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October 1927
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K i n g ' s
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to love him. Do injustice to him because you don’t love him, and you’ll come to hate him” (Ruskin). Conscientiousness is fundamental and essential to personal godliness. > Right is right and wrong is wrong, whatever sized type they may be printed in (6:11). He is already half false who speculates on truth and does not do it. It takes more of a man to be faithful in the ninety-and-nine commonplace duties when no one is looking on than it does to parade to church and arouse admiration by dropping a ten-spot on the plate. —o— S u g g e s t iv e Q u e s t i o n s ■ Is religious form of any use to a man in the absence of obedience to the moral laws of God? (1 Sam. 15:22.) What is, in God’s sight, of more impor tance than great emphasis upon ceremo nial observances? (Hos. 6:6.) Is it possible to live the life that God requires apart from faith which assures one of divine power? ,(6:8. Cf. Phil. 4:13.) Why are no sacrifices required of us in order to win salvation? (Gal. 5:13: 2 Cor. 5 :21.) What did our Lord have to say of those who put all their stress upon out ward piety? (Matt. 7:21-23.) What, if anything, is required of a Christian? (Matt. 7:24.) How will the righteousness that God requires of a Christian be produced? (Gal. 5:22-23, 16.) ' —o— G o l d e n T e x t I l l u s t r a t io n He hath showed thee, 0 man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8). It is likely that many will place all the emphasis upon the first section of this text and overlook the last phrase, which reads literally: “and tof bow low before thy God.” Herein is the secret of ob taining divine power to live the other requirements .of the text. Beneath an old church at Quincy, Massachusetts, lie the remains of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, both presidents of the United States, and both devout Christians. The former was once president of the American Bible Society, and his son, John Quincy Adams, it is said, every night in the White House (stern and scholarly man that he was) knelt and prayed the prayer his mother taught him: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep; If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” The man who humbly and sincerely prays thus will be just and merciful toward his fellow men. I—o— M ICAH was a younger contemporary, it seems, of Isaiah, the great evan gelical prophet. In his writings are re flected the same problems which are so them that devise in iquity and work evil upon t h e i r beds!" The God-given facul ties of imagination and thought may be turned into the chan nel of bringing great glory and honor to very clearly s e e n in the mor e - extensive writings of Isaiah. V. 1. “W o e to
have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against Me —show cause for your disobedience.’ No answer comes, for the only answer that could be made is that the fault lies in the people, not in Jehovah.” God has a just cause of complaint whenever His people who have had advantages which the world does not enjoy, sin and live a life out of harmony with His expressed will (Hos, 4:1; 12:2). God, being the God of Light (Jn. 8 :12), in this passage wishes to have an open investigation con cerning Israel’s failure. Here He is try ing to reason with them and to point out their failure (cf. Isa. 1:18). Chris tians should always be willing to have their lives inspected and .should have everything open and above board. They are, to “walk in the-light even as He is in the light.” V. 4. “For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent be fore thee Moses'^Aaron, and Miriam.” The prophets and Biblical writers, from the days of Moses on, trace the history of the chosen nation back to the exodus from Egyptian bondage—the great na tional birthday; hence, the theory which claims that the Israelites were but bands of nomads who 'flockedljnto the Holy Land both from the south and east, and settled therein, is contrary to many plain Biblical statements. God brought them up “with an outstretched arm," drove out the 'nations from Canaan and placed Is rael in Palestine, the bridge of the nations (Psa. 44:1-3), to hold aloft the torch of the revelation of God, that the nations might see the truth and worship the only true God. Today God redeems and saves those- who accept and follow Christ, in order that they may “let their light shine before men," that the world may know of the true God and His religion. V. 5. “O my people, remember now what Balak, king of Moab, devised, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him.” Balaam, having been invited by Balak to curse Israel for the. mere con sideration of earthly honor and riches, was eager to go, but God forbade him. Upon his insistence the Lord permitted him to go but allowed him only to speak what He told him (Num. 22-25). One, like Balaam, may insist that God grant a certain petition, and obtain it; but along with the granting of the request God gives “leanness” in his soul (Psa. 106:15). All praying should be in the name of Jesus and according to the will of God— “not My will but Thine be done.” “Re member from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Je hovah." Shittim was the last place of encampment east of the Jordan opposite Jericho; Gilgal was the first in Canaan. The. prophet evidently was calling their attention to the miracle of Israel’s pas sage through the Jordan and of the con quest of Jericho, which events were open demonstrations of the presence and the power of God with them. Recalling these outstanding miracles in their history was an antidote to unbelief and disobedience, and also served as a tonic to stimulate their devotion and loyalty to God. Vs. 6-7. “Wherewith shall I come be fore Jehovah, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will Jehovah be pleased with thou sands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my
God; or they may be prostituted to the advancement of Satan’s work; The ante diluvians (Gen. 6) abased these faculties and went so very deep in sin that their imaginationSthe reflections of their real thoughts and purposes—were only evil continually. A certain class among the chosen people at- the time of the prophet had forgotten their relationship and re sponsibility to God. They lay awake upon, their beds at night, thinking and planning how they might carry out their evil purposes and wicked designs, never for a moment considering the rights and feelings of others or whether their con duct would be pleasing to -their Creator or not (cf. Amos 5:10, 11). This very thing King Ahab did in his coveting and seizing the vineyard of Naboth (1 Kings 21; cf. Hos. 5:10; Isa. 5:8). When the morning light came they put into effect their plans, because it was in their power to do so. The Iron Rule is “Might is right,” which seems to be the principle of those whom Micah denounced. The one who practices the Iron Rule is never pleasing to God; the Golden Rule is the only one which one can practice and be acceptable in His sight (Matt. 7:12). “But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream ’’(Amos 5:24). V. 2. In ,this verse the prophet points out very clearly the sins of which they were guilty. He, like John the Baptist, was very clear and specific in his state ment of sin (cf. Lk. 3:18-20). V. 3. “Therefore■;thus saith Jehovah : Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks, neither shall .ye walk haught ily: for it is an evil time." In verse 1 the prophet pronounced a woe, severe punish ment, upon those who devised iniquity; in verse 3 he shows in what form this woe will come: God devises an evil against them. The prophets frequently made a play upon words. As seen above, the workers of wickedness “devise" in iquity ; here God says, “I devise an evil" (cf. Jer. 1 :11-12), The evil of verse 1 is a moral evil in the form of some wickedness or .injustice, but the evil which God devises is punishment or judg ment in the form of a calamity brought Upon the evil doer. It is in this sense that God says (Isa. 45 :7) “I create evil.” Likewise God’s sending the angel to de stroy men in Israel because of David’s having sinned in numbering them is called “an evil” (2 Sam. 24:16). This evil which he predicts, says the prophet, will be one from which they cannot escape, neither can they remove from their necks. This last expression is prob ably a reference to the, yoke of the ox which under no condition they can re move, regardless of how galling it is. The punishment is to be such' that they will be reduced to a very low condition; hence, they cannot walk haughtily any more, “for it is an evil time (time of ca lamity).” God, Who is just, punishes every sin and disobedience in His people (Gal. 6:7; Heb. 2:2). In contrast with the yoke which God put upon. Israel for her sins, look at the yoke which He puts upon His faithful followers (Matt. 11:28-30). 6:1-3. “Hear ye now, what Jehovah saith : Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice." “Jehovah now speaks. He is the plaintiff; the prophet is His attorney, Israel is the defendant, the mountains are the judges. ‘Oh, My people,’ Jehovah exclaims through His attorney, ‘what
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