The first two chapters of Micah call all the people to listen. He’s about to pronounce God’s Word to the people. Chapter 1, verse 2 says, “Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.”
Micah is a fairly complex prophet, but if I had to choose one major focus of his message, I’d choose justice. He’s the prophet that condemns God people for failing nationally in the arena of justice. It opens with a call for everyone to hear his indictment and then addresses the leadership in 3:2. He says, “Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?— you who hate the good and love the evil.”
Justice is normally depicted by a statue of a woman holding a set of scales while she is blindfolded. In the Supreme Court Building in Switzerland is a huge painting by Paul Robert. When he was asked to paint this tremendous mural on the stairway leading up to the Supreme Court offices, he expressed in painting what Samuel Rutherford placed in magnificent words. The title of the painting is “Justice Instructing the Judges.” In the foreground are all forms of litigation—the wife against the husband, the architect against the builder, and others. Above them stand the Swiss judges. How will they judge the litigation? Robert’s answer is this: Justice is unblindfolded with her sword pointing downward to a book on which is written “The Word of God.”
Micah’s cry for the people to “Hear God’s Word” is a call for submission to an absolute truth with is applicable to everyone and must be administered equitably across race, gender, and social status.
Chuck
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice…” Micah 6:8