Rotation.org Writing Team

Micah 6:7-8 Bible Background

You could read the entire Bible to find out what God wants, or you could just read Micah 6:7-8.

1. God wants us to do justice, not just talk about it. And as you will read, for Micah justice includes economic justice.
2. God wants us to love being kind (merciful).
3. And God wants us to walk closely* with him, not at an arm's length.
   (*See the word study below about the possible meaning of the phrase.)

Written during a time of great crisis and corruption, Micah 6:7-8 rejects the belief that God can be served, swayed, pleased, or appeased by religious offerings, elaborate worship, and foxhole promises. Instead, Micah summarizes in six words what God wants from his people and their leaders.

Trouble in Israel

Following the death of King Solomon in 931 B.C., Israel split into two kingdoms, Judah in the south and Israel in the north. For the next two hundred years they were ruled by some good and some very bad kings who entangled their nations in regional power struggles and wars, and allowed their governments and religious establishment to become corrupt. During this time, God raised up prophets in both kingdoms to warn the leaders and people of the consequences of their sins and offer a vision of hope. These prophets included Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jonah, Hosea, Amos, Jeremiah, and our hero, Micah.

Emphatically, Micah spoke up against the injustices and social evils taking place in both Israel and Judah during the last half of the 8th Century B.C.

They covet fields and seize them, houses and take them away;
they oppress householder and house, people and their inheritance.
(Micah 2:2, NRSV)

How bad was the corruption and idolatry in Judah and Israel? Micah likened it to cannibalism!

You who hate the good and love the evil.
You tear the skin off my people, and the flesh off their bones,
you eat the flesh of my people.
(Micah 3:2-3, NRSV)

As Micah predicted, circa 722. B.C. the Assyrian Empire overran Israel, laid waste to its capital in Samaria, and exiled many of its inhabitants (some of this had started in the years before the final conquest). Seeing the destruction, and perhaps chastened by Micah and Isaiah's warnings, King Hezekiah of Judah restored the rule of God's Law, built up Jerusalem's defenses, withstood an Assyrian siege, and bought time for Judah by paying tribute. But it only postponed the inevitable. When the Babylonians overthrew the Assyrians in 622, Judah tried to break free of their new overlords, and that eventually led to the Babylonians invading Judah in 586 B.C., destroying Jerusalem and its Temple, and carrying off the cream of Jewish society into Babylonian exile.

Micah 6:7 suggests that the kings and priests of Judah and Israel DID try to appeal to God to defend them -- and did so with religious fervor. But according to Micah, more offerings and worship were not going to save them.

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8 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 6:7-8, NRSV
(*kindness and mercy are the same word in Hebrew)
Micah 6:7-8, NIV

Amidst the chaos, Micah promises a new kind of ruler who will embody justice, kindness, and humility

Tucked away in all his warnings, Micah utters his other most remembered words:

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah...
from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
(Micah 5:2)

Jesus is Micah 6:8 incarnate. He is the living embodiment of Micah's six words. If you're wondering what it means to do justice, be kind, and walk humbly, look at his life and look at the manner and meaning of his death.  As Micah 4:2 puts it, "He will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths."

TEACHING MICAH 6:7-8 to CHILDREN

Which version of Micah 6:8 should you teach and have students memorize?

We suggest you use either the NRSV, NIV, New American Standard, or NLT Bible. They stick close to the original Hebrew and are the versions of this verse that most North American children will likely hear and remember throughout their lives.

For children, we prefer the NRSV for Micah 6:8 for the following reasons:

1. In the NRSV, Micah says that God requires us to "DO JUSTICE." The powerful simplicity of the English phrase "Do justice" is highly memorable and bold, whereas the NIV's "act justly" and the NLT's "do what is right" sound muted. "Justice" is a very important biblical concept that the lessons in this set will explore.

2. The NRSV uses "Kindness" instead of "Mercy." They are the same word in Hebrew ("hesed" -- see the word study below) and are interchangeably used throughout the Old Testament. But for the purposes of teaching children and memorizing the verse, we prefer the NRSV's "love kindness" because "be kind" is a popular encouragement in today's culture.

Why we recommend studying verse 7 along with the more famous verse 8:

Verse 8's powerful words are the answer to the question Micah poses in verse 7. Verse 7 asks, "Does the Lord require rams, rivers of oil, and firstborn?"  And verse 8 answers, "NO!  Here's what God requires." Scripture memory activities in this lesson set will primarily focus on verse 8.

A CLOSER LOOK AT SOME VERSES AND WORDS

v 7: Thousands of rams? Rivers of oil? My firstborn?

Micah is alluding to the religious attempts to appease and appeal to God that the Assyrian conquest of Israel and siege of Jerusalem have touched off.  Rams and sacred oil were routinely offered in worship. The offering of "firstborn" probably alludes to Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac (which God did not want), and the pagan practices of competing religions in that region. God does not want such "ultimate" and extravagant sacrifices.

v 8: What does God "require"?

The "require" in Hebrew is "daw-rash." It means "What does God seek, ask for, demand, care about, search for."

What does it mean to "Do" "Justice"?

DO: The Hebrew word that Micah uses for "do" is "asa." It means to do, make, perform, commit, offer." It doesn't mean "just talk about it" or "send thoughts and prayers."   (Interestingly, some people remember this phrase as "seek justice" but no English translation uses the word "seek.")

JUSTICE: Micah uses the Hebrew legal term "mish-pawt" to describe what God wants us to do. "Mish-pawt" primarily means to obey the law, to judge fairly, do the right thing, to exercise good judgment. And while these are certainly good personal practices, Micah's first five chapters are especially aimed at those in power "who despise justice and distort all that is right." (Micah 3:9)

"Asa mish-pawt," i.e. "Do Justice," calls upon the nation and those in authority to make just laws, treat people fairly, and use power, position, and wealth to lift people up rather than oppress them. Micah's contemporary, the Prophet Isaiah, preached a similar message in Isaiah 58 when he wrote, "What is the fast that I require but to loose the bonds of injustice and let the oppressed go free." Jesus famously quoted this same passage from Isaiah in Luke 4 when he announced that "the Spirit of the Lord is upon me -- to proclaim good news to the poor -- set free the oppressed."

There's a wonderful six-minute video from the Bible Project on the Bible's concept of justice, including how Jesus' teachings, example, and death fit into "what God requires."

What does it mean to "Love Kindness" (or Mercy)

Love: Micah uses the common word for "love" which in Hebrew is "a-hav-aw." It's a word often used to describe God's love for his children and a husband's love for his wife (for example). This suggests that we are to "commit" ourselves to kindness and not simply do the occasional kind thing. It comes from who we are, not what we think we'll get in return.

"Kindness" and "Mercy" are the same word in Hebrew ("hesed"). Some English Bible translations prefer one over the other, and both are correct. "Hesed" is also frequently translated as "faithfulness," as in "be faithful to someone." Micah is saying that we should LOVE being kind and merciful, and not just do it because somebody prints it on a t-shirt but because "kind and merciful" is what God is.

What does it mean to "walk humbly with God"? (some surprising possibilities)

This wonderful phrase is full of wonderful and intriguing possibilities.

The word we translate as "humble" is "tsaw-nah" -- a rare word that only occurs one other place in the Bible in Proverbs 11:2 where it is contrasted with "pride, arrogance." The more common Hebrew word for "humble" is "anav" and suggests a meek character or lowly station in life.

"Walk" (yaw-lak') in the Bible is used both literally and figuratively to mean "walk," "follow," or "stride with."

"With ('im) your God" seems obvious, but "with" can commonly mean "alongside," "beside," and "in sync with." And according to Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, in the Bible it is also used to mean "in communion with," "closely," "near," "together," "at the same time."

Taken together, "walking humbly with God" suggests a closeness to God, even "walking humbly like God."  God walks humbly?  Yes. Remember Paul's description of Jesus in Philippians 2:6 when he said that Jesus, "emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, ....and humbled himself and became obedient." We are to"have this same mind," says Paul.

So if you want to know what humble looks like, look at Jesus and imitate him, "for whoever says, 'I abide in him,' (I am with/follow him) ought to walk in the same way as he walked." (1 John 2:6)

Justice and Children

Children experience personal "injustices" every day, and some, especially if they are in a minority or are "different," experience societal injustices as well.

Children may experience injustice as "unfairness," exclusion, being made fun of or put down. It can appear as "unkindness," and they sometimes may even feel like their skin is being "torn off" (Micah 3:3). It can be rooted in racist or self-righteous attitudes, unjust laws, and all the made-up "social rules" that people follow in their communities and schools. If you are a minority, or an immigrant, or gay, or a geek, or poor, or unpopular, or have a disability -- you know what these rules are. And while each of us can address them on a personal level, Micah calls out the powers and authorities who keep these rules in place as if they are the god-given way of things.

Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice and distort all that is right;
Micah 3:9 (NIV)

Confronting Injustice and Unkindness

Humility doesn't mean being quiet; it means doing things God's way instead of your own. Micah describes himself as "howling like a jackal" (Micah 1:8). Jesus overturned the tables and used harsh words against the institutions of injustice, but he never condemned or tore down individuals.

Jesus harshly criticized the "blind guides" who oppressed their people with their rules while neglecting the people's needs and hardships.

But woe to you Pharisees!
For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds
and neglect justice and the love of God
(Luke 11:42, NRSV)

But Jesus met with individual leaders person-to-person (think Nicodemus, Zacchaeus, and the Lawyer asking about the Greatest Commandment), and by all accounts, his encounters with individuals were humble, not arrogant. Were it not for Jesus becoming the living example of what God wants us to be, I doubt we'd even know who Micah was much less remember his six amazing words.

Teaching Objectives for the Lesson Set

1. Remember Micah 6:8 and be able to recite it to the best of their ability.

2. Know that God does not condemn them, but accepts them unconditionally and does not have to be appeased with offerings or bargained with.

3. Recognize Jesus as the example of the one sent by God to call for justice, show kindness (mercy) to all, and walk humbly with God and among others.

4. Brainstorm and practice ways to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God in the student's personal life (home, friends, school), at church, and out in the community.

A Bible Background written by Rev. Neil MacQueen and the Rotation.org Writing Team
The line drawing images in this free Bible Background were created from The Bible Project's free Micah overview poster which can be printed from The Bible Project site.