Miquéias 6
David Guzik · Citado em PreceptAustin
Miquéias 6
Guzik explains - After meeting with King Balak of Moab, Balaam prophesied over Israel four times. As he spoke forth God’s word, he did not curse Israel - but he blessed them each time. When he was unsuccessful in cursing Israel, Balaam answered Balak on how to bring Israel under a curse. Instead of trying to have a prophet curse them, the Moabites lead them into fornication and idolatry, and God will curse them. Balak did just that, sending his young women into the camp of Israel to lead Israel into sexual immorality and idolatry. Because of their sin, God did curse Israel - He brought a plague of judgment upon Israel that killed 24,000. Remember (a command) (02142)(zakar = זָכַר) means to bring to mind or think of again (an image or idea from the past into the mind), recall information or events, keep in mind for attention or consideration with a focus on responding in an appropriate manner. To call to mind past events which affect present state, thought or action. Zakar basically describes a process of mentioning or recalling either silently, verbally, or by means of a memorial sign or symbol. The first use is Ge 8:1 where "God remembered Noah" (cp Abraham = Ge 19:29, Rachel = Ge 30:22) and in Ge 9:1-2 God promised He would remember His covenant (the memorial sign = the rainbow; cp Ex 2:24). Joseph remembered the dreams he had of his brothers bowing down to him, an event fulfilled in his present circumstance (Ge 42:9). The Israelites complained to Moses as they remembered the variety of food that had been available to them while in Egypt, in contrast to the manna that they were now fed daily (Nu 11:5). While in exile in Babylon, the faithful remembered Zion (Ps 137:1). The Israelites were to remember God's dealings with Pharaoh and the Egyptians (Dt 7:18), God's guidance for forty years in the wilderness (Dt. 8:2) and God's provision for past generations (Dt. 32:7). The Israelites were accused of not remembering God's mighty acts (Ps 78:42; 106:7). One of the sins which Israel confessed after the exile was the sin of forgetting the works of God (Neh. 9:17). Forgetting in this sense means ignoring the covenant and its obligations for the people. In Ps 79:8 zakar is used in a prayer for God not to remember sins (and so to forgive them - Ps 97:9).
Miquéias 6
Guzik - “Don’t just show mercy (kindness), but love to show it. Give others the same measure of mercy you want to receive from the Me.” Kindness (02617)(hesed/chesed/heced) is the idea of faithful love in action. It reflects the loyal love of Jehovah for His people, and speaks of relationship and covenant obligation. This noun is often used of God, and we do well to be imitators of Him (Eph 5:1) for God's hesed denotes persistent and unconditional tenderness, kindness, and mercy, a relationship in which He seeks after man with love and mercy. How wonderful when our life begins to display just a "fraction" of this divine quality! The Lxx uses eleos which describes the outward manifestation of pity and assumes need on the part of those who are recipients of the mercy and sufficient resources to meet the need on the part of those who show it. 3. WALK HUMBLY Walk (01980) (halak) means literally to walk but figuratively as in this verse speaks of how one conducts himself in daily life. It speaks of one's behavior, one's lifestyle. The Lxx translates it with the verb poreuo which means to proceed (present tense, middle voice = as the habit of one's life, middle voice indicating that the person initiates the action and participates in the results or effects thereof). Paul's "Matriculation" and Maturation - In 55AD he describes himself as “the least of the apostles…not meet to be called an apostle.” (1Cor 15:9) About 6 years later (these are "best estimates") in 61AD, he speaks of himself as being “the very least of all saints” (Eph 3:8) and in 63-66AD, he calls himself “the chief” of “sinners.” As someone has said "Lightly laden vessels float high in the water, heavy cargoes sink the barques (small ships) to the water’s edge. The more grace the soul has the humbler it will be." Humbly (06800)(sana) is a verb which means to be lowly or modest or humble and is used only here in the OT (but some lexicons spell the verb "tsana'" and note it is also used in Pr 11:2). To act submissively. James calls for believers to "Submit to God." (Jas 4:7-note) "Live cautiously, carefully." (Holladay) Patterson on sana - “the traditional meaning is ‘humbly,’ but it is possible that the meaning inclines more to ‘circumspectly’ or even ‘scrupulously’ ”). God lives with those whose spirits are “contrite and humble” (Isa 57:15), and Jesus taught that the humble will inherit the earth (Matt 5:5; on humility, see the commentary on Amos 6:1–14). Barker agrees that - “walk humbly” would be better rendered “walk carefully (with your God),” which ultimately means “be careful to live the way your God wants you to.” S Lewis Johnson on what it means to walk humbly - That’s a circumspect walk. It’s like Ephesians 5:15-note where Paul says “Walk circumspectly.” That’s the test, a test, of a believer’s salvation. It’s the symptom of spiritual health. When you walk humbly with our God, what’s involved in that? Well, first of all a good understanding of what we are before the Lord, sinners. When a man walks humbly before the Lord God, he can only walk humbly when he realizes his relationship to the Lord is one of sovereign grace, that God should love me, that God should take me into his family, with all of my sin, with all of my rebellion, with all of my disobedience, that he should take me, what a wonderful manifestation of grace. No man can walk humbly before the Lord if he doesn’t have a right relationship, a right understanding of his own relationship to the Lord. And so when we say this is a test of salvation, it’s a test also of what you understand about yourself and what you understand, of course, about the greatness of God in the light of that. Low views of ourselves in divine matters leads to true humility before the Lord God, and that’s what the Bible teaches us. (What Does God Require) Kaiser - To walk humbly is simply to live by faith, for faith is the antithesis of pride. Pride alone insists on taking first place, but faith seeks to give God first place. Humility is that virtue required of those who are faithful followers of our Lord (Ps. 131:1). Living a circumspect lifestyle will bring one’s life into conformity with God’s will. Adam, Noah and Abraham serve as examples of people who “walked with God” (Ge 3:8; 6:9). As both Peter and James say "God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1Pe 5:5-note, Jas 4:6-note) Simply put, humility paves the way for reception of God's grace. Pride on the other hand is opposed by God, where the verb opposed is a military term, used of an army drawn up for battle. In a sense, pride calls out God’s armies! Woe! God sets Himself in array against the proud person. This alone should be good motivation to walk humbly with God!