John Mark Hicks

See, I am making all things new…Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. (Revelation 21:5, 7)

Inheritance is a dominant plot line in God’s story. “Inherit” or “inheritance” appear almost five hundred times in the biblical text, and most often relates to “land inheritance.” Joshua, for example, uses the language fifty-nine times, primarily in reference to God’s “land grant” to Israel.

The correlation between land and inheritance, between territory and kingdom, runs throughout the plot of the biblical drama.  People need land, kingdoms need territory, and the inheritance of the people of God is a new heaven and a new earth.

Abrahamic Promise

When God blessed Abraham, he promised to bless all nations (Gen. 12:2-3). Included in that Abrahamic blessing is the land promise: “I will give this land to your offspring” (Gen. 12:7).

This promise is both overplayed as some identify the contemporary state of Israel with this land and undervalued as others see no fulfillment in Israel’s Messiah. The former think the state of Israel is its fulfillment (or at least its beginning) while the later believe the land promise no longer applies. There is a third way.

The land is Israel’s inheritance as the firstborn child of God among the nations (Ex. 32:13; Lev. 20:24; Num. 4:20; Deut. 4:21). God gave the “land for an inheritance to Israel” (Joshua 11:23). One need only to skim the Torah, especially Deuteronomy, to recognize the central role land plays as the inheritance Israel receives from Yahweh as God’s child (Deut. 4:21, 38; 15:4; 19:10; 20:16; 21:23; 24:4; 25:19; 26:1; Psalm 105:11; 136:21-22).

As part of the Abrahamic promise, the land is not conditioned by the Mosaic covenant (Gal. 3:6-9).  The “inheritance” is by faith rather than by the works of the Torah (Gal. 3:17-18). This means God’s intent to fulfill the promise to Abraham is not conditioned by Torah-obedience. Whether the nation of Israel at any particular time possesses the land is conditioned on Torah-obedience, but the ultimate fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise is unqualified. It is as unconditional as the promise of the Messiah is.

God gives land, and God gives rest (Josh. 11:23). “Rest” is what God gives to Israel when they seek Yahweh (2 Chr. 14:1, 5-6; 20:30; 23:21), and rest means “no war” (2 Chr. 14:5). “Rest” reappears in the prophets as Israel’s hope. The righteous will rest, but the wicked will not (Isa. 14:7; 30:15; 32:17; 57:20). Ultimately, God’s people will rest in the land without fear (Jer. 30:10; 46:27). Both Isaiah and Micah see a time when the nations will learn war no more, the earth will be at peace, and no one will be afraid (Isa. 2:1-4; Micah 4:1-5). The earth, it seems, has not yet experienced such.

This language echoes God’s purpose in creation.  God’s land grant to Israel is analogous to God’s gift of the earth to Adam and Eve when “placed” (rested; Gen. 2:15) in the Garden to serve and protect it (their priestly task). Adam and Eve were priests in God’s temple, God’s home. This was God’s inheritance for humanity.

The land grant to Israel is also eschatological. The new heaven and new earth are what God creates as an inheritance for redeemed humanity. What Israel inherited in the book of Joshua typifies the inheritance God will give to humanity. A day is coming when not only Israel is the “heritage” of God, but also Egypt and Assyria are God’s people and heirs (Isa. 19:25). A day is coming when the meek will inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5).

Prophetic Expectations

Psalm 37 illustrates how the hope of inheriting the land, living in the land, and experiencing God’s goodness in the land is integral to Israel’s joy in the Lord. Disturbed by the prosperity of the wicked, the psalmist assures Israel that those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. Six times the psalmist promises—and Israel liturgically rehearses—Israel will ultimately receive its promised inheritance. They will “inherit the land” (Ps. 37:22, 29). Jesus quotes Psalm 37:11 when he announces: “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5).

This enduring hope of “inheriting the earth,” a renewal of the creation, is pervasive in the prophetic literature. The prophetic message of hope envisioned a “new heaven and a new earth” (Isa. 65:17). God’s commitment to the land pervades the prophetic hope of Israel.

That same message of hope resonates with disciples of Jesus. While the present is filled with “times of refreshing” from the presence of the Holy Spirit, the future brings a “the time for restoring all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago” (Acts 3:20-21).  Here are a few representative prophets where land renewal is prominent.

“I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be plucked up out of the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God. Amos 9:15

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Isaiah 55:13

And the Lord will be king over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be one and his name one… And it shall be inhabited, for never again shall it be a doomed to destruction. Jerusalem shall abide in security. Zechariah 14:9, 11.

The most stirring text, which New Testament writers echo, is Isaiah 65:17-25.

“For behold, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and delight in my people, no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime, for the one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and the one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build houses and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring blessed by the Lord, and their descendants as well. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, but the serpent—its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroyon all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

The elderly and children are supported rather than abandoned, everyone has appropriate shelter and housing, everyone is employed with meaningful work, everyone has adequate food and drink, children are blessed, creation will live in shalom with itself, and chaos—the serpent—will disappear in the dust. This is accomplished by the work of the Messiah (Isa. 11:1-9).

Heirs of the Promise

Galatians 3 argues the promise was made before the Torah and is, therefore, not conditioned by Torah-obedience. Israel will inherit the land as God promised Abraham, and God is faithful. Paul explicitly states, “it was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise” (Rom. 4:13).

This is a significant point. The Abrahamic promise belongs to the children of Israel. The land is part of the Abrahamic promise. The children of Israel will possess the land; it is their inheritance. It is an unconditioned promise.

But who is Israel? Who are the children of Abraham? Since the “promise comes by faith,” it is “guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring–not only to those who are of the law” (e.g., Torah-obeying ethnic Israel) “but also to those who have the faith of Abraham” (e.g., including the nations). In this sense Abraham is the “father of many nations;” he is the “father of us all” (Rom. 4:16-17). The Gentiles (nations) have been grafted into Israel through faith (Rom. 11:17). Those who belong to Messiah are the children of Abraham and thus “heirs” of the promise (Gal. 3:29). Renewed Israel includes Jews and Gentiles, and together they constitute the “Israel of God” as part of God’s “new creation” (Gal. 6:15-16).

But does this include the land? Yes, it does. Abraham was the “heir of the world” (cosmos), not just the land of Palestine (Rom. 4:13). The inheritance of the children of Abraham is heaven and earth.

We do not obtain this land by violence or by purchase. We receive it by faith in the Messiah and on the ground of the Messiah’s faithfulness. The “faith(fulness) of Jesus” secures the inheritance for Israel, and we participate in it through faith (Gal. 3:22). The Messiah is the heir of the all things, and we are co-heirs with the Messiah through faith (Rom. 8:17).

The creation is our inheritance. We wait, according to Romans 8:18-25, for the full adoption into the family of God when our bodies are redeemed (resurrection) and the creation is liberated (new heaven and new earth). That is our inheritance. John echoes the whole Abrahamic trajectory (Genesis 17:7-8) in Revelation: “Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children” (22:7, emphasis ours).

The Abrahamic promise was first given to ethnic Israel but, by faith and because of the Messiah, it includes the nations as well. Perhaps on the new heaven and new earth the redeemed of ethnic Israel will dwell in Palestine—in the land between the rivers of Egypt and Babylon—but the whole earth will belong to the people of God as they again reign on the earth with God. The kingdom of God will fill the earth!

This accounts for Paul’s pervasive “inheritance” language. He writes about inheriting “the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5). He praises God for the gifting us with the Spirit as a down payment of our inheritance, which will arrive when God has fully redeemed God’s treasured possession (Eph. 1:14). Through faith, Paul writes, we are “qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light” (Col. 1:12).

The fullness of the kingdom of God, which is yet future, is our inheritance. It is the final fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise through which God will make Israel a great nation, a great name, and bless all the nations. That promise, including the whole cosmos, belongs to all those who place their hope in God’s Messiah.

Consequently, the new heaven and new earth (creation renewed) is integral to the plot line of the story of God from creation through Abraham to new creation. The earth is the inheritance of God’s people, and one day the reign of God will fill it from the east to the west, from the north to the south. The whole earth, unlike its present condition, will become “Holy to the Lord” (Zech. 14:20).

Inheriting the (New) Earth

At a climactic moment in the drama of Revelation, “loud voices in heaven” announce (Rev. 11:15):

The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.

This evokes gratitude and worship from those who surround the throne of God. They “give thanks” because the Lord God Almighty has “begun to reign.” This reign involves the judging of the dead, the rewarding of the saints, and—significantly for our purposes—“destroying those who destroy the earth” (Rev. 11:16-18, emphasis ours).

Here “earth” does not refer to people because the Apocalypse habitually refers to the “inhabitants of the earth” for such. This refers to creation. The creator of “heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water” (Rev. 14:7) judges those who destroy the earth God created. This is one reason why creation itself worships the Father and the Son, as “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them” give “blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever” to the Lamb (Rev. 5:13).

When the “destroyers of earth” are judged, the saints are redeemed. When the earth is avenged, the creation rejoices. When the kingdom of God fills the earth, the redeemed “from every tribe and language and people and nation” will become ministering priests and “reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:10).

God’s dramatic story reaches its goal in Revelation 21-22.  The climatic picture is wondrous (Rev 21:1-5a).

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I herd a loud voice from the throne saying,

“Behold, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” 

“New heaven and new earth” echoes the creation story in Genesis 1-3.  The echo, however, is no mere restoration of creation. Rather, it is a transformation or transfiguration of the present, old creation into something new.

Though chaos remains in the old creation, chaos will disappear in the new. Darkness—part of the original chaos in Genesis 1:2—will no longer exist in the new creation since “the glory of God is its light” (Rev. 21:23; cf. 22:5). The waters of the deep, representing chaos, were part of the old creation, but in the new there will be no more sea (Rev. 21:1). “The sea is no more” assures chaos no longer exists.[1] The consequences of tragic human choices, described in Genesis 3, no longer exist in the new creation—death, mourning, and pain (Rev. 21:4). Indeed, the curse of Genesis 3 is removed (Rev. 22:3). Chaos no longer poses any threat to creation. The earth will never again suffer from human choices or chaotic forces.

Everything chaos and sin produce in the present, old world—death, mourning, pain—will disappear in the new one. The old world will pass away, everything will be made new, and the new world will emerge as a place where God dwells with humanity. What God has prepared for us in heaven (God’s dwelling place) will descend to the new earth under the new heavens in the new creation. God will again dwell with humanity just as God did in Eden.

But Eden is no longer one place on the earth. Rather, Eden fills the earth. The whole creation, unlike in Eden, is God’s sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. The new city is a perfect cube, just like the Holy of Holies in Israel’s temple.  But there is no temple on the new earth because the cosmos itself is the temple of God.

The city in Revelation 21-22 stands in contrast with the great city of Babylon in Revelation 17-18. While the latter is filled with greed and immorality, the former excludes all sinfulness. While the latter has dominated and ruled the earth as “the kingdom of this world” since humanity’s expulsion from Eden, the new Jerusalem will fulfill all the hopes of the prophets and the Abrahamic promise. In the new Jerusalem the nations are healed and blessed, provisions are abundant, and the tree and water of life are in the midst of the new earth forever.

Does God create ex nihilo, out of nothing, like God did in the original creation? Is the old creation annihilated and then a totally different world created? We don’t think so.

God’s promise is: “See, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5).  The text does not say God will make new things. Rather, God will make all things new. This is restoration, healing, and renewal.

Conclusion

This is a new beginning.  It is renewal.  It is new creation. It is analogous to new life after the Flood, or a new Exodus when Israel entered the promised land. The new earth is our inheritance, and God invites the redeemed “to inherit these things,” where God will be our God and we will be God’s children (Rev. 21:7). This is our inheritance.

Bullet points

• God unconditionally promised Abraham’s descendants they would inherit the whole cosmos.

• Christians are Abraham’s descendants and therefore heirs of that promise.

• The meek will inherit the earth when everything is made new in the new heaven and new earth.

Questions

1. Does the Abraham promise include the land such that Abraham is the “heir of the cosmos?” What does it mean for Christians to recognize they are “heirs” of the Abrahamic promise?

• Are the prophetic hopes of Israel all fulfilled in the present age, or is there a fuller experience of this hope in the age to come?

• What is new about the “new heaven and new earth,” and what does it mean for the “old” to “pass away”?

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[1] Jonathan Moo, “The Sea That is No More: Revelation 21.1 and the Function of Sea Imagery in the Apocalypse of John,” Novum Testamentum 51 (2009): 148-67.

An Outline

 The Abrahamic Promise (Genesis 12:1-7; 13:14-15; 15:5-21; 17:1-8)

• Abraham’s descendants would become a great nation.
• Abraham’s descendants would inhabit a promised land as their inheritance.
• Abraham’s descendants would bless all peoples upon the earth.

The Land Promise

• It was given to Israel “forever” (עוֹלָ֔ם), see Genesis 13:15; Genesis 17:7.
• At the same time, the Levitical priesthood is also “forever” (עוֹלָ֔ם); see Exodus 29:9, 28.
• David also promised his dynasty would be forever (2 Samuel 7:12-16). Later passages say the promise depended on whether David’s descendants obeyed God (1 Chronicles 28:6-9; 1 Kings 9:4-9).
• The Hebrew Scriptures do not have a word for eternity (the Greeks do). The term refers to something permanent or perpetual (NRSV), that is, it is a long-term commitment or reality.

Israel In the Land

• Though the land was given to Israel “forever” or “perpetually,” Israel as a national entity lived in the land on condition of faithfulness (Deuteronomy 29; the curses included exile from the land in Deuteronomy 28:26—reversing the promises, Deuteronomy 28:62-65).
• Ultimately, Israel was exiled from the land but promised a return (Jeremiah 29:10; Daniel 9:1-2).
• Upon their return, they built a new temple, but did not reestablish the kingdom. Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E., and the Romans gave the name “Palestine” to the land after the Bar Kokhba revolt in 132-6 C.E. Jews were expelled from Judea and Jerusalem, but a small group migrated and continued to live in Galilee for centuries.

What does the Land Promise Mean in the Messianic Kingdom?

• The meek will inherit the earth (Matt 5:5; cf. Ps 37:9, 11, 22, 29, 34). Ps 37:29 – “The righteous shall inherit the land, and live in it forever” (לָעַד; perpetuity).
• Amos promises Israel that after the restoration of the “booth of David” (9:11), God would “never again” pluck them from the land “given them” (9:15). James quotes the promise of Amos in reference to the inclusion of the Gentiles in the church (Acts 15:14-18).
• The promise to Abraham included not only the inheritance of the land ancient Israel inhabited but the whole earth. Romans 4:13, “For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” The Abrahamic promise is not limited to Israel but includes the nations (Gentiles) through faith in the Messiah (the “righteousness of faith”).
• This promise is partly fulfilled through the spread of renewed Israel throughout the world as lights in the darkness, a light to the nations. They fill the earth with the knowledge and glory of God. The messianic mission carries forward Israel’s mission (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6; Acts 13:47).
• The Abrahamic promise is fulfilled eschatologically when the Messiah’s people inherit the land in the new heaven and new earth. Revelation 21:1-7; verse 7: “Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children”.
• “I will be their God and they will be my children” (or people) is God’s covenantal goal for Israel (Gen 17:8; Ex 6:7; 29:45; Lev 26:11-13 [which Paul quotes in 2 Cor 6:16]; Jer 7:23; 24:7; Hos 2:23 [which Peter quotes in 1 Peter 2:10]), which here includes all people who overcome. The land—the new heaven and new earth—is inherited by God’s people, including Gentiles.
• The Abrahamic promise—a nation, a land, a blessing to all peoples—is ultimately fulfilled when renewed Israel (through faith in the Messiah) inhabits the new heaven and new earth as the inheritance of the people of God. Both Jew and Gentile are heirs of the promise because they are both children of Abraham by faith in the Messiah (Gal 3:23-29).

See my blog, “The Land as Our Inheritance,” https://johnmarkhicks.com/2009/10/21/the-land-as-our-inheritance/

In Micah 6, the prophet served as Yahweh’s prosecutor calling for witnesses, listening to the accused, and charging the defendants. They are not a people who pursue justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Through economic injustice and violence, the people have now received God’s verdict: invasion and exile.

But hope is not lost. Who is like Yahweh? That is what Micah’s name means, and it is the final word in his message. God will remember the covenant with Abraham and have compassion on the people, forgiving their sin and renewing their inheritance. Yahweh delights in mercy and will not hold a grudge against the descendants of Jacob or the nations either.

The Corruption of the People (7:1-7)

Before the announcement of hope, the charges continue. The description is comprehensive. The corruption is pervasive.

“The faithful have disappeared from the land, and there is no one left who is upright.” There are none righteous, we might say; no, not one. Even the best people are like briers and thorns in the land.

Rather, people hunt each other in violence, bribe officials and judges, and the powerful pervert justice.

Since there is no one to trust, everyone should keep silent. Even family members cannot trust each other, but conflict awaits. So, guard your mouths, even when you lie in bed with your lover.

Micah says, there is only whom we can trust. “But as for me,” he says, “I will look to” Yahweh. I can entrust my words to Yahweh; God will listen and I will wait on the “God of my salvation.”

The hope is that God will hear Judah if they seek God and wait on God’s work to be done. Judah will find mercy and grace, according to God’s steadfast love (hesed).

A Liturgy of Hope (7:8-20)

Many scholars suggest that this final section of Micah is structured as a liturgical celebration, a testimony in the assembly. Judah is given hope and invited to lean into the future God has promised because Yahweh will keep the covenant made with Abraham and Jacob.

Steven Dempster (Two Horizons Commentary on the Old Testament) sees five stanzas.

• Yahweh judges the nations (7:8-10)
• Yahweh rebuilds Jerusalem and gathers nations (7:11-13)
• Yahweh shepherds Israel in their inheritance (7:14-15)
• Yahweh humbles the nations and they align with Yahweh (7:16-17)
• Yahweh forgives Judah (7:18-20).

Limburg (Interpretation Commentary) suggests that the people speak 7:8-10, then a priest responds in 7:11-13. The people then respond in 7:14-17 followed by a resounding praise by the whole congregation in 7:18-20.

Yahweh Judges the Nations (7:8-10)

This first stanza is confession of sin and an acceptance of the judgment that will fall upon Judah. It also confronts the nations who taunted and despoiled Judah.

Israel and Judah will fall; they will go into exile. But the nations should not rejoice and pride themselves on their accomplishments. This is the Lord’s judgment; the darkness that enveloped the nation is from God. It is deserved; they had sinned.

But God had not abandoned the descendants of Abraham. God will be alight for them even as the sit in darkness, and there will come a time when God brings them out of darkness into the light…the moment God takes up the cause of Israel.

Though while Israel sat in darkness, the enemy taunted the people with questions like, “Where is the LORD your God?,” there is coming a time when Israel will see the downfall of the nations.

Yahweh rebuilds Jerusalem and gathers nations (7:11-13)

The second stanza announces the future of Jerusalem and Judah. The exiles will return, and this will include the nations as well as the boundaries of the nation are extended.

A day will come, however, the walls will be rebuilt, and the descendants of Abraham will come from the Euphrates and from Egypt to the land of Israel. God will reassemble the people, though the earth is desolate because evil has pervaded the earth. The earth bears the fruit of its judgment while Israel is gathered to God in their inheritance.

Yahweh shepherds Israel in their inheritance (7:14-15)

The third stanza prays for God to lead the people in the wilderness once again and bring them to their plentiful inheritance.

Micah prays, “Shepherd your people.” God will reign over the people in the land—and Israel will flourish. The flock will graze on the hills of Bashan and Gilead as in the beginning of the nation.

Yahweh humbles the nations and they align with Yahweh (7:16-17)

This fourth stanza recounts the humbling of the nations and their turning toward Yahweh. It is the fulfillment of Micah 4 where the nations will flow into Jerusalem to learn of God and learn war no more.

The return from exile will be like a new Exodus. And like Egypt and the other nations at the time, they will shut their mouths in awe. They are defeated nations, like a defeated snake crawling in the dust of the earth. But God offers them hope and a future—to come out of their fortresses (to give up their swords) and turn in fear to Yahweh, the God of Israel. Those nations who do will “stand in fear” of Yahweh.

Yahweh Forgives Judah (7:18-20)

God will restore Israel and redeem the nations? Really? There is no God like Yahweh who pardons sin, not only the sins of the remnant of God’s own possession but the nations as well.

Yahweh . . .

• Pardons sin
• Forgives (passes over) transgression
• Does not stay angry (temperance)
• Delights to show steadfast love (hesed)
• Shows compassion (like Psalm 103:13)
• Treads our sins under our feet (like trampling an enemy)
• Throws our iniquities into the depths of the sea (total absolution)

We know who God is from God’s own self-revelation in Exodus 34:6-7. God is gracious, merciful, and compassionate. His anger does not last forever. Rather, God will cast Israel’s sins into the depths of the sea, never to be recovered or remembered.

On the contrary, God is faithful to the promise to the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob. God is loyal to Israel’s ancestors.

Indeed, as Micah’s name reveals, “Who is like Yahweh?”

Micah 6-7 is the third and last oracle of the book. The first two began with “Hear” (1:2; 3:1) as does the third (6:1). The first oracle addressed to “you peoples,” that is, to the nations. It is a witness to all the inhabitants of the earth. The second oracle is addressed the “heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel,” that is, to the military, political, and religious leaders of Judah. The last oracle appears to be addressed to the people of the covenant since Yahweh “has a controversy with his people,” such that Yahweh says, “O my people!”

The responsibility for the consequences that befall Judah are deeply rooted in its leadership but the people are also complicit. The nation, led by foolish and violent leaders, has followed their lead on the whole, though it is probable that there were many who had not bowed the knee (like Micah, for example).

In this oracle, particularly chapter six, we see two movements: a lawsuit and its charges. The prophet functions as Yahweh’s prosecutor who presses charges against the people. It is a covenant lawsuit in the wake of Judah’s rebellion and their unjust practices that failed to show mercy and walk with God.

The Lawsuit (Micah 6:1-8)

The lawsuit is identified by the Hebrew word rib (רִ֣יב), which is often translated “controversy” (6:2) or “case” (6:1) but is actually a legal term. It is a prosecution (Micah 6:1-22). The Hebrew term is used twice along with the intent to convict, contend, reprove, or correct in Micah 6:2 (יִתְוַכָּֽח). This is a courtroom scene: God is the judge, Micah is Yahweh’s prosecutor, creation serve as a witness, and Yahweh is the judge. It is a covenant lawsuit.

The invitation (6:1-2)

The people of God are invited to participate in the lawsuit. As defendants, they have a voice. But there are also witnesses or jurors—those who will hear the case and bear witness to its truthfulness.

The people are invited to plead their cases and raise their voice in defense before the mountains and hills of creation. The creation knows the story; they have seen the activities. And here they are like jurors or witnesses in the lawsuit. Perhaps they are the audience before whom God prosecutes the people.

The mountains and the foundations of the earth—the immovable dimensions of creation itself—are solid footing for the case Yahweh will present. It is a cosmic courtroom to which all creation is invited to hear the lawsuit Yahweh prosecutes through the prophet Micah. Yahweh will reprove and judge Israel in the light of the covenant God established with them long ago.

Yahweh Addresses the People (6:3-5)

In this cosmic courtroom, Yahweh addresses the people so that they might remember “the saving (righteous) acts of the LORD” (Micah 6:5).

What saving acts? The prophet rehearses the story of the Exodus, the wilderness, and the crossing over the Jordan.

• God delivered them from Egyptian enslavement.
• God sent leaders to guide them through the wilderness to the land of promise.
• God protected them from hostile forces like Balak of Moab.
• God brought them from Shittim (east of the Jordan) to Gilgal (west of the Jordan).

These are the righteous deeds of the Lord. They are God’s saving acts which are celebrated in the Psalms, remembered by the prophets, and taught in the Torah. Has Israel forgotten?

It is interesting what Micah chooses to name. There are many details he could have specified. One of the more significant—and not mentioned elsewhere except in the Torah itself—is the naming of three leaders: Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. All are called prophets in the Torah. They are all “sent.” They are all divine agents among the people, and Miriam is not restricted to women but also leads the whole of Israel (men and women) in the song of celebration in Exodus 15.

The movement from Shittim to Gilgal is the movement across the Jordan. So, this line completes the journey from Egypt through the wilderness across the Jordan (even though none of the named leaders enter the land with the people).

How has Yahweh treated the people? He freed them, guided them, protected them, and gave them the land in which they now dwell. As Isaiah 5:7 says, what else could I have done for you?

Have God’s saving acts wearied Israel? Have they mistreated Israel? No, creation itself which witnessed this movement from Egypt to the promised land testifies to God’s faithful love for Israel. God’s covenant of love has never had any other goal.

The People Respond (6:6-7)

The people respond with a desire to worship, perhaps even to satisfy God in some way (as some attempt in Psalm 50). To “come before” or “meet” the Lord is an entrance liturgy, like Psalm 15 and Psalm 24.  It is to enter God’s presence, to seek the face of God in worship—it is to bow down before God. This is an entrance into the earthly temple (we may presume) that is analogous to entering the heavenly temple to seek God’s face.

What should we bring, the people ask. How do we respond to God to acknowledge our sin and seek forgiveness?

• Burnt offerings, even calves a year old?
• Thousands of rams, even ten thousand rivers of oil?
• My firstborn, the fruit of my body?

The people want to give their best, and the offers intensive their supplication. Burnt offerings? Not that? How about even calves a year old, which are highly valued.

Ok, not that? How about thousands of rams along with rivers of oil. While the number of rams is conceivable for a national celebration (Passover week, for example, during the time of Hezekiah include thousands of animals, 2 Chronicles 30), the amount of oil is extravagant and practically impossible. Such oil is used in the baking of bread with grain offerings. This is a lot of bread! In other words, the people are offering God a celebration where the people come and eat bread and meat, and presumably drink wine in honor of God in order to seek forgiveness or celebrate God’s coming deliverance. They hope to persuade God.

The offer of the firstborn is no fantasy. The surrounding Canaanite cultures, especially the Phoenicians, are well known for the sacrifice of children. Mesha, the king of Moab, records the sacrifice of his own son on a stele which is now in the Louvre in Paris. This archaeological find (found in Jordan in 1868; known as the Mesha Stele). It actually mentions the Israelite king Omri and his son.  It dates from around 840 BCE (approximately 130 or so years before Micah’s third oracle). We also Judah’s king Ahaz sacrificed his son(s) in the Valley of Hinnom, according to 2 Kings 16:3 (and 2 Chronicles 28:3). Ahaz was Hezekiah’s father. This probably happened somewhere between 732 and 716 BCE.

So, the offer is a real one. Judah’s leadership was willing to offer a son, if this is what God wanted. But that is not what God wanted.

The ethic (6:8)

God does not want the sacrifice of a firstborn. Rather, God wants the living sacrifice of faithful people. God requires the people to sacrifice themselves through justice, mercy, and humility. What is good? The people already know, but they don’t practice it (as we will see in the second half of chapter 6).

What is good? Not only for Israel, but for all human beings. Micah addresses not only the covenant people in this statement but “Adam” (human beings)—adam knows what is good! Thus, the nations are also judged by the good God identifies. It is a universal call to be truly human, that is, to reflect the goodness and likeness of God. This is what is required, or more literally, this is what the Lord seeks. This is what the Lord wants for humanity.

• To do justice (עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙), or in Greek ποιεῖν κρίμα.

This is a common theme in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Isaiah 1:17; 16:5; Psalm 99:4). This is what God expects from judges and leaders in Israel (1 Kings 3:28; Jeremiah 22:3). It refers to a system of communal righteousness that orders society in equitable and peaceful ways. This is a quality human beings are to embody in their own lives, families, and systems.

• To love mercy (אַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד), or in Greek ἀγαπᾶν ἔλεον.

The Hebrew terms hesed (חֶ֔סֶד) is one of the most important words in the Hebrew Bible. It is part of God’s own self-description in Exodus 34:6. Nortoriously difficult to translate into English, it has a variety of renditions: mercy, covenant loyalty, lovingkindness, steadfast love, steadfast devotion. Psalm 136 echoes the way hesed is part of God’s creation and redemptive story.

The people of God are to “love” this quality and emulate it. The people of God are to embody God’s own hesed in their lives. It represents a priority—this is what the people of God love, prioritize, and emphasize. As Christopher-Smith notes, this “phrase about ‘steadfast devotion’ disallows a harsh and vindictive idea about ‘justice’” (p.196). Justice is tempered with mercy and steadfast love, and steadfast love seeks justice for those who do not have it.

• To walk humbly with your God (הַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ), or in Greek ἕτοιμον εἶναι τοῦ πορεύεσθαι μετὰ κυρίου θεοῦ σου.

“Humbly” is the common translation, but it may also mean cautiously, carefully or with circumspection. It is a call for wisdom, but the main point is to “walk with God.” What does God seek? Yahweh wants humans to walk in the paths of God’s own life and character, that is, to be like God. Israel is called to be holy because God is holy. In essence, the call to walk with God humbly is a call to obedience—to walk in God’s paths.

Many suggest that this summary is influenced by Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (and Jeremiah 7:23 might as well): “So now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? Only to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD your God^a and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being.”

Included in Deuteronomy’s sense of walking in the ways of God according to God’s requirements are: a circumcised heart, justice for the people (no partiality or bribes), justice for the orphan and widow, the love of strangers by the provision of food and clothing, and a commitment to worship God alone (Deuteronomy 10:16-20).

This triad is also echoed in Matthew 23:23, which Jesus calls the weightier matters of the law: justice (righteousness), mercy (love), and faithfulness (walking with God).

If we want to know what the meaning of “mercy, justice, and obedience (humility)” or “doing, loving, and walking” (Limburg, p. 271) is in Micah 6:8, probably the most helpful starting point is the immediate context of Micah 6:9-16. There the prophet lays out the charges—the realities in Judah that violate “mercy, justice, and humility.”

The Specific Charges (Micah 6:9-16)

God has dragged Judah into court because the nation is filled with evil like treasures hoarded in the house of the wicked. Evil fills Judah, and God is indignant.  The voice of God confronts Jerusalem (“the city”) and its tribal leaders who assemble there. This assembly, however, turns into a courtroom where the charges are specified. This is a judgment oracle.

The speech articulates some specific evils that have brought about these consequences.

• Economic, crimes of the marketplace. This included dishonest weights and measures.

• Violence, bloodshed for power, control, and economic gain. The wealthy used their status to gain advantage by violent means.

• Deceit, lying is pervasive and used for gain and power.

• Idolatry, the statues of Omri (cf. Jeremiah 10:3) who introduced the Baal cult to Israel that spread to Judah.

This stands in contrast to what it means to walk humbly, lover mercy, and do justice. Doing what God requires means:

• Economic justice and the rejection of violence.
• Loving mercy means reversing the economic and violent abuses of the day.
• Walking with God means worshipping the true God rather than idols.

The contrast between 6:8 and 6:10-12 deserve more attention than I have given here. We learn something about the positive nature of justice, mercy, and walking with God while also noting what the effects of injustice, cruelty, and idolatry are. The people of Israel did not do what God required, and therefore they will experience their reward for such evil.

Therefore, Yahweh says, the consequences follow. This includes hunger, loss, sword, and desolation. Ultimately, it is the destruction of a nation, the exile of both Israel and Judah. Neither shall benefit from their labors in the land—the sow but will not reap.

Due to their sin, the people of God will suffer the fruits of their evil.

Who is favored or “happy”? Psalm 41 teaches it is the one who considers the poor and lives with integrity despite their own failings.

Such people are assaulted by enemies, particularly cosmic powers, whom God will defeat. Yahweh is gracious and raises the Psalmist from a deathbed to renewed life.

Jesus quotes this Psalm at the Last Supper in reference to Judas. Though it names the reality of cosmic enemies, it also teaches that Yahweh will show favor and cause those who walk in the way with integrity to stand in God’s presence forever.

Bobby Valentine and I discuss Psalm 41 in the light of the individual, the nation, and the Messiah.

Why “go to church”? Or, better, why participate in the assembly of fellow-believers? Psalm 40 provides a response.

We go to tell the story, to proclaim the good news of God’s righteousness, God’s saving work. To rehearse the story of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness.

We go to present our living sacrifices to the Lord and declare, “Here I am.”

We go to tell our testimonies of God’s deliverance so that others might “see” and be awed by God’s grace and truth.

We go to sing a “new song” and declare the wondrous deeds of God.

Micah envisions the coming of a Davidic ruler who is peace. That reign will extend to the ends of the earth and mean that everyone will live in security and prosperity. Yet, before that time arrives, a period of purgation–like labor pains–is necessary so that the descendants of Jacob learn to depend on Yahweh rather than their own military strength and resources.

In the previous chapter the prophet Micah envisioned a future when the nations would flow into Jerusalem to learn war no more and establish justice upon the earth. The earth, then, would be filled with prosperity and security as Yahweh reigned from Zion over the whole earth. But before that time, Judah would writhe and groan because it would suffer the consequences of their sin and ultimately experience exile in Babylon. The nations will strike the “ruler (literally, judge) of Israel upon the cheek” and humiliate the nation. Unlike the Judges who delivered Israel from their oppressors before there was a king, the king of Israel is unable to deliver, and the nation will go into exile.

But that is not Micah’s final word. Though the nation will go into exile and suffer defeat at the hands of many nations (Assyria, Babylon, and other surrounding peoples), Yahweh promises a new ruler, a different kind of ruler, in the future. One who will come from Bethlehem in Judah from David’s royal line.

The Ruler from Bethlehem (5:2-5a)

There is a contrast between the “ruler of Israel” (literally, judge) in Micah 5:1 and the one who will “rule in Israel” in Micah 5:2. The former was humiliated, and the latter will be exalted. The former engaged in the fight, but the latter establishes peace. The former was assaulted by many nations, but the latter will reign to the ends of the earth.

The birthplace of this ruler is Bethlehem of Ephrathah (meaning, house of bread, fruitful). Ephrathah is probably a clan name (e.g., Elimelech and Naomi are “Ephrathites from Bethlehem,” Ruth 1:2), and it also serves to distinguish Bethlehem in Judah from a city in Zebulon (Galilee) named Bethlehem (Joshua 19:15). But the location is more about genealogy than it is geography.

It is an insignificant town, a small village. When 46 towns are named in Joshua 15:20-63 from the tribe of Judah, Bethlehem is not mentioned. This small rural town contrasts with the monumental buildings in Jerusalem (from its walls to temple to palaces). But Bethlehem is the home of Jesse, the father of David and the grandson of Ruth (Ruthe 4:17-22; Samuel 17:12). The language and place indicate this new ruler is Davidic, and his origins are found in the early days of the nation.

David is from the root of Jesse, from the root of Ruth and Boaz. The Davidic king will come from the loins of Bethlehem Ephrathah—the ancient royal line. And God will raise up this king “for me” (that is, God’s own self). The Davidic king will serve Yahweh’s purposes.

But not yet.

This new David is future, and for the moment Yahweh has given Judah over to the consequences of its sins (those sins are named in 5:10-15). They will suffer like a woman in labor, and at the same time know the hope of a new birth. At times suffering produces hope. This probably refers to the return of the exiles, including the remnant of Israel.  There will be a day when Israel and Judah are restored as one people under a new Davidic ruler.

Isaiah, who was contemporary with Micah, lived in Jerusalem also announces this hope. One will come from the “root of Jesse” and establish a kingdom that will fill the earth with righteousness, justice, and security (Isaiah 11:1-9). On that day, Isaiah prophesies, the Lord will recover the remnant from Assyria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Shinar, Hamath and other regions to assemble Israel and Judah and make a highway for a return from exile (Isaiah 11:10-16).

When that day comes, the ruler will act as a shepherd over God’s flock and in the name of God give them peace, security, and strength. It is a prosperous image filled with God’s shalom. This will fill the whole world, and not just the land Israel inhabited. It will extend to the “ends of the earth.”

“This one will be peace,” literally what the Micah 5:5a says. In contrast to all the warring that Micah experience in southwestern Judah during the Assyrian invasion, the yearning for peace will find fulfillment in this ruler.  He will be peace to the world. Or, as Isaiah 9:6 says, the “Prince of Peace.”

Matthew 2:6 quotes Micah 5:2 (with some variation) as evidence that the Messiah (the king) will be born in Bethlehem. The birth of Jesus is regarded as a fulfillment of Micah’s word. The early church saw Micah’s message as coming to fruition in the birth, ministry, and reign of the Jesus, the Messiah.

But not yet in Micah’s day.

Remnant Among the Nations (5:5b-9)

Rather, in Micah’s day, the remnant finds itself in turmoil, suffering from the ravages of the Assyrians and the future deportation of the people of Judah by Babylon when Jerusalem is destroyed in 586 BCE.

This is a difficult section as there are manty different ways interpreters and commentators read this section of Micah. Is it about Judah’s healthy influence—like a morning dew—among the Assyrians, even in their exile? Is it about Judah’s attempt to do battle with the Assyrians in a losing fight? Is Micah quoting the militant resisters to the Assyrian invasion in Micah 5:5b-6?

Perhaps the last option is the best one, but it is far from certain. In response to the prophecy of a future peace under a future king, some take up arms and resist the Assyrians without such a king. Some even suggest that Micah is quoting a nationalist war-song. In this case, Micah 5:5b-6 is satirical. The rulers warn about Assyria and call the people to resist, but Micah turns the hearts of the people toward God, to trust God. As Smith-Christopher writes in the OT Library series by WJK press (p. 176), perhaps Micah is saying, “with what shall we defeat the Assyrians? A few shepherds, perhaps seven or eight?” In this case, Micah is mocking those who chose war over peace.

Assyrian and ultimately Babylon will win the wars and exile the people of Israel and Judah respectively.  God’s people will not be totally destroyed or annihilated. Rather, there will be a remnant. And they will live, for a time, among the nations until they are restored as the people of God.

While the people of God are scattered among the nations, surrounded by many peoples, what is their function? What meaning and purpose is there to their loss?  They must become a purged people (see next section), but they will be a witness to the reality of Yahweh in the world and God will bless them in their exiled condition.

Israel among the nations will not be a military power but more like dew and showers on the grass. The survivors will know the Lord and bless the nations among them.

But the image of a lion seems to counter the dew image; it seems contrary to the peaceful image in Micah 5:7. The remnant has become a lion!  Smith-Christopher calls attention to the contrasting juxtaposition of dew and lion in Proverbs 19:12, “A king’s anger is like the growling of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.”

Some suggest that the “lion” imagery is a negative one and describes Israel’s leaders who want to continue warring as an exercise of power. Others suggest that “lion” refers to faithfulness and strength. God is symbolized in this way in Isaiah 31:4 and Hosea 11:10. The exact meaning alludes me. But perhaps we might hear “lion” as a reflection of the remnants strength to witness to Yahweh’s reign and its own purgation. In this way, the “enemies” to be destroyed or cut off in Micah 5:9 are described in Micah 5:10-15.

The Purgation of Judah (5:10-15)

The remnant, those who return from exile, will need purgation, that is, cleansing. Their sins, which brought on the exile, must be reformed. Micah describes the reformation of the remnant and what that looks like in contrast to the wickedness of the pre-exilic community. The post-exilic community must have a different look.

Yahweh is the central figure here: “I” is used nine times.

• I will cut off your horses, and I will destroy your chariots.
• I will cut off the walled cities, and I will throw down your strongholds.
• I will cut off sorceries and soothsayers.
• I will cut off your images and pillars.
• I will uproot your sacred poles, and I will destroy your towns
• I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey.

The sins of Judah are identified.

• Military weapons
• Military power
• Occultic behaviors
• Idolatry (images and sacred poles or Asherah).
• Idolatrous communities

The Wisdom of Solomon14:16-17 describes the nation’s past idolatry, which clearly identifies the link between political and religious power in Israel and Judah.

“Then the ungodly custom, grown strong with time, was kept as a law, and at the command of monarchs carved images were worshiped. When people could not honor monarchs in their presence, since they lived at a distance, they imagined their appearance far away and made a visible image of the king whom they honored, so that by their zeal they might flatter the absent one as though present.”

The sins of Judah are political, military, and religious. And these must be purged in the reign in the reign of the Messiah.

The final line of Micah 5 (v. 15), however, addresses the nations. Judgment may begin at the house of God, but it also includes the nations.

The position of Micah in the Hebrew canon is significant. It comes between Jonah and Nahum. The latter describes the destruction of Nineveh because of its sins, and the former tells the story of Nineveh’s deliverance from judgment in response to the preaching of Jonah. 

Nineveh always had a choice. It could submit to the reign of God or rebel against it. God will execute justice against those nations that do not obey but delivers those who do obey.

Israel and Judah also have that choice.

And so do we!

Ever feel like life is not exactly the way it is supposed to be, and you wanna’ say something? Psalm 39 is for you.

Functioning like Job and Ecclesiastes, the Psalmist cannot keep silent. The fire in the Psalmist ‘s bones protests and groans over the brevity of life, its trouble and seemingly pointlessness.

Nevertheless, the Psalmist–singing this with assembled Israel–confesses there is only one hope: it is the Lord, the God of Israel.

Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks reflect on this godly protest and what it means for faith today.

One of the more difficult texts in Micah, the prophet struggles with the resistance of leaders to his message. Nevertheless, Micah presses the consequences of their rejection of God’s word.

Bobby Valentine, a guest presenter, discusses the meaning and significance of Micah 4:6-5:1.