God is Just (Micah 3)

How relevant is Micah to today! Of course, it’s the word of God, so it is living and active, but listen to the words of this prophet! Through him the Lord denounces entire cities and cries for justice. Two things I noticed:

1) Ecclesiastes says “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecc. 1:9), and truly, fast forward from the time of Micah (the eighth century B.C.) to now and the same evil and injustice is happening. People have not changed, they are as wicked as ever and in the same ways as of old.

I don’t know a lot, and I put forth this idea humbly, but it seems like because of the spread of Christianity (and the millions of hearts and minds who have been changed by the Holy Spirit) the world has a heightened awareness of social inequality and injustice. I’m not sure if there’s any less evil now than before – in fact, I maintain that humans are as wicked as ever – but because of charities and organizations today (these things seem to be the product of Christendom) we are more conscience of worldly evils (even if we still commit them ourselves). For example, at my school there is a new major devoted to “human rights violations”, which basically means “people who are being sinned against.”

I’m excited that we live in a country with groups like Amnesty International and the Salvation Army, but many of the people in such groups do not do social action work for a love of God but for a love of justice – which is a shame because the only reason we know and understand justice is because God is just. Unfortunately many think God is lazy or inept to prevent violence or abuse, which is absolutely the opposite of the truth. Throughout Micah and the Bible God is good and just and the Hero of all history, speaking throughout generations that What you’re doing is evil, stop now or I will stop you. Our God is strong and mighty to save from any situation, and it is only through Him that salvation from injustice comes.

Hear this, you heads of the house of

Jacob

and rulers of the house of Israel,

who detest justice

and make crooked all that is straight,

who build Zion with blood

and Jerusalem with iniquity. (Micah 3:9-10)

Replace “Jerusalem” with a city from today – what is Chicago built on? Is it built on blood and exploitation of the weak? What about the entire country? How does it thrive? Does it thrive by child labor, or prostitution? If it does, be sure that whatever nation in question will not be around for long. God will have justice.

2) Micah makes a distinction between false and real prophets. The false prophets cry injustice when they are not fed – when things aren’t going great for themselves – and a real prophet like Micah steps up and says everything’s going wrong even when it seems like everything’s going right. A real prophet may not be poor and oppressed, but that does not mean he does not care about those that are! Micah steps up and declares an entire nation guilty of not taking care of its children or poor.

Micah does this not out of an attempt to fix everything on his own, not out of a social program he’s started for himself, but out of a command from God:

But as for me, I am filled with power,

with the Spirit of the LORD,

and with justice and might,

to declare to Jacob his transgression

and to Israel his sin. (Micah 3:8)

We may be able to see evil and injustice around us but it is the Holy Spirit that gives us the power (and the opportunities) to do something about it. When we see suffering and injustice in our world we should not blame God but ask instead: “What would You have me do, God?”