Sermon Tone Analysis

*What **יהוה** requires.*

*יהוה**is seeking something….. perfect moral character!*

Turn to Micah chapter six.

A few weeks ago retreat for teachers of Bethlehem school in Tauranga, speaker spoke of “canon with the canon” – we only use a small portion of the Scriptures.

He said that we know nothing of the Minor Prophets except Micah 6:8!

I don’t know whether that is true but today I am going to look at this well loved verse.

Last time I looked at chapter six of Micah and dealt briefly with (v.8).

I looked at the verse in the context of the chapter which, of course, is the way to expound Scripture, but I want to look at in isolation today.

*[READ 6:6-8]* Verse eight stands out - it has done for centuries.

The Jews noted it.

The rabbis were attracted to it.

The Law had become exceedingly complex, so many rules, there were 613 commandments and they had added to them.

How do your remember them all?

If you can’t even remember them how can you ever keep them?

There was a longing for simplicity, to distil the law into some simple principles that captured the whole.

Jesus did this pre-eminently: (*Matthew 22:36-40 */Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

This is the great and foremost commandment.

The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”/).

But the rabbis saw in this verse a distillation of all that the Law required.

This is what יהוה required of man.

יהוה has a requirement of man, you see in the beginning God created and everything that he made was good, very good – that is, it was perfect.

It had to be because that is who God is.

He is good, goodness personified.

Thus this is requirement of creation, that it be good.

But we all know that man, very soon ceased to be good.

But that didn’t alter God’s requirement, that man, the pinnacle of His creation, the only moral being he created, be good.

God created man in His image – God is good and he requires that man be good.

This is what יהוה seeks.

יהוה is seeking something in man.

Did you know that God is looking for something in you?

You may have thought that your life was your own, that you can decide what you do with and the direction you take.

No, God created you and He is seeking something in you.

What is it that יהוה is seeking for in man?

It is moral character.

יהוה is looking diligently, searching for these qualities in man.

He has shown us what it is that He is looking for in us – He has revealed it to us: justice, loving-kindness and humility.

But it has not only been the Jews, over the centuries, Christians have also been drawn to this verse and the exalted view it upholds.

There was a desire in the believer’s heart to please God and this verse encapsulated it.

We want to please God don’t we? Well this verse tells us what He seeks, the standard that יהוה requires.

He requires it of us individually – this is not addressed to the people as a whole, the “you” is singular - יהוה is looking for something in each of us, in you personally, each individual is accountable before יהוה!

Nowhere in the rest of the O.T. is the type of religious devotion that God wants described in a more succinct and elevated manner.

Love of God and man are inextricably connected in what can be described as the high water mark of religious thought of the O.T..

The message of the prophets concerning the desired conduct of Israel, which was preached over several centuries, can be boiled down to this verse (cf*.

Matthew 9:13*/ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

/*Psalm 40:6-8* /Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.

Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.

I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”/).

*Do justice** *– It is justice or judgement.

We are told [*Matthew 7:1 */“Do not judge so that you will not be judged/] but elsewhere we are told to judge [*1 Cor 6:2* /Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?

If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts?

Do you not know that we will judge angels?

How much more matters of this life?/].

When we exercise judgement it must be done with justice, and that is the connotation here – doing what is right and fair.

יהוה seeks justice – He is Just and requires that His people be so also [*Genesis 18:19 */For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of /יהוה /by doing righteousness and justice, so that /יהוה /may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”

/*Proverbs 21:3*/ To do righteousness and justice is desired by /יהוה/ more than sacrifice/].

Fairness, justice and it must be /done/.

We are to /do/ justly – that is to live with perfect fairness in all our dealings.

We approve justice and fairness, but it is not just applauding and approving justice or even proclaiming and taking a stand for justice - יהוה wants the /doing/ of it – getting your hands dirty, helping the oppressed, going in to bat for the underdog.

The Bible speaks a great deal about caring for the widow and orphan – those with no one to uphold their cause, defend and provide for them – doing justice means helping them out practically [*James 1:27* /Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world/./.

/*Isaiah 1:17*/ Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow./]

The message of the prophets was one of social justice, they cried out against the rich and their self centred ways./

/[*Isaiah 58:6-11*/“Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke?

“Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

…..

And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday.

And /יהוה /will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

/*Jeremiah 7:3-7*/ Thus says /יהוה/ of armies, the God of Israel, “Amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbour, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

/*Hosea 12:6 */Therefore, return to your God, observe kindness and justice, and wait for your God continually.

/*Amos 5:24*/ “But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream./]

And Jesus was just the same: [*Luke 11:42*/ But woe to you Pharisees!

For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others./].

If we are God’s people we must be people of justice, concerned in a practical way with ensuring that the disadvantaged receive fair treatment.

The Christians of the 19th century did great things in this regard – we as evangelicals have tended to stress the need to hear the Gospel (rightly so) and make derogatory remarks about those who preach a social gospel (rightly so) but in the process we have tended to neglect this area that is so important in יהוה’s sight.

*Love loving-kindness* – "Do justly and love mercy" - in judgement remember mercy.

Justice is based on righteousness, ensuring that the disadvantaged get what is right, what they deserve.

Mercy has to do with what we don't deserve.

We sing the song, know the verse "Do justly and love mercy" but "mercy" is not a good translation - the meaning is not “mercy” but covenant love - a commitment to kindness, love, loyalty, faithfulness on the basis of a binding unbreakable agreement.

Chesed - I said last time that it is akin to love in marriage.

The KJV used a translation of the Greek translation and has done a grave disservice with this word because it is a key concept - the very nature of יהוה Himself [*Exodus 34:6* /Then /יהוה /passed by in front of him and proclaimed, //“/יהוה/,// /יהוה /God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness and truth; who keeps loving-kindness for thousands/].

Chesed is my favourite Bible word.

Although the meaning is not mercy it is a love that goes beyond what you deserve, very akin to grace - loves, gives is kind even when undeserved, even in the face of unfaithfulness and lack of love in return - it still loves.

It is a giving love, selfless, it isn't reciprocal, dependent on the other's response - it is based on covenant commitment.

Justice is a decision of mind but chesed goes beyond that - it takes heart - you have to /love/ loving-kindness, delight in it, it can't be done grudgingly, out of obligation, or because it is required - you have to love it in order to carry it out because it is exceedingly costly.

חסדּ - loyalty, covenant love, kindness, love, loyalty, faithfulness, marriage commitment.

It is the key word in Hosea – prophet was told to marry a prostitute who committed adultery, the prophet was instructed to take her back and love her again – it was a picture of Israel who forsook יהוה for idols, yet He drew her back with chords of love.

[*Hosea 2:19*/“//I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in loving-kindness and in compassion,/] [*Psalm 78:34-38 */When He killed them, then they sought Him, and returned and searched diligently for God; and they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer.

But they deceived Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue.

For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant.

But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger and did not arouse all His wrath/.]

יהוה demands LOVING-KINDNESS - loyalty.

They are to delight in loving, kind commitment to others: חסדּ is a selfless word - a giving of yourself on behalf of others.

[*Proverbs 20:/6/*/ Many a man proclaims his own loyalty (/חסדּ/), but who can find a trustworthy man?/] / /

*Walk humbly with God** *– The word means to show a humble action, formally, act carefully, i.e., act in a manner respectful and careful of another’s direction, showing the quality of humility, implying wise behaviour.

It is to be our walk – our habitual way of life, in fellowship with God.

It was seen in Moses, a man closer to God than most.

[*Numbers 12:1-9 */Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married and they said, //“//Has /יהוה/ indeed spoken only through Moses?

Has He not spoken through us as well?//”//

And /יהוה/ heard it.

(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)