SUMMARY
God calls earth to witness in a divine lawsuit against the people
ANALYSIS
The genreA genre is a type or category of something, often literature. Form criticism (see) begins with sorting biblical literature into various genres. More of divine lawsuit is common across the prophetic writings. IsaiahIsaiah, son of Amoz, who prophesied in Jerusalem, is included among the prophets of the eighth century BCE (along with Amos, Hosea, and Micah)--preachers who boldly proclaimed God's word of judgment against the economic, social, and religious disorders of their time. More 1:2-3, 18-20; JeremiahProphet who condemned Judah's infidelity to God, warned of Babylonian conquest, and promised a new covenant. More 2:4-13; HoseaProphet to the northern kingdom who married a prostitute to show God's relationship to a faithless Israel. More 4:1-3; and earlier in Micah 1:2-5 all present God as arguing a case with the chosen people and presenting both witnesses from nature and the Israelites’ own history, especially during the wilderness wanderings, as evidence for God’s faithfulness and the people’s perfidy. The prophet is especially careful to point out that national calamity is not random, nor is it because God is wrathful and full of vengeance. Instead, even the inanimate hills and geological features can discern that God has a just case against the people. The psalmist agrees with all of nature, “You are justified when you speak, and blameless when you judge” (PsalmA psalm is a song of praise. In the Old Testament 150 psalms comprise the psalter, although some of the psalms are laments and thanksgivings. In the New Testament early Christians gathered to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. More 51:4).
In arguing the case through Micah, God calls to mind how the Lord had saved the people from Balak’s and Balaam’s attempts at national conquest (Numbers 31:16). This reminder of God’s salvific actions serves as both a reminder of God’s goodness, and as a threat, that, as a result of national sin, God will no longer intervene to save the people from violent neighbors.
