whom the Lord has not cursed?" (Numbers 23:8). The trip from Shittim to Gilgal apparently refers to Israel's miraculous crossing of the Jordan River (Joshua 3:1; 4:19-20), the final stage in their journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the promised land. These events, which had occurred about 500 years before, were as real to the Israelites as yesterday.
Verse 16 offers a different kind of memory: "the statutes of Omri and his son Ahab were two of the most notoriously wicked kings in Israelite history. (See 1 Kings 16:21-33.) Ahab went so far as to marry Jezebel, a Phoenician princess, and set up a temple for her god, Baal, in the new capital of Samaria. He sponsored her massacre of genuine prophets.
6:8 What God Wants
Micah's most famous pronouncement summarizes the qualities that matter to God. Jesus spoke in similar terms to the Pharisees about their religious hypocrisy: they gave a tenth of even their spices to God, yet they neglected justice, mercy, and faithfulness (Matthew 23:23). |
