What the Lord Requires

July 19, 2015 Background Scripture: Micah 6 Lesson Passage: Micah 6:3 – 8 Micah had delivered God’s message that condemned the leaders of Israel and Judah along with the wealthy for their evil deeds. God had denounced greed, corruption, and lying prophets. Impending destruction was prophesied for both nations. One might ask: Why was God so angry with His people? God’s complaint was that He had been faithful to His people. He had delivered them from their enemies and provided leaders for them that feared Him and led them to worship Him. On the other hand, the people desired religious rituals that they could use to appease God. The people questioned what amount of material goods they needed to offer God to satisfy Him. They were even willing to bow down before Him if it were necessary. They recognized that God was not satisfied with them because of the message of prophets such as Micah. They accepted that they had indeed transgressed the laws of God. Knowing that they could not undo their actions, they wanted to know what it would take to make their relationship with God okay again. They were willing to make enormous sacrifices even to the point of offering the firstborn child to God. However, none of those things were going to satisfy God’s desire for righteous living on the part of His people. God requested three things of His people: justice, mercy, and humility. These are character traits that should define people who are made in the image and likeness of God. Justice demands fairness in all dealings with people. The rich should not be judged differently than the poor. God’s people did not have to define justice or figure it out for themselves. God had given them the Law and justice is established by the law of God. God had given them the standard of justice to judge both people and matters. Adherence to God’s law insures justice. On the other hand, this type of justice, if unrestrained, would condemn everybody. To prevent this wholesale condemnation, it is necessary that mercy be applied. The application of mercy should be the desire of God’s people. God’s people should love mercy. When we recall all of the times God delivered us, we should enjoy and celebrate seeing God deliver others. There is none righteous—no, not one. All of God’s children are the recipients of God’s divine mercy. It was part of the deliverance package. As we have received mercy, we should be quick to extend mercy to others. Finally, God requires His people to walk in humility. God despises a proud look. None of us have anything we can boast on that did not come from God. Humility is a reminder that God is the only one who is perfect in holiness. Humility also reminds us that God has delivered us from bondage to sin and is upholding us by His own power. Since we could not deliver ourselves and we cannot keep ourselves from evil, then what do we have to boast about other than the goodness of God? We have no room for pride or self-righteousness. But as we walk “with” God, He keeps us in the path of righteousness and because of His presence, we should be humble. This is what the Lord requires. Robert C. Hudson July 8, 2015

No Tolerance for Corrupt Officials

July 12, 2015 Background Scripture: Micah 3 Lesson Passage: Micah 3:5 – 12 What do we expect of our leaders? I believe that there are at least three things we should desire of our leaders: set directions for the followers, communicate with the followers, and be fair to all followers. When leaders become corrupt, fairness is bound to be the first thing to suffer. When followers cannot expect fairness from their leaders, then some followers will likely suffer injustice. This holds true for both civil and religious leaders. Today’s lesson continues Micah’s prophetic warning against injustice among God’s people and the ensuing consequences of it. Chapter 3 in its entirety is a condemnation of the leadership of Israel and Judah. The leaders were corrupt and, as expected, the people suffered as a result of it. In spite of the warnings of several prophets, the leaders continued to speak the right thing and do the wrong thing. Israel’s leaders were expected to set the proper example for God’s people. Civil leaders are supposed to know and uphold justice but Israel’s leaders were guilty of perverting justice. They were accused of hating that which is good and loving that which is evil. In other words, in their unrighteousness, Israel’s officials had become the enemies of God. Even some of the prophets of Israel had become corrupt. Therefore, God was going to take away their vision that they would not be able to prophesy. They would not be able to speak about a future vision because God was not going to allow them to see one. As if things couldn’t get any worse, a graver charge against the leadership was that they were in it for money. God condemns greedy leaders in both the Old and the New Testaments. Today’s text is a clear example of one of the many examples in the Old Testament where God plainly exposed leaders who were greedy for money. Whether it was civil officials receiving bribes or religious leaders performing their duties for money, justice and fairness were being corrupted for the sake of money. Officials who are willing to be bribed will always destroy the integrity of an institution that exists for the good of a group—especially if the group consists of those who cannot fend for themselves. All fairness or justice is destroyed when officials act based on receiving money rather than evaluating the merits of each specific case or situation. When money is involved, the rich gains an advantage over the poor. In such cases, the rich can buy a favorable outcome from the justice system while the poor is apt to suffer at the hands of it even when he or she is innocent. However, God is the defender of the poor, orphans, and widows. God’s lack of tolerance for corrupt leaders provides salvation for the disadvantaged. It was in vain that Israel’s leaders thought that their lip service in speaking of the Lord was going to bring them favor with God. Contrary to what they thought, the nation would be destroyed because of their corruption. The suffering of the people would be on their hands and they would be held accountable for it by God. Robert C. Hudson July 1, 2015