk solicitous with our God"