Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 414 ｜ Most Misused： Micah 6_8

00:00:00.000 hey guys welcome to relatable today we are doing a most misused if you don't know what that is

00:00:15.720 that's where we take a popular verse that is used a lot it's decontextualized and we look at what

00:00:20.520 it actually means so micah 6 8 says he has told you oh man what is good and what does the lord

00:00:27.720 require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your god we've

00:00:35.000 done a few of these in the past we've done jeremiah 29 11 plans to prosper you not to harm you

00:00:39.940 psalm 37 4 he will give you the desires of your heart matthew 7 1 don't judge i'll see you be judged

00:00:45.740 and so what we do is we take this popular verse that's typically placed on mugs or t-shirts or

00:00:50.840 used in social media captions and we dive into what it actually means based on the text and based on

00:00:57.240 the context because so often the most well-known verses are the most misused and abused verses

00:01:03.160 philippians 4 13 is another one like this i can do all things through christ who strengthens me it's a

00:01:08.420 wonderful verse but when it's decontextualized we actually lose a lot of the meaning but what we see

00:01:15.260 when we read these verses and we seek to understand them rather than just apply them in a feel-good way

00:01:21.580 in whatever context we want is that the true meaning of the text is so much better it's so much better

00:01:27.160 than the pithy applications they have when they're just decontextualized so today we are going to do

00:01:33.920 micah 6 8 because particularly in the past year this verse has been used by many who may identify as

00:01:41.220 let's say social justice focused christians to biblically support their pursuit uh in in the for

00:01:48.500 example the abolition of of what they might refer to as systemic racism in the united states uh this

00:01:54.680 verse was used a lot after the george floyd incident on social media as a way to say as christians we need

00:02:01.140 to be uh talking about marching about etc racialized police brutality we need to be doing the work of

00:02:08.360 anti-racism we need to be working toward so-called racial reconciliation and we've talked about all of

00:02:15.140 these topics and concepts many times thoroughly before the media narratives versus what the data

00:02:21.200 says about each and we won't get into all of that today because what i want to focus on uh is what

00:02:27.340 this particular verse that is used so pervasively actually means not what i want it to mean not what

00:02:32.540 you want it to mean but what it actually means according to scripture and the way that we do that is by

00:02:38.240 looking at the context so as christians we hold to the truth that the bible is the inerrant infallible

00:02:46.200 word of god inspired by the holy spirit and written by human hands that god has been faithful god has

00:02:53.020 been sovereign over the translation and the compilation of the bible and by his grace the text

00:02:59.980 that we have today is nearly identical to the message relayed in the original documents that we have access

00:03:06.420 to so first because of that we take his word as authoritative we submit our feelings our preconceived

00:03:13.340 notions to it not the other way around we seek to understand each verse in light of the entirety of

00:03:20.520 scripture we do our best to seek to understand each verse plainly while acknowledging that we are finite

00:03:26.660 and therefore we completely have the capacity to get it wrong but also we acknowledge that god has given us

00:03:34.540 and teachers and leaders who have come before us the wisdom and the insight through his spirit to be able

00:03:41.040 to diligently seek and understand as best as possible what he means and what he is saying in the bible

00:03:48.540 the various interpretations and the many translations of the bible don't actually negate its integrity but

00:03:55.200 rather speak to its miraculously enduring nature and the piercing truth of the gospel of jesus christ

00:04:02.120 which penetrates all of our disagreements and all of our confusion so as we dig into this verse we

00:04:09.560 have these things in mind understanding that our exposition of this verse is fallible i mean my

00:04:15.680 discussion of this verse will be fallible because i'm fallible but we also humbly ask for god's wisdom

00:04:22.560 and we trust him to give us that wisdom because he promises that in the book of james and he has given

00:04:28.620 us the tools by which we can seek that wisdom to understand what he is saying in scripture so let's zoom out

00:04:35.760 in our analysis first before we zoom in we have to understand the context which means that we need to know

00:04:42.600 what the book of micah is who wrote it to whom it was written when it was written and why it was written

00:04:48.500 i have a john mcarthur study bible that i enjoy i also have an esv study bible that i highly recommend i love

00:04:54.620 the esv study bible i also have a keyword study bible it allows me to look at the original greek

00:04:59.760 and hebrew and i will also reference other commentaries from biblical scholars um and if

00:05:05.240 there's a big picture biblical concept that i need to better understand when i'm studying scripture i

00:05:10.600 typically consult systematic theology by wayne grudem another recommendation that i have i have a whole list

00:05:17.060 of recommended resources by the way on my website allybethstucky.com that you can look at but

00:05:21.420 these are just a few of them that i use when i'm studying scripture um another great and reliable

00:05:26.900 resource i've talked about this but if you're new here maybe you've never heard of it um gotquestions.org

00:05:32.820 i know it sounds cheesy and super generic but i actually find their answers to questions uh to be

00:05:39.260 very thorough and very biblical and so that's a really great resource if you just want to type in

00:05:43.920 at gotquestions.com like what does the bible say about the mark of the beast or something like that

00:05:49.760 then it typically has uh really good responses for you to at least give you some food for thought

00:05:55.200 and some direction to go into as you're studying the subject in scripture okay so and i'm when i'm

00:06:02.640 looking at when i'm looking at the resources that i have what i find is that the book of micah is named

00:06:08.720 after the prophet micah this is hebrew uh this is a hebrew name meaning who is like the lord in micah 7 18

00:06:16.200 at the end of the book we see micah use his own name as he is proclaiming the love and the compassion

00:06:22.040 of god when he says this who is a god like you pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression

00:06:28.320 for the remnant of his inheritance he does not retain his anger forever but he delights in steadfast

00:06:34.580 love so we don't know too much about micah but his name speaks to god's special sovereignty and

00:06:41.080 preordaining his prophets that micah's name would represent a rhetorical question pointing to god's

00:06:46.980 glory who is like the lord is a rhetorical question because we already know the answer god's people

00:06:52.680 would have known the answer and the answer is no one if we go to the words of another prophet isaiah

00:06:59.200 we see god ask this question almost sarcastically because the answer is so obvious he says this

00:07:06.280 thus says the lord the king of israel and his redeemer the lord of hosts i am the first and

00:07:12.260 i am the last besides me there is no god who is like me let him proclaim it let him declare and set

00:07:19.420 it before me since i appointed an ancient people let them declare what is to come and what will happen

00:07:24.900 fear not nor be afraid have i not told you from of old and declared it and you are my witnesses

00:07:31.320 is there a god besides me there is no rock i know not any that's isaiah 44 6 through 8 it's a great

00:07:39.360 chapter i highly encourage you to go read uh the chapter in its entirety but the lord highlights his

00:07:45.380 preeminence his exclusive power uh compared to idols which can't see can't hear can't act while he is

00:07:53.640 acting and moving and ruling and perfect strength and justice and wisdom and actually what is interesting

00:08:00.560 is that isaiah and micah were prophesying around uh the same time period in close proximity to each

00:08:06.960 other so this is a theme that god communicates that god clearly wants his people to know a reminder

00:08:12.760 that hey the guidance and the deliverance that you were looking for and the idols that you've now

00:08:17.600 turned to will not come through for you am i not the god who made you who set you apart and has 0.94

00:08:23.400 done great things for you am i not better than all of these false weak useless gods these inanimate

00:08:29.760 objects that you've turned to what we see throughout scripture is that god is unabashedly fixated on his

00:08:37.520 own glory he is a jealous god who will again and again remind us that he alone is worthy of our

00:08:44.140 worship and that our worship of him is inextricably intertwined with good and with peace for us and what

00:08:52.220 he speaks through micah demonstrates exactly that micah prophesied to the people of jerusalem during the

00:08:58.180 reigns of of jotham of ahaz and hezekiah from about 735 to 710 bc the book echoes many of the themes that

00:09:06.860 we see in isaiah and hosea and hezekiah and amos who were all prophesying to israel in different regions

00:09:13.960 around the same time and they were all in different ways prophesying to a people who had not just turned

00:09:19.880 to idolatry but who had welcomed injustice micah's focus was on the southern kingdom ruled by judean

00:09:27.320 kings there was much conflict in the region before god called micah to prophesy that eventually led to

00:09:34.080 the prosperous reign of king uzziah which led to the reign of jotham who was the first king under whom

00:09:39.200 micah prophesied jotham helped continue the prosperity that his father's policies had helped ensure but

00:09:46.780 his problem was that he failed to outlaw the idolatry that was running rampant among the people

00:09:53.320 john mcarthur notes in my study bible quote worship of the canaanite fertility god baal was increasingly

00:09:59.360 integrated with the ot sacrificial system old testament sacrificial system reaching epidemic

00:10:05.560 proportions under the reign of ahaz second chronicles 28 1 through 4 tells us king ahaz was another king

00:10:13.200 under whose reign micah was prophesying refugees from nearby fallen samaria had infiltrated judea

00:10:20.460 bringing their own idolatrous religious practices which only added to the problem the judean people 1.00

00:10:26.600 hoard after other gods that's what scripture tells us which as we see throughout the bible and throughout

00:10:32.840 history leads to the loss of morality both individually and societally and therefore leads to corruption

00:10:39.400 and the oppression of the most vulnerable and as we say often on this podcast this is what we see

00:10:45.760 in israel's history godlessness refusal to worship and acknowledge the one true god makes hearts of stone 0.95

00:10:52.800 and brains of mush it makes hard hearts and mushy minds and that's what was happening to god's people

00:10:58.560 here that's why micah is prophesying as well as to warn that this rebellion will lead to judgment

00:11:07.400 uh that babylon will conquer them a reality that at the time did not seem possible because their biggest 1.00

00:11:13.440 competition and threat was assyria so like other prophets micah's message was probably hard to believe

00:11:19.460 and definitely hard to hear for his audience at the time because again they had those mushy minds and

00:11:24.600 hard hearts micah presents his case like a prosecutor like some of these prophets do laying out the evidence

00:11:31.400 of guilt of guilt of the people uh my study bible says this there are three oracles or cycles in the

00:11:38.040 book of micah each beginning with the admonition to quote here within each oracle he moves from doom to

00:11:44.560 hope doom because they have broken god's law at sinai hope because of god's unchanging covenant with

00:11:51.380 their forefathers as 720 says so the message is you've been faithless and because god is a just god

00:11:59.320 who cares about his glory and cares about your obedience and the consecration of his people

00:12:05.000 you will be judged and punished but because god is faithful he will also restore you he will protect

00:12:12.760 those of you who turn to him who love him who obey him because he is abundantly patient and abundantly

00:12:19.400 gracious he will not destroy you in your entirety as you deserve he will bring you in he will welcome you

00:12:26.120 back he will bless you this is a cycle that we see throughout the old testament that culminates

00:12:31.480 in jesus christ who pays the ultimate and eternal price for all of our sins satisfying the judgment

00:12:38.220 that each of us deserve through his death so even though we are not ancient israel even though we are

00:12:44.780 living under a new covenant as christians we read the prophets and we get an understanding of god's

00:12:49.980 character his will his glory his intolerance of sin and the amazing miracle of the gospel

00:12:55.460 that saves believers from his just wrath so the first part of this book is the first oracle

00:13:02.900 uh outlining the people's disobedience the impending doom and the promise of deliverance

00:13:08.240 here are a few verses uh verses that speak to that for behold the lord is coming out of his place

00:13:15.000 and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth and the mountains will melt under him

00:13:19.940 and the valleys will split open like wax before the fire like waters pour down a steep place all this

00:13:26.760 is for the transgression of jacob and for the sins of the house of israel woe to those who devise 1.00

00:13:32.340 wickedness and work evil on their beds when the morning dawns they perform it because it is in the

00:13:38.020 power of their hand they covet fields and seize them and houses and take them away they oppress a man 0.86

00:13:44.360 in his house a man in his inheritance therefore thus says the lord behold against this family i am

00:13:51.200 devising disaster from which you cannot remove your necks and you shall not walk haughtily for it will

00:13:57.420 be a time of disaster i will surely assemble all of you oh jacob i will gather the remnant of israel 0.93

00:14:04.740 i will set them together like sheep in a fold like a flock in its pasture a noisy multitude of men

00:14:10.960 so what we read in this first oracle in this first cycle is that the people are guilty they have done

00:14:17.920 wickedly god is coming to punish them but he will save a remnant who is faithful to him and then we

00:14:24.120 see the second cycle or oracle that speaks to the leaders of the land specifically who are guilty who

00:14:29.660 are oppressing the vulnerable among them god promises to deliver those who have been oppressed under these

00:14:35.860 leaders here are you heads of jacob and rulers of the house of israel is it not for you to know

00:14:42.100 justice you who hate the good and love the evil who eat the flesh of my people and flay their skin 0.98

00:14:48.800 from off them then they will cry to the lord but he will not answer them he will hide his face from

00:14:54.640 them at that time because they have made their deeds evil hear this you heads of the house of jacob and

00:15:00.840 rulers of the house of israel who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight its heads give 0.70

00:15:06.960 judgment for a bribe its priests teach for a price its prophets practice divination for money

00:15:13.540 yet they lean on the lord and say is not the lord in the midst of us no disaster shall come upon us

00:15:19.760 therefore because of you zion shall be plowed as a field jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins and 0.97

00:15:26.400 the mountain of the house a wooded height so there was oppression there was political and religious

00:15:31.920 corruption there was bribery among judges deuteronomy 10 17 says this for the lord your god is god of gods

00:15:40.200 and lord of lords the great the mighty and the awesome god who is not partial and takes no bribe god

00:15:48.800 hates bribery he hates dishonesty he hates partiality we'll talk a little bit more about that later when we

00:15:55.900 talk about what justice really means psalm 15 5 says this who does not put out his money at interest

00:16:02.340 and does not take a bribe against the innocent he who does these things shall never be moved so again

00:16:08.940 we see that god hates bribes he hates corruption he hates people who look good on the outside but who

00:16:16.040 underneath it are dishonest and manipulative at the expense of the weak and the poor there were schemes

00:16:21.940 for profit it looks like uh under the guise of priesthood and prophecy that's what micah is

00:16:27.400 talking about god through micah is talking about in his prophecy uh which is another example of that

00:16:33.500 kind of hypocrisy that god hates so much that jesus also calls out in his ministry and condemnation of

00:16:40.360 the pharisees it was not the pharisees strict adherence to the law that jesus detested that's really

00:16:45.660 important for us to realize it was not their faithfulness that he didn't like but rather

00:16:50.140 their their rule abiding in order to be arrogant to oppress others and to cover up their inner and

00:16:58.200 secret sinfulness and corruption then god promises in this second cycle deliverance from uh the people's

00:17:07.560 enemies and the preservation of the remnant then the remnant of jacob shall be in the midst of many

00:17:12.940 peoples like dew from the lord like showers on the grass and so he promises that because of his

00:17:19.080 faithfulness he is going to protect a remnant of israel whom he will call to himself who will obey him

00:17:26.280 and then in the third oracle or psych or cycle that we see in the book of micah is where we get to our

00:17:32.620 key verse today which is micah 6 8 um in this last segment of the book of prophecy micah offers rebuke

00:17:39.240 and lament and then he ends with that message of assurance of victory in the lord here you mountains

00:17:45.740 the indictment of the lord and you enduring fountains of the earth for the lord has an indictment against

00:17:51.020 his people and he will contend with israel oh my people what have i done to you how have i wearied

00:17:57.420 you answer me for i brought you up from the land of egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery

00:18:03.700 so he's saying have i honestly burdened you that you've gotten tired of me like how could that be

00:18:10.640 possible when it was i says god that released you from the burden of slavery was my faithfulness not

00:18:16.660 enough for you were my blessings not good enough for you this is what god seems to be asking in this

00:18:22.240 passage then micah asks what they could possibly do to make up for their sin to get right uh with the

00:18:29.760 lord then micah echoes what the people are probably asking uh when they're wondering what could they

00:18:38.140 possibly do then to make up for their sin to answer the indictments of the lord so they can get right

00:18:44.020 with the lord should i sacrifice thousands of rams 10 000 rivers of oil should i offer my firstborn

00:18:50.340 the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul these are hyperbolic questions used to make a rhetorical

00:18:57.000 point but then there's an answer to these questions when people are asking oh my gosh i have i'll do

00:19:03.040 anything i'll give anything up to make to make myself right with god but then the answer is in

00:19:08.980 micah 6 8 he has told you oh man what is good and what does the lord require of you but to do justice

00:19:17.360 and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your god so the answer is no god doesn't need you to

00:19:24.060 sacrifice your firstborn child he doesn't need a thousand rivers of oil he wants your obedience he 0.94

00:19:30.080 wants your heart he wants your faithfulness oh israel he wants you to do justice to love kindness

00:19:38.000 and to walk humbly with god the rest of chapter six talks about the destruction of the wicked the

00:19:44.820 final chapter chapter seven in micah is to the faithful remnant this is still a part of that third

00:19:50.600 cycle or oracle um he is instructing them to wait for god to trust in his steadfast love his faithfulness

00:20:00.140 to keep his covenant he reminds them of he promises to destroy his people's enemies and restore and 0.83

00:20:06.860 bless them so chapter seven verses 18 through 20 say he does not retain his anger forever because he

00:20:14.360 delights in steadfast love he will again have compassion on us he will tread our iniquities

00:20:19.980 underfoot you will cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea you will show faithfulness to

00:20:25.960 jacob and steadfast love to abraham as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old so in light of

00:20:32.100 all of this what does our key verse that is very widely used today actually mean what does it mean

00:20:38.460 first to do justice to love mercy and to walk humbly with god um let's break the verse down and then

00:20:46.360 we'll talk about it again in light of the context of the entire book and of this prophecy so let's

00:20:52.600 read the verse micah 6 8 one more time he has told you oh man what is good and what does the lord require

00:20:59.240 of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your god so let's break that down

00:21:06.660 first let's look at that word do because i think that's an interesting part of this verse we're not

00:21:12.120 just talking about admiring justice we're not just talking about liking it or aspiring to it or even

00:21:17.680 understanding it god is telling his people to do justice that hebrew word for do is asah and that's a-s-a-h

00:21:26.540 asah so it means to do or to make to accomplish to achieve to acquire to act to complete to do something

00:21:34.920 certainly tangibly absolutely to cause or to commit to deal or to determine my keyword study bible says

00:21:42.480 this about this hebrew word this frequently used hebrew verb conveys the central notion of performing

00:21:48.700 an activity with a distinct purpose a moral obligation or a goal in view in other contexts

00:21:55.140 it's used to communicate the yielding of grain constructing something engaging in warfare

00:22:00.060 uh the completing of something so it is a forward moving action with a moral imperative attached to

00:22:08.400 it it's a word that seems to denote a project that's being executed that was handed down by a boss for

00:22:14.660 example progress being made under the responsibility of an assigned task work being done um it's very

00:22:22.200 tangible it's very concrete again it is attached to a moral imperative so what could it mean then to

00:22:29.800 do justice uh the word used here for justice is a mishpat that's m-i-s-h-p-a-t this type of justice

00:22:39.460 used in this context means a verdict that is pronounced uh judicially especially a sentence for

00:22:46.040 a formal decree which includes the act the the place the suit the crime and the penalty so this is the

00:22:52.880 word that describes the legal process carried out in a way that is proper and in this case that means

00:22:58.840 proper according to god we see this exact same hebrew word used in zephaniah 2 3 seek the lord all you

00:23:08.020 humble of the land who do his just commands seek righteousness seek humility perhaps you may be hidden

00:23:16.740 on the day of the anger of the lord which is very similar to what we're talking about in micah 6 8 so

00:23:23.300 do his just commands is a good way to understand this phrase do justice um it's a word this do um

00:23:33.200 and mishpat put together it's a term that's used to uh describe executing god's commands and in fact

00:23:39.520 we see consistently when it is uh used uh when it is used it always goes hand in hand with god's

00:23:46.780 commandments with god's ordained legal processes in god's definitions of fair treatment and just

00:23:53.920 punishment that means that when this word justice mishpat uh is uh is used here in micah 6 8 it is

00:24:03.220 talking about god's commands about what he says right and wrong looks like it means people totally

00:24:09.940 in submission to his law because remember the fundamental the foremost sin that he was indicting

00:24:16.580 the people for was idolatry so we can't talk about micah 6 8 without talking about the fact that knowing

00:24:24.360 justice and abiding by justice according to what god says justice is we first have to repent from

00:24:30.400 idolatry and obey the lord so that means when we say that we are going to do justice according to micah 6 8

00:24:37.340 what is meant is actually just obeying the lord what is meant is being holy as he is holy what is

00:24:43.640 meant is aligning our lives and our definitions of right and wrong with his good instruction in all

00:24:50.380 the biblical context that we see this word used we see that it means how things are supposed to be

00:24:56.300 done according to god's standards in other words right it means to do things right and that god alone

00:25:04.360 is the decider the determinant and the author of what is right so when we use this verse it doesn't

00:25:12.160 simply apply to that which we want it to apply it doesn't mean whatever we want it to mean it means

00:25:18.500 defining justice exactly how god defines it it is predicated on turning from idolatry and turning

00:25:26.820 toward the lord and walking in his commands and what i see so often today is people using this verse

00:25:32.900 or the word justice in general to mean whatever they want it to mean if it means abolishing the

00:25:37.820 police if it means looting if it means reparations if it means redistribution of wealth if it means

00:25:42.760 government subsidized health care whatever people apply this word justice in this verse micah 6 8 to

00:25:50.500 mean whatever political cause left or right that they want it to mean but the reality is as that this is

00:25:56.960 talking in this verse about procedural justice that is in complete alignment with what god commands

00:26:03.040 this is not talking about today's elusive intangible idea of secular social justice which almost always

00:26:09.900 simply means whatever whatever government programs or progressive talking points are proffered that claim

00:26:17.160 to fix problems it is talking about ensuring justice mishpat happens as god says it must happen

00:26:26.940 as we've talked about many times when it comes to the characteristics of god's justice

00:26:32.600 um in society the handling of the guilty and the innocent the accused and the accuser we see four

00:26:40.000 main characteristics and they are you could probably recite them if you've been listening to this podcast

00:26:44.900 for any amount of time truthful impartial direct and proportional now there may be other characteristics

00:26:51.600 biblical characteristics of god's justice and there are different kinds of justice also

00:26:55.580 that we see in the bible but when it comes to this particular justice when it's talking about

00:27:00.680 procedural justice these are the main descriptors of god's justice that most prominently uh come to

00:27:08.140 mind and come to the surface when you read about his law giving to ancient israel in the old testament

00:27:14.000 and even though as we've said we are not ancient israel and we don't follow all of the laws that god gave to

00:27:20.640 his people then we also know that god doesn't change and therefore we understand that god still

00:27:25.720 hates that which he has always hated he loves that which he has always loved god's definitions of good

00:27:31.240 and bad of just and unjust have not changed so when we see these principles articulated in the old

00:27:37.620 testament we get to hold to them today when we are asking ourselves what does justice really mean

00:27:44.460 and what does it even mean for or to do justice in in society so here are some examples of these four

00:27:53.180 characteristics of god's justice truthful impartial direct and proportional we see in exodus 23 1 through

00:28:00.480 3 you shall not spread a false report you shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious

00:28:05.860 witness you shall not fall in with the many to do evil nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit

00:28:12.080 siding with the many so as to pervert justice nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit

00:28:19.280 so right there in his commands to israel we see two major aspects of god's definition of what is just

00:28:26.300 truthful and impartial truthful and impartial leviticus 19 15 you shall do no injustice in court you shall

00:28:35.260 not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor

00:28:41.420 again we're seeing impartiality here we also see the characteristic of directness you are judging

00:28:48.740 your neighbor specifically for a crime that he or she has done listen to deuteronomy 19 15 through 21

00:28:55.880 and god's concern with truth with impartiality with proportionality and with directness a single

00:29:02.680 witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense

00:29:08.020 that he has committed only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be

00:29:13.920 established if a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing then both parties to the

00:29:19.760 dispute shall appear before the lord before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days

00:29:24.940 the judges shall inquire diligently and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother

00:29:30.280 falsely then you shall do to him as he had meant to do for his brother so you shall purge the evil among

00:29:37.780 your midst and the rest shall hear and fear and shall never again commit any such evil among you

00:29:43.200 your eye shall not pity for it shall be life for life eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand foot for foot

00:29:51.860 now i want to say something about that last line because you may be thinking about when jesus says in

00:29:57.840 matthew 5 38 through 42 that instead of an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth uh you should uh you

00:30:05.240 shouldn't pay back people for what they've done so i wanted to reconcile these two things do we do away

00:30:12.120 with what is said in the old testament is jesus talking about legal procedures and i so i consulted my

00:30:18.840 study bible and this is what i found jesus shows that this principle which was meant to guide judges and

00:30:24.360 assessing damages was never intended as a rule for ordinary interpersonal relationships which the

00:30:30.200 faithful should seek to imitate god's own generosity so here and this is something that you can tell by

00:30:36.520 the context as well of matthew 5 is that jesus is not doing away with the legal principle of

00:30:42.200 proportionality as we see it in the old testament he is showing people he's showing the pharisees he's 0.77

00:30:47.740 showing the jewish people at the time how they had perverted this law in order to apply to their 0.99

00:30:53.900 interpersonal relationships in order to be hateful and oppressive in their friendships and in their

00:30:59.000 relationships with their neighbors and so when jesus is saying look don't seek revenge it's no longer eye

00:31:05.700 for an eye or tooth for tooth he is not trying to say that the justice penal system needed to be changed

00:31:13.420 to no matter match proportionality he is talking about interpersonal relationships where we should emulate

00:31:19.440 that kind of forgiveness and generosity that god through christ has shown us so that means when it

00:31:24.800 goes for justice in court god's principle still stands as good and right proportional based on

00:31:30.120 evidence and truth it is direct and specific to both a crime and a person the new testament also makes

00:31:36.940 clear that god's judgment and therefore his definition of justice is impartial acts 10 34 peter's preaching

00:31:43.140 the gospel to the gentiles so peter opened his mouth and said truly i understand that god shows no

00:31:48.600 partiality but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him

00:31:55.360 james 2 8 through 9 says if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture you shall love

00:32:01.980 your neighbor as yourself you are doing well but if you show partiality you are committing sin and are

00:32:07.680 convicted by the law as transgressors so this means that god's definition of mishpat of this kind of 0.98

00:32:16.020 justice excludes slander hyperbole false narratives wrong accusations made in the name of proving a

00:32:23.900 point or pushing a political agenda or misleading manipulative messages represented by hashtags by

00:32:31.420 social media graphics deceptively edited videos or inaccurate reporting it is absolutely rooted in

00:32:38.840 objective truth not a subjective truth that is determined by someone's lived experience or their

00:32:43.700 feelings but in fact that is confirmed through evidence god's justice cares about data because it

00:32:49.740 correlates with reality it cares about proof it cares about actuality about rationality about objectivity

00:32:56.400 it means that god's justice uh favors neither black nor white rich nor poor influential or obscure male nor

00:33:05.500 female it is impartial because god is so concerned with what is actually true he is not the least bit

00:33:23.080 tolerant of deciding someone's guilt or innocence based on their identity throughout scripture we read that

00:33:29.960 god hates partiality that it's a sin that he sees it as evil as wicked he's not for lesser or worse

00:33:37.260 sentencing better or worse treatment of someone based on their station their race their gender their prominence

00:33:45.160 in the community or lack thereof it means that god's justice deals with those who are involved it is direct

00:33:52.440 you are not guilty for the sins of your ancestors when god says in exodus 25 that he visits the iniquity

00:33:59.540 of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me

00:34:04.620 he is talking about a specific people israel for a specific sin idolatry and in context this actually

00:34:12.040 means that these next generations were following the same sins of their fathers god did not make the 0.88

00:34:19.440 repentant and the faithful pay for the sins of their ancestors furthermore uh you are not guilty

00:34:26.820 for those uh you are not guilty for the sins of those who look like you you are likewise not innocent 0.99

00:34:34.600 based on those factors either god's justice is laser focused on those who are involved with the matters

00:34:45.280 at hand you cannot repent for the sins of other people when daniel asks forgiveness for israel he is

00:34:52.340 talking about sins that the entire people were actively committing he is asking for mercy for god to draw

00:34:58.520 people to himself to show his faithfulness even though they don't deserve it this is not the kind of

00:35:05.380 collectivist shame and and repentance that we see preached by many social justice activists today

00:35:10.560 punishing people who did nothing wrong in the name of justice is not actually biblical justice we don't see a

00:35:17.020 biblical precedent for that that's because god's justice is rational it is sane is proportional it

00:35:24.240 doles out punishments that fit the crime it is not cruel and unusual it cares about the guilty party too

00:35:30.540 the accused according to god even the accused proving guilty still has rights in god's sight so that

00:35:39.020 means those who have the authority to execute justice are to honor those rights and only the exact

00:35:45.020 punishment which is due to them in accordance with the crime committed god is a god of process we see

00:35:51.900 this throughout the bible that hardly anything that god does is just done quickly and automatically he

00:35:58.420 almost always has a process by which through which he is accomplishing things he cares very much about

00:36:05.600 definitions about procedures about the truth he is not arbitrary he's not ambiguous he's not reckless

00:36:12.040 everything he says demands and does is with care it's with intention it's with purpose for his glory and

00:36:19.300 the good of his people so when he says that his people should do justice he means do it how god defines it which

00:36:27.120 is a definition centered on both rationality and compassion we should want our justice system though we are

00:36:34.520 not in a theocracy we're not trying to build a theocracy and even though america is not ancient israel

00:36:39.800 to reflect the justice that uh we see defined by the moral lawgiver because he created justice he is

00:36:48.200 the source of justice justice in this verse refers to legal procedural justice but the verse calls us to more

00:36:55.440 than just that to love kindness and to walk humbly with god now this hebrew word for love used here

00:37:03.860 ahaba is often used to mean uh this intimate close love a covenant love a love that is faithful that

00:37:12.200 lasts that binds the word kindness uh kesed is most often used to describe god's love his goodness uh the

00:37:21.620 works he does on behalf of his people the gifts that he gives them so we are being called to uh

00:37:28.340 inextricably intertwine ourselves with the kind of kindness that god shows us one that is generous

00:37:34.400 uh that helps rather than oppresses the vulnerable one that forgives one that is joyful um and steadfast

00:37:42.300 then we are called to walk humbly with god which is uh what knowing god's justice and emulating his

00:37:49.080 kindness is predicated on again this turning from idolatry that means that we would be humbly walking with

00:37:56.360 god so if doing god's justice means defining and doling out right and wrong according to his terms

00:38:01.860 and loving kindness means imitating god's goodness towards us in our own lives and in our relationships

00:38:08.340 then in order to do that we must first walk in total submission to god and his will which is only

00:38:13.900 possible through his holy spirit given to those who have believed in jesus's death and resurrection

00:38:18.640 for the forgiveness of sins and the conquering of death micah 6 8 is not a command for

00:38:25.960 everyone because it can't be people who are idolaters people who don't obey god cannot understand cannot

00:38:33.420 understand god's justice it's a command for god's people um the pursuit of justice that christians

00:38:41.580 um should be demonstrating should look so radically different than the secular worlds

00:38:47.180 because we are walking humbly with god is it is up to us to show how god's kindness and truth

00:38:53.420 focused justice are displayed in this world and again that looks different today than it did for

00:38:58.920 ancient israel because we're not living in a theocracy and we're not trying to build a theocracy here

00:39:04.800 but when we are talking about justice let's be very specific in defining our terms and let us remember

00:39:10.100 that anytime you talk of justice seeking justice loving kindness and walking humbly with god that in

00:39:17.380 context that is predicated on repenting from your sins and repenting from idolatry and submitting

00:39:23.200 wholeheartedly to the lord that is the only way that we can understand what justice what true compassion

00:39:29.340 what true love looks like it doesn't mean latching on to the latest social media progressive narrative

00:39:35.160 about what justice should feel like or what the world says justice is god is specific he's gracious

00:39:41.520 to give us an idea of what this kind of specific justice that micah 6 8 is talking about and we

00:39:49.660 should look to influence the spheres that we occupy with this kind of justice because again god hasn't

00:39:55.020 changed and so these principles haven't changed and if god is the ever living creator of justice the

00:40:02.900 source of justice then we would do well and those around us would do well for us to advocate for

00:40:08.920 this kind of justice too much of what people are talking about today when we they talk about

00:40:14.140 justice is actually partiality is actually favoring one race or one socioeconomic status or one kind of

00:40:21.660 person um instead of another and they say this is the kind of social justice that god advocates for

00:40:28.100 you're not going to find a biblical precedent for it yes of course we meet needs in a different way

00:40:33.940 we're not going to give to the poor or we're not going to give to the rich in the same way that we give

00:40:37.780 to the poor there are different needs that different parts of society um have absolutely but when we're

00:40:44.620 talking about what this verse is talking about the kind of justice that we have to see uh involving

00:40:51.980 both the accused and the accuser we have to make sure that we are aligning our principles of justice

00:40:58.020 with god's principles of justice um and like i said he is so gracious to tell us what those are

00:41:03.600 throughout his words so i hope this at least gives you something to chew on there's so much more to

00:41:07.780 talk about in the book of micah and even in this verse alone but i hope that adds a little bit of

00:41:12.700 clarity and maybe the next time you see someone decontextualizing and throwing up this verse in

00:41:17.520 order to justify whatever stance they have whether it's an alignment with scripture or not you can use

00:41:23.120 this to have some kind of engaging conversation uh within that i hope is edifying and productive

00:41:28.220 all right thank you guys so much for listening we will be back here soon

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - May 04, 2021

Ep 414 ｜ Most Misused： Micah 6_8

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript