The Book of Micah like most of the Minor Prophecies gives warning of impending Judgement to the Israelite people. God Highlights in this book of their corrupt and selfish behaviour. Again He tells Israel they will be exiled into Babylon, but only for a season, God will bring them back again as a redeemed God fearing nation to worship Him in the Holy City. But God also reveals His plan to send a redeemer the Messiah who will reign in righteousness, the people of Israel will worship in peace and many people will come and worship at His Holy Mount in Jerusalem.
In the first few verses of the book in Micah 1:- God opens by saying - 1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah - the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2:Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen, O earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign LORD may witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
3:Look! The LORD is coming from his dwelling-place; he comes down and treads the high places of the earth.
4:The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
5:All this is because of Jacob's transgression, because of the sins of the house of Israel. What is Jacob's transgression? Is it not Samaria? What is Judah's high place? Is it not Jerusalem?
Because of Israel’s transgressions God reveals what He is going to do, in Micah 1:6 we read - “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations.
7 All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”
Micah grieves over the evil in the nation, Micah is overwrought and says in Micah 1:8 - 8 Because of this I will weep and wail; I will go about barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl.
9 For Samaria’s plague is incurable; it has spread to Judah. It has reached the very gate of my people,
even to Jerusalem itself.
God highlights the hypocrisy in the land, and says clearly how He is going to deal with the people for being disobedient we read in Micah 2: 1 –Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.
3 Therefore, the Lord says: “I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity.
God continues His warning to the leaders, but because Israel is not ready to repent and fully turn to him, God will turn His back on them, He will not listen, and we read in Micah 3:1 - Then I said, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not embrace justice,
2 you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones;
3 who eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin and break their bones in pieces; who chop them up like meat for the pan, like flesh for the pot?”
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.
Micah 3:7 - 7 The seers will be ashamed and the diviners disgraced. They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God.”
But Micah knows where his strength and security lies, it is in the living God, he says in Micah 3:8 8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin.
The pride of the leaders causes them to think they are untouchable, God says - Micah 3:9 - 9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right;
10 who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness.
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money.
Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.”
We read in Psalm 103:8 - 8The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
Here God shows His deep love and compassion for Israel, who in a day to come will restore Israel. We read in Micah 4:1 - In the last days The mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. 2 Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
4 Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken.
5 All the nations may walk in the name of their gods, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.
6 “In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief.
7 I will make the lame my remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.
God reminds them it is just for a time, He will redeem them, Micah 4: 10 - 10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion, like a woman in labour, for now you must leave the city to camp in the open field. You will go to Babylon; there you will be rescued. There the Lord will redeem you out of the hand of your enemies.
11 But now many nations are gathered against you.
Micah 5:1 - Marshal your troops now, city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod.
In Micah 5:2 God reveals His great plan in sending Jesus who will not only give Israel but the whole world His plan of redeemtion - 2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
God offers Israel a simple solution to them in how to follow him again, highlighting that before they turn back to Him, Israel will go through a time of impoverishment that will come upon the people and the land, we read in Micah 6: 8 - 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
9 Listen! The Lord is calling to the city—and to fear your name is wisdom—“Heed the rod and the One who appointed it.[b]
10 Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house, and the short ephah,[c] which is accursed?
11 Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights?
12 Your rich people are violent; your inhabitants are liars and their tongues speak deceitfully.
13 Therefore, I have begun to destroy you, to ruin you because of your sins.
14 You will eat but not be satisfied; your stomach will still be empty. You will store up but save nothing,
because what you save[f] I will give to the sword.
15 You will plant but not harvest; you will press olives but not use the oil, you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.
16 You have observed the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their traditions. Therefore I will give you over to ruin and your people to derision; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”
God continues in Micah 7:1 - What misery is mine! I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave.
2 The faithful have been swept from the land; not one upright person remains. Everyone lies in wait to shed blood; they hunt each other with nets.
3 Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire—they all conspire together.
4 The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day God visits you has come, the day your watchmen sound the alarm. Now is the time of your confusion.
5 Do not trust a neighbour; put no confidence in a friend. Even with the woman who lies in your embrace
guard the words of your lips.
6 For a son dishonours his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.
Micah shows his strengthens and his faith in believing what God has said will come to pass, he says in - Micah 7:7 - 7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Saviour; my God will hear me.
Finally God shows His mercy and compassion by promising them He will gather His people together in love, reassuring them of a bright and glorious future, we read in - Micah 7:14 14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago.
15 “As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my wonders.”
16 Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears will become deaf.
17 They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to the Lord our God and will be afraid of you.
18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
20 You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors
in days long ago.
What lessons can we learn from this prophecy, is it relevant for us today, yes it is.
As we look at our country today and the countries around the world, we see a parallel in the evil that is still rampant, at all levels of society from the lowest right up to government level (Micah 3:9 to 11) and (Micah 6: 10 to 12). Even if we show an outward appearance of seeking God, but we continue in deceit, God will turn His back on us (Micah 3:4). We have to show sincerity of heart, we have to totally turn our lives around in order for him to hear our cry of repentance.
We read in Proverbs 13:34 - 34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. Again in 2 Chronicles 7:14 – if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Also in Jeremiah 29:13 we read - You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart
Micah knew his God and trusted Him, knowing that in spite of what spiritual wars were raging around him, God would protect him, and he would come to no harm (Micah 3:8 and Micah 7:7) Psalm 91 written by David reminds us of where our security lies. of which the first verse says - He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
God is unchanging His word is true, the key verse in this book is in Micah 6: 8 God clearly and in simple language says - 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
The Hymn writer has penned these words
Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
