only possible to humble faith, Micah 6.8 | ethics, pt. 3

“Now, that it is our business to live virtuously, and that God asks this of us, as not being dependent on Him nor on any other, nor, as some think, upon fate, but as being our own doing, the prophet Micah will prove when he says:”[1]

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
     and what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, and to love kindness,
     and to walk humbly with your God? Micah vi.8, NRSV

Micah vi.8 shows how Scripture and our relationship with God influences us. In the middle of an extended prophecy, verse 8 is God’s answer to verses 6-7 where Micah asks the Lord what sacrifice is best for Israel’s sin.

“In the words of this prophet, these two things are distinguished and set forth with sufficient explicitness, that God does not require these sacrifices for their own sakes, and that He does require the sacrifices which they symbolize.”[2]

Instead of the sin sacrifice for repentance:

God seeks the humble sacrifice of a changed life

He has told you. The language states He has declared. He has made it obvious. The telling has been completed.

O mortal  (or “Thee, o, man” KJV). This is the same word used for Adam. This is usually indicative of all mankind, not directly indicative of only Israel. The basic, following commandment of the Lord, is expected of all. God has declared or made it obvious. By Micah’s time, Scripture has instructed Israel how to live righteously.

What does the Lord require of you. Require is the same word used when someone enquires of God. The verb is also an active participle meaning that it is a continual action. What is the Lord requiring, enquiring, or seeking of you all?

Do justice. The word denotes the verb form of justice. But it is beyond living justly, or lawfully. Justice guides our relationships with others and with our community. It is active. We are commanded to do justly, to treat others fairly, to judge rightly, to execute justice, etc. At some points in some translations, it is not far from related communal concepts like righteousness and shalom. If you have an older translation with the word righteousness at times instead of justice, then you probably have a respected translation. Living justly or lawfully in the community is different than personal righteousness, as a command to engage our community. Being a law-abiding citizen is not enough. We must engage our communities.

Love kindness (“love mercy” KJV). Again it appears our affection for mercy isn’t based just on receiving mercy, but on sharing or giving mercy to others. Engage community.

justice and mercy dichotomy

Oddly enough, we are commanded to execute justice and to love kindness in the same sentence. There must be balance in our treatment of others.

We love receiving mercy, but do we love giving mercy to others too?

Walk humbly. Walk is a manner of life, symbolizing our entire way of life.

In our humble faith, the possibilities of this whole verse become open as we walk through it.

Humbly. This could mean submissively or modestly. When we walk humbly, it affects our ways of thinking, reacting, and interacting with others.

to be humble is not to be self-defacing

Humble does not mean meekness – a term along the lines of controlled strength (without being too trite with the definitions).

“The command of justice, mercy, and a humble walk with God is only possible to humble faith.”[3]

Justice, mercy, and a worshipful-humble posture are lived out in community and, “with your God.”

These are values God smiles upon.

As we walk them out in our lives, He walks with us.

This Scripture makes it clear. God and His revelation influence our way of life, so I don’t care what anyone says. You need to know, no one can say, “I’m just driving down the road” (or The Way because it was man-mankind, in general).

In fact, many Christian ethicists hold to this line of reasoning. There is a connection between the creative or innate movements found specifically in Judeo-Christian Scripture and the mores, values, and ethics found even out into international waters. There is natural law, but there is also a modified form of divine command ethics.

“The divine-command theory or voluntarism, which sees moral oughts rooted in God’s will, emphasizes special revelation of God’s will. This approach often connects with a stress on the uniqueness of Christian and biblical ethics.”[4]

However, there are other opinions about voluntarism.

“It sounds like soft-determinism”[5]

For instance, I have always questioned whether God gives you the desires of your heart, or if He gives your desires to you (see Ps xxxvii.4)

This is one way divine command theory may play out in community:

Naturally we share the desires of our heart at times. Within community and among neighbors, together we often seek out the closest, best option/s.

However, if the greater community is spoon feeding everybody an option/s and we’ve already grown up, even though we’ve grown up in other ways, then divine command ethics sounds like soft determinism.

“ethics, group norms, & tattoos” CLICK HERE

“Clement & Augustine on Psalm xix, ethics pt. 2” CLICK HERE

notes: