Exploring the Meaning of Micah 6
Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff
In Micah 6:1-4, the Lord speaks of all that He has done for Israel, getting them out of Egypt where they were slaves. In Micah 6:5, he relates how He protected them from Balak, king of Moab (in Numbers 22-24).
Then, in Micah 6:6-8, the Lord asks, rhetorically, how the people should worship Him: “With calves of a year old?” and then goes on with a reference to the idol Moloch, “shall I give my firstborn for my transgression?” Obviously these external acts do no good at all without internal repentance and a stopping of any transgressions.
Then He answers the question. Micah says, “He has told thee oh man, what is good,” and continues the stirring, familiar words; "do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God". 1
Micah 6:9 is about humility. It's a really important idea that started to be a problem for humankind all the way back in the story of the Garden of Eden. To eat of the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil” is to take to oneself the right/ability to decide which is which, and not listen to what God says about it. To walk “humbly” is to listen to God. That’s the meaning of “hear ye the rod and who has appointed it.”
Micah 6:10-11 points out that there is still some falsification with these people. The lean ephah is a cheating on the amount of liquid in a pitcher, and liquids refer to truth. Stones are used as weights to balance a scale that weighs out a purchase of food, and deceitful stones will cheat the buyer. Food means a form of good.
In Micah 6:12, 13, the rich mean people who, because they know a lot about natural things, believe they are also wise about spiritual things. 2 Here they are wicked and love the life of evil and falsity, nor can they be changed.
Then, in Micah 6:14-16, the chapter ends with a list of the problems such people will face. To eat, in the good sense, is to take in good. However, the gifts given by people who are immersed in evils and falsities turn out to be false gifts. People try to get things that will make them happy, but it doesn’t happen. Olives and their oil mean good, and grapes and their juice mean truth. 3
What are the laws of Omri? Omri was one of the wickeder kings of Israel, and Ahab was the wickedest king of all. To follow them means desolation and reproach.
In some ways, this chapter is a lot like many others in the books of the prophets. And yet, for centuries it has stood out, because it contains one of the Word's most powerful, concise, statements of how we should live: "Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God."
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. See Arcana Coelestia 2895
2. See Heaven and Hell 365.
3. Regarding olives and olive oil, seeArcana Coelestia 986. For the signification of grapes their juice, Apocalypse Explained 918.
Micah 5
1
Now you shall gather yourself in troops, daughter of troops. He has laid siege against us. They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.
2
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
3
Therefore he will abandon them until the time that she who is in labor gives birth. Then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.
4
He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God: and they will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth.
5
He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land, and when he marches through our fortresses, then we will raise against him seven shepherds, and eight leaders of men.
6
They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in its gates. He will deliver us from the Assyrian, when he invades our land, and when he marches within our border.
7
The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from Yahweh, like showers on the grass, that don't wait for man, nor wait for the sons of men.
8
The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, and there is no one to deliver.
9
Let your hand be lifted up above your adversaries, and let all of your enemies be cut off.
10
"It will happen in that day," says Yahweh, "That I will cut off your horses out of the midst of you, and will destroy your chariots.
11
I will cut off the cities of your land, and will tear down all your strongholds.
12
I will destroy witchcraft from your hand; and you shall have no soothsayers.
13
I will cut off your engraved images and your pillars out of your midst; and you shall no more worship the work of your hands.
14
I will uproot your Asherim out of your midst; and I will destroy your cities.
15
I will execute vengeance in anger, and wrath on the nations that didn't listen."
