Rose-coloured Spectacles
Having put our hand to the plough, Micah invites us to consider how far we have fallen short of the ideal. He does it not by reading the riot act but by urging us to reflect on God’s goodness, because what he knows (and what we know) is that that brings us to the point where we condemn ourselves, pronounce judgement on ourselves and see what it requires to change our ways.
Think of ‘city’ (v 9) not as an abstract but as every single individual. Take the words in brackets as a touch of deference or respect, like the labourer touching the forelock to the Lord of the Manor. ‘O yes, Lord’. Then read the last sentence (‘Hear, O tribe . . . ‘) as in the margin; ‘and who has appointed it yet?’ is closer to the Hebrew and Greek and has been taken by some commentators to mean, ‘’Yes, yes, yes, but who among you is actually going to do anything about it?' Think hard before you rush to worship. Remember, and if you are serious it would be helpful to see some sign of a change of attitude. Could this be what gave Jesus the line, ‘Why do you call me Lord and not do the things that I say?
So what are they not remembering? Amos, perhaps, with the dodgy scales and the loaded weights. The traditional attitude of the well-to-do to those who always have to struggle. Some of his charges still have a modern ring about them but don’t stop there. Think of other offences we have which Micah could know nothing about and reflect on what he might be saying to us.
In the closing verse he hints that maybe what we need most is to realise that often what passes for progress is not really progress at all. In our society, for example, when does the abundance of choice cease to be progress and become a tyrant? Might we make more progress in some areas if we had less? But then, sadly and more blatantly, too many people are still harking back to the past, Ahab and Omri, and this is not good. Those two kings in particular are the very antithesis of everything Micah was talking about. Are we still with Micah, or if we looked in a mirror might we find it easier to identify Ahab and Omri ?