by Joe Palvado

Created on: September 18, 2009   Last Updated: September 23, 2009

"You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do the right, and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)."

Among the smallest of the Old Testament prophetic books, the Book of Micah could just as easily have been written today. The prophet, speaking in the name of God, decries the deplorable condition of a nation Israel. Exploitation of the poor, venal judges, crooked merchants and corrupt religious all seem to conspire in their iniquitous plans. Cheating, idolatry, violence and arrogance overwhelm the lowly while the scandalously rich fatten themselves showing no regard for their countrymen. Exasperated by the sight, God's emissary has seen enough. Judgement falls upon the nation, the ultimate example of cause and effect. Catastrophe appears imminent, and so does vindication for a remnant of faithful believers.

It is said that hope springs eternal and history is replete with accounts of rising and collapsing empires. Every age and virtually every nation replays the same scenario over and over and over again. Humankind never learns. But in every age, there remains a seed stock from which sprouts the promise of renewed determination to do the right and to love goodness. Every generation conceals a little flock that humbly follows God.

Thousands of years pass and time divulges little change in the affairs of humans. Technology advances. Intelligence increases. Knowledge grows but the human heart remains desperately wicked. Still, there is cause for hope. There is reason for rejoicing. The play has been written completely although the final act has yet to conclude. Another passage in this same book tells of a time when Bethlehem-Ephrathah, "too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient times (Micah 5:1)." This ruler's kingdom is an everlasting one and the benevolent king is the Lord of lords.

The timelessness of Micah's admonition delivers a message as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago. The ruthless still gorge themselves on the spoils of the voiceless. The prophet cries out but his voice is all but imperceptible amidst the cacophony of the age. And while civility slithers into cynicism and selfishness among tyrants and marauders, and as miscreants weave unseemly plots, a light shines upon and within the few. The admonition to love and to do the right illuminates their pathway even in darkness. For these little ones, walking humbly with God requires a certain discipline born of internal conviction, a fire stoked by the confident realization that the One from Bethlehem does indeed live and reigns even now and will soon manifest his kingdom of everlasting peace. Amen. Come Lord Jesus!

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