There are many of us who have an affinity for TV lawyer shows. Guys like Perry Mason, Ben Matlock, and Jack McCoy made us feel like we were in the room with them as they pressed the witnesses and got to the truth of the matter. Sometimes even getting confessions from the guilty on the stand. In the book of Micah, the reader is invited into the court room as God brings a charge against Judah.
“Hear now what the Lord is saying” (Mic. 6:1). God begins by calling his witnesses to the stand (6:1-2). In this case, He calls the mountains, hills, foundations of the earth. God had told them before they went into the Promised Land that “heaven and earth” witnessed against them as He told them what would happen if they provoked Him to anger (Deut. 4:26). Then, taking the place of the plaintiff, God asks the question, “What have I done to you?” (Mic. 6:3). He then proceeds to give evidence of keeping His side of the covenant relationship. “I brought you up from the land of Egypt and ransomed you from the house of slavery” (Mic. 6:4-5). It is after this that God answers as a defendant for them. “With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul” (Mic. 6:6-7)? Finally, God provides the answer as a judge. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic. 6:8)?
This court scene that is laid out before us in this chapter is unlike our judgement. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). On that day, it will not be heaven and nature that is called as witness against us. It will be the words of Christ (John 12:48-50). In Revelation chapter six, there are six seals that are opened. The sixth seal is that of judgement and destruction. The question is asked after seeing this great calamity unfold, “Who is able to stand?” (Rev. 6:17). That is, who will be left after such great destruction? In chapter seven, we receive that answer beginning in verse nine. There is a great multitude from every nation and every tongue around the throne of God worshipping Him. John describes these worshippers. “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14). The day of our judgment is coming. Let us keep our robes white and persevere through this life to be able to stand before the God, the righteous Judge.