SIN

Micah 2.

1. Sin and Character.

After a pictorial description of the judgment which was about to fall, the Prophet proceeds to portray in vivid language the state of moral and religious corruption in which the people were living. They were not the victims of circumstances: it was not upon sins of infirmity or ignorance that judgment was pronounced. The conduct of the people was the expression of a settled purpose. They did not stumble into sin; they invented it. Their case was not like that of the man who is suddenly confronted with temptation: they had cultivated the evil mind which drags sin with cart-ropes. They set themselves to devise evil: they even denied themselves sleep in order to plan it. The last hours of consciousness were given up to it, the last hours of darkness were spent upon it, the early morning light saw them at work on it. So low had public opinion fallen that evil had no need to resort to its usual plan of operating in the dark: there was no reason for it to refrain from coming to the light.1 There was nothing to restrain the workers of it but the limits of their own opportunity and ability. They carried out whatever was in the power of their hand (ver. 1).

Before passing away from this statement of the process and environment of the people's wickedness, let us gather up some teaching about, sin which the description suggests. That sin is essentially a matter of will we noticed in the foregoing chapter: here we get a warning, which emphasises the point, against a superficial estimate of our life. If the public opinion which constitutes our environment were lower than it is, if the society around us enforced no penalties, exercised no ostracism, imposed no restraint, what would our conduct be? This is a truer test of character than that which is afforded by mere examination of the things which we actually do. If we were to find a particular line of evil conduct in the power of our hand, so that we could practise it without let or hindrance, would we pursue it f We can be thankful indeed for the restraining influence of environment, we may lament rightly the flaunting of evil on the stage, in fiction, and in actual practice, which leads to any lowering of public opinion and to the withdrawal of the necessity for evil to dwell in the darkness, but we must be careful at the same time not to identify a mere conformity to environment, which may be only cowardice written large, with a character of innocence.

The important lesson which seems to emerge from this line of thought is that of the supreme necessity of character. We are challenged to the exercise of a certain independence of environment and to the cultivation of a self-disciplined will. We must see to it that our conduct is the expression of our own character and not a mere veneer of external impression.

It may be that we shall find here a ray of light cast upon the abandonment of conventional religion which is characteristic of our time. It is commonly said that men have ceased to be religious, but the truer explanation appears to be that conventional religion is disappearing. There are not fewer or less fervent God-fearing men than there used to be; on the contrary, the evidence of Christian activities seems to point to the very opposite. What has happened is that men now have it in the power of their hand to ignore the conventions of religion, churchgoing has largely ceased to be the thing to do, and the expression of religion is left to those who have the desire for it. It is manifest that this involves the withdrawal from the influences of institutional religion of many whose eyes might have been opened through it, or whose conduct at least might have been affected by it. On the other hand, there is this one gain, that religiousness and religion have been drawn together more closely, there is less of the divorce between form and reality, there is more correspondence between conduct and character.

2. Sin and Patriotism.

One of the evils which were particularly pronounced amongst the contemporaries of Micah was covetousness; and this found its expression in robbery and violence (vers. 2, 8 f.). Now this was not merely an offence against the victims: it was also an offence against the national life. We remember the reason for Naboth's unwillingness to part with his vineyard for the gratifying of King Ahab's whim. The Lord forbid it me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.2 The attachment of an Israelite to his inheritance entered deeply into the national spirit: it was an important element in the patriotism of the people. Consequently the oppression of a man and his house, even a man and his heritage, was not merely the transgression of the law of conscience, it was also the doing despite to a national institution: it was an offence against patriotism.

This is an aspect of evil-doing which deserves attention. The effects of sin are not confined to the oppressor and his victim; they reach a wider circle than that. Nor is it merely that the family circle of the evil-doer is involved in the shame and possibly the loss which the consequences of the action may involve. The effects reach further than that. Evil is an element of decay and corruption in the life of the nation, and the evil-doer must be branded as an offender against patriotism, one who lowers national ideals and weakens national spirit.

3. Sin and the Glory of God.

There is yet another and still more grievous aspect of sin which finds illustration in the language of Micah. The robbery of which so many of the people were guilty was the robbery not merely of their fellow-men, but also of God. From, their children have ye taken away my glory for ever (ver. 9). The prosperity of God's people is a matter which concerns His glory as well as their welfare. Can we not, for example, imagine the blasphemous taunts of the Philistines when they found themselves in possession of the Ark, whose presence in the camp of Israel they had so much dreaded? Yet on account of the sin of Israel, and for the sake of their education, God delivered His glory into the enemy's hand.3 Have we not listened in thought to the scathing jeers of the Chief Priests, Scribes, and Elders when they saw the Holy Victim of their hatred nailed to the cross? He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him.4 Yet because of man's sin there had to be that hour and the power of darkness. Similarly when judgment fell upon Judah, so that they had none to cast a cord by lot5 " " in the congregation of the Lord, and His glory was taken away from their children for ever, it was not they alone who suffered: the Lord suffered with His people.6

This is an ancient conception of sin,7 but it is one which requires much more attention than it receives. Men must learn to view sin as the robbery of God, and to think of the judgment which has to fall upon God's children when they sin, as involving loss for the glory of God.8 It was this conception which in part accounted for the despondent cry of the Psalmists when they witnessed and shared in the sufferings of God's people,9 and for their prayer of imprecation against their enemies, who were also the enemies of God.10 The cry and the prayer alike were expressions of yearning for the vindication of God's character, and for the manifestation of His glory. They looked for the complete exhibition of Divine righteousness and judgment on this side of the grave, and therefore for a marked distinction of prosperity and adversity for the friends and the enemies of God. Consequently any reversal of this experience involved a clouding over of the glory of God, and led to the fervent prayer to God to vindicate Himself. We of the New Covenant are able to thinly differently about suffering and judgment. At the same time the principle remains that the glory of God is involved in the actions and experiences of men. Sin is still a coming short of the glory of God, the failures of God's people are still occasions for the blaspheming of the word of God, judgments which fall upon the Church still have the appearance of disasters for the cause of God. The removal of the candlestick will always be the withdrawal of a means of light.11

4. Sin and Unbelief.

Let us notice, in closing, the intimate connection that there is between moral corruption and spiritual blindness. The men whose minds were set on violence and robbery were the men who accepted as their prophets advocates of wine and strong drink (ver. 11). How could it have been otherwise? If belief is to be anything more than mental assent, it must be accompanied by sympathy. Faith is an activity of heart and will as well as of mind. It is only the pure in heart who can see God;12 it is only those who have been born anew who can see the kingdom of God;13 it is with the heart that man believeth unto righteousness.14 These are not expressions of a capricious decree, but of a natural law. Faith involves sympathy with its object. Unbelief may be honestly intellectual, but it may also be dishonest and immoral. And when the roots of unbelief are embedded in immorality, argument and appeal to the intellect are vain. The only remedy is that of a changed heart. And when the appeal of love has been spurned, the only hope that remains is the fire of catastrophe.

1 Cf. St. John iii. 20.

2 1 Kings xxi. 3.

3 1 Sam. iv. 1-11; Ps. lxxviii. 61.

4 St. Matt, xxvii. 42.

5 See Neil, Everyday Life in the Holy Land, p. 92.

6 See also ch. iii. 12.

7 Cf. Ps. lxxix.

8 A good illustration of the point is provided in the story of Achan. Cf. Josh. vi. 19, vii. 21 ff.

9 Ps. lxxiii.

10 Ps. lxxxiii.

11 Rev. ii. 5.

12 St. Matt. v. 8.

13 St. John iii. 3.

14 Rom. x. 10.