“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.”
~ Micah 6:8
Hi James and Ellen,
Ask your dad and/or ma if he, she or they have ever watched a real life jury trial unfolding on TV. Ask your dad and ma if he or she has ever been called to do jury duty. If either your dad or ma have been on a jury, ask him or her what it was like doing jury duty. What would you do if God asked you to be on a jury in His courtroom to hear the charges that He has against His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group guys and gals, for the ways that they have been disobedient to Him? Micah 6 is a depicted courtroom scene. In His legal complaint against His specially chosen guys and gals, God used mountains and hills as His third party witnesses. The mountains and hills also made up the jury pool. Even though each mountain and each hill that God created was to be permanent, inanimate geological fixtures on planet Earth, God created each mountain and each hill to be His witnesses of the covenant that He made with His specially chosen guys and gals. God Himself took the witness stand to poignantly remind His specially chosen guys and gals of everything that He had done just for them. While as a witness in front of His specially chosen guys and gals, God reminded them that He was the One who had taken them out of the country of Egypt in order to redeem them or save them from ruthless Egyptian taskmasters who were enslaving and mistreating them. While as a witness in front of His specially chosen guys and gals, God told them that He was the One who had chosen Moses to lead them – with the help of his bro Aaron, away from their Egyptian tormentors and oppressors. While as a witness in front of His specially chosen guys and gals, God told them to remember what happened when Balaam was asked by Balak to curse them – that when Balaam first tried to curse them, Balaam could only bless them and then when Balaam was finally able to get them to worship the lifeless, manmade wood, clay, stone and metal idol gods that Midianite people group guys and gals worshipped, Balaam was killed in the same kind of vengeful slaughter that God had angrily meted out on Midianite people group guys and gals for getting Israelite people group of guys and gals – His specially chosen guys and gals, to do. While as a witness in front of His specially chosen guys and gals, God told them to remember the miraculous thing that He did for them after they left the area around the town of Shittim – which was the last place where God’s specially chosen guys and gals set up camp before they crossed the dry riverbed of the Jordon River – that He had dammed up so that they could, into the land that He was giving them to always to have to live in as their very own land and before they got to an area of land that was given the name of Gilgal – which was the first place where God’s specially chosen guys and gals set up camp after walking across Jordon River’s dry riverbed.
While being witnesses on their own behalf, God’s specially chosen guys and gals were given the chance to argue the point to God that they had done what He had asked them to do – that they had exalted Him by bowing down to Him, that they had brought to Him one year old calves to be killed and burned as burnt offerings to Him, that they had brought to Him thousands of rams to be killed and burned as burnt offerings to Him, that they had brought to Him rivers of oil to be burned in His temple to Him and that they had given back to Him to be His their firstborn sons. God’s specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group guys and gals, were doing what God was asking them to do; they were doing it though out of a strict obligation to try to meet the intention of the Mosaic law versus an impulsive, organic, willing desire to please God. After God’s specially chosen guys and gals had their day in court, God made His accusations against them. God accused His specially chosen guys and gals of amassing wealth through unscrupulous means – such as rigging scales to show a weight that was more than what the weight was of what a guy or gal was buying resulting in the guy or gal ending up paying more for what he or she was buying. God accused His specially chosen guys and gals of being liars – using their tongues to distort the truth. God then told His specially chosen guys and gals what the punishment – because of their disobedient and evil ways, was going to be for them. God told His specially chosen guys and gals that their punishment would include never having their stomachs satisfied no matter how much they ate, never being able to store up anything no matter how much they planted and harvested, never being able to use the oil that they would press out of olives and never being able to use the wine they would make out of crushed grapes. God told His specially chosen guys and gals that He was going to make them an example of ruin, derision and scorn.
Even God’s prophet spokesman – Micah, got to say something is this court scene. God gave Micah the task of presenting His charge or His allegation of what His specially chosen guys and gals were missing or what they were violating. Verse 8 says, “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.” In order to sit on a jury sat by God, a guy or gal is to be living a Christ-follower life – which was how Micah lived his life. A Christ-follower guy or gal will always try to do what is right, will always try to show kindness and will always fear God’s anger. How are you living your lives? Your grandmaa and grandpaa are hoping that you will always live your lives in ways that will never offend God and that you will grow up to be a guy and gal who will always serve others, who will always convey caring and who will always have a fearful awe of God. The Micah Book court case is to impress on you to live your lives for God’s sake.
Micah 6 (803)