Micah 1 - Listen Up

by Lance Ponder⁽⁹⁰⁾
http://fkiprofessor.xanga.com

Introduction to Micah

Micah wrote his prophecies around the time of Isaiah, in the years shortly before the fall of Samaria in 722 BC. This relatively short book is divided into seven chapters, though it contains more than twice as many individual and specific prophecies. Several of the prophecies dealt with impending fall of Samaria and the eventual judgment against Jerusalem. This book also contains some very specific messianic prophecies including the well known prophecy that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Mic 5:2). Other prophecies appear to look forward to end times. The prophecies of this book tend to alternate between judgment and salvation culminating in a profound expression of grace in the merciful forgiveness of God who will cast away sin and keep His word of steadfast love.

Micah the Prophet

Mic 1:1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. The kings mentioned here reigned in Judah before and after the fall of Samaria. Jotham reigned in Judah from about 750 to about 735. Ahaz ruled in Judah from 735 though 715. It was during his reign and with his alliance that Assyria’s King Shalmaneser conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, finally capturing the city of Samaria itself in 722. The cunning and ruthless Assyrians did not stop with Samaria. Turning against Ahaz, the Assyrians under King Sennacherib marched south conquering one Judean village after another. They laid siege to Jerusalem itself, nearly conquering Hezekiah in 701. God spared Jerusalem and ultimately drove the Assyrians from Judah largely because Hezekiah repented (Jer 26). Hezekiah ruled until about 686 BC. Micah was a prophet from the town of Moresheth, a town in the foothills of Judah near Gath. Aside from his being an outsider to Jerusalem with revelations from God in the period before and after the fall of Samaria, little more is known about the Micah as a person.

Micah the Book

The book of Micah can rightly be divided into three main parts besides the superscription (Mic 1:1). Each of these divisions begins with a command to “hear” what God has to say. The first major division includes the first two chapters. The second includes chapters 3 to 5. The third division covers the last two chapters. Each division can be subdivided in multiple specific prophecies. Micah’s prophecies alternate between dire judgments on both kingdoms and hope for salvation. The first division deals specifically with the impending fall of Samaria and near fall of Jerusalem to the Assyrians. The later divisions mostly look further into the future, to the birth of the messiah (5:2), and to the eventual Kingdom of God to be ushered in by Christ. Like many of the messianic prophecies, several of Micah’s oracles include elements the incarnation of Christ, the Church Age, and end times.

Oracle of Samaria and Judah

Micah 1:2-7 is leveled against Samaria and Jerusalem though vv. 6-7 focus on Samaria. God announces that He sees their sin and is going to take action. The Hebrew people were taking up the Assyrian practice of cultic prostitution, a practice forbidden by Mosaic law. Not only did these practices involve sexual sin, but fees paid to the brothels paid for idols. Prostitution and idolatry are both hated by God.

Mic 1:2 Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. This verse opens the first main division with the command to the people to hear what God has to say. The prophecies of Micah against Samaria were fulfilled in his lifetime. This validation must have greatly impressed the faithful religious leaders of that era ensuring Micah’s prophecies would be included in the Tanakh. Micah speaks of YHWH being a witness from his holy temple. The reference to God being a witness against the people sets the tone for the judgments to follow.

Mic 1:3 For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. God follows testimony with action. God will walk on the high places. The high place of Judah is Jerusalem (1:5). Setting the stage for an even greater apocalyptic judgment, Mic 1:2 says the overall warning is to all people of the earth and Mic 1:3 warns God will walk over all high places on earth.

Mic 1:4 And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. In context with previous verses, this verse makes it sound like the Lord’s arrival will bring with it natural calamity of worldwide proportions such as is described by Peter (2 Pe 3:10). In context with verses immediately following, however, Micah appears to be speaking more directly to “whole world” of his own people in the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. As symbols, those puffed up (mountains) will be humbled (melt under him) and the dark places filled with sin (valleys) will be exposed (split open). While Micah may have been directing this message to Samaria and Jerusalem in particular, as will previous verses it is a truth which applies equally well to all mankind.

Mic 1:5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? Judgment is coming to all the children of Jacob. Of Samaria and Jerusalem, Samaria had fallen even further into wickedness than Jerusalem, though both were guilty before God. This can be seen in the reference to Samaria as the “transgression of Jacob” whereas Jerusalem is called the “high place of Judah.” It is easy to imagine God being as upset with Jerusalem because they should know better.

Mic 1:6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations. Micah goes from poetic treatment to very clear and direct statements. Samaria is about to get conquered and thoroughly destroyed. It is not just a threat, not just a warning, but an impending fact.

Mic 1:7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return. God says what He’s going to do and why before He does big things. Judgments against His chosen people are certainly no exception. This verse provides a very ample reason for the judgment. Cultic idol worship and temple prostitution were common in Assyria and those practices had thoroughly penetrated the Hebrew culture. Micah was saying all they’d given these brothel temples would be destroyed and what God did to those temples would be done to those of the house of Jacob who partake in those temples.

Oracle of Judah and Jerusalem

Micah 1:8-16 is the second prophesy in the first division of Micah and it deals primarily with Judah. It speaks of God’s great sorrow for Jerusalem and foretells the fate of numerous town in Judah leading up to the Assyrian assault of 701.

Mic 1:8 For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. In Mic 1:6 the speech transitions to first person. The only logical conclusion is that Micah is repeating verbatim what God said. This first person voice, continued here, makes it clear the speaker will grieve horribly over their sin. In the person of Jesus, God did indeed fulfill this prophetic verse when our Lord entered Jerusalem (Lk 13:34-35 and 19:37-42) and when he suffered his last hours of greatest lamentation (Mk 15:34).

Mic 1:9 For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. Where v8 spoke of God’s response to his people’s sin, v9 is a prophecy of God’s righteous response to sin. “Her wound” refers to Samaria’s impending destruction fulfilled in 722 BC. “And it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem” was literally fulfilled in 701 BC when the forces of the Assyrian army conquered much of Judah assaulted Jerusalem’s gates, nearly defeating them. Hezekiah’s eventual repentance stayed God’s hand.

Mic 1:10-12 Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all; in Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust. Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame; the inhabitants of Zaanan do not come out; the lamentation of Beth-ezel shall take away from you its standing place. For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem. This passage contains a string of very specific prophecies regarding towns affected by the Assyrian assault in the years following Samaria’s fall up to the near collapse of Jerusalem. It is interesting to note Micah’s own home town was very close to Gath.

Mic 1:13 Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish; it was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel. This particular prophecy appears to be a taunt. Lachish was a garrison near Jerusalem housing imported chariots and horses from Egypt. The sin referenced in this verse may mean the town had idol temple brothels or it may refer to the king’s dependence on military might over God’s benevolence. Esteeming oneself equal to God was the first sin Eve was tempted into and so a king putting his faith in his own military is a very similar sin of self exultation.

Mic 1:14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts [or dowry] to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel. The people of these towns submitted to and were exiled by Assyria. Their action was seen as deceit by the kings. The important lesson here is that not only are leaders responsible to obey God, but so also are those who are under their leaders.

Mic 1:15-16 I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam. Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile. The reference to Adullam illustrates glory being hidden because David hid in the caves of Adullam (2 Sam 23:13). The right response of the people is to mourn. Cutting one’s hair is a sign of profound mourning. The final words drop like an anvil with the weight of God’s judgment to allow His children to be taken into exile because of their sin. This prophecy and its fulfillment should still be taken as a sober sign of God’s sincere requirement for His children to be contrite and repetitive.

Majoring in the Minors

Micah Chapters:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7

Article submitted Tuesday, June 08, 2010 & read 197 times.

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