JMH part 2

Verse 8 follows with God’s answer, rooted in the Law of Moses: “He has told you, O man, what is good.” In other words, Israel should already have known the answer to their questions. Just like when we ask, What Would Jesus Do? We already know the answer, don’t we? The Spirit of God has already written the law of God in our hearts. We know what’s right when tempted. We know what Jesus would do, but if our heart is not involved in our relationship with God we will just make excuses rather than follow with blind obedience. 

God then says that He did not need, or desire, their religious rituals, sacrifices, or oblations. Instead, He focuses on their hearts and says, the only thing I require of you is, justice, mercy, and humility. Without the heart, Israel’s conformity to the Law was nothing more than hypocrisy. Israel’s rhetorical question had a progression to it, and God answers with a similar progression. The response of a godly heart is outward (do justice), inward (love mercy), and upward (walk humbly).
 

Now I want to get back to the original thought of, how are we to live in light of all that’s going on in our nation and world. How are we to respond to those who want to persecute us? I want us to look at a very well-known verse from the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This is a fairly well-known verse. It’s the kind of verse we find on plaques in many Christian homes. We like these kinds of verses. God wants to prosper us and not harm us - that's good isn’t it? God has plans to give us hope and a future. That’s comforting, especially when we are hurting in some way. 

But have you ever considered the context that this Word from the Lord came? Look just a few verses earlier in Jeremiah 29:4 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon…” The Lord spoke these words through His Prophet Jeremiah while an enemy was oppressing them. They were in bondage in Babylon. In fact, God had arranged that situation. This was written to all those He carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 

Don’t you feel that Christianity is under siege throughout the whole world? Could it possibly be that God is arranging this so that the church will get back to living as Jesus lived? To get the church to really become Disciples of Jesus rather than just casual, convenient, followers. God carried Israel into bondage to get them to understand that He was not interested in their heartless sacrifices. He was looking for something that came from their hearts. So, in essence, He tells them that if they will live justly, love mercy, and walk humbly, He will prosper them in their current situation. 

JUSTICE

This presents us with our first challenge. We are to live justly in the midst of oppression and injustice. Notice that the verse does not say, “See to it that justice is meted out,” but rather, “Do justice, act justly.” 

I must confess that this is a difficult one because it’s much easier to want to see justice done than it is to live justly. We are most thankful that God did not give us the justice we deserved when He forgave us of our sins, and yet our natural tendency is to want God to execute justice on others. “Give them what they deserve, God!” Is often our thought and or prayer. 

Continued tomorrow