THE MINOR PROPHETS: MICAH

THE MINOR PROPHETS


6. MICAH

John H. Paterson

THE prophecies of Micah occupy seven chapters in our Bible, but the average reader might be hard put to it to say what, exactly, they are about. If there are highlights in the book, they are probably two in number. One is the verse which, long afterwards, the chief priests and scribes quoted in support of their view that it was in Bethlehem that Christ would be born: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel" (5:2; cf. Matthew 2:5-6). The other is the admonition (6:8): "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God."

Even so, at first glance, these verses do not appear to amount to much. The first of them, the prophecy about Jerusalem, we believe to have been fulfilled at the birth of Jesus: it is behind us now. The second, far from helping us, may well be considered something of an embarrassment to the Christian today. It appears to short-circuit the whole New Testament revelation, and to suggest that man can be justified by works, without the[114/115] need for redemption from sin. It may make us wonder what has become of God's plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, and has caused anxiety to some evangelical commentators, one of whom at least felt that a corrective word was necessary; in commenting on this verse he remarks, 'Along with Christ's teaching, this word of Micah is a sufficient rule of life for Christian men'. When we feel that we have to amend or apologise for the Word of God, it is high time that we examined it more closely!


The Basic Change


To ensure that we correctly understand the messages of the Minor Prophets it is generally necessary to begin by asking, "To whom is the prophecy addressed?" Nowhere is this more important than in the prophecy of Micah. And the answer is clear -- Micah's message was for the leaders of Israel and Judah: "Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel" (3:1).

We all became familiar, a few years ago, with those advertisements which assured and flattered us, 'Top People Read The Times'. The concept of the Top People -- the decision-makers, the establishment, the ruling class -- has passed into our vocabulary. And Micah in his day was the prophet to the Top People. His message was for those in authority, for rulers and judges and priests who were abusing their position and misusing their power. They used that power to seize other men's property, as Ahab once had done over Naboth's vineyard (2:2; cf. 1 Kings 21). They accepted bribes and were prepared to skin the common people alive for the sake of gain (3:2-3, 11). They practised evil, because it was "in the power of their hand" to do so (2:1).

It was to these men, quite specifically, that Micah's message was addressed. And the warning was a clear one: those who possessed power and abused it would in due course find themselves subject, in their turn, to a greater power. Zion would be ploughed as a field and Jerusalem would become a mere heap of rubble. God would hold them accountable.

The Missing Dimension

In each of these studies so far we have made the assumption that those who were denounced by the prophet had in some way misunderstood the prophet's God. Because of their faulty appreciation of Him they had miscalculated about what they were at liberty to do, and it was the task of the prophet to remind them of what God is really like -- of the missing dimension in their conception of Him. And so it was with Micah. To the men who ruled over Israel Micah was sent with a reminder that there are different ways of ruling; that God expects those who rule over his people to rule as He Himself does; that it, as a Shepherd-King.

The prophecy of Micah is full of references to shepherds and their flocks: "I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah: as a flock in the midst of their pasture ... their King is passed on before them, and the Lord at the head of them" (2:12-13). God exercises His power over His people as a Shepherd, not as a dictator, and He is the example for all those in authority. He shepherded Israel out of Egypt (6:3-5) and brought them into the Promised Land; He provided them with leaders who were under-shepherds, and broke down obstacles which got in their way, just as any shepherd would for his flock. And in the prophecy which makes this book famous He promised them a ruler who would be a true shepherd: "He shall stand, and shall feed his flock in the strength of the Lord" (5:4).

Where was this great Shepherd-King of the future to be found? Where else but in the place made famous by that other Shepherd-King of the past, the city of David? There never was a king in Israel like David. His predecessor, Saul, had been built in a mould familiar to Micah and his oppressed contemporaries; he had used his position for his own ends, just as Samuel had predicted that he would (1 Samuel 8:11-18). But it was David the shepherd who replaced him and although he became king, David never lost his shepherd's heart -- or only once, when he took another man's wife, and he paid heavily and bitterly for that lapse. Even when he made mistakes himself, he did not forget the people, or his relationship as ruler to them: "Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? Let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me" (2 Samuel 24:17). That was the kind of ruler who came out of little, insignificant Bethlehem. It was a ruler like that whom God promised to the oppressed nation. [115/116]

A Lesson in Leadership

So God sent His prophet to teach the rulers of Micah's day a lesson in leadership. They were not shepherds; the qualities required in a shepherd are the direct opposite of those which their own rule displayed. They must learn what those qualities are. And it is in just this context that we come to that other famous verse of Micah's (6:8). For this is not, nor does it purport to be, 'a sufficient rule of life for Christian men'. Its application is very specific; it is to the corrupt rulers of the day, and it contrasts their own performance in office with that of the true ruler, the Shepherd-King. His qualities are justice, mercy and humility -- humility because he recognises that he himself is subject in his turn to a higher authority; justice and mercy because it is in the interests and within the responsibility of the shepherd to see to the welfare of the flock. Harshness or double-dealing can only harm the flock and so, indirectly, harm the shepherd too.

This is one Old Testament lesson which is carried over intact to the New Testament and applied to the Church. The Lord Jesus Himself, of course, took the title of Shepherd and spoke so emphatically about the relationship of the shepherd to the sheep. He also drew His disciples' attention to the different styles of leadership within their experience: "Ye know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be among you" (Matthew 20:25-26). In Luke 9 and 10 these same disciples showed, in a whole succession of incidents, how much they still had to learn about the exercise of power and authority: "Lord wilt thou that we bid fire to come down from heaven, and consume them?" There was so much in their attitude to put right: "Howbeit in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven".

We trace the theme forward into apostolic days, to Paul speaking to the elders of the Ephesian church about their role as leaders and shepherds (Acts 20:28 - 29:35): "Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers ... I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." A far cry indeed from the rulers whom Micah knew! And we can follow the same line onwards to the well-known words of Peter. "Feed the flock of God ... not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away ... Humble yourselves therefore" (1 Peter 5:2-6).

As Micah looked around in the Israel of his day, he could see no sign of a Shepherd-King; there was no one who could begin to qualify for the role (7:1-6). He wisely decided, therefore, to "look unto the Lord", and so his prophecy moves on to a wonderful climax, as he anticipates the time when God will Himself assume direct rule over His people: "Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage ... as in the days of old" (7:14). The great days of His leadership will come again, "according to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things". The new leader will be the Man from the city of the Shepherd-King, Bethlehem. "Who is a God like unto Thee?"

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