Take Two in the Morning: Micah 6, Proverbs 29

In this chapter, God registers His charges against the people. He then explains the fate to come.

In vv. 1-5, God begins by giving the basis for the relationship. He reminds the people that He rescued them and protected them against oppressors in their history. Remember...that many years had passed since the Exodus. None of this audience were even in Egypt. Yet, God reminds them of what He did for them by rescuing them...even though it was actually their ancestors.

This is a strange concept for Westerners to get their mind around. The culture we live in asks the question, "what have you done for me lately?" God notes that His relationship with these people is based on His covenant and actions many years before. In reality, if we understand our salvation, our allegience to God is not based on what God does for us now, but what He did for us 2,000 years ago.

In vv.6-8, God asks then, "What kind of offering do you bring to this God who has acted in this manner on your behalf?" The CORRECT answer then is "whatever He says to." God tells them that their many offerings are not acceptable (v.7) because God wants them to do the right things and do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God (v.8). Now God is not indicting the acts of religious worship. He is saying that religious acts of worship without the other (justice, mercy, humility withGod) are not really worship...only acts. (God gave the prescribed acts of worship. Offerings were His idea and part of the system that He graciously gave them.)

Today, God is still into worship. He is magnified when His people come together with clean hands, clean hearts, and and an expectation of an encounter with Him. Worship is a response to God's worth. God demands though that our worship be offered not just in our religious rituals, but with every aspect of our being. One cannot be a corrupt businessman, or a merciless parent and properly offer worship to God on Sunday. As someone once said, "Christians don't just come to worship on Sunday, they bring their worship with them."

In vv.9-16, God states that because of the insincere worship and the sinful activities of the people, judgment is coming. No one looks forward to judgment. Even God. God's desire was not to punish but to have relationship. It was the actions of the people that caused the separation and brought about the judgment.

Proverbs 29:1 is my takeaway today. "A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy." God's desire is for man to be in right relationship. Therefore, He reproves (corrects) us in our wrong actions. When we are confronted with correction, we choose to yield to it or to stiffen ourselves against it. For those who resist and stiffen against it, there comes a point (suddenly and without indication) when we will be broken and there will be nothing we can do to change it.

I meet people at times who are "waiting" to get things right with God. They are being corrected. They come to church and hear that their actions are wrong and they need to change. They see indictments against their actions in other places. They even feel compulsion within them (I believe this is the conviction of the Holy Spirit) to change, yet they resist. In their mind they think, "I will do it tomorrow." God says that for those who resist, there comes a day of not being able to turn back. This is why we have today. Today is the day to be set free, or as the Bible says, "Today is the day of Salvation."

Grace,