Listen to what the LORD says: "Stand up, plead my case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say." – Micah 6:1

Today's Scripture Reading (March 18, 2023): Micah 6

Mountains are amazing features of nature. And while we now know where the passages are through most of the mountain ranges on the earth, I sometimes wonder what it was like to be the first explorer to confront these giants. How did you decide on how to proceed and where to go to get through the ranges? I love to read the stories of those early adventurers. How they sometimes found a natural hot spring and spent time in that area because of the warmth that was offered. If it were me, during a cold winter, it would take a lot to get me to want to leave the area of the spring and venture back out into the winter to finish the journey and search for a pass to take me to the other side of the range.

Mountains are the silent witnesses of history. They saw both the successes that took place on their magnificent slopes and all the tragedies. If only we had a way of seeing the things that the mountains have seen since their creation millennia ago.

Micah imagines God taking up his case against Israel in a court-like setting. In this setting, God would be the plaintiff, Israel the defendant, and mountains would take their positions as the witnesses to all that has happened. The mountains would know the truth because they had seen it all. No one could trick or persuade them of the lies Israel might want to sell. They had stood on the land from a time before Israel, and they would stand on it long after Israel had been ejected from the area. The mountains were unmoved by tragedy and celebration. They could not be bribed or blackmailed; they had watched the events happening around them and knew the truth of all that had happened around them.

In this court, God would state his case against Israel, and the mountains would speak the truth about what had happened. And Micah knew that the only response to God's accusations and the mountains' testimony was that Israel would stand condemned. As a result, wouldn't it be better to make the change now before they were dragged into this natural court?

It is a good question but one that we too often ignore. We hear the warnings but continue to allow our behavior to carry us further toward that court date, all because we don't want to make the change. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Micah 7