Exploring Micah: Divine Wrath, True Worship, and Redemptive Mercy
July 23, 2024 - Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Micah 7:14-15, 18-20
This week, we have had the opportunity to reflect on the words of the prophet Micah, albeit briefly. Last Saturday, we heard him speak on behalf of farmers whose lands were being seized by the powerful of his time. Today, we hear a beautiful passage about God's mercy towards the remnant of His people, which concludes this powerful book. Let me, therefore, highlight certain aspects of this short book to encourage you to read it in its entirety.
Abraham Heschel, a prominent Jewish rabbi of the twentieth century who witnessed the Second World War and the Holocaust, highlighted two insights worth taking from the Book of Micah. The first is about bearing and accepting God's anger. For Heschel, an angry God was not a problem; he feared an indifferent God, who would not care about the plight of His people. He wrote that "anger spells [God's] concern for our good; it passes and compassion reigns." Moreover, if we are honest with ourselves, we must acknowledge that, like naughty children, we give Him plenty of reasons for anger by transgressing His commandments and committing sins.
The second insight is about true worship. He refers to a well-known and often quoted passage from the Book of Micah. It begins with a question: "With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high?" (Micah 6:6). Today, many might answer: with 10 percent of your income. However, while our churches need money, the Lord does not need our tithes. Micah's powerful answer should be memorized by every faithful person, whether Jew or Christian: "He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8).
Micah also predicted the birthplace of the Messiah. When Herod inquired from the chief priests and scribes of the people "where the Christ was to be born," they answered, "In Bethlehem of Judea," quoting a text from the Book of Micah as proof (see Matt 2:3-6; Micah 5:1). The belief that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem was also shared by ordinary people during the time of Jesus (see John 7:42).
Micah has also influenced our liturgy. Since the eighth century, on Good Friday, Christians have been singing Jesus' complaints known in Latin as "Popule meus, quid feci tibi?" (My people, what have I done to you?). The first stanza goes: "My people, what have I done to you? Answer me! Or in what way have I grieved you? I have delivered thee from the power of Pharaoh, and thou hast prepared a cross upon my shoulders." In the Book of Micah, God complains about unfair treatment by His people: "O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam" (Micah 6:3-4).
As a punishment for the sins of Israel, Micah predicted the destruction of Jerusalem. However, he ends his book with a profession of God's mercy that removes our guilt and pardons our sins (see Micah 7:18-20). This message prepares us for the proclamation of the Gospel, which reveals the fullness of God's mercy in Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 2:4-7).