BEN F. VICK, JR.
God brought a court case against Israel and Judah in the days of Micah, the Morasthite who prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah (Micah 1:1). The leadership hated judgment and perverted equity. They built Jerusalem by wickedness. Micah wrote, “The heads thereof judge for reward, And the priests thereof teach for hire, And the prophets thereof divine for money: Yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? None evil can come upon us.” (Micah 3:11.) Jerusalem would be destroyed for these reasons and more (Micah 3:12).
Micah brings the Lord's case against Israel and Judah, calling upon the mountains as witnesses. God calls upon his people to defend themselves against his controversy or complaint (Micah 6:1-2). The Lord said, “O my people, what have I done unto thee? And wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against me.” (Micah 6:3.) God had delivered Israel from the Iron Furnace of Egypt. He had Balaam bless Israel instead of cursing them as Balak wanted. God had preserved, protected, and fulfilled his promises to them. Yet, how thankful were they? It is as if God said: Look at all I have done for you, and this is the thanks I get. What was Israel's response?
Their answer was: “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, And bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, With calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, Or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (Micah 6:6-7.)
To "come before the Lord" refers to worship. What could Israel and Judah bring to worship? The Israelites were not to appear before the Lord empty. Moses wrote, “Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty:” (Deut.16:16.) Since we are under a better covenant with better promises, should we appear before the Lord empty? If under the law of Moses, none were to appear before the Lord empty, what should I bring before the Lord?
God’s people then inquired, “Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" To salve their conscience because of their sins, they were supposedly willing to give burnt offerings, thousands of rams, and ten thousands rivers of oil. They even suggested offering their firstborn for their sins. The heathen offered their offspring to their gods. The king of Moab sacrificed his eldest son for a burnt offering (2 Kings 3:26-27). Later in Judah's history, Manasseh, king of Judah, “made his son pass through the fire.” (2 Kings 21:6.) The Lord, through the prophet Jeremiah, refers to this awful indescribable practice: “For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.” (Jer.7:30-31.)
I sometimes wonder if, in principle, parents do not do the same. Oh, they do not sacrifice them to the fires of Molech, but they offer them to the god of this world – to sports, scouts, education, music classes, Minecraft, and other video games. I am not saying these things are wrong, but why not compare the time spent in those areas with teaching and showing them what is most important – the Lord and his church? Parents expend much time and energy in these areas for their children, but just a scintilla of moments in preparing them for eternal life. Where is the emphasis placed in our homes? When you bring your children to Bible study and worship, do they bring their Bibles and lesson books, or do you allow them to bring toys and secular books to view and read? Do you see that they have their Sunday school lessons? Are we teaching them how to put God first? How to worship? Or do we just let them be entertained quietly while adults worship? Do we encourage them to be engaged in worship? Do they hear us sing in worship? Do they sing? Do they observe us listening with our Bibles open and turning pages as the preacher proclaims God's word? Are they looking up Scripture or taking notes? Will they remember that you took them when there was a gospel meeting or lectureship in the area? Oh, what shall I bring before the high God?
A brother lived in the Fort Wayne, Indiana, area and was a member of the 10th and Jackson Church of Christ in Auburn, Indiana, in the 70s. He was responsible for the church’s hiring me when I left Memphis School of Preaching. In the Spring of 1976, he would fly his plane down to Memphis, pick me up, and fly me to Indiana. I commuted this way till I graduated from school. However, once I was settled in Auburn, he seldom came to services except for the monthly business meetings the men allowed him to chair. I asked him why he missed services so often. He was self-employed. He said he was out trying to make money to give more to the Lord. I heard the bleating of the sheep and lowing of the oxen. Samuel said to Saul, “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king.” (1 Sam.15:22-23.) God wants us to sacrifice, but not as a substitute for obedience.
There are some things more important to God than sacrifice. God owns the world; he does not need our gifts (Psa. 24:1; Acts 17:24-25). Obedience is one of those important things to God. All the sacrifices in the world are nothing if one does not obey God (Matt. 7:21-23). The knowledge of God is worth more than burnt offerings. Mercy counts more with God than if one sacrifices but shows no mercy. Hosea wrote, “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6.) Sacrifices are nothing if there is no love for God (1 Cor. 13:3).
So, with what shall I bring before the Lord? `