"The power of darkness are yours"
The people asked the Lord, "Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins?" (Micah 6:7)
They ALL knew what God wants. Their question was really mocking God for holding them accountable at all. They ask this question of God like so many today who chide the ministries for asking donations of their friends to support their ministry work. They aren't at all interested in repentance for if they did they'd keep his commands. They weren't ignorant, from their childhood they knew the words of God and his ideals. They would have practiced the words. They would have sung them in their education. But they replaced his word in their souls with the words of man. They replaced the word of God's heart with relativity and humanism. The prophet Micah tells everyone what God requires of them, but he's not telling them something they didn't already know. In fact he says, "the Lord has told you what is good". They already know what's right and what's wrong. They've known for generations. They've got no excuse and they've got no shame. In fact that are proud of their actions.
What did they know about God's heart?
Seven things God hates:
A proud look
A lying tongue
Hands that kill the innocent
A heart that plots evil
Feet that race to do wrong
A false witness
A person who sows discord in a family.
(Proverbs 6:16-19)
And what did Micah remind them about that they already know about what God expects of them?
Micah 6:8
"People, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."
So what was really going on here?
The people are neglecting the truth. They're neglecting justice. They've declared their independence from God and are going their own ways. They're trying to keep their own laws. They want what they wanted the way they want it. And so they slip away in the night.
Did you ever notice that in the gospel stories the people close to Jesus, his disciples and followers, those who went away from Jesus to retreat from his call and betray or deny him, would go away in the dark of night? He promised light and persecution and many retreated in the dark. He asked them to make a decision in the light. He preached to them in the light. He visited them and healed them in the light. He died for them in the light, at mid day. And on that day the sky darkened. And they ran off into the night to hide from his light.
It was the light of day when Jesus entered into Jerusalem as the celebrated King riding on a donkey colt as people lined the streets praising Him. Later on Judas went out into the night and betrayed Him and then hanged himself. Peter went out into the night and failed Jesus by denying Him. The other disciples scattered in the night.
On that fateful night Jesus said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
All he asked of them was to pray. Just stay with him and pray. And before he could finish asking for their prayers the arresting crowd proudly came along with Judas and his fatal kiss. They came in the night, and Jesus commented, "While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.” [Luke 22:53-54 53]
"The power of darkness are yours"
WOW...what a condemnation.
They knew their sin and so they did what sinners do. They came in the dark to try and hide their sin. They knew they had false witnesses lined up to testify against him. They knew they'd prepared their lies against him. They knew they planned on killing an innocent man. They ran to the garden in the dark to do the evil wrong things they had plotted. And they sowed discord among the people in order to build accusations against him. As if they were trying to check off a list of the seven things God hates. They came in the night like men do. They lived up to their species. And they betrayed the truth under the cover of darkness.
Thankfully God overcomes their darkness with the light of the resurrection, but that's for another time and on a different subject. The point today is mankind's god is the darkness. Their refuge is darkness. They find their security in the darkness. And they do their evil business in the darkness.
Today I'm not going to leave this message with a positive outlook. Instead I think maybe everyone should sit in that darkness for a while. And if there is any hope to share, they'd better take Jesus' advice, and pray that they aren't tempted in the dark.