NOTES for Mic 6:1-16
When one party breaches a contract, the other may take the matter to court. Israel breaks the covenant with God, and God raises His voice, summoning His people to judgment. Was He the first to break the agreement? No, God is faithful to His word. Can Israel claim to be keeping the agreement merely because it offers the prescribed sacrifices? Again, no, because sacrifices are not the essence of the agreement. “He has told you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love deeds of mercy, and to walk humbly before your God.” The agreement has therefore truly been broken by Israel, and God warns that this makes it impossible to fulfill the agreement on His side as well: He withdraws His protection from Israel. “I will give you over to desolation and your inhabitants to derision, and you shall bear the reproach of My people.”