In Micah 6:8 there is a famous statement about the fundamentals of faith: act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God. But just a few verses earlier there is a much less famous statement, which nonetheless we should pay attention to. It is a command to remember. “My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord” (Micah 6:5). So what is this about?
Shittim was the final place where Israel stayed on the long journey through the wilderness after they left Egypt (Num 33:49). Gilgal is the first place Israel stayed after they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land (Josh 4:19). What happened in Shittim and Gilgal and the journey from one to the other is a demonstration of the disobedience and unfaithfulness of Israel contrasted with the faithfulness of God, who blesses Israel and fulfils his covenant promises. This is what the command in Micah 6:5 is about. Israel, and the Church, is to remember our own unfaithfulness and the faithfulness and unmerited grace of God. Let me expand on this.
Let’s begin in Shittim. “Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho” (Num. 22:1 NIV). They stayed in Shittim and there a battle took place of a spiritual nature. Balak king of Moab was afraid of Israel because of what they had done in defeating other kings along their way. So Balak summoned Balaam in order to get him to curse Israel so that Balak could defeat them. This story is a long one, running through Numbers 22-24. Four times Balaam refuses to curse Israel because they are blessed by the LORD.
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it (Num. 23:19-20 NIV).
The first thing which Israel was to remember, then, is that they were blessed and could not be cursed by their enemies. The problems which Israel faced in her history were not because the enemies of Israel were stronger than she was. The relative strength of the people’s around them was irrelevant. Israel is blessed because the LORD has declared them to be blessed and no one could declare otherwise. This fact is reinforced by the earlier verses in Micah:
“My people, what have I done to you? How have burdened you? Answer me. I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam” (Micah 6:3-4).
But at Shittim the Moabites tried a different strategy when they were unable to curse Israel. Balak enticed Israel to sexual immorality and subsequently to worshipping the Baal of Peor (Rev 2:14).
While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them. (Num. 25:1-3 NIV)
Because of this the LORD sent a plague on Israel, which was only checked because Moses was commanded to kill those who worshipped the idol. Phinehas put his sword through an Israelite man and a Moabite woman together (Num 25). Phinehas was credited with righteousness because of his act (Ps 106:30-31).
The events at Shittim demonstrate primarily that the God of Israel is faithful to his people. He has blessed them and they cannot be cursed. Yet their own unfaithfulness to the God who rescued the nation from Egypt is quite evident. Over and over in the wilderness the faithfulness of God was shown to Israel: manna and quail from the sky, water from the rock, defeat of their enemies. And over and over the people complained and rebelled and disobeyed. Even though the enemies of Israel could not curse them, they were able to be enticed into worshipping other gods. Micah was reminding the people of this in an effort to bring them to repentance before judgement fell on them again.
The journey from Shittim to Gilgal demonstrates that the LORD is the God is keeps his covenant promises. It reminds Israel of the covenant. The journey from Shittim to Gilgal is the journey from outside of Canaan to inside of Canaan. Shittim is east of the Jordan and Gilgal west of the Jordan. This journey is the one which allows Israel to enter into the land which was promised to Abraham hundreds of years before. The very fact that they made this journey is a demonstration that the God of Israel is faithful to his promises. The way in which it happened is very significant. Joshua chapter 3 describes the crossing of the Jordan. The priests were commanded to carry the ark of the covenant and go stand in the Jordan. When they did so the waters of the Jordan stopped flowing, even though it was in flood at that time. So the whole nation crossed over the river on dry ground. This was a reminder of the nation crossing the Red Sea when they had been rescued from Egypt. It was a demonstration of the power of God, so that they would know that he would fulfil his promises and they would take the land and defeat the Canaanites.
After crossing the Jordan the people camped at Gilgal and there they made a memorial.
And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.” (Jos. 4:20-24 NIV).
This memorial of twelve stones was to continually remind them of the righteous acts of the LORD as Micah 6:5 commands them to do. Three other things happened at Gilgal which served to remind them of the righteous acts of the LORD there. The men were circumcised at Gilgal because they had not been circumcised on the way from Egypt (5:2-8). They ate the Passover there. This is the first day they ate the produce of the land and the manna stopped falling from the sky (5:10-12). These three events are significant. They all speak of covenant acts. Circumcision is the covenant seal instituted for Abraham. The Passover celebration before conquering the land surely parallels the Passover celebration before leaving Egypt. It reminded them of the deliverance which had occurred forty years before. The manna drying up represented the end of their wandering in the wilderness. They had arrived in the place where they had been promised to arrive at. This was a sign of the fact that Israel would live in the land as promised to Abraham a very long time before this event. Again this is about covenant.
“My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord” (Micah 6:5). Israel was commanded to remember the righteous acts of the LORD. The righteous acts of the LORD which took place between Shittim and Gilgal are of two kinds. The first righteous act was to slay the people who worshipped false gods. The LORD is holy and does not tolerate rivals. This is part of his righteousness. The second kind of righteous act was to demonstrate his power by taking Israel through the Jordan on dry ground. In this way he demonstrates that he is righteous and fulfils his promises to his people.
We are to remember that the righteousness of God is expressed in two ways. He is utterly faithful to his promises. We are blessed and can be sure that God will fulfil his promises. Our enemies cannot overtake us if we continue to be faithful to our God. On the other hand, the righteousness of God does not tolerate rivals. If the Church falls into the deception of worshipping idols then there will be discipline, and this discipline is a demonstration of God’s righteousness. Micah’s command to remember applies to us too. He was warning the people to remember so that they would not fall under judgement. If we remember we will avoid falling under judgement. So remember the righteous acts of the LORD.