Micah, an Analysis of its Relevance Originally and Today
Luke R. Dyer
SS 902 Summer 2009
Biblical Prophets and Social Justice
Professor Jonathan Lawrence
Christ the King Seminary
Introduction
The book of Micah denounces the power structure of Judah during a period of high stress and fear. “Micah prophesied in 'the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah,' that is, 742-687 BCE. … Judah was caught in the tug and pull of international politics and Assyria's military aggression.” (Leclerc, page 188) Micah was selected because it was relevant both when set down and today. Judah faced an uncertain future with a venal and corrupt power structure. “With burning eloquence he attacked the rich exploiters of the poor, fraudulent merchants, venal judges, corrupt priests and prophets.” (Senior, et al, page 1203) A scan of any newspaper can find today's equivalents deserving the same chastisement.
Social Context
Judah was in a state of anxiety during the time of Micah. “On the surface of things, the priests appear to have great faith: no evil can come upon Israel because the Lord is in its midst.” (Clifford, page 359) This was counterpointed by Assyria's military conquests. “... Tiglath-pileser III conquered Damascus and parts of Israel in 732; Samaria fell to Sargon II in 722/21 and Ashdod fell in 711; ...” (Leclerc, page 188) In other words, God was on the side of Judah and there was nothing to fear, but the bad guys are enjoying a lot of success. This created a queasy, uncertain outlook.
In this atmosphere, “Micah also discusses another fact of life in ancient Israel … The professional prophets were leading the people astray … finds himself in opposition to the religious leaders, the priests, and the official prophets.” (Clifford, page 359) Micah 3:11 says:
“Her leaders render judgment for a bribe, her priests give decisions for a salary, her prophets divine for money, while they rely on the LORD, saying, 'Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No evil can come upon us!'” (Senior, et al, page 1206)
Clearly Micah was railing against the one sided view those in power took of the covenant. Why should God protect people who did not keep his law? Micah 7:16-20 said there must be punishment, repentance and then compassion:
“The nations shall behold and be put to shame, in spite of all their strength: they shall put their hands over their mouths; their ears shall become deaf. They shall like the dust like the serpent, like reptiles on the ground; They shall lick the dust like the serpent, like reptiles on the ground; They shall come quaking from their fastnesses, trembling in fear of you, the LORD, our God. Who is like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, and will have compassion on us, treading underfoot in our guilt? You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins; You will show faithfulness to Jacob, and grace to Abraham, As you have sworn to our fathers from days of old.” (Senior, et al, page 1210)
Despite the breaches of the leaders, priests and prophets, after punishment there will be forgiveness.
Modern Implications
Today's society is clearly in a state of anxiety. We live in the wealthiest, most powerful nation in history. Our nation controls a large fraction of the world's wealth, much more than our proportionate share by population. Yet we live in fear of terrorism and financial uncertainty. We have the stark example of Ground Zero and September 11th, 2001 to tell us that we have powerful enemies who hate us. The failure of Lehman Brothers in 2008 caused financial turmoil and fear. The analogy between Judah and Assyria is not entirely apt because of the locus of power, but clearly there are people who hate us because of unjust acts.
Our news is filled with examples that could be taken directly from Micah.
“Her leaders render judgment for a bribe...” (Senior, et al, page 1206) June 8th, 2009 headline from USA Today “Bribery trial set to begin today for Louisiana's William Jefferson” (Kelly, page 1) A Google News search for the phrase
“... her prophets divine for money...” (Senior, et al, page 1206) Credit rating agencies supposed to estimate the ability of a borrower to pay back a loan. A Google News search for the phrase
While the analogy between Judah in the late eighth century BCE and twenty first century United States of America is not perfect, there is much to learn from Micah that is applicable today. The problems of just use of power are the same today as they were then. The application of justice is just as necessary today as it was 2800 years ago.
Reflection
Micah discusses corruption. I define corruption as not following the golden rule, or treating people as I can get away with, not as I would wish to be treated.
Micah addresses the rich exploiting the poor. This is not just a flaw of the wealthy. It can also be applied to the educated exploiting the uneducated. The entire idea of funding essential government services by the use of a lottery appalls me, and yet we fund public education with lottery tickets sold to both the poor and the uneducated, reducing the tax burden of the wealthy and educated.
Micah addresses fraudulent merchants. Retail stores create prominent end caps of high margin goods that have higher unit costs than similar goods hidden on lower shelves in the center of the store. This penalizes the uneducated.
Micah addresses venal judges. Here in Western NY we have a direct example of a disgraced judge who attempted to shield a friend and colleague from punishment for drunken driving. Over 2800 years and yet directly on point!
Micah addresses corrupt priests and prophets. The clergy sex abuse scandal is directly on point yet again. Only minor adjustment is required to apply the message to credit rating services.
Micah's answers to these issues is clear. Follow the law. Christians have an advantage here. Jesus taught us “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Senior, et al, page 1298) This makes the golden rule clear to me. Not easy, just crystal clear.
Bibliography and Discussion of Sources
Clifford, Richard J., “The Major Prophets, Baruch, and Lamentations”, an article in Senior, Donald, Collins, John Joseph, Editors, (2006), The Catholic Study Bible, Second Edition, New American Bible, including the Revised New Testament and Psalms Translated from the Original Languages with Critical Use of All the Ancient Sources, New York, NY, Oxford University Press.
This is a peer reviewed study guide article with a Roman Catholic imprimatur in a Bible. It is a well respected source used as a textbook at Christ the King seminary.
Google News 1, robot generated, http://news.google.com/news?um=1&ned=us&hl=en&q=public+official+bribery+trial accessed June 21, 2009
Google News 2, robot generated, http://news.google.com/news?um=1&ned=us&hl=en&q=credit+rating+conflict+of+interest accessed June 21, 2009.
The use of Google News was to determine rapidly if many news articles were published for the search terms. Since Google News is a robot it has no bias and just reports what it finds, which helps lend it credence. It is not a highly reliable peer reviewed source for exact counts of published documents, nor does it purport to be. It was used to find out if there were many news stories published, not their veracity, and would not be suitable for either exact counts or exact facts.
Kelly, Matt, (2009) “Bribery trial set to begin today for Louisiana's William Jefferson” http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-06-08-jefferson-trial_N.htm accessed June 21, 2009
This is a headline from a major newspaper, reliable as an indicator of current events. It would not be reliable for an exact account.
Leclerc, Thomas L., (2007) Introduction to the Prophets, Their Stories, Sayings and Scrolls, Mahwah, NJ, Paulist Press
This is a peer reviewed textbook assigned for the course, believed to be reliable.
Senior, Donald, Collins, John Joseph, Editors, (2006), The Catholic Study Bible, Second Edition, New American Bible, including the Revised New Testament and Psalms Translated from the Original Languages with Critical Use of All the Ancient Sources, New York, NY, Oxford University Press.
This is a Bible that is peer reviewed, academically prepared and with a Roman Catholic imprimatur, believed to be reliable.
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