A. Overview and Summary.
- The book of Micah was written by the prophet Micah as identified in verse 1:1. He was from Moresheth-Gath, a small ancient village in the southern kingdom of Judah. He prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah. This would place the date of writing about 735 to 700 BC.
- His message from God is a mixture of judgement to both Israel and Judah for their idolatry, corruption and injustice, but it is also a message of hope for a future restoration under the Messiah. The northern kingdom of Israel was about to be conquered by the Assyrians, which took place in 722 BC. But he also writes of the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place by the Babylonians about 150 years later. He is one of the 12 minor prophets at the end of the Old Testament and the book is comprised of 7 chapters. The following is a summary of key verses.
B. Chapter 1. “Hear, ye peoples, all of you; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord Jehovah be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. For, behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be melted under Him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, as waters that are poured down a steep place. For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel” (Vs. 1:2-5a). Samaria was the capital of Israel and Jerusalem the capital of Judah. These cities represented the entire kingdoms of both nations.
C. Chapter 2. Micah came from a lower-class family and a poor village. He railed against the wealthy who abused the poor: “Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand. And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage” (Vs.2:1-2). An example of this is what King Ahab of Samaria, did to Naboth who owned a very lush vineyard next to Ahab’s palace. Ahab offered to buy it, but Naboth refused as it was part of his heritage. Ahab’s wife, Jezebel concocted an evil scheme where two men lied that Naboth cursed God and Ahab. Naboth was stoned to death and Ahab gained the vineyard through deceit and corruption (Vs. 1 Kings 21:1-15).
D. Chapter 4 contains a promise of hope under the Messiah: “But in the latter days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow unto it. And many nations shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem; and He will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Vs. 4:1-3).
E. Chapter 5 contains a prophecy of the birth of Messiah and His future role as a shepherd to Israel: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of you shall one come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. Therefore, will He give them up, until the time that she who travails has brought forth: then the residue of His brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And He shall stand, and shall feed His flock in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah His God: and they shall abide; for now, shall He be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall be our peace” (Vs. 5:2-5a). At the time of Micah’s writing, there were two towns named Bethlehem. The other one was Bethlehem of Zebulun located in the northern kingdom of Israel. Bethlehem Ephrathah is in Judah, about 5 miles south of Jerusalem. This passage is a very strong proof of the divine inspiration of Scripture, in that Micah predicted 700 years in advance where Jesus would be born.
F. Chapter 7 concludes with a promise: “Who is a God like unto You, that pardons iniquity, and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retains not His anger forever, because He delights in lovingkindness. He will again have compassion upon us; He will tread our iniquities under foot; and You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. You will perform the truth to Jacob, and the lovingkindness to Abraham, which You have sworn unto our fathers from the days of old” (Vs. 7:18-20).
G. Discussion Questions, Application and Passing it on.
- Conservatively, there are at least 300 Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His incarnation and earthly ministry. Does that give you hope for the fulfillment of those prophecies related to His second coming? Can you use this fact to share the evidence of divine inspiration of the Bible with someone?
- When the Magi, from the East came to Jerusalem, they inquired where is he that is born king of the Jews? King Herod consulted the scribes who told him of this prophecy of Bethlehem. Herod sent soldiers to kill all the babies in that area that were two years and under (Matthew 2:1-16). But the scribes who knew of this prophecy did not go. Do you take your Bible knowledge and apply it to your life? Do you apply Jesus words about watching for His return? (Matthew 25:13).
- The final promise in Micah regarding His casting our sins into the depths of the sea should be of great encouragement to us. If we have truly repented and confessed our sin, we can rest assured that He will not bring it up again to us. Corrie Ten Boom, a Holocaust survivor of the Nazi camps of WWII, says we should put up a sign above the sea, that says: “No fishing”. Do you “fish up” remembrances of your past sins to condemn yourself?