Fully Rely on God Sunday School Lesson

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Fully Rely on God Sunday School Lesson

Introduction

A. The Walk of Humility

At his inauguration in 1977, incoming Ameri-can President Jimmy Carter used the historicBible that had been employed by George Wash-ington at his own inauguration. Carter said,"Here before me is the Bible used in the inaugu-ration of our first President, in 1789, and I havejust taken the oath of office on the Bible mymother gave use a few years ago." Carter thenread Micah 6:8, his key verse. Carter thus recog-nized that even the most powerful men on earthare called "to do justly, and to love mercy, and towalk humbly."

Yet humility, in particular, seems to be inscarce supply these days. We see a seemingly unlimited procession of people seeking to becomefamous celebrities. In the last century, a famousboxer was widely known for boasting, "I am thegreatest!" More recently, we have seen the rise ofso-called "reality" television, where ordinarypeople are thrust into a celebrity-type spotlight.In the 1960s, pop philosopher Andy Warhol pre-dicted, "In the future, everyone will be famousfor fifteen minutes." Warhol later reversed thisline to say, "In fifteen sninutes, everybody will befamous." The lists of famous celebrities seem tobecome increasingly crowded.

The Bible teaches us that "before honor is hu-mility" (Proverbs 15:33). The humbled/exaltedparadox is that those who strive to be honoredwill not succeed in God's eyes, but those whoserve humbly, without concern for applause, willbe honored. Those seeking celebrity statusshould remember this warning: "God resisteththe proud, but giveth grace unto the humble"(James 4:6). Humility, then, is not an occasionalchoice. For the Christian it must be a walk, alifestyle (compare Philippians 2:3).

As see seek to serve the Lord, we should beginby asking, "What does God expect?" Fortunately,we do not have to guess the answer to this ques-tion. One source of information for as is found inthe writings of God's prophets. These men left amarvelous record of their messages: Bible textsthat provide a clear picture of what God de-mands from His people.

B. Lesson Background

Micah is one of the great eighth-centuryprophets of Israel. That was also the time frameof Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos. Micah 1:1 recordsthat he prophesied during the reigns of Jotham,Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of the southern king-dom of Judah. However, this verse also tells usthat his prophecies were for bolls Judah (with itscapital city of Jerusalem) and the northern king-dom of Israel (with its capital in Samaria).The reign of those three kings spanned the pe-riod of approximately 750-690 BC, roughly 60years. This was a tumultuous time for the peopleof God. Micah lived through the destruction ofthe northern kingdom in 722 BC by the Assyrians(2 Kings 18:9-11). About 20 years later, Ise wasprobably an eyewitness to a similar threat toJerusalem in 701 sc. That time, however, Godmiraculously delivered Judah from the Assyrianmenace by destroying 185,000 members of theAssyrian army (2 Kings 19:35).

There are strong connections between Micahand Isaiah, indicating they may have been col-leagues. For example, Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:1-3 are nearly identical texts. Both prophets sharemessages of the necessity for the people of God torepent and work for justice. Both preach the fu-ture hope of God's coming Messiah. We alsoknow that the ministry of Micah influenced thelater prophets of Judah (see Jeremiah 26:18, 19).Micah's words are both forceful and eloquent.He was well aware of the empowerment of God'sSpirit to give him his prophetic message (Micah3:8). He also knew that his message was not wellreceived by some, and that there were those whowanted to silence him (Micah 2:6, 7). He in-dicted Israel with God's "controversy," meaningGod's charge of Israel's failure to uphold thecovenant of obedience and righteousness (Micah6:1, 2). This "controversy" with His people wasnot unique to Micah (see Jeremiah 25:31; Hosea4:1; 12:2).

Micah's plea was that God's people must real-ize that if they did not seek justice in their soci-ety, then God would purge them of evil byallowing their destruction. While Christians arenot citizens of Micah's Israel, that prophet's callfor holiness and righteousness sounds a neededplea to the church today.

I. Loving Evil(Micah 3:1-4)

The idea of loving evil seems detestable tomost Christians. That idea is something thatcharacterizes those "other people," the unbeliev-ers. In our world, where sinfulness is not hiddenbut celebrated, we can find many examples ofpeople who seem to seek wickedness passion-ately in every possible form.

Yet God, who knows our hearts completely, cansee that this is sometimes true of all of us. For Micah, even the apparently respectable leaders ofIsrael had been judged by their actions and foundto love evil more than good (compare Psalm 52:3).Micah points out two fundamental flaws in theirthinking that have caused this circumstance.

A. Mistake #1: "God Won't Judge" (vv. 1-3)

I. And I said, Hear, I pray you, 0 heads ofJacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is itnot for you to know judgment?

The British historian Lord Acton (1834-1902)commented, "Power tends to corrupt, and ab-solute power corrupts absolutely." History is fullof examples of leaders echo acted as if they wereabove the law rather than stewards of the law.Acton also said, "Remember, where you have aconcentration of power in a few hands, all toofrequently men with the mentality of gangstersget control."

It seems to be in this light that Micah thundersat the leaders of Judah and Israel the provocativequestion Is it not for you to know judgment? Inother words, "Do you believe that you are abovethe law, that you can administer or withhold jus-tice at your own whim?" (Remember: judgmentoften means the same as justice in the KAI). Thosewho think they can administer justice this wayare in for a shock. The book of Revelation pic-tures a time when the wealthiest and most pow-erful people on earth will quiver in fear at thejudgmental wrath of God (Revelation 6:15-17).This admonition is not only for the rich andpowerful, however. It is for the father who tyran-nizes his fancily behind closed doors. It is for theboss who exploits his or her employees at theworkplace. It is for the shoplifter who believesthat petty theft can be done secretly and withoutconsequence. It is for those of us who believe wecan get away with private sins of lust or pride.God is the perfect judge, and no one escapes Hisall-seeing eye.

2, 3. Who hate the good, and love the evil;who pluck off their skin from off them, andtheir flesh from off their bones; who also eat theflesh of my people, and flay their skin from offthem; and they break their bones, and chopthem in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh with-in the caldron.

Micah employs some of the most violentlygraphic language of the Old Testament to drivehome his point. God says that the leaders of Is-rael have exploited my people. These people arethe very ones the leaders should have been pro-tecting. Micah uses the horrific language of can-nibalism, saying, in effect, "You have eaten myprecious children."

This does not refer to actual cannibalism, butto the relentless economic oppression of the poorpeople of Israel by the rulers. Those in powerhave manipulated the system to seize the prop-erty (and therefore the livelihood) of the lowerclasses (Micah 2:2). They have been consumedby greediness and wickedness (Micah 2:1).

CANNIBALISM

Most cultures regard cannibalism as repulsive.In spite of its hideous qualities, however, it hasoccurred repeatedly in history. Usually it occursin situations where people are facing utter star-vation, and it is a last resort to secure food.One famous instance was the Donner Party,traveling to California in 1846. They were just aday late trying to cross the Sierra Mountains be-fore snow blocked the passes. Only 1,000 feetfrom the top, a snowstorm caught the 81 travel-ers. In a desperate attempt, 15 people hiked out.They became lost. As some died of malnutrition,others butchered them for food (labeling thepackages so no one would have to eat a relative).Survivors finally stumbled into civilization andrelief parties went back to save the others. Canni-balism had occurred even in the main camp.Nearly half the people died Cannibalism is hard to conceive of, even insituations involving starvation. But Micah de-scribes a situation in which the princes of Israelpracticed economic cannibalism on their ownpeople by choice, not by necessity. They had fig-uratively devoured their people. It is no wonderthat Micah 3:4 says the Lord would hide His facefrom the perpetrators in their own lime of need!

B. Mistake #2: "God Ignores My Evil" (v. 4)4. Then shall they cry unto the Low), but hewill not hear them: he will even hide his facefrom them at that time, as they have behavedthemselves ill in their doings.

A difficult reality is that sometimes the conse-quences for sins are not immediately evident.For example, adultery can eat away at a marriagelike a cancer, although the symptoms of that re-lationship cancer may take a long time to appear.Just because we are not incinerated by a light-ning bolt every time we sin does not mean thatGod fails to notice or that God is indifferent.A hard lesson that the people of Israel have tolearn is that God is not endlessly forgiving. Therecomes a time when God acts with decisive jus-tice. God offers salvation by grace through Jesus,yet a time is coming when God's wrath will bepoured out on the disobedient (Ephesians 5:6).

Two centuries after Micah, the prophet Zech-ariah explains God's judgment in a similar way.He notes that God's prophets had called repeat-edly for social justice but had been met by hard-heartedness. Eventually God responds this way:"Therefore . . . as [I] cried, and they would nothear; so they cried, and I would not hear" (Zech-ariah 7:13). God does not offer infinite opportu-nities to repent. The time for repentance isalways now.

Loving Justice and Mercy(Micah 6:6-8)

To be sure, Micah has harsh words for thosewho have spurned God's standards, loving evil.But Micah balances this with encouragement forthose seeking to live lives pleasing to God.

A. Correct Action #1: Worship God (vv. 6, 7)6a. Wherewith shall I come before the Loon,and bow myself before the high God?

In examining our relationship with God, animportant starting point is the issue of worship.The most foundational meaning of worship inthe Old Testament is to "bow down before." Todo so is to acknowledge that God is great andworthy of honor and devotion (see Psalm 95:6).[See question #2. page 382.1

Another key aspect of Old Testament worshipis sacrifice. To sacrifice is to relinquish freelysomething of value back to God. Sacrifice for ustoday may be in the form of monetary offeringsfor the work of the church. Sacrifice in the OldTestament often takes the form of agriculturalproduce and livestock, things that can be usedfor food.

Any person's worship should include acts ofsacrifice in order to be complete. Micah, how-ever, drums a common beat of the prophets: thatsacrifice without an attitude of submission toGod is empty and worthless. God takes no de-light in meaningless sacrifice; He refuses to ac-knowledge such hollow acts (see Amos 5:22).The following verses expand on this.

6b, 7. Shall I come before him with burntofferings, with calves of a year old? Will theLORD be pleased with thousands of rams, orwith ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I givemy firstborn for my transgression, the fruit ofmy body for the sin of my soul?

Micah checks off possible sacrifices in a list ofaccelerating value. He begins with simple burntofferings, which could be as lowly as a smallbird (see Genesis 8:20). This proceeds to a year-ling calf, an animal of considerable value. Micah then moves to a kingly sacrifice, namely thou-sands of rams (see 1 Kings 8:63). He next men-tions a sacrifice that moves beyond the potentialof even the wealthiest person: a myriad of flow-ing rivers of olive oil. This is an offering ofunimaginable value.

Micah ends the list with an unspeakable offer-ing: human sacrifice of a firstborn child. This hasdual significance for the Israelites of Micah'stime. First, they are aware of God's testing ofAbraham, who was commanded to offer hisbeloved son Isaac as a burnt offering (Genesis22:2). The lesson of that story, however, is thatwhile God has a right to demand the sacrifice ofthat which is most precious to us, He does notcondone human sacrifice at our initiative. Sec-ond, Micah's imagery also reminds the Israelitesof their pagan neighbors, who sacrificed childrento false gods. This is abhorrent to the Lord(Leviticus 20:2; Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5; 32:35).Micah leaves questions unanswered, but theexpected response is clear. We cannot earn God'sfavor by our sacrifices, no matter how lavishthey may be. Sacrifice can be empty or self-serv-ing, and God does not desire such acts.

THE PRICE OF LOVE

What kind of gift does it take to demonstratethe value of love and devotion? Merchants wantus to go overboard at Christmas. To convince aspouse of the depth of our love, we are encour-aged to purchase expensive diamonds. Middle-aged husbands now receive advertising that tellsthem, "Now that the tight financial years of earlymarriage are past, purchase a ring that will tellher how much you really love her!"

The old Christmas carol The Twelve Days ofChristmas also goes a bit overboard. "On the firstday of Christmas, my true love gave to me a par-tridge in a pear tree," it says. And then come tur-tledoves, French hens, calling birds, etc. The listalso becomes cumulative. That is, a partridge ina pear tree is given each of the 12 days, and allthe other gifts also repeat on all later days. Onthe twelfth day there are 78 gifts given, for agrand total of 364. All to demonstrate true love!Wouldn't one carefully chosen, thoughtful giftbe more appropriate? Enough with all your birdsand leapers! Rather than the quantity of sacri-fices, God is more interested in the quality oflove and devotion demonstrated in service.

B. Correct Action #2:Obey God (v. 8)

8a. He hath showed thee, 0 man, what isgood; and what doth the LORD require of thee.

Micah 6:8 is one of the most important versesin the Bible. It has been called the "key to theprophets." It is a concise summary of what Goddemands from His people. It is not a list of ac-tions, but rather a trio of attitudes that will resultin behavior that is pleasing to God. While thisverse is addressed to the people of Israel, it stillretains value for Christians who desire to livelives that are in accordance with God's will.Micah is not teaching anything new to thepeople of Israel. He begins the verse by remind-ing them that they have been shown these thingsin the past. The requirements for goodness in theeyes of God can be boiled down to three things.8b. But to do justly.

To do justly includes the concepts of justice inthe society and righteousness in one's personallife. God's "controversy" with Israel is that thegovernment of God's people is not just. Instead,it exploits and oppresses the poor and downtrod-den for the advantage of the rich and powerful.God wants a nation that flows with justice forall (Amos 5:24). The Lord has made it clear thatsacrifice without justice is not what He wants(Proverbs 21:3). God wants leaders who will pro-tect the most vulnerable members of their COM-mustily, often symbolized by widows andorphans in the Old Testament (see Isaiah 1:17;compare James 1:27).

Personal righteousness is also required. Righ-teousness is right actions, doing the right thing.The people of ancient Israel are to be guided bythe Law of Moses, which clearly defines right be-havior. As Christians we understand that we arerighteous through our faith in Christ, not bykeeping the law (Philippians 3:9). But this does not diminish God's expectation that we willstrive for holiness in our lives, to live righteously(1 Timothy 6:11).

The word translated mercy here may be themost significant doctrinal term in the Old Testa-ment. It is sometimes translated loving-kindnessand is seen as a supreme characteristic of God.The loving-kindness of God is to be valued morethan life itself (Psalm 63:3). The mercy of theLord prevents us from being consumed (Lamen-tations 3:22).

On both the level of the society and on thepersonal level, the quest for justice must be tem-pered with mercy. When we seek righteous judg-ments, we most do so with the loving heart ofthe Father. As with justice, sacrifices and wor-ship ham those without mercy are not pleasingto God. Jesus was quick to quote Hosea 6:6 to Hiscritics, reminding them that God desired mercyabove sacrifice (see Matthew 9:13: 12:7).

8d.And to walk humbly with thy God?The third requirement is a necessary compan-ion to the first two. God is not impressed bythose who do acts of justice and mercy in orderto gain credit and call attention to themselves(compare Matthew 6:1-4). Humility demandsthat we behave in a godly manner because it isthe right way to act, not because we will be re-warded for it. Virtue truly becomes its own re-ward. The humble person will do the right thingconsistently, even when no one else is aware ofhis or her action.

The opposite of humility is pride. Peter ad-vised his readers to "be clothed with humility,"because "God resisteth the proud, and givethgrace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). As a spirited stallion must be "broken" to be useful, so wemust be broken and humble before God if He isto use us for His service (see Matthew 18:4). Thisbrokenness and humility is our finest sacrifice toGod (Psalm 51:17).

Conclusion

A.An Out-of-Balance Life

One of the grandest church buildings in theworld is the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (ancientConstantinople). It was built by the ChristianEmperor Justinian in the sixth century AD.Justinian was perhaps the greatest ruler of theByzantine Empire, and the Hagia Sophia was hissupreme accomplishment. Justinian established acourt system that dispensed justice for centuries.He was merciful to his people and lavished hislargesse upon them. Yet he wanted his HagiaSophia to exceed the grandeur of the temple ofJerusalem. Upon seeing the finished building, itis said that Justinian exclaimed, "0 Solomon, Ihave outdone thee!" Justinian loved justice andmercy, but he failed the last of Micah's three greatstandards: to walk humbly with his God.

B.The Well-Rounded Life

The well-rounded life is measured by all threeof Micah's cardinal virtues: justice, mercy, andhumility. These three form an interlocking grid,and the absence of one will yield a life withoutproper balance.

Studying Micah gives us an opportunity forself-evaluation. Do sue seek justice and righteous-ness? Are there unrighteous elements in our liveswith which we have become complacent? Do wereally love being people of mercy? Have we be-come tired of kindness, "weary in well doing"(2 Thessalonians 3:13)? How would we evaluateour personal humility? Are we proud and boast-ful? Do we expect others to acknowledge our actsof service? Or are we content in knowing that wehave done the right thing, whether or not we everreceive praise for it?

C. Prayer

God of mercy, God of justice, sue come to Youin humility. May You help us have victory overpride. May You help us be merciful, just as Youhave been merciful to us. May You help us longfor righteousness and justice according to Yourstandards. We pray these things in the name ofyour Son, Jesus Christ, the righteous one, amen.

D. Thought to Remember

Practice God's requirements.

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