John Calvin Commentary Micah 6:5

"O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; [remember] from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah." — Micah 6:5 (ASV)

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?