Micah 1:3-5, 5:2-5a, 6:6-8

November 6, 2022

Micah 1:3-5, 5:2-5a, 6:6-8

Initial Thoughts

• Three parts

  • First part: Optional, never in the RCL

  • Second Part: Typical advent text, Advent 4C

  • Third Part: Progressive memory verse, Epiphany 4A

Bible Study

• Did this have anything to do with Jesus?

  • Yes - Of course, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and is the one who brings peace. Clearly that is what Micah was talking about.

  • No - Of course not. Jesus probably wasn’t even born in Bethlehem. The gospel writers probably concocted his birth there because of their misreading of this passage.

  • Somewhere in between?

• Micah as a whole

  • “‘Justice, peace, and Messiah: Though the Book of Micah is itself little among the prophetic writings (7 chapters, and usually no more than 5 pages), it deals with these great biblical themes.” (James Limburg, Interpretation: Micah, p. 159)

  • “We can see a pattern of alternation between sayings which announce doom and those which express hope.” (Limburg, 159). Limburg goes on to express that this week’s lectionary text is found within a hopeful portion, built around the model of “distress/deliverance”

  • “ It could be said that Micah is among the angriest of the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. He is apparently a rural farmer, furious at the depredations of folk of the big city, calling them thieves (2:2), false preachers, more interested in lighter problems like drunkenness while injustice is rampant in the city (2:11), greedy for wealth, who "hate good and love evil, both tearing and eating the flesh of the poor, breaking their bones in pieces, chopping them up like meat for the kettle, like flesh in a cauldron" (3:2-3).” (John Holbert, Opening the Old Testament)

• 1:5 - Israel’s sin causes catastrophe - this is not the joyous arrival of God on earth, but rather the catastrophic judgment of God due to the sin if Israel and Judah

  • “Micah appears to be making a theologically novel point-that the offenses of Israel are so grave that they will trigger a cataclysm that will roil the whole earth.” Robert Alter, “Micah”, Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, p. 1299

Micah 5

• Distress/Relief

  • Problem: Distress is edited out of the lectionary

    • v. 1: “Now muster your troops, Daughter Troop. They have laid siege against us; with a rod they will strike the cheek of the judge of Israel”

      • Strange Hebrew with wide range of translations. Seems to be pointing to a sort of irony that they must take up arms in order to be saved. I read it like Jesus’ words, “live by the sword, die by the sword”

      • The Judge of Israel is the King, who has been assaulted - possibly taken prisoner. The King - who is supposed to be the deliverer, now needs deliverance.

    • Much like last week when the first verse of the Isaiah passage - that which referred to God’s anger - is edited out.

    • It seems strange to call for a leader who will deliver while at the same time cutting out the reason there is a need for a deliverer in the first place.

  • This passage fits within the rest of Micah as the third of three sayings “which promise help to a people in distress. 

    • 4:9-10 God will rescue a people in exile

    • 4:11-13 God has a plan and is operating in history by using other nations as a part of that plan.

    • 5:1-6 There will be a rule that comes from Bethlehem that will bring peace.

      • This expression of hope in the form of an individual forms a part of the Messianic understanding of God’s plan (Limburg, p. 187)

• Bethlehem

  • A little town, but was famous already for being the home of King David.

    • That the ruler will come from Bethlehem indicates that the new ruler will be a new David.

    • Town still relatively insignificant.

      • Ruler will not come from the great cities - like Jerusalem.

      • “We recognize a biblical theme here: God’s choice of the least likely, the littles, to accomplish God’s purpose” (Limburg, p. 186)

        • This theme is lifted up by Luke when expressing that Jesus is not just born in a little, insignificant town, but in an insignificant part of town - a manger in a stable.

• Messiah

  • Concept of Messiah is in Hebrew Bible is a complicated one, and could be an entire study. Advent texts try to hit the highlights of that understand, which helps point to a Messiah that is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. More complete understanding of Messiah does not point so obviously to Jesus of Nazareth.

  • Who is Messiah?

    • Psalms refer to a king who will:

      • Rule all nations

      • Endure forever

      • Rule with righteousness and justice and will bring shalom

      • Defend the poor and the needy.

      • These are the hopes for what the king will be. These were current hopes for current kings, who inevitably fell short.

    • Isaiah

      • Coming deliverer

      • Long Rule

      • Bring peace

      • Justice and righteousness

      • A new David - a shoot from the family tree of Jesse.

      • Special concern for poor and needy

      • Shalom

      • Suffers for the sake of others

    • Micah

      • Comes from Bethlehem

      • Will restore the land to the people.

      • Stand as shepherd of the flock - as opposed to those that have oppressed the people.

      • Keep the people safe.

      • Will defend the people against Assyria and will usher in peace.

    • Writers of New Testament agree that clearly this messiah was Jesus.

  • Micah fits in this tradition, and calls on the future leader who will be a new David, 

Micah 6

• Courtroom setting - John Holbert, Patheos

• “Just where is YHWH summoning the people to be as the punch line of verse 8 is delivered? And the answer is: a courtroom. The legal language winds its way through the passage as a way for us to locate ourselves in it. Micah 6:1 is clear enough: "Stand, plead the case before the mountains; let the hills hear your voice." The scene is thus set immediately. We are in a courtroom.”

• Jury: Mountains, hills, foundations of the earth.

• Defendant: Israel (us).

• Prosecutor: God

• Case: God saves. God has tried over and over. God tried a prophet, a priest, a woman, and a gentile. Nothing worked

• The case is made, so the defendant begs mercy. What should I do?

• “Yet, the verdict is clear enough; we are and remain guilty of denial of YHWH until we begin to focus our full attention on the doing of justice for all of God's people.”

• What follows is the sentencing

• Not a courtroom setting - Terrence Fretheim

  • “The language of “(covenant) lawsuit” is sometimes used for this text, but that is an unlikely designation, for such language tends to reduce these verses to matters of legal import. The fundamental issue at stake between God and Israel has to do with a relationship that needs close attention. The repeated use of the word “what” (6:3, 5, 6, 8) serves to raise questions and issues that are to be addressed by both people and God.”

  • The language suggests that the people have been complaining - that they are the ones that are prosecuting God, who they claim to be silent. God’s response is a quick recap of the saving actions of the past.

  • Given this story of God’s saving grace, the people should be grateful, not complaining.

  • “The openness of God to engage in such a dialogue with the people is remarkable (cf. Abraham, Genesis 18:25-33; Moses, Exodus 3-7). God interacts with the people about their concerns; God does not dismiss their complaining as inappropriate or bring them into court because they have dared to question God! Quite the contrary, God develops reasons as to why they should be appreciative of God’s activity in their story even though life has been difficult.”

  • “The orientation toward both neighbor and God is clear. In effect, give yourself on behalf of others, particularly those who are needy, by doing justice and loving kindness (“steadfast love”). At the same time, walk humbly (or attentively) with your God. The “walk” with God (4:2; see Deuteronomy 26:17; 28:9) has to do with life’s journey and the shape thereof. That God’s call for action on behalf of the less fortunate is joined with the call to journey with God is important; the one will deeply affect the other. “

• Justice or charity or politics? What does it mean to do justice? This is an important question that we must face squarely. Charity alleviates suffering, but does not get to the disease. Charity should and must be undertaken, but the purpose of justice work is to make charity obsolete. Justice is about building communities of caring, where all lives matter to one another as much as they do to God. Politics may be a means to working for justice, for government yields much power, but the politics cannot be the end. Winning a political battle does not mean justice has been reached. Working for social justice in political realm without also doing the work of building relationships with those whom you advocate for is a recipe for replacing one unjust system with another.

• “The verb darash has undertones of affection, or the healthiest sort of dependency, as in “the child requires his mother’s love,” or “the flower requires rain and sunshine.” There is a mood of seeking in darash; lovers seek each other out, and a shepherd seeks his lost sheep—and in the Old Testament, both situations use darash. So when the Lord “requires” justice, kindness and mercy, it isn’t that the Lord “insists on” or “demands” these things. God seeks them, yearns for them, and frankly needs them from us as intimate partners in God’s adventure down here.“ (Rev. James C Howell, in an email interview on the United Methodist Reporter)

• Possible connection between “Walking humbly” and “Blessed are the meek.” 

  • “A genuinely holy humility is hard to come by. There is a kind of humbled smallness that is unhealthy: Maybe I feel I’m no good—but that isn’t divine humility. Then there is a self-indulgent, cultivated humility that isn’t much different from good manners—or even a smug, vain form of spiritual pride that struts about as humility” (Rev. James C Howell, in an email interview on the United Methodist Reporter)

Thoughts and Questions

• What does Messiah mean to you now? The idea of what the people needed from their savior grew and evolved. What would it mean now? What kind of savior is the world in need of?

• Where do we look for our savior? Is he/she in Washington? In Hollywood? In one of the great cities of the world, or might our savior be found in Rock Island, Crystal Lake, or wherever you may be in ministry?

• Allow Micah’s words to exist without filling in Jesus of Nazereth. “By pondering the image that Micah sets out rather than leaping to the assumption that this coming savior is the Christian Christ, the preacher can look for the correspondence between disparate ages of human history with divergent needs, all being saved by a God who is justice, kindness, and humility itself. Faith in God and joy in the coming incarnation is not dependent on the prophet's accurate future predictions.“ (Melinda Quivik, Working Preacher)

Opening music: Misirlou, One Man 90 Instruments by Joe Penna/MysteryGuitarMan at MIM

Closing Song by Bryan Odeen