What would happen if God were to bring you to court because of your sins? Would God have a case against you? Do you think the court would find you guilty or innocent?
In the days of Micah, God had something to say against His people (notice in verses 2,3
and 5 God calls them His people). The Lord was bringing them to court because He had
a case against them. It was a lawsuit (a case before the court) and in verse 1 the
court is called to order by God: "H______________ now what the ______________
saith!" In
this lawsuit, God is going to fully prove that HE is righteous and His people are guilty.
Before God puts His people on trial, He puts Himself on trial. He invites His people to come and to testify AGAINST HIM (Micah 6:3). What has God done? Has God done anything to deserve the way His people have been treating Him? Has God done any wrong? Has God been unrighteous? Did God do anything to cause His people to depart from Him and wander away?
Were God’s demands unreasonable? Was God asking too much of His people? Were God’s accounts unpaid? Did God fail to pay His people what He owed them? Were God’s promises unkept? Did God fail to do what He said He would do?
In Micah 6:3 it is as if God were saying, WHAT HAVE I DONE TO YOU? What complaints do
you have against Me? Have I burdened you or have I blessed you? Have I failed you in any
way? Have I been unfair to you in any way? Have I broken My Word to you in any way? IF YOU
HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY AGAINST ME, SPEAK UP!"
Was God faithful to Israel (His people)? _____
Was Israel faithful to God? _____
If the people of Israel had been honest before God they would have said something like this: "GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS BUT GREAT IS OUR UNFAITHFULNESS!"
What if God were to put Himself on trial before you. Would you be able to say anything against God? Has God ever treated you unfairly? Do you have any complaints against God? Has God broken any promises to you? Has He ever failed you? DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY AGAINST GOD?
It is so easy to forget! What was the one thing that the children of Israel were to remember and never forget (see DeuteronOmy 15:15)? _____________________ __________________________________________________________In Micah 6:4 does God remind them of this very same thing? ______ They forgot the great things that God had done for them in the past. They were slaves in Egypt but God redeemed them and set them free (Micah 6:4). God gave them a great leader (MOSES) and a high priest (AARON). MIRIAM was the sister of Moses and Aaron and she led the people in praising God for the great things He had done (see Exodus 15:20-21)
God also wanted His people to remember what He did for them in the wilderness (see Micah 6:5). God reminds them of the time when Balak the king of Moab hired the prophet Balaam to CURSE ISRAEL. But every time Balaam opened his mouth blessings came out instead of curses (see Numbers chapters 22-24). God turned the CURSE into a BLESSING!
God also reminded His people of how He brought them into the promised land (Micah 6:5). Gilgal was between the city Jericho and the river Jordan, and it was the first stop for the children of Israel in the promised land after they crossed the Jordan. God not only BROUGHT THEM OUT of Egypt (Micah 6:4) but He also BROUGHT THEM INTO a wonderful land (Micah 6:5).
What has God done for you in the past? Has He created you? Has He kept you alive year after year? Has He saved you? Has He forgiven you? Has God BROUGHT YOU OUT OF anything? Has God BROUGHT YOU INTO anything?
God is looking for a right HEART. God is not pleased by people who are religious
on the outside but not right on the HEART. God wants more than just SURFACE
WORSHIP. He wants true HEART worship. Isaiah lived at the same time as Micah. Read
Isaiah 29:13. Did the people give God lip service? _____ Was their HEART right
before God? ____ In Chapter 3 of these notes we talked about the problem of being
RELIGIOUS but NOT RIGHT (see pages 13-18)
If the HEART is not right God does not accept external ceremonies and sacrifices. If a person’s HEART is not right, should he come before God with burnt offerings and with calves (Micah 6:6)? ______ Does God want our offerings or does God want our HEART ? ____________________________________ Does God want what you can give Him or does God want YOU? ____________________________
In Micah 6:7 we learn that some of the people thought that God would be pleased if the AMOUNT is increased! T___________________ of rams (Micah 6:7) would be quite a sacrifice! "RIVERS OF ______ " would also be very impressive (oil was sometimes poured as an offering to the Lord). Would this really please God? Is God pleased by QUANTITY? _____
Suppose you were to say to yourself, "I go to church 3 times every week and some of my friends only go once or not at all. God must be very pleased with me because I go so often!" Is this really true? If your HEART was not right before God, would it please God if you went to church 100 times each week?_____ Which is more pleasing to God, to read one verse of Scripture with your mind and your understanding or to read 5 chapters of Scripture in a hurry so that you do not get anything out of it? __________________________________________________________________
In Matthew 6:7 we read about religious people that thought they would be heard for
their M____________ S____________________ . They think that God is pleased by QUANTITY!
When it comes to praying they think, "THE LONGER THE BETTER!" Is this true?
Read Luke 21:1-4. Is God all concerned about the AMOUNT and the QUANTITY? _________ What
is God concerned about?
__________________________________________________________________
According to Micah 6:7, some of the people thought that God would be pleased if they were to sacrifice their own child (put their own child to death). They probably thought of it in this way, "What if I took my own child and sacrificed him (or her). Could there be any greater sacrifice? Surely God would be pleased by that, wouldn’t He?" But even this does not please God. In fact, God commanded His people to never do this (see Deuteronomy 12:31). God hates it! The heathen people would do this terrible thing, but God’s people were never to do it!
What kind of sacrifice is God looking for? What kind of sacrifice really pleases Him
(Psalm 51:16-17)?_________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Did God want the Jews to give Him their children or to give Him their HEART ?
______
It is not our sacrifice for God that saves us but it is God’s sacrifice for us! God sacrificed His own Son so that we could be saved: "He that spared not His own ________, but delivered Him up for _______ ________, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) We learn about this great sacrifice in John 3:16! It is not what we give to God but it is what God has given to us! God does the GIVING; man must do the RECEIVING (John 1:12).
God is looking for the HEART to be right. One’s heart must come to God in
communion and for conformity to His will. In Micah 6:8, God gives three things which He
requires of man:
Were the children of Israel doing these three things (Micah 6:12)? ______ What is it
that God requires and asks of a person (Deuteronomy 10 : 12-13)? __________________
___________________________________________________________________
The people living in Micah’s day failed to do what God required and therefore God had
to punish them (Micah 6:9).
God brought His people to court, and in Micah 6:10-12 we learn that God found them to be GUILTY. Their great sin and wickedness is described in these verses.
One of their sins was that they were being dishonest in their weights and measures. They were cheating people so that they could have more money for themselves. Suppose someone were to sell you a five pound bag of flour and then later you find out that it contained only 4 pounds of flour. Have you been cheated?_____ God hates this kind of dishonesty. Sometimes people can make honest mistakes (like when a girl at the cash register does not give you enough change), but when people do these kinds of things on purpose, this is not pleasing to God at all.
As God looks at these people and at their hearts, there is only one verdict He can give: YOU ARE GUILTY! They tried to rob other people, but they were the ones who really got robbed. To be ruined by sin is to be ruined and robbed indeed!
Guilty people must be sentenced (they must be punished because of their sins). In Micah
6:13 we read of this terrible sentence or punishment: God would make them desolate because
of their sins! God would bring them to ruin! God was going to let
the enemy come to destroy their land and their cities and carry away the people as
captives.
In Micah 6:14-15 we learn that everything the people try will end up in failure. Nothing that they try will succeed. They will eat but they will still be hungry. Whatever they take hold of will have to be given up. They will plant but they will not reap. They will tread the olives to get the oil out of them, but they will not be able to enjoy using the oil. They will trample the grapes to get the juice out of them, but they will never enjoy drinking the wine. GOD’S JUDGMENT IS UPON THEM NOT GOD’S BLESSING.
The people should have followed God and His Word, but instead they followed two of the
worst kings Israel ever had:
1) OMRI--we learn about this wicked king in 1 Kings 16:25-26
2) AHAB--we learn about this wicked king and his wicked wife in 1Kings 16:28-34. This was the king that brought in the worship of the false god BAAL in the days of Elijah (see 1 Kings chapter 18).
Micah 6:16 tells us that the people were following these wicked kings instead of God (even though these kings had died by this time).
To approach GOD wrongly leaves us without God’s benefits and blessings. This is what happened to Israel in the days of Micah:
If I do not come to God in the right way, then I have all my problems but I do not have any Saviour to save! My problems unsolved, wrongly seen and wrongly handled remain and ruin and continue to ruin my days and my time on earth.
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