Micah's prayer for or prophecy of restoration for the people of Israel is set in a context of societal breakdown (Micah 7.14-15, 18-20). The chapter is headed ‘The Total Corruption of the People’ and Micah says, ‘there is no one left who is upright; … Their hands are skilled to do evil; the official and the judge ask for a bribe, and the powerful dictate what they desire; thus they pervert justice.’
Our newspapers essentially make similar reports on a daily basis, when we hear of Government contracts made, without tender, to companies with contacts to those who award the contracts and when the President of the United States will not state that he will leave power were he to lose the coming election.
Micah sees a society in which no one does good and where every household is divided. He says, ‘Put no trust in a friend, have no confidence in a loved one; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your embrace; for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; your enemies are members of your own household.’
However, it is at that time that he says God will rescue and restore his people in a way that will amaze the nations. The God who pardons iniquity, passing over transgression and casts all our sins into the depths of the sea because he delights in showing clemency, is the one who Shepherds the people, the flock belonging to him, letting them feed in as in the days of old.
Jesus came to be the shepherd and restorer for which Micah had prayed but did so in ways that weren't anticipated. Micah prayed for a God that would show faithfulness to Jacob and unswerving loyalty to Abraham, as had been sworn to their ancestors from the days of old. His prayer was for a God of nationalism who would ensure that the nations would see and be ashamed so that they would come trembling out of their fortresses and turn in dread to the Lord, Micah’s God.
It is claimed that whereas the 20th Century was defined by the struggle between Capitalism and Communism, the 21st Century is being defined by the struggle between Nationalism and Globalism. In the 2016 presidential election the United States abandoned globalism and embraced nationalism. The UK has also sprouted new nationalist roots with our withdrawal from the European Union. As countries have begun to align under this new world order, we note the extent to which Nationalism means doing what is seen to be in a country’s self-interest, not the world’s self-interest. We are in the same place that Micah sought, where other nations stand in dread of our nation.
Jesus’ movement, however, was built not on family, tribe and nation but on pilgrims and travellers. When Jesus is told that his mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to him, he asks “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Then, pointing to his disciples, he says, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12. 46-50)
He does so in order to make clear that the basic unit of a nation, the settled family, is not the basis for his movement. Instead, his movement looks back to an earlier stage in the story of Abraham. The basis for Jesus’ people was that of Abraham the migrant, the itinerant traveller, the one who moves from one country to another, who knows no border or nation. Those who form Jesus’ family are those who travel, not those who settle, those who constantly search for a kingdom yet to come, a kingdom with no boundaries embracing Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free.
Micah’s prophecy can be interpreted in this sense as he says that Israel’s boundary shall be far extended and that, in that day they will come from Assyria to Egypt, from Egypt to the River, from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. This is the gathering of the nations in harmony and in unity for which we should unceasingly pray and which Micah’s prophecy suggests will begin to be realised at a time when society is corrupt and every household divided. As our society and world seems increasingly divided, let us pray all the more for God to rescue and restore in a way that will amaze the nations.
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John Tavener - Fragments Of A Prayer.
