Micah 6:1

This begins the concluding section of Micah (Micah 6-7). The prophet had already declared the guilt of Israel and pronounced dramatically the divine sentence of the destruction of their "sinful kingdom," stating also at the same time the salvation that would yet be available to a faithful remnant of the chosen people, preserved and purified through the terrible punishment to come. In this last division of the prophecy, Micah again stressed that the judgment to fall upon them was due solely to "their ingratitude and resistance to the commandments of God,"[1] and that only by sincere repentance would any of them be able to participate in the covenant blessings. Most of this chapter is in the form of a formal "lawsuit, in which God, as both accuser and judge, indicts, and then pronounces sentence on his people."[2] The basic assumption underlying Micah, and all of the prophets, is the prior existence of a covenant relationship between God and Israel. The whole Pentateuch and the entire previous history of Israel are the background. The legal fabric in which this lawsuit appears, therefore, "is related directly to Israel's chosenness. Her election status is the reason for her obligation to act according to Yahweh's moral requirements."[3] In a precious summary attributed by Hailey to Farrar:

"In the earlier chapters, we have the springtide of hope; but we have in these (Micah 6-7) the paler autumn of disappointment."[4]

The charge against Israel in this chapter is simply that of breach of contract. In every age, without exception, God's blessing is conditional, always dependent upon the continued love and obedience of God's people to himself; but Israel had made the tragic mistake of supposing that God would still be with them, even though they had wantonly rejected and disobeyed his commandments.

Micah 6:1

"Hear ye now what Jehovah saith: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice."

"This language and style of the saying are drawn from the sphere of legal practice in Israel."[5] It is exactly the same type of courtroom language that appears continually in the prophets "across the history of prophecy from Hosea to Malachi."[6]

The calling of the mountains and hills to be witness was characteristic courtroom procedure in those days. Nature itself would be an appropriate witness against Israel, whose conduct in rejecting their God and protector was contrary to nature.