What the Lord Requires
Let Justice Roll Down • Week 1
In the book of Micah, we find the prophet burdened for the sins of Israel and seeking God's favor and forgiveness. What he receives from God is the simple word that what the Lord requires is that we act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him. Dave Brown explores this passage and shares the context of the time in which it was written to illuminate what happens when we sacrifice justice on the altar of safety, security, and peace.
MESSAGE NOTES
What The Lord Requires
Let Justice Roll Down | Week 1
April 11, 2021 | Dave Brown
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Micah 6:6-8 NIV
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 2:1-2 NIV
Woe to those who plan iniquity, To those who plot evil on their beds! They covet fields and seize them, And houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes, They rob them of their inheritance
Micah 3:9-11 NIV
Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, sho despise justice and distort all that is right; who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money.
Lexham Theological Wordbook
This term can be used to describe the characteristic that governing authorities, kings, or judges should exhibit. Earthly authorities must conduct themselves with integrity and ensure that justice is carried out in accordance with Yahweh’s standards.
Micah 2:3 NIV
“I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly for it will be a time of calamity.”
Micah 3:12 NIV
Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
What God really wants is for us to: Act Justly, to Love Mercy, and to Walk Humbly with Him.
That is because God is just, God is merciful, and God is humble.
Scripture is clear, God will not tolerate injustice.
Psalm 78:6-8 NIV
“So the next generation would know them, Even the children yet to be born, And they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God And would not forget his deeds But would keep his commands. They would not be like their ancestors—A stubborn and rebellious generation, Whose hearts were not loyal to God, Whose spirits were not faithful to him.”
As we embrace humility, we learn to love mercy.
We have to go out and do our research. It is not the job of the disenfranchised to educate us.