And forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors (‘Um’chol lanu et chovotenu ka’asher machalnu gam nnachnu l’chayavenu’)

Let’s remember what the popular symbol actually means

A fearful message.

How will God deal with Britain?

An incredible battle is raging over Britain. It is raging in the heavenlies above, and on the earth below, where it is centred upon our Parliament. Our MPs are in total disarray, fighting each other and not understanding the battle. Few of them realise that they are being driven by the powers of darkness intent on destroying this great nation that has turned its back upon God and despised its spiritual heritage.

The battle in the House of Commons is being fought between those who want to see Britain free from the European Union and those who want to see Britain continue enslaved to the rules and regulations of Brussels. It is as simple as that. But most of our MPs have no understanding of spiritual warfare and do not perceive the forces of darkness that are moving them like pawns on a chess board, driving them to destruction.

Come Out and Be Separate

The Prime Minister appears to have panicked under pressure and turned to Jeremy Corbyn, a notorious Marxist atheist, as her saviour, in a last-ditch attempt to get her deal approved by Parliament. As a professed Christian, has she never read the warnings in Scripture about being unequally yoked with unbelievers? The teaching of Paul could not be clearer:

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).

In verse 17 Paul urges “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.” This is an instruction that all our MPs should take to heart in dealing with Brexit. Undoubtedly, the best outcome for Britain and the most feared outcome for the EU is that we leave next Friday without a deal. But if that cannot be achieved, provided we leave with any kind of deal that leaves us free to make changes in the future, that would be better than a long delay with the possibility of never getting away at all, which is the objective of the majority in our present House of Commons.

Undoubtedly, the best outcome for Britain and the most feared outcome for the EU is that we leave next Friday without a deal.

Egypt…or Babylon?

A number of commentators, including prominent politicians, have compared the present situation with the time of Moses and the release of the Children of Israel from slavery in Egypt. But this is not the best biblical analogy, because we are not having to fight the EU for our freedom, as Moses fought Pharaoh. We are having to fight the morally corrupt and spiritually blind Members of our own Parliament, who do not understand the issues that face them.

A more instructive biblical analogy is the release of the faithful remnant of Israel and Judah from Babylon in 538 BC. Babylon had fallen to the Persians whose Emperor, Cyrus, issued a decree freeing all political prisoners. The people of Israel were free to return to the land of their forefathers, to rebuild Jerusalem and to restore the shattered economy, social structure, and towns and villages across the land.

A wonderful new opportunity was presented to Israel if they could face the one-thousand-mile trek across difficult country and undertake the great task of reconstruction and renewal. For many who had become comfortable in exile, the offer of freedom in the Promised Land was rejected for the fleshpots of Babylon. They were too comfortable and prosperous to risk embarking on an uncertain future.

But for those who had faith and vision and were prepared to put their trust in God, a wonderful new opportunity was presented. They obeyed the call to come out from Babylon and totally put their trust in God for the future. They were the faithful remnant who God would use to rebuild Jerusalem and prepare the way for Messiah and the coming Kingdom.

Yes, they had lots of hardships to face and difficulties to endure in the rebuilding of Jerusalem and its surrounding walls, but they had a shared vision which enabled them to work together, and God blessed their labours - especially when they rebuilt the Temple in the heart of the city and re-emphasised their faith in God at the centre of national life.

A more instructive biblical analogy than the Exodus is the release of the faithful remnant of Israel and Judah from Babylon in 538 BC.

Calling on God

This is surely a biblical parable for us today caught up in the conflict of Brexit with an unbelieving Parliament leading the nation.

The great unknown at the moment is precisely how God will deal with Britain. We know that judgment is thoroughly deserved for the way we have rejected our spiritual heritage, squandered the responsibilities we had for bringing the light of the Gospel to more than a third of the world’s population in the great Empire to which God entrusted us, and in the terrible way that we reneged on our promises to Israel - as Charles Gardner shows elsewhere in this week's issue of Prophecy Today.

Despite deserved judgment, we know that our God is loving and merciful – more ready to forgive than we are to repent. And we know that the Referendum result was a gracious allowance from God to give us a greater opportunity to return to him. Now is the time to petition God for his help to overcome the powers of darkness that are trying to sweep Britain into an abyss of chaos, which will inevitably result if we fail to leave the European Union within the next few weeks.

We ask all Bible-believing Christians to call upon the Lord for his mercy and intervention in what appears to be a hopeless situation. Let all the prayer groups and intercessors throughout the land acknowledge the plight of the nation before the throne of grace and call upon God for an outpouring of his power, which is the only means of saving Britain from the folly of its own leaders.

In the current confusion - our only hope is in God!

But what is its spiritual significance?

The Prime Minister deserves our congratulations for her tenacity and skill in reaching agreement with the European Union to enable the Brexit negotiations to proceed to the next stage.

She has certainly worked incredibly hard together with David Davis and the team of negotiators to achieve this breakthrough despite all the derogatory comments of her critics and the wiles of her political opponents and the anti-Brexiteers.

According to reports this morning, Mrs May worked through the night to ensure full agreement on the Irish border before catching a plane from Northolt to Brussels for the final talks with Mr Tusk that resulted in the announcement from both of them that agreement had been reached.

Of course, this does not mean that Britain is finally out of the European Union, but it is a very significant step in that direction, which has been achieved despite enormous opposition from secular humanists determined to keep Britain under the control of the EU. This agreement recognises that Britain will leave the European Union in 15 months’ time, with or without a trade agreement, which has yet to be negotiated. That is the political and social significance of today’s announcement.

The Question Christians Should Ask

The question that Christians will be asking is, what is the spiritual significance of the announcement? If we think back to the Referendum of 2016 our conclusion in this magazine was that the two most significant factors that guided that result were a movement of social change and a powerful spiritual input.

We have said many times in our articles that the Brexit battle is primarily a spiritual battle and evidence of this has certainly been seen.

The social factor was the rising tide of populism in Europe and the USA. In Britain it was the anti-establishment sentiment among ordinary working people that strongly influenced the vote. But of even greater significance was the spiritual factor – the prayers of Bible-believing Christians who were convinced that God was giving the nation an opportunity of shaking off the shackles of the secularist, humanist European Union.

We have said many times in our articles that the Brexit battle is primarily a spiritual battle and evidence of this has certainly been seen as powerful personalities and media commentators have conspired to undermine the negotiations with the EU. But despite all the opposition, against all the odds and forecasts of doom and gloom, agreement has been reached that Britain will leave the European Union.

God’s Blessing?

Is this a sign of God’s blessing? I personally do not think that it is. I believe it is a sign of God’s mercy in the midst of judgment, which is what many Christians have been praying for. We know quite well that Britain is a nation that has despised its Judeo-Christian heritage. Successive governments have followed humanist agendas and deliberately turned away from biblical principles and values that are enshrined in our history.

Nevertheless, the God whom we know as the God of Creation, who holds the nations in his hands and guides their destiny if they put their trust in him, does hear and heed the prayers of his servants, even if they are but a tiny minority. The God who has been revealed to us through the prophets of Israel and supremely through our Lord Jesus Christ is a God who does not depend upon demographic majorities.

In fact, God loves to work through small numbers, as he has demonstrated time and again in history.

I believe that this is not a sign of God’s blessing, but one of mercy in the midst of judgment.

So what of the future? I still cannot pray for a great outpouring of blessings and prosperity upon the nation because I have not yet seen any signs of repentance – or even calls for such repentance from our Church leaders! I can nevertheless give heartfelt thanks to God for his mercy in still watching over this nation and allowing us the opportunity of regaining our sovereignty and having another chance to renounce some of the evil laws that we have put upon the Statute Book in the past 40 years.

There is Hope Yet

The agreement that has been reached today is an historic moment that not only has political and social significance, but has spiritual significance in showing us that God still has a purpose for this nation.

It remains to be seen whether or not our leaders recognise the hand of God in this – even to the extent of putting a little group of Bible-believing Christians, the DUP, holding the balance of power that enables the Government to continue.

Today is a day when we can rejoice greatly in the goodness of God and in his love and mercy. But we should not forget that his kindness is supposed to lead us to repentance (Rom 2:4). Let’s commit afresh to pray for this today.

Monica Hill looks at the spiritual gift of showing mercy.

This article is part of a series – click here for previous instalments.

We come to the last of those spiritual gifts which are listed in Romans 12. At first glance the phrase ‘showing mercy’ can give the impression that this gift is about ‘good works’, but it is much more than that. Performing acts of mercy means being prepared to help those who are undeserving. In many cases, sentence has already been passed on the recipient - they have been pronounced ‘guilty’ and should, by human judgment, serve out that sentence.

There are over 150 mentions of asking for mercy in the Bible, well over half of them in the Old Testament where the Israelites called upon the Lord for his help - for his mercy when they had gone astray.

Asking for Mercy

When we ask someone for mercy there is usually already an acceptance that we are not living up to their expectations, whether we understand or agree with these or not. In most cases, for mercy to be effective some acknowledgement is required by the recipient of their need for it - a contrite heart is required.

When we come to being judged by the Lord, Christians and Jews have assurance that he will hear us when we ask him to remember mercy (“Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love” (Ps 25:6)). This also gives fresh understanding to Habakkuk’s prayer “in wrath remember mercy” (Hab 3:2).

When we ask someone for mercy there is usually already an acceptance that we are not living up to their expectations.

We often say or sing the lovely prayer Kyrié Eléison – “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy” and in the General Confession we say “And grant us thy salvation” in response to the minister’s call “O Lord, show thy mercy upon us”. When we plead “Lord have mercy” we are already aware that we have fallen short of our Father’s expectations: we recognise our own failings and resolve to do better next time, if we are given another chance. We know that the Lord is eager to forgive us when we say we are sorry and we believe that he will grant us mercy in the next life if not in this.

Note the significance of Jesus’ response on the cross to the criminal who repented: “today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:40-43). It is also noteworthy that this was only reported by Luke, who had the doctor’s gift of compassion. We value this example of the care and compassion set by our Father; and those with this gift have an eagerness to follow his example.

How Does Someone with This Gift Behave?

In the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matt 5:7) is one of the Beatitudes. It is granted following a close walk with the Lord as the spiritual gifts he has given us come into fulfilment. It is one of the characteristics that mature believers are encouraged to embrace.

This, though, needs a very special approach by someone with this gift – so that the actions are not seen as condemnatory, but as gracious and supportive of those who may often seem to deserve what is happening to them. A strong degree of godliness is needed to be able to exercise this gift, as there should be no vestige of judgment. Neither are there any conditions that the recipient needs to fulfil – the giver gives freely and performs acts of mercy willingly and lovingly. They are aware of the problems but see and accept that there is a need for care and support.

The Lord is eager to forgive us when we say we are sorry and we believe that he will grant us mercy in the next life if not in this.

Some people have a natural gift for being open and forgiving of others and are able to use this gift effectively. Acts of mercy need to have a genuine cheerfulness or joyful eagerness – they should not just be performed as a duty. Those with this gift will also show a real love for and empathy with others. They will not perform acts of mercy just as good acts for the wrong reason.

Transformation of the Natural Gift

It is very appropriate that mercy is the final gift to be listed in Romans, as it can be all-embracing. It is noted that all the gifts in Romans can be seen as starting as a natural attribute which God can make into a more beautiful spiritual gift. All natural gifts can be strengthened by allowing the Holy Spirit to take control.

Some people are born with a natural caring ability for others in whatever situation or condition they are in – whether it is their own fault or the source is unknown. But with the addition of the power and strength of the Holy Spirit, they can become even more effective.

What are Acts of Mercy?

The dictionary defines acts of mercy as “compassionate treatment, especially of those under one's power; clemency; a disposition to be kind and forgiving: a heart full of mercy; alleviation of distress; relief”.

In the Catholic catechism the works of mercy are “charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbour in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead”.

What do you see as acts of mercy? How will you exercise this gift with or without the aid of the Holy Spirit?

If you have any other comments on ‘acts of mercy’ as a spiritual gift, please do add them.

What are we to make of the Prime Minister's gaffe?

The Prime Minister's gaffe (or was it deliberate?) had some unexpected consequences. He said that Nigeria was a "fantastically corrupt nation" - not the most diplomatic way of preparing for a conference on combating corruption that he himself was to chair!

The Prime Minister of Nigeria was already in London for the conference but he wisely rejected calls for an apology.

Acknowledging that there is widespread corruption in his country, he said that he would prefer the return of assets in London bought through the proceeds of money-laundering.

First, Remove the Plank...

Millions of dollars and pounds have been stolen from government funds in Nigeria by corrupt officials and politicians and squirrelled away into foreign assets, including mega London property deals. This has been going on for decades with the full knowledge of the Nigerian Government and financial authorities in London.

It is surely an embarrassment to David Cameron to be faced with these facts when hosting a conference seeking to combat corruption: especially following the recent revelations in the 'Panama Papers' which showed that his own family had used the services of offshore banking provided in British colonies.

Nigeria's President would surely be justified in quoting the little parable that Jesus used of the man who wanted to remove the speck of dust in someone else's eye when he had a plank in his own eye (Matt 7:3)! Britain's role as the oldest democracy in the Commonwealth should be that of assisting the newly democratised nations struggling to establish stability and righteous government.

London's complicity in Nigeria's corruption is an embarrassment – Buhari would be justified in asking Britain to remove the plank from their own eye before accusing Nigeria.

Cameron and Buhari at this week's anti-corruption conference, London. See Photo CreditsNigeria's History of Corruption

Nigeria has a history of political instability and corruption. In its short life since independence in 1960 there have been 10 military presidents – six of whom were either assassinated or deposed in a military coup. The first democratically elected president was in 1999 when Olusegun Obasanjo came to power. A devout Christian, his stated aim was to alleviate poverty, reduce government corruption and establish a democratic system that would bring stability to the nation.

Sadly, his efforts to stamp out corruption in government were met with fierce opposition from MPs, including members of his own Government who expected to benefit from government contracts and a wide range of backhanders and personal benefits. The politicians even attempted to impeach the President as they did not like his authoritarian style of imposing reforms upon Parliament.

On my first visit to Nigeria back in the 1980s I was shocked to be stopped by police at a roadblock as we were driving out of Lagos only to be told by my driver that if I did not include some money inside my passport when I handed it over for inspection, we could be sitting in the roadblock for hours. I refused to do so and we were eventually allowed to leave. My driver went on to explain that every civil servant and minor official expected a reward for any transaction - such as applying for a passport, which could be delayed for months unless the clerical officer was rewarded.

Nigeria has a history of political instability and corruption that affects the country today at all levels.

Obasanjo also attempted to deal with religious and ethnic strife, which increased considerably during his presidency when the Muslim-dominated Northern states introduced sharia law. During the presidency of his successor, Goodluck Johnson, radicalism increased and led to the atrocities of Boko Haram and the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls who have never been found.

The current president Muhammadu Buhari said that David Cameron was right in describing Nigeria as "fantastically corrupt".¹ The scale of corruption is astonishing. Last week Nigerian Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said that an estimated $15 billion (£10 billion) of government money had been stolen through corrupt arms contracts under the previous Government - and in March this year, an official audit found that Nigeria's state-owned oil company had failed to pay the Government $25 billion which had fraudulently disappeared.²

Corruption Endemic Globally

Unmasking corruption is becoming a worldwide movement as whistleblowers and justice campaigners seek to promote transparency in business and politics and social relationships.

According to Transparency International, more than 6 billion people live in countries that are seriously affected by corruption – which is most of the world's population!³ They say that 68% of countries worldwide have a serious corruption problem which includes about half of the members of the G20, and not a single nation in the world is entirely free of corruption.⁴

A campaign group Unmask the Corrupt says that corruption is "the abuse of high-level power that benefits the few at the expense of the many and causes serious and widespread harm to individuals and society."⁵

According to Transparency International, more than 6 billion people live in countries that are seriously affected by corruption – that's most of the world's population!

What the Bible Says

The Bible is full of condemnation of those who misuse their power and oppress the poor and the powerless. The Prophet Isaiah slams those who turn the moral law upside down, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness...Woe to those who acquit the guilty for a bribe but deny justice to the innocent" (Isa 5:20-23).

Some of the harshest words Jesus spoke are directed against those who carefully fulfil religious ritual requirements but neglect what he described as "the more important matters" of God's teaching – "justice, mercy and faithfulness". He condemned their actions as those of hypocrites: "You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence" (Matt 23:23-25).

The prophets and Jesus all speak of a time coming when God will deal with the greed and injustice of humanity by shaking everything that we count as important – all the things we have established, such as our democracy, our banks and great finance houses, our pension funds, our National Health Service, our justice system, our armies with their nuclear warheads poised to spread destruction across the earth – all the things in which we put our trust!

Some of the harshest words Jesus spoke were directed against those who act religiously but neglect justice and mercy.

God revealed to the Prophet Isaiah that there would come a day when he would deal with all the pride and arrogance of human beings (Isa 2:12-22) and that this would actually be a demonstration of God's justice. He says "So man will be brought low and mankind humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled. But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the Holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness" (Isa 5:15-16).

Isaiah's Apocalyptic Vision

In Isaiah 24 the Prophet describes what will happen when God rises to deal with the wickedness of human beings. It does not make pleasant reading. Earlier generations of biblical scholars used to say that this was 'apocalyptic language' – it was 'visionary imagination' which could never become a reality. But today we know that the arsenal of nuclear weapons possessed by the nations could in fact fulfil the description in Isaiah 24:19: "the earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken..."

We do not know whether this prophetic vision is given as a warning to humanity or whether it will actually happen at some time. The one thing we do know is that human beings are capable of violent and irrational behaviour and that the nations are armed with incredible weapons of mass destruction. If the North Koreans join the nuclear club the prospects of world peace become increasingly problematic.

Perhaps the London Conference seeking to find ways of combating corruption has greater significance for the future of humanity on this earth than most of us realise. This is surely food for thought – and prayer!

References

1 Nigerian President Buhari 'not demanding' Cameron apology. BBC News, 12 May 2016.

2 Ibid.

3 Corruption Perceptions Index, 2015. Transparency International.

4 Ibid.

5 UnmasktheCorrupt.org.

Edmund Heddle unpacks God's requirements for mankind, re-iterated again and again through the prophets and summarised by the prophet Micah: to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with the Lord.

An important part of the prophet's responsibility, whether in the Old or New Testament, is telling God's people what the Lord requires of them and spelling out the divine requirements. People are forgetful and need constant reminders of their responsibilities. They are sinful and prone to go astray from the right way. They are also exposed to the seduction and attraction of evil forces. All these things apply to groups of people as well as individuals.

There is, however, one area in which the Lord's people seem particularly prone to adopt the wrong ideas - and that is worship.

How to Approach God

The classic passage on this subject is to be found in the prophecy of Micah (6:6-8):

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my first-born, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

George Adam Smith in The Book of the Twelve Prophets writes, "This is the greatest saying of the Old Testament...these few verses in which Micah sets forth the true essence of religion...afford us an insight into the innermost nature of the religion of Israel, as delivered by the prophets."¹

One area in which the Lord's people are particularly prone to adopting the wrong ideas is that of worship.

Micah the Countryman

Micah was one of the prophets who functioned during the 8^th Century BC and was contemporary with Amos and Hosea in the northern kingdom of Israel. While Isaiah was prophesying in Jerusalem, the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah, Micah was a countryman, living in Moresheth, twenty miles south-west of Jerusalem. While Isaiah was a statesman involved with the court circle of his day, Micah denounced the moral and social evils he saw among ordinary people, together with their priests, prophets and merchants.

He foretold the fall of Samaria, capital of the northern kingdom, and told of a glorious future when Jerusalem would become the religious centre of the world, over which the King - to be born in Bethlehem - would reign (Micah 1:6; 3:11; 5:1-4; 4:1-5).

Whilst Isaiah prophesied in Jerusalem amongst men of rank and importance, Micah prophesied in the country to ordinary people.

The Mountains' Witness

Micah presents his teaching on what God requires of his worshippers in the form of a trial in which the Lord's case against Israel is to be heard (Micah 6:1-5). He asks the mountains, that had seen all that God had done for his people, to act as witnesses. What should the people have done to respond to God's faithfulness to his covenant? He appeals to the mountains, those silent, unchanging spectators of human conduct throughout Israel's history, to confirm that he had been faithful to his people, while they in their turn had indulged in witchcraft, idolatry and immorality (5:12-14).

The verdict revealed Israel as guilty and Yahweh as totally innocent. How amazing therefore that Micah should go on to reveal Yahweh to be one who delights in mercy: "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his people? You do not stay angry for ever but delight to show mercy" (7:18).

How to Worship - Man's Idea

"Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?...with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn...for the sin of my soul?" (6: 6-7). The popular view of God sees him as a despot who needs to be propitiated by material offerings, provided they are sufficiently large and costly. The prophet even considers the possibility of offering human sacrifice, his nearest and dearest, as was practised at that time (2 Ki 3:27, 16:3; Isa 57:5), although this was strictly forbidden by the Law of Moses (Lev 18:21) and was something that had never even entered God's mind! (Jer 19:5).

The popular view of God sees him as a despot who needs appeasing through human effort – preferably through large, costly material offerings.

Note the increasing exaggeration of these suggestions. First, the prophet proposes burnt offerings with year-old calves. This is seen to be the offering appropriate to a meticulous observance of the Law. The second suggestion, embracing thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of oil is an excessive fulfilment of the law's requirements. The third exceeds all normal bounds of humanity by putting forward the idea of human sacrifice.

The supreme mistake at the heart of all these suggestions was to suppose that Yahweh, like all other deities, required appeasement through human effort. Even the sacrificial system of Moses was meaningless without the heart devotion of the worshipper (Jer 7:22-24). This is external religion, totally ineffective in bringing forgiveness to the worshipper.

How to Worship - God's Way

He has showed you, O man, what is good...To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)

According to Micah, God has revealed his requirements and we are left neither in the darkness of ignorance nor to the vagaries of human suggestions, such as we have been considering in the two preceding verses. The simplicity of true religion is nowhere described more clearly than it is here. It is a heart response to God for all that he has done, expressed in the three basic elements of 'doing justly', 'loving mercy', and 'walking humbly with the Lord God'.

These requirements apply to all men of all ages, living in all places. Life is to be lived in a right relationship to one's fellow men in all circumstances - social, political, at the work-place and during leisure: avoiding whatever is unfair or wrong but delighting to be of service: and freely and willingly, showing kindness to others.

While false, external religion is totally ineffective, Micah simply expresses the three basic elements of true religion – doing justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God.

Notice that while we are to 'do' justly, we are to 'love' showing mercy. Mercy must never be grudging or stinted. If justice obliges us to go one mile, mercy will constrain us to do two! (Matt 5:41). A concern that all have their fair share and their just rights makes a sure foundation for society. Sadly, it was the very thing so lacking in Micah's time.

How to Walk with Your God

We have seen that, according to Micah's analysis of the situation, the way to worship God begins with a right and loving relationship with other people. Let us note that it does not stay there. We need to be in right relationship with God as well as with our neighbour. The exalted God who dwells in the highest heaven is also prepared to accompany each step of their earthly life all who will humble themselves to walk at God's pace in his chosen direction (Isa 57:15).

The essential feature is to walk 'humbly'. This is a rare word, occurring only twice in the Old Testament, the other occasion being in Proverbs 11:2. Some scholars stress that its root meaning is 'secretly'. Jesus made it clear that we need from time to time to withdraw from the business of life and to enter the quiet room. He assures us that our Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward us (Matt 6:6).

The God who dwells in highest heaven is prepared to accompany each step of their earthly life all who will humble themselves to walk at his pace and in his chosen direction.

It is however important to preserve the rendering 'humbly'. The spirit of humility is always to be in evidence when weak, sinful men attempt to walk with a perfect and holy God. But the rewards of such an experience are of incredible value, as Enoch found when he walked with God (Gen 5:21-24). If we walk with our God while here on earth, we shall not find it strange when the time comes to leave it. We shall have that lovely feeling, in heaven, of belonging!

Prophets' Chorus

When Micah was given the revelation that we have been studying he became part of a prophets' chorus. For Amos had cried out for justice – "let justice roll on like a river..." (Amos 5:24). And Hosea had exclaimed, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings" (Hos 6:6). And we must bring in the 'thrice holy' exclamations that Isaiah heard in the Temple when he was humbled before the majesty of Israel's God (Isa 6:3-5). Micah takes these sentiments from his fellow prophets and weaves them into the call that summarises God's requirement (Micah 6:8).

Approved by the Lord Jesus

On one occasion Jesus was asked. "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God...love your neighbour as yourself." The questioner replied, "You are right in saying that God is one and that there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than burnt offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him. "You are not far from the kingdom of God" (Mark 12:28-34)

In agreeing with the reply given by the teacher of the law, Jesus did not dismiss the Mosaic sacrificial system as being of no significance. It was important in training Israel to understand the ministry of the Messiah and his atoning death on the cross. But once it had been fulfilled, Jesus agreed that the love of God and of one's neighbour took priority. The conclusion reached by Jesus endorsed the statement many years before by the prophet Samuel: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice..." (1 Sam 15:22).

The essence of Micah's famous statement is that God has no interest in a multiplicity of empty acts. Offerings and rituals, however splendid and costly, count for nothing in his estimation. Even the Levitical ordinances are valueless unless they express a sincere, heartfelt response to God's grace and mercy. Jeremiah sums it up thus: "When I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them. I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: 'Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you'" (Jer 7:22-23).

God has no interest in a multiplicity of empty acts. His command is that we obey him, and walk with him, and be his people.

Announcing God's Requirements

The prophet's responsibility is to discover what the Lord requires and then to make it his requirement. Three errors may crop up as he does this. First, he may refuse to pass on God's requirement because it is too costly or too embarrassing. Secondly, he may pass on only a part of God's requirement, leaving some things unsaid.

Thirdly, he may add to what God requires, for example by suggesting rituals and procedures that end up by adulterating God's pure will. Today's prophets have a solemn responsibility to make sure that their people know what God is requiring of them. They must also be careful not to misuse their position of privilege by adding their own or other people's ideas to what God actually requires.

The Message of Micah's Name

The name 'Micah' means, 'Who is like Yahweh?', and towards the end of his prophecy he answers that question when he says, "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin?...You do not stay angry for ever, but delight to show mercy" (Micah 7:18). Moses asked the same question after God had brought his people safely through the Red Sea: "Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you - majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?" (Ex 15:11). Let our worship clearly manifest both the mercy and the awesomeness of such a great and glorious God.

Prophets have a solemn responsibility to make sure that people know what God is requiring of them – they must not misuse their privilege by adding their own ideas in.

What is your God like, the God who is worshipped in your fellowship? Remember, it is part of the prophet's task to give a clear picture of what the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is like, and what is required of those who profess to worship him.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 6, No 1, January/February 1990. Part of our series on the Ministry of the Prophet.

References

1 Smith, G A, 1900. The Book of the Twelve Prophets, Commonly Called the Minor. Vol. 1. Reprint. London: Forgotten Books, 2013. pp418-9.