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One of my favorite writings in the Old Testament is from the little, almost forgotten, book of Micah. Micah is one of the twelve books of the Old Testament known, primarily because of their brevity, as the Minor Prophets. Micah was a younger contemporary of the Prophet Isaiah and began his prophesy before the fall of Samaria in 721 B.C.

The verses that have always meant so much to me are in the 6th chapter, verses 6-8.

With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, and with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my first-born for the transgression,

With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high.

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has showed you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. (Revised Standard Version)

Sacrifice is an ancient and universal form in the practice of religion. The Hebrew people were only copying the practices of their pagan neighbors. So that when the Prophet Micah asked the question posed in the passage quoted above he was not out of line. His brethren were just paterning the practice of human sacrifice that their neighbors, practiced all the time. And no question the Hebrews did also (Abraham is a perfect example). Another one is: Judges 11: 29-40 God's covenant with Jephthah requires Jephthah to give his virgin daughter as a burnt offering, and it is done. This reference indicates that God even required. That I cannot accept for I do not believe the God I worship and adore would ever ask me to give one of my daughters as a burnt offering.

Micah makes so plain what God requires of us that no one can possibly misunderstand. We must treat our neighbors justly. And Jesus told us plainly who our neighbors are. We must love kindness. That surely needs no amplification. And we are to Walk humbly with our God. How clearer can our requirements be written?

Well, that is what I've been thinking about lately.

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