John Calvin Commentary Micah 6

Here the Prophet openly assumes that the people were sufficiently proved guilty. Yet they resisted with the most stubborn resistance, rejecting all admonitions without shame and without any discernment. He is therefore commanded to direct his discourse to the mountains and to the hills, for his labor among men had been useless for a long time now.

The meaning, then, is that after the Prophet had spent much labor on the people and produced no fruit, he is finally instructed to call the mountains and the hills to bear witness for God. Thus, the ungodliness and obstinacy of the people are made known and proved before the elements. But before he relates what had been entrusted to him, he prefaces his words to gain attention.

Hear ye what Jehovah says. The Prophets are accustomed, on very serious subjects, to make such a preface as Micah does here. It is indeed clear enough from the passage that his subject here is no ordinary one; on the contrary, he rebukes their monstrous stupidity, for he had been addressing the deaf to no avail.

Since the Prophet was about to declare no common thing, but to be a witness of a new judgment, this is why he bids them to be unusually attentive. Hear, he says, what Jehovah saith. What is it? He might have added, “Jehovah has very often spoken to you; He has tried all means to bring you to the right way. But as you are past recovery, vengeance alone now remains for you. He will no longer spend labor in vain on you, for He finds in you neither shame, nor meekness, nor docility.” The Prophet might have spoken to them in this way; but he says that another thing was entrusted to him by the Lord, and that is, to contend or to plead before the mountains.

And this reproach ought to have touched the hearts of the people most acutely, for there is an implied comparison here between the mountains and the Jews; as if the Prophet said, “The mountains are devoid of understanding and reason, and yet the Lord prefers to have them as witnesses of His cause rather than you, who exceed in stupidity all the mountains and rocks.” We now, then, perceive God’s design.

Some interpret mountains and hills metaphorically, as representing the chief men who then ruled. This manner of speaking occurs very frequently in Scripture. But regarding this passage, I have no doubt that the Prophet mentions mountains and hills literally, not figuratively. For, as I have already said, he contrasts the hardness of the people with rocks and intimates that there would be more attention and docility in the very mountains than what he had until now found in the chosen people.

And the particle את, at, is often taken in the sense of before: it also means 'with.' But in this place, I take it as ל, lamed, meaning 'before' or 'near,' as could be shown by many examples. But it is easy to gather that this is the Prophet's meaning from the next verse, when he says—

Hear, ye mountains, the controversy of Jehovah, how? and ye strong foundations of the earth, he says. He no longer speaks of hills here, but summons the whole world. As if he said, “There is not one of the elements that will not bear witness to the obstinacy of this people; for the voice of God will penetrate to the farthest roots of the earth and reach the lowest depths, yet these men will, at the same time, continue deaf.”

And he does not say, 'The Lord threatens you,' or 'denounces judgment on you'; but 'Jehovah has a contention with His people.' We now see, then, that there is no metaphor in these words, but that the Prophet merely shows how monstrous the people's stupor was, who profited nothing from the celestial doctrine delivered to them, so that the very mountains and the whole machinery of earth and heaven, though destitute of reason, had more understanding than these men.

And it is not unusual, we know, for the Prophets to turn their discourse to mute elements when there remains no hope of success with men. But our Prophet does not abruptly address mountains and hills as Isaiah does (Isaiah 1:2), and as Moses also had done,

Hear, ye heavens, what I shall say,
let the earth hear the words of my mouth, (Deuteronomy 32:1)

but he prefaces his discourse by saying that he had been specially commanded to summon the mountains and hills to God’s judgment. By then saying, “Hear ye what Jehovah saith,” he prepares the Jews to hear, as I have said, so that they might know that something uncommon and altogether unusual was to be announced—that the Lord, in order more fully to convict them of extreme impiety, intended to plead His cause before the mountains.

Arise, then, and plead before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. What sort of voice was this? Those who think that the judges are figuratively indicated here may be easily refuted, for Micah in the next verse mentions the substance of this pleading, namely, that the Lord expostulated with His people. We therefore see that God had no contention with the mountains, but that, on the contrary, the mountains were summoned so that they might understand God’s pleading—not against them, but against the people.

Hear then, ye mountains, Jehovah’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth—that is, the very rocks. There is nothing so hard in the world, he says, that will not be too dull to hear, for this pleading shall reach the lowest depths. Jehovah then has a controversy with His people, and He will plead, or contend, with Israel.

Here God, in the first place, offers to give a reason if He was accused of anything. It indeed seems unbecoming of God's character that He should be so ready, as if guilty, to clear Himself. However, this is said by way of concession, for the Prophet could not otherwise express that nothing deserving blame could be found in God. It is a personification by which a character, not His own, is ascribed to God.

Therefore, it ought not to appear inconsistent that the Lord stands forth here, prepared to hear any accusation the people might have, so that He might give an answer: My people! what have I done? By using this kind expression, "my people," He doubles their wickedness.

For God here descends from His own elevation and not only addresses His people in a paternal manner but also stands, as it were, on the opposite side, prepared, if the people had anything to say, to answer it, so that they might mutually discuss the question, as is usually done by friends. Now, the more kindly and indulgently the Lord deals with His people, the more their sin is enhanced, as I have said.

He says first, What have I done to thee?—that is, what do you have to accuse Me of? He adds, In what have I caused trouble to thee? or, in what have I been troublesome to you? Testify, He says, against me. This testifying was to be made to the mountains and hills, as though He said, “I am ready to plead My cause before heaven and earth—in a word, before all My creatures.”

Some render the passage, “Answer me”; and ענה, one, is also to answer, but the context requires the former meaning. For God conceded so much liberty to the Jews that they might bring forward against Him any fault they had to allege. Testify, He says, against me; that is, there are witnesses present; make public now your case by stating particulars, I am ready for the defense. We therefore see the truth of what I have stated before—that a character not His own is ascribed to God, but this is done by way of concession. He afterwards adds—

God, having testified that He had in no way been troublesome to the people, now states with what great and numerous benefits He had bound them to Himself. However, we might prefer to interpret the words as explanatory and somewhat ironical, suggesting that He records His benefits instead of trouble or vexation; though, in my judgment, it is better to read the two clauses separately.

I have brought you, He says, from the land of Egypt, from that miserable bondage; and then He says, I have redeemed you. With the word 'redeem,' He more clearly and fully illustrates His kindness. Then He adds, I have set over you as leaders Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, the sister of them both.

Benefits, we know, are often accompanied by injuries; and one who obliges another destroys all his goodwill when, as often happens, he turns kindness into reproach. Thus, it is frequently the case that one who has been kind to another inflicts so serious an injury that the memory of his kindness ought not to continue.

God mentions here these two things: that He had conferred vast benefits on the people, and yet that He had in no way been burdensome to them.

It is as though He said, "Many are those things which I can, if necessary, bring forward on My part, by which I have more than a hundred times made you indebted to Me. Now you, in your turn, cannot bring anything against Me. You cannot say that I have accompanied My benefits with wrongs, or that you have been despised because you were under obligations to Me, as is often the case with men who proudly domineer when they think they have made others bound to them. Therefore, I have not thought it proper to accompany My great favors with anything troublesome or grievous to you."

We now understand why the Prophet expressly mentions these two things: that God had in no way been vexatious to His people, and that He had brought them up from the land of Egypt.

That redemption was so great that the people ought not to have complained, even if it had been God's will to lay some very heavy burdens on their shoulders. For this answer could have always been readily given: "You have been delivered by Me; you owe your life and your safety to Me. Therefore, there is no reason why anything should now be burdensome to you, for the bondage of Egypt must have been more bitter to you than a hundred deaths; and I redeemed you from that bondage."

But, since the Lord had treated His redeemed people so kindly and so humanely, indeed, with so much indulgence, how great and how intolerable was their ingratitude in not responding to His great kindness? We now more fully understand the Prophet’s meaning in these words.

I have made you to ascend, He says, from Egypt; and then, I have redeemed you. He goes on, as we have said, by degrees. He afterwards adds, I have sent before your face Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

God means here that it had not been a momentary kindness, for He continued His favor towards the Jews when He set over them Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. This was an evidence of His constant care until He had completed His work of delivering them.

For Moses was a minister of their deliverance in upholding civil order, and Aaron in matters of the priesthood and spiritual discipline.

With regard to Miriam, she also performed her part towards the women. As we find in Exodus 15, she composed a song of thanksgiving after their passage through the Red Sea. From this, however, arose her base envy towards Moses; for being highly praised, she thought herself equal to him in dignity.

It is, at the same time, right to mention that it was an extraordinary occurrence when God gave authority to a woman, as was the case with Deborah, so that no one may consider this singular precedent as a common rule.

God briefly records here what happened in the desert—namely, that the people needed some extraordinary help in addition to the many benefits he had conferred on them. For though the people lived safely in the desert concerning the Egyptians, though they were fed by manna and water from the rock flowed for them, though the cloud by day protected them from the heat of the sun, and the pillar of fire shone on them during the night, yet the stream of God’s mercy seemed to have been stopped when Balaam came forth. Balaam was a prophet, and then, as one armed with celestial weapons, fought against the people and opposed their deliverance.

Now, if God had permitted Balaam to curse the people, what could have happened, except that they would have been deprived of all their blessings? This is the reason why the Prophet specifically refers to this history: that the cursing of Balaam was miraculously turned into a blessing, even through the secret purpose of God.

Micah might indeed have referred to all those particulars by which God could have proved the ingratitude of the people. However, he considered it sufficient to touch on the fact of their redemption and also to mention, in passing, this extraordinary instance of God’s kindness.

Remember, he says, what Balak devised, that is, how crafty his counsel was. For the verb יעף, iots, is to be taken here in a negative sense and is very emphatic; as if the Prophet had said that there was more danger in this fraud than in all the violence of enemies. For Balak could not have done so much harm, if he had prepared a great army against the Israelites, as he could by hiring a prophet to curse the people.

For it is certain that, though Balaam was an impostor and full of deceit (as it is probable that he was a man given to profane superstitions), he was yet endowed with the gift of prophecy. This was undoubtedly the case. We know that God has often distributed the gifts of his Spirit in such a way that he has honored even the ungodly and unbelieving with the prophetic office, for it was a special gift, distinct from the grace of regeneration.

Balaam then was a prophet. Now when Balak saw that he lacked the power to oppose the people, he thought of this expedient: to get some prophet to intervene for the purpose of arousing God’s wrath against the people. This is the reason why it is here said, Remember what Balak plotted against you; that is, “You were then in the greatest danger, when a prophet came, hired for the purpose, so that he might pronounce a curse on you in God’s name.”

It may be asked whether Balaam could really have cursed the people of Israel. The answer is easy: the question here is not what the effect might have been without God’s permission. Instead, Micah here regards only the office with which Balaam was honored and endowed. Since he was then God’s prophet, he could have cursed the people, if God had not prevented him.

And no doubt Balak was wise enough to know that the Israelites could not be resisted by human power, and that, therefore, nothing remained for him but the intervention of God. Since he could not bring God down from heaven, he sent for a prophet.

God puts his own power in his word. As God’s word resided in Balaam, and as he was, as it were, its custodian, it was no wonder that Balak thought that he would become the conqueror of the people of Israel, if they were cursed by Balaam’s mouth; for this would have been, as it were, the announcement of God’s wrath.

He now adds, And what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him. This shows, on the one hand, a danger, because Balaam was craftier than all the other enemies of the people; for he could have done more by his artifice than if he had armed the whole world against them. Here, then, was the danger.

But, on the other hand, we know what he answered. It is certain that Balaam’s answer did not proceed from himself but, on the contrary, from the Spirit of God. Since Balaam spoke by the secret influence of the Spirit, contrary to the wish of his own heart, God thus proved that he was present at that very time when the safety of the people was endangered.

Think, then, or remember, what Balaam answered. It is as if he said: “Balaam was very near to cursing you, for his mouth was opened: for he had sold himself to an ungodly king, and nothing could have pleased him more than to have poured out many anathemas and many curses, but he was constrained to bless your fathers.”

What did this mean? Did not the wonderful favor of God shine forth in this instance? We now perceive the Prophet’s design and what a full meaning there is in these words.

He afterward adds generally, From Shittim even to Gilgal. This is not connected with the last clause, for Balaam did not follow the people from Shittim to Gilgal. Instead, a verb is to be understood, as if he said: “You know what things happened to you from Shittim to Gilgal, from the beginning to the end; at the time when you entered the wilderness, you had begun to provoke the wrath of God.”

We know that even in Shittim the Israelites fell away into idolatry, and that defection, in a way, alienated them from God. Hence God shows here that he, in his goodness and mercy, had contended with the ungodly ways of the people all the way to Gilgal; that is, “You have never ceased to provoke me.”

We indeed know that the people continually excited God’s displeasure against themselves and that their defections were many and various. In short, the Prophet then shows that God had dealt so mercifully with the people that he had, in a most astonishing manner, overcome their wickedness by his goodness.

He finally adds, That thou mayest know the righteousnesses of Jehovah. By “righteousnesses” he means acts of kindness, as is the sense of the word in many other passages. For the righteousness of God is often taken not only for uprightness but also for the faithfulness and truth which he manifests towards his people. Therefore, it betokens the relation between God and his Church whenever the word “righteousness” is to be understood in this sense.

That thou mayest then know the righteousnesses of Jehovah; that is, that experience itself may prove to you how faithful, how beneficent, how merciful God has always been towards your race.

Since, then, the righteousness of God was conspicuous, the people surely must have been mute and had nothing for which they could justly expostulate with God. What remained, except that their extreme impiety, fully detected before heaven and earth and all the elements, exposed them to his judgment?

The Prophet now inquires, as in the name of the people, what was necessary to be done. He takes these two principles as granted: first, that the people were without any excuse and were forced to confess their sin; and second, that God had until now contended with them for no other end and with no other design but to restore the people to the right way. For if His purpose had only been to condemn the people for their wickedness, there would have been no need of these questions.

But the Prophet shows what has often been stated before—that whenever God chides His people, He opens to them the door of hope for their salvation, provided those who have sinned repent. Since this then must have been well known to all the Jews, the Prophet here asks, as if speaking for them, what was to be done.

He thus introduces them as inquiring, With what shall I approach Jehovah, and bow down before the high God?

Shall I approach him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? But at the same time, there is no doubt that he indirectly refers to that foolish notion by which men generally deceive themselves. For when they are proved guilty, they indeed know that there is no remedy for them unless they reconcile themselves to God. Yet they pretend by circuitous courses to approach God, while they desire to be ever far away from him.

This dissimulation has always prevailed in the world, and it prevails now. They see that those whom God convicts and their own conscience condemns cannot rest in safety. Hence, they wish to discharge their duty towards God as a matter of necessity. But at the same time, they seek some fictitious modes of reconciliation, as though it were enough to flatter God, as though he could be pacified like a child with some frivolous trifles.

The Prophet therefore detects this wickedness, which had always been too prevalent among them, as if he said: "I see what you are about to say, for there is no need of contending longer. Since you have nothing to object to God, and he has innumerable things to allege against you, you are then more than condemned. But yet you will perhaps say what has been usually alleged by you and always by hypocrites, even this: 'We wish to be reconciled to God, and we confess our faults and seek pardon; let God in the meantime show himself ready to be reconciled to us, while we offer to him sacrifices.'"

There is then no doubt that the Prophet derided this folly, which has always prevailed in the hearts of men: they always think that God can be pacified by outward rites and frivolous performances.

He afterwards adds, He has proclaimed to thee what is good. The Prophet reproves the hypocrisy by which the Jews willfully deceived themselves. It is as if he said, "You indeed pretend some concern for religion when you approach God in prayer, but your religion is nothing; it is nothing else than shamelessly to dissemble. For you do not sin either through ignorance or misconception, but you treat God with mockery."

The Prophet's imagined discourse continues: "How so? Because the Law teaches you with sufficient clearness what God requires from you. Does it not show you plainly enough what true reconciliation is? But you close your eyes to the teaching of the Law, and in the meantime pretend ignorance. This is extremely childish. God has already proclaimed what is good, even to do judgment, to love kindness and to walk humbly with God." We now perceive the design of the Prophet.

Since then he says here, "With what shall I appear before God?" we must bear in mind that as soon as God condescends to enter into trial with men, the cause is decided, for it is no doubtful contention. When men litigate with one another, there is no cause so good that an opposing party cannot darken by sophistries.

But the Prophet intimates that men lose all their labor by evasions when God summons them to a trial. This is one thing. He also shows what deep roots hypocrisy has in the hearts of all, for they always deceive themselves and try to deceive God. How is it that men, proved guilty, do not immediately and in the right way return to God, but that they always seek indirect ways?

How is this? It is not because they have any doubt about what is right, unless they willfully deceive themselves, but because they dissemble and willfully seek the subterfuges of error. Hence it appears that men perversely go astray whenever they do not repent as they ought, and do not bring to God a real integrity of heart.

And hence it also appears that the whole world which continues in its superstitions is without excuse. For if we scrutinize the intentions of men, it will eventually come to this: that men carefully and anxiously seek various superstitions because they are unwilling to come before God and to devote themselves to him without some dissembling and hypocrisy.

Since this is so, it is certain that all who desire to pacify God with their own ceremonies and other trifles cannot escape by any pretext. What is said here is, at the same time, strictly addressed to the Jews, who had been instructed in the teaching of the Law.

And such are the Papists of this day; though they spread forth specious pretenses to excuse their ignorance, they may yet be refuted by this one fact: that God has prescribed clearly and distinctly enough what he requires. But they wish to be ignorant of this; hence their error is at all times willful.

We ought especially to notice this in the words of the Prophet, but I cannot proceed further now.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as you have made known to us your Law, and have also added your Gospel, in which you call us to your service, and also invite us with all kindness to partake of your grace, O grant, that we may not be deaf either to your command or to the promises of your mercy, but render ourselves in both instances submissive to you and so learn to devote all our faculties to you, that we may in truth avow that a rule of a holy and religious life has been delivered to us in your law, and that we may also firmly adhere to your promises, lest through any of the allurements of the world, or through the flatteries and crafts of Satan, you should suffer our minds to be drawn away from that love which you have once manifested to us in your only-begotten Son and in which you daily confirm us by the teaching of the Gospel, until we at last shall come to the full enjoyment of this love in that celestial inheritance, which has been purchased for us by the blood of your only Son. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We have seen in the last lecture that hypocrites inquire how God is to be pacified, as though they were very solicitous about the performance of their duty, and that in the meantime these are mere disguises; for by circuitous windings they turn here and there, and never wish to come directly to God.

The way might have been easily known by them, but they closed their eyes and at the same time pretended that they had some concern for religion. And this is also very commonly the case in our day. Common experience, if anyone opens his eyes, clearly proves this: that the ungodly, who do not deal sincerely with God, profess a very great concern, as though they were wholly intent on serving God.

Yet they turn aside here and there and seek many bypaths (diverticula), so that they may not be constrained to present themselves before God.

We have already seen that this false pretense is fully exposed, inasmuch as God has demonstrated enough, and more than enough, in his Law what he approves and what he requires from men.

Why then do hypocrites, as if still uncertain, make the inquiry? It is because they are willfully blind at mid-day. For the doctrine of the Law ought to have been to them as a lamp to direct their steps, but they smother this light; indeed, they do what they can to extinguish it completely.

They ask, as though perplexed, "How can we pacify God?"

But it ought also to be observed (for the Prophet says, Shall I give my first-born, and the fruit of my loins, as an expiation for my soul?) that hypocrites will withhold nothing, provided they are not to devote themselves to God. We see the same thing under the Papacy at this day: they spare no expense, nor even the greatest toils. Provided the ungodly always have freedom to live in sin, they will easily grant to God all other things.

For through a false conceit they make a sort of agreement with God: if they mortify themselves, and toil in ceremonies, and if they pour forth some portion of their money, if they sometimes deprive nature of its support, if with fastings and by other things they afflict themselves, they think that by these means they have fully performed their duties.

But these are frivolous trifles, for in the meantime they consider themselves exempt from the duty of obeying God. Still unwilling to be regarded as alienated from God, they, at the same time, obtrude on him their meritorious works to forestall his judgment and to exempt themselves from the necessity of doing the principal thing, that which he especially requires—to bring a sincere heart.

Thus then hypocrites wish to divide things with God, so that they may remain inwardly as they are; and they spread forth outwardly many frivolous things for the purpose of pacifying him. And this is the reason why the Prophet says now, Shall I give my first-born? For hypocrites wish to appear as though they were burning with the greatest zeal, saying:

"Rather than have God remain angry with me, I would not spare the life of my first-born; I would rather be the executioner of my own son. In short, nothing is so valuable to me that I would not be ready to part with it, so that God may be propitious to me."

This indeed is what they boast with their mouth; but at the same time, they will not offer their heart as a sacrifice to God. And as they deal dishonestly with God, we see that all is nothing but dissimulation.

If anyone objects and says that the other rites of which the Prophet speaks here had been enjoined by God’s Law, the answer is easy; but I shall now only briefly touch on what I have elsewhere handled more extensively: The Prophet denies that sacrifices avail anything for the purpose of propitiating God.

This may seem inconsistent with the teaching of the Law, but in fact it altogether agrees with it. God indeed wished sacrifices to be offered to him, and then this promise was always added, Iniquity shall be atoned. But the purpose must be noticed, for God did not command sacrifices as though they were of themselves of any worth; but he intended to lead the ancient people by such exercises to repentance and faith.

It was therefore his design to remind the Jews that they did no good unless they themselves became sacrifices; and it was also his will that they should look to the only true sacrifice, by which all sins are expiated. But hypocrites, like falsifiers of documents, abused the command of God and adulterated the sacrifices themselves.

It was then a profane sacrilege for them to think that God would be propitious to them if they offered many oxen, calves, and lambs. It was the same thing as if one asked the way and, after having learned it, rested quietly and never moved a foot.

God had shown the way by which the Jews might come to repentance and faith, and they ought to have walked in it. But they wickedly trifled with God, for they thought that it would be a satisfaction to his justice if they only performed outward rites.

Whenever then the Prophets in God’s name repudiate sacrifices, the abuse by which God’s Law was corrupted is always to be considered. This occurs when the Jews brought only sacrifices and had no respect for the end in view, and did not exercise themselves in repentance and faith.

It is for this reason that our Prophet declares that all sacrifices were of no account before God but were vain things: they were so when they were separated from their right end.

He then says that God had shown by his Law what is good, and then he adds what it is: to do justice, to love mercy, or kindness, and to be humbled before God.

It is evident that, in the first two particulars, he refers to the second table of the Law, that is, to do justice and to love mercy. Nor is it any wonder that the Prophet begins with the duties of love; for though, in order, the worship of God precedes these duties and ought rightly to be so regarded, yet justice, which is to be exercised towards men, is the real evidence of true religion.

The Prophet, therefore, mentions justice and mercy, not because God casts aside that which is principal—the worship of his name—but because he shows, by evidences or effects, what true religion is. Hypocrites place all holiness in external rites, but God requires what is very different, for his worship is spiritual.

But as hypocrites can make a show of great zeal and great solicitude in the outward worship of God, the Prophets test the conduct of men in another way: by inquiring whether they act justly and kindly towards one another, whether they are free from all fraud and violence, and whether they observe justice and show mercy.

This is the way our Prophet now follows when he says that God’s Law prescribes what is good, and that is, to do justice—to observe what is equitable towards men and also to perform the duties of mercy.

He afterwards adds what in order is first, and that is, to humble thyself to walk with God; it is thus literally, "And to be humble in walking with thy God." No doubt, as the name of God is more excellent than anything in the whole world, so the worship of him ought to be regarded as more important than all those duties by which we prove our love towards men.

But the Prophet, as I have already said, was not so particular in observing order; his main object was to show how men were to prove that they seriously feared God and kept his Law. He afterwards speaks of God’s worship. But his manner of speaking, when he says that men ought to be humble so that they may walk with their God, is worthy of special notice.

Condemned, then, is here all pride, and also all the confidence of the flesh. For whoever arrogates to himself even the least thing, does, in a manner, contend with God as with an opposing party.

The true way then of walking with God is when we thoroughly humble ourselves, indeed, when we bring ourselves down to nothing; for it is the very beginning of worshipping and glorifying God when men entertain a humble and low opinion of themselves.