Micah

Book Outhne

Key theme: God judges sin and calls for justice

Key verse:

I. A Warning Message: Judgment Is Coming ()

A. The Judge appears ()

B. The nations are judged ()

1. Judgment on Samaria ()

2. Judgment on Judah ()

C. Why judgment is coming ()

1. Because of covetousness ()

2. Because of false prophets ()

D. Hope for the remnant (, )

II. A Promise Message: A Deliverer Is Coming ()

A. The sins of the leaders ()

B. The future of the nation ()

C. The coming Messiah ()

D. The defeat of the enemy ()

III. A Challenge Message: Trust the Lord Now ()

A. In spite of the indictment ()

B. In spite of the sentence ()

C. Because of the Lord’s mercies ()

Book Overview

King David had a great many talented men in his army, but the most valuable were perhaps the men of Issachar. “The sons of Issachar . . . had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” ()., because they understood the times, the men of Issachar had abandoned the ill-fated house of Saul and had joined forces with David, God’s chosen king. They had seen where God’s hand was moving, and they obediently had moved in that direction.

Micah was a man who had the same kind of discernment, because God had given him insight into the changes taking place on the national and international scene. Micah received three messages from the Lord to deliver to the people in hopes they would abandon their idolatry and return to sincere faith in the Lord.

Micah’s name is an abbreviated form of “Micaiah” and means “Who is like the Lord?” (See .) He was from the village of Moresheth near Gath, about twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem, and he prophesied during the last half of the eighth century B.C., during the reigns of Jotham (750–735 B.C.), Ahaz (735–715 B.C.), and Hezekiah (715–686 B.C.). He was a contemporary of Isaiah () in Judah and Hosea () in Israel, the northern kingdom.

The death of King Uzziah in 739 B.C. was a watershed experience for Judah. During Jotham’s reign, Assyria had grown stronger, and when Ahaz ascended the throne, both Syria and Israel tried to pressure him into joining a rebellion against Assyria (). informs us that it was the ministry of Micah that encouraged the great reformation in Judah under the leadership of King Hezekiah ().

Society in Judah was rapidly changing from rural to urban. In defiance of the Law of Moses, wealthy investors were buying up small family farms and developing huge land holdings, which created serious problems for the poor. Having come from a farming community, Micah championed the oppressed poor and rebuked the robber barons for their selfishness. Amos echoed the same message.

Micah saw the coming judgment of the northern kingdom through Assyria (722 B.C.) as well as the fall of Jerusalem and Judah by the Babylonians (606–596 B.C.). He sought to call the Jews back to faithful worship of Jehovah and sincere obedience to His covenant, but they refused to listen. He pled for social justice and a concern for the helpless, but the people would not repent.

“Be Transformed”

Few passages in Scripture contain so much distilled theology and timeless hope as . The last words of this book leave a lasting impression. We see in them a reflection of what God told Moses on the mount (). God wants us to know His character: His holiness, His righteousness, and, above all, His unfailing love. God never stops being God while dealing with us.

The better we know the character of God, the more we can trust Him for the future. The better we know the promises and covenants of God, the more peace we will have in our hearts when life falls apart. When Micah wrote this confession of his faith, the future seemed hopeless; yet he had hope because he knew God and fully trusted Him. No matter how dark the day, the light of God’s promises is still shining. No matter how confusing and frightening our circumstances may be, the character of God remains the same. No matter how hopeless our future may seem, in Him we can still find hope.

Hope based on the character of God transforms lives and living. Hope in Christ as the ultimate expression of God’s character is nothing less than a solid rock under life. The hope that God kindles becomes a flame others notice and are drawn to, which is why Peter so memorably advised, “Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you” ().

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 Coming Judgment on Israel

Hear, all you peoples!

Listen, O earth, and all that is in it!

Let the Lord GOD be a witness against you,

The Lord from His holy temple.

For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place;

He will come down

And tread on the high places of the earth.

4The mountains will melt under Him,

And the valleys will split

Like wax before the fire,

Like waters poured down a steep place.

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 are the high places of Judah?

Are they not Jerusalem?

“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field,

Places for planting a vineyard;

I will pour down her stones into the valley,

And I will uncover her foundations.

7All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,

And all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire;

All her idols I will lay desolate,

For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot,

And they shall return to the pay of a harlot.”

Mourning for Israel and Judah

8Therefore I will wail and howl,

I will go stripped and naked;

I will make a wailing like the jackals

And a mourning like the ostriches,

9For her wounds are incurable.

For it has come to Judah;

It has come to the gate of My people—

To Jerusalem.

Tell it not in Gath,

Weep not at all;

In Beth Aphrah

Roll yourself in the dust.

11Pass by in naked shame, you inhabitant of Shaphir;

The inhabitant of Zaanan does not go out.

Beth Ezel mourns;

Its place to stand is taken away from you.

12For the inhabitant of Maroth pined for good,

But disaster came down from the LORD

To the gate of Jerusalem.

13O inhabitant of Lachish,

Harness the chariot to the swift steeds

(She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion),

For the transgressions of Israel were found in you.

14Therefore you shall give presents to Moresheth Gath;

The houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

15I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah;

The glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.

16Make yourself bald and cut off your hair,

Because of your precious children;

Enlarge your baldness like an eagle,

For they shall go from you into captivity.

Woe to Evildoers

Woe to those who devise iniquity,

And work out evil on their beds!

At morning light they practice it,

Because it is in the power of their hand.

They covet fields and take them by violence,

Also houses, and seize them.

So they oppress a man and his house,

A man and his inheritance.

Therefore thus says the LORD:

“Behold, against this family I am devising disaster,

From which you cannot remove your necks;

Nor shall you walk haughtily,

For this is an evil time.

4In that day one shall take up a proverb against you,

And lament with a bitter lamentation, saying:

‘We are utterly destroyed!

He has changed the heritage of my people;

How He has removed it from me!

To a turncoat He has divided our fields.’ ”

5Therefore you will have no one to determine boundaries by lot

In the assembly of the LORD.

Lying Prophets

“Do not prattle,” you say to those who prophesy.

So they shall not prophesy to you;

They shall not return insult for insult.

7You who are named the house of Jacob:

“Is the Spirit of the LORD restricted?

Are these His doings?

Do not My words do good

To him who walks uprightly?

8“Lately My people have risen up as an enemy—

You pull off the robe with the garment

From those who trust you, as they pass by,

Like men returned from war.

9The women of My people you cast out

From their pleasant houses;

From their children

You have taken away My glory forever.

10“Arise and depart,

For this is not your rest;

Because it is defiled, it shall destroy,

Yes, with utter destruction.

11If a man should walk in a false spirit

And speak a lie, saying,

‘I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,’

Even he would be the prattler of this people.

Israel Restored

“I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob,

I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;

I will put them together like sheep of the fold,

Like a flock in the midst of their pasture;

They shall make a loud noise because of so many people.

The one who breaks open will come up before them;

They will break out,

Pass through the gate,

And go out by it;

Their king will pass before them,

With the LORD at their head.”

Wicked Rulers and Prophets

And I said:

“Hear now, O heads of Jacob,

And you rulers of the house of Israel:

Is it not for you to know justice?

2You who hate good and love evil;

Who strip the skin from My people,

And the flesh from their bones;

3Who also eat the flesh of My people,

Flay their skin from them,

Break their bones,

And chop them in pieces

Like meat for the pot,

Like flesh in the caldron.”

4Then they will cry to the LORD,

But He will not hear them;

He will even hide His face from them at that time,

Because they have been evil in their deeds.

Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets

Who make my people stray;

Who chant “Peace”

While they chew with their teeth,

But who prepare war against him

Who puts nothing into their mouths:

6“Therefore you shall have night without vision,

And you shall have darkness without divination;

The sun shall go down on the prophets,

And the day shall be dark for them.

7So the seers shall be ashamed,

And the diviners abashed;

Indeed they shall all cover their lips;

For there is no answer from God.”

8But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD,

And of justice and might,

To declare to Jacob his transgression

And to Israel his sin.

Now hear this,

You heads of the house of Jacob

And rulers of the house of Israel,

Who abhor justice

And pervert all equity,

10Who build up Zion with bloodshed

And Jerusalem with iniquity:

Her heads judge for a bribe,

Her priests teach for pay,

And her prophets divine for money.

Yet they lean on the LORD, and say,

“Is not the LORD among us?

No harm can come upon us.”

12Therefore because of you

Zion shall be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,

And the mountain of the temple

Like the bare hills of the forest.

The LORD’s Reign in Zion

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days

That the mountain of the LORD’s house

Shall be established on the top of the mountains,

And shall be exalted above the hills;

And peoples shall flow to it.

2Many nations shall come and say,

“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,

To the house of the God of Jacob;

He will teach us His ways,

And we shall walk in His paths.”

For out of Zion the law shall go forth,

And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

3He shall judge between many peoples,

And rebuke strong nations afar off;

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 anymore.

4But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree,

And no one shall make them afraid;

For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.

5For all people walk each in the name of his god,

But we will walk in the name of the LORD our God

Forever and ever.

Zion’s Future Triumph

“In that day,” says the LORD,

“I will assemble the lame,

I will gather the outcast

And those whom I have afflicted;

7I will make the lame a remnant,

And the outcast a strong nation;

So the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion

From now on, even forever.

8And you, O tower of the flock,

The stronghold of the daughter of Zion,

To you shall it come,

Even the former dominion shall come,

The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”

Now why do you cry aloud?

Is there no king in your midst?

Has your counselor perished?

For pangs have seized you like a woman in labor.

10Be in pain, and labor to bring forth,

O daughter of Zion,

Like a woman in birth pangs.

For now you shall go forth from the city,

You shall dwell in the field,

And to Babylon you shall go.

There you shall be delivered;

There the LORD will redeem you

From the hand of your enemies.

Now also many nations have gathered against you,

Who say, “Let her be defiled,

And let our eye look upon Zion.”

12But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD,

Nor do they understand His counsel;

For He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

13“Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion;

For I will make your horn iron,

And I will make your hooves bronze;

You shall beat in pieces many peoples;

I will consecrate their gain to the LORD,

And their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.”

Now gather yourself in troops,

O daughter of troops;

He has laid siege against us;

They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

The Coming Messiah

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,

Yet out of you shall come forth to Me

The One to be Ruler in Israel,

Whose goings forth are from of old,

From everlasting.”

3Therefore He shall give them up,

Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth;

Then the remnant of His brethren

Shall return to the children of Israel.

4And He shall stand and feed His flock

In the strength of the LORD,

In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God;

And they shall abide,

For now He shall be great

To the ends of the earth;

And this One shall be peace.

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

When the Assyrian comes into our land,

And when he treads in our palaces,

Then we will raise against him

Seven shepherds and eight princely men.

6They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria,

And the land of Nimrod at its entrances;

Thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian,

When he comes into our land

And when he treads within our borders.

Then the remnant of Jacob

Shall be in the midst of many peoples,

Like dew from the LORD,

Like showers on the grass,

That tarry for no man

Nor wait for the sons of men.

8And the remnant of Jacob

Shall be among the Gentiles,

In the midst of many peoples,

Like a lion among the beasts of the forest,

Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,

Who, if he passes through,

Both treads down and tears in pieces,

And none can deliver.

9Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries,

And all your enemies shall be cut off.

“And it shall be in that day,” says the LORD,

“That I will cut off your horses from your midst

And destroy your chariots.

11I will cut off the cities of your land

And throw down all your strongholds.

12I will cut off sorceries from your hand,

And you shall have no soothsayers.

13Your carved images I will also cut off,

And your sacred pillars from your midst;

You shall no more worship the work of your hands;

14I will pluck your wooden images from your midst;

Thus I will destroy your cities.

15And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury

On the nations that have not heard.”

God Pleads with Israel

Hear now what the LORD says:

“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

And let the hills hear your voice.

Hear, O you mountains, the LORD’s complaint,

And you strong foundations of the earth;

For the LORD has a complaint against His people,

And He will contend with Israel.

3“O My people, what have I done to you?

And how have I wearied you?

Testify against Me.

4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,

I redeemed you from the house of bondage;

And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5O My people, remember now

What Balak king of Moab counseled,

And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

From Acacia Grove to Gilgal,

That you may know the righteousness of the LORD.”

With what shall I come before the LORD,

And bow myself before the High God?

Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,

With calves a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,

Ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the LORD require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

Punishment of Israel’s Injustice

The LORD’s voice cries to the city—

Wisdom shall see Your name:

“Hear the rod!

Who has appointed it?

10Are there yet the treasures of wickedness

In the house of the wicked,

And the short measure that is an abomination?

Shall I count pure those with the wicked scales,

And with the bag of deceitful weights?

12For her rich men are full of violence,

Her inhabitants have spoken lies,

And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

13“Therefore I will also make you sick by striking you,

By making you desolate because of your sins.

14You shall eat, but not be satisfied;

Hunger shall be in your midst.

You may carry some away, but shall not save them;

And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.

15“You shall sow, but not reap;

You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;

And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.

For the statutes of Omri are kept;

All the works of Ahab’s house are done;

And you walk in their counsels,

That I may make you a desolation,

And your inhabitants a hissing.

Therefore you shall bear the reproach of My people.”

Sorrow for Israel’s Sins

Woe is me!

For I am like those who gather summer fruits,

Like those who glean vintage grapes;

There is no cluster to eat

Of the first-ripe fruit which my soul desires.

2The faithful man has perished from the earth,

And there is no one upright among men.

They all lie in wait for blood;

Every man hunts his brother with a net.

3That they may successfully do evil with both hands—

The prince asks for gifts,

The judge seeks a bribe,

And the great man utters his evil desire;

So they scheme together.

The best of them is like a brier;

The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge;

The day of your watchman and your punishment comes;

Now shall be their perplexity.

5Do not trust in a friend;

Do not put your confidence in a companion;

Guard the doors of your mouth

From her who lies in your bosom.

6For son dishonors father,

Daughter rises against her mother,

Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.

Therefore I will look to the LORD;

I will wait for the God of my salvation;

My God will hear me.

Israel’s Confession and Comfort

8Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;

When I fall, I will arise;

When I sit in darkness,

The LORD will be a light to me.

9I will bear the indignation of the LORD,

Because I have sinned against Him,

Until He pleads my case

And executes justice for me.

He will bring me forth to the light;

I will see His righteousness.

10Then she who is my enemy will see,

And shame will cover her who said to me,

“Where is the LORD your God?”

My eyes will see her;

Now she will be trampled down

Like mud in the streets.

In the day when your walls are to be built,

In that day the decree shall go far and wide.

12In that day they shall come to you

From Assyria and the fortified cities,

From the fortress to the River,

From sea to sea,

And mountain to mountain.

13Yet the land shall be desolate

Because of those who dwell in it,

And for the fruit of their deeds.

God Will Forgive Israel

14Shepherd Your people with Your staff,

The flock of Your heritage,

Who dwell solitarily in a woodland,

In the midst of Carmel;

Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,

As in days of old.

“As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,

I will show them wonders.”

The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;

They shall put their hand over their mouth;

Their ears shall be deaf.

17They shall lick the dust like a serpent;

They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth.

They shall be afraid of the LORD our God,

And shall fear because of You.

Who is a God like You,

Pardoning iniquity

And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?

He does not retain His anger forever,

Because He delights in mercy.

19He will again have compassion on us,

And will subdue our iniquities.

You will cast all our sins

Into the depths of the sea.

20You will give truth to Jacob

And mercy to Abraham,

Which You have sworn to our fathers

From days of old.

Annotations for Micah

When the prophet Amos was about to indict Israel and Judah, he started by condemning the Gentile nations around them (); but the prophet Micah didn’t take that approach. Without any formal introduction, he moved right into his message and sounded the alarm.

The image in verses through is that of a court of law, with God as the Judge and Judah and Samaria as the defendants. Micah addressed all the people of the earth because God is the Lord of the whole earth (, ) and all the nations are accountable to Him. God is both Judge and Witness from His holy temple, where His law was kept in the ark of the covenant. A holy God must act in righteousness and judge sin.

, Today, when a judge enters a courtroom from his or her chamber, everybody in the courtroom rises, a symbol of the respect we have for the judge and the law that he or she represents. But no judge ever came to court in the manner described by Micah! The phrase translated “comes down” (v. ) means “to come forth for battle.” God opens the court and declares war!

God pointed an accusing finger at His own people—Israel and Judah—as represented by their capital cities, Samaria and Jerusalem. After seeing what Assyria had done to Israel in 722 B.C., the leaders of Judah should have repented and turned to the Lord, but they didn’t. In fact, during the reign of Hezekiah, the Assyrians plundered Judah and would have taken Jerusalem had not the Lord miraculously intervened ().

The prophet responded to God’s message by acting like a grieving man at a funeral (v. ; ). He was genuinely burdened because of what would happen to his people if they didn’t heed God’s Word and turn from their sin.

God would destroy the city and nation of Samaria because the people had rebelled against His Word, and He would destroy the Samaritan temple because it housed a false religion that was nothing but religious prostitution. (Throughout the Old Testament, idolatry is compared to prostitution.) But God would destroy the temple in Jerusalem because the leaders had turned the true religion into a false worship of Jehovah and the gods of the nations. Jehovah is a jealous God who will not share worship or glory with another (; ; ; ; ). The covenant God made with His people at Sinai was like a marriage contract, and their breaking that covenant was like committing adultery or engaging in prostitution.

The tragedy of this invasion is that it need not have happened. Had the people of Israel and Judah turned to the Lord in repentance and faith, He would have given them victory. Instead, they believed the false prophets, held fast to their idols, and sinned their way right into defeat. Sad to say, even the little children suffered and went into captivity (v. ), all because of the sins of the parents.

How could the Lord Jehovah permit such suffering and shame to come to His covenant people? Were they not His special heritage? Was not the land His love gift to them? That was why He was punishing them! “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities” ().

Wealthy people in Micah’s day were bent on acquiring large estates on which they could enslave the poor and thus make huge profits with little investment. So intent were they on their pursuit of wealth that they made their ruthless plans in bed at night and then rose early the next morning to carry them out. Because of their wealth and their authority in the land, these people controlled the courts and the councils at the city gates. Thus they were able to get what they wanted.

The name for this sin is materialism, and it’s committed by people who are covetous and obsessed with acquiring more and more wealth and material things. Parents rob their children of time and companionship by working at several jobs so they can make more money to buy more “fun.” People rob God of tithes and offerings that are rightfully His just so they can enjoy “the good life” (). People forget and put everything else ahead of the kingdom of God.

Ultimately, the covetous sinners Micah addressed would reap what they sowed, and they would experience the dreadful harvest of their sins. Their proud self-confidence would be taken from them, their authority would be gone, their crooked accomplices would turn against them and laugh at them, and their vast holdings would be snatched from their hands.

Just as the false prophets attacked Jeremiah () and Amos () for preaching God’s truth, so the false prophets attacked Micah for faithfully declaring the message of God. These men espoused a shallow theology that had no place for either sin or repentance.

, The faithful prophet must expose sin and announce judgment, but he must also provide consolation and hope for those who receive His message and turn to God. Consolation without true repentance is only giving false hope; it’s saying “Peace, peace!” when no peace is at hand. But conviction without hope creates only hopelessness, like performing surgery without providing healing.

The existence of a “remnant” is a very important doctrine in the prophetic books, with many references to it. Though the nation of Israel might rebel against God, a faithful remnant would always trust Him and seek to do His will, and God would work because of the faith of this group of faithful believers. (This is true of the professing church today.) The hope of the nation lies with the remnant.

Today we need to deal with our sins of covetousness, selfishness, and willingness to believe religious lies. We must abandon soft religion that pampers our pride and makes sinning easy. Why? Because “our God is a consuming fire” (), and “The LORD will judge His people” (). Remember, judgment begins in the house of the Lord ().

Micah’s second message is at the heart of the book and focuses on Israel’s future. First, Micah rebuked the leaders of the nation for their sinful conduct, which God would judge (), and he outhned the events that would usher in the promised kingdom (). Knowing that God has such a glorious future planned for their nation should have motivated the leaders to turn from their sins and obey the Lord. “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (). Alas, they didn’t even pay attention to the sermon!

Micah opened his message by rebuking the civil authorities, leaders who were not only permitting the wealthy to exploit the poor but were also doing it themselves! Leaders are supposed to love the good and hate the evil, but these people were just the opposite: they “hate good and love evil” (v. ). Ideal leaders are described as “able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness” ().

Micah then turned to rebuke the false prophets, whose lies made it easy for the corrupt officials to carry on their evil deeds. “An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?” (, ). When God is left out of human government, officials can easily use their authority selfishly to exploit the people.

Micah also addressed all the leaders of the land—the rulers, the priests, and the prophets—and accused them of numerous sins: committing injustice, distorting the truth, murdering innocent people, accepting bribes, and, while doing these evil deeds, claiming to be serving the Lord! Any theology that makes sinning easy is not biblical theology. Had the rulers, prophets, and priests read and pondered and through , they would have discovered that the God of the covenant is holy and will not countenance high-handed sin. They would also have learned that the blessings of the covenant depended on their obeying the conditions of the covenant and that God punishes His people when they disobey.

As long as they were given something to eat and drink, the prophets would declare whatever kind of message the donor wanted to hear. Like the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day, they announced peace when war and desolation were just around the corner (, ; , ). But the time would come when these people who claimed to see the light would be shrouded in darkness, and everybody would know that they were counterfeits. They would cry out to the Lord, but He would not answer.

The situation for the two little Israelite kingdoms was hopeless when Micah delivered his messages. Assyria was about to pounce on Israel and put an end to that nation; then the Assyrian army would ravage Judah and almost take Jerusalem. When the outlook is grim, try the uplook. Thus the prophet encouraged the people to look ahead to what God had promised for His chosen people.

, God promised that eventually, though the remnant of Jews might be small, weak, and lame, God would gather them from all the nations and make a mighty army out of them. The Messiah would rule over them, and Jerusalem would become the glorious capital city for His kingdom. Jerusalem had once been David’s capital city, the shepherd-king who cared for the flock (). After Josiah died, however, not one of his four successors was a godly man. The Messiah, the Son of David, would one day reign from Jerusalem and care for His flock as a faithful Shepherd-King.

, The city of Jerusalem would be in pain, like a woman giving birth, because the enemy would be capturing the people and taking them to Babylon. The exile wouldn’t be the end, however, for God would redeem a remnant and bring them back to the land.

Once again, the prophet looked ahead to the end times and saw his people being attacked by many Gentile nations, all of them gloating over Israel because they were so sure of defeating the Jews (see ; ). The nations would be sure of victory because they ignored Scripture and didn’t know God’s plans for His people ().

Next, Micah looked ahead to the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. When King Zedekiah and his officers saw that their situation was hopeless, they tried to escape, but the Babylonians caught up with them and captured them (). They humiliated the king by striking him with a rod across his face. Then they killed his sons, put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him, and took him to Babylon.

In this prophecy, Micah revealed a number of important facts about the Messiah. To begin with, He is eternal God, for His “goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” Jesus stepped out of eternity into human history, sent by the Father to die for the sins of the world (). But He is also truly a man, for He is born as a human child. We have here the miracle of the Incarnation ().

The fact that verse is in contrast to verse (“But, you, Bethlehem”) is another proof that verse is not speaking about Jesus, for verses through definitely refer to the Messiah. God selected the little town of Bethlehem as the place where the King of the Jews was to be born. This is the prophecy that the priests shared with the magi who came to Jerusalem looking for the King ().

As he continued to view the distant scene, Micah announced that Israel’s future enemies would be defeated (vv. , ), the Jewish remnant would be blessed (vv. ), and the nation would be purged of its sins (vv. ).

, “The Assyrians” named in verse aren’t the Assyrian army of Micah’s day, for the Israelites in that day certainly didn’t defeat Assyria and rule over her land. The Assyrians soundly defeated Israel, and the land of Israel was ruined. “The Assyrians” is another way of saying “the enemy,” and here it refers to Israel’s enemies in the last days when all nations will gather against her.

Though small in number, the Jewish remnant of the last days will experience great help from the Lord as they face their enemies. Micah used two similes to illustrate this blessing: the refreshing dew from heaven and the conquering strength of the lion. God will enable His people to overcome like lions and then bring fruitfulness to the world like the dew that watered Israel’s crops (). Israel would triumph over her enemies through the power of the Lord.

In Micah’s day, both Israel and Judah were guilty of sins that violated God’s law and grieved God’s heart. Time after time, He had sent messengers to the people to denounce their sins and warn of impending judgment, but the people wouldn’t listen (). In the last days, Israel would return to her land in unbelief and practice these same sins. But God would purge the land and prepare them for a new life in the kingdom. They would see their Messiah, trust Him, and be saved ().

God has not cast aside His people (); for today the Church has a remnant of believing Jews. One day God will gather the unbelieving Jewish nation to their land, cause them to experience suffering, and then reveal Himself to them and give birth to a new nation. The prophets saw that future and tried to convey its message to the people of their day, but the people wouldn’t listen. Christians today look for Jesus to return to gather His people to Himself () and then establish His righteous kingdom. Peter assures us that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night”; and then, in light of this fact, he asks, “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness” (, ). Future hope ought to produce present holiness.

, In this courtroom scene, the Lord called the witnesses and told the people to be prepared to plead their case. The Lord opened the proceedings by telling His side of the controversy, emphasizing the gracious way He had dealt with the nation from the very beginning.

It is good for God’s people to know the past and gratefully remember all that God has done for them. The word “remember” is found at least twenty-three times in the Book of Deuteronomy, and frequently the Jews were instructed to teach their children the Lord’s mighty acts on their behalf (; , ; ; ; ). Because the people have forgotten, God calls the mountains to witness God’s complaint.

, Instead of confessing their sins or standing mute because their mouths had been shut by their sense of guilt (), the people asked what they could do to get rid of their sins. Their request shows how shallow their spiritual lives really were and that they were ignorant of the enormity of their sin and the high cost of forgiveness. We get the impression that these questioners were interested in bargaining with God and buying Him off, for they kept raising the bid. “Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil?” (as Solomon had offered—see ; ). Or maybe they should sacrifice their firstborn, they wondered? But God doesn’t bargain with sinners, and none of the sacrifices they offered to bring could have cleansed them from their sins.

Doing penance without truly repenting and trusting God’s mercy only multiplies the sin and deadens the conscience. Thinking they were good enough to please God, the people asked Jesus, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” He replied, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (, ). True saving faith comes from a heart that’s been broken in repentance and realizes that no amount of good works can atone for sin (; ; , ).

To make a salvation text is to misunderstand what the prophet was saying to God’s disobedient covenant people. None of us can do what God requires until first we come to God as broken sinners who need to be saved. Unsaved people who think they are doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God are only fooling themselves, no matter how moral their lives may be.

The Lord called to the people of Jerusalem to fear His name and heed what He had to say because without the fear of the Lord, they could have neither knowledge nor wisdom (see ). God specifically condemned the merchants of the city for being deceptive in their business practices (). They were using weights and measures that were dishonest, so customers didn’t get full value for their money.

This sin grieved the Lord so much because by doing these illegal things, the business people were exploiting and abusing the poor and needy for whom God has a special concern (). The Mosaic economic system provided for the care of the poor and needy, but the wealthy merchants in Micah’s time had abandoned the system. They were robbing the poor of justice and the necessities of life, a sin God could not overlook.

The Lord tried to use the northern kingdom’s fate to awaken and warn the people of Judah, the southern kingdom, but they wouldn’t listen. Their defense was, “Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us” (see ). But they weren’t obeying God’s law or honoring His house.

The prophets not only declared God’s message with their lips, but they also felt the burden of the people on their hearts. Jeremiah wept over the sins of the nation in his day and wished he could weep even more (, ), and Micah lamented because there were no godly people left in the land. Looking for a godly person was as futile as looking for summer fruit after the harvest was over.

They preferred lies to truth and this brought about “perplexity.” This perplexity, or confusion, reached into every level of society. Not only was Micah grieved at the corruption of the officials, but also he was grieved at the unfaithfulness of the common people of the land (vv. , ). You couldn’t trust anybody! When truth is no longer the standard for society, then everything starts to fall apart; faithfulness to our word is the cement that holds society together. The situation had deteriorated to the point where neighbor couldn’t trust neighbor and friends couldn’t trust each other. The basic unit of Hebrew society, the family, was quickly falling apart.

The prophet reached a turning point when he looked away from the sins of the people and meditated on the faithfulness of the Lord. He would “look” and “wait” and put his trust only in the Lord. This verse is the bridge that connects the sections on sin and judgment with this closing section on hope.

Micah spoke to the city of Jerusalem and assured her that, though she had been attacked and destroyed, she would one day be rebuilt. The prophets spoke in glowing terms of Israel having a new city and temple (; ). Not only that, but also the boundaries of the nation would be expanded to include more territory than she had before.

God replied to His faithful servant and assured him that He would indeed watch over His flock and care for them, just as He had when they had departed from the land of Egypt. The “exodus” image is sometimes used in Scripture to point to the “exodus” of the Jews in the end times from the nations of the world to their own land (; ; ; ). God would perform great wonders for His people at a time in their history when the nations would be united against them.

, When Israel departed from Egypt and God opened the sea, the other nations heard about the miraculous event and were afraid (; ). But the wonders the Lord would do for Israel in the last days would startle the nations even more. The Gentiles would see the power of God and be ashamed and unable to act. They would come out of their hiding places to submit to the Lord. Israel would experience total victory.

Micah’s final words represent a beautiful example of an Old Testament doxology. It is a brief meditation on God’s character, particularly His unfailing love. God doesn’t ignore our sins, but in His compassion He “subdues” them and then “cast[s] all our sins into the depths of the sea” (v. ). Hope faces God’s righteous and inevitable judgment but dares to look beyond it, knowing that God always keeps His promise to love us unfailingly.

Micah 1

1:1

1:2 []

1:4

1:5 ;

1:6

1:7

1:8

1:9

1:10

1:10 Literally House of Dust

1:11 Literally Going Out

1:12

1:12 Literally was sick

1:13

1:14

1:14 Literally Possession of Gath

1:14 Literally Lie

1:15

1:15 Literally Inheritance

1:16

1:16 ,

Micah 2

2:1 ,

2:2

2:3

2:4

2:5 Literally one casting a surveyor’s line

2:6 Literally to these

2:6 Vulgate reads He shall not take shame.

2:10

2:11

2:12 [, ]

2:12

2:12 ;

2:12 Hebrew Bozrah

2:13 []

2:13

Micah 3

3:1

3:1 ,

3:2 Literally them

3:3 ;

3:3 , ,

3:4

3:5 ,

3:5

3:6 ;

3:6

3:7

3:8

3:10 ,

3:10

3:11

3:12

3:12 ,

3:12 Literally house

Micah 4

4:1

4:3

4:3 Compare

4:4

4:5

4:6

4:7

4:7 [; ]

4:9

4:10

4:10 []

4:10

4:11

4:12 [, ]

4:12

4:13

Micah 5

5:1 ; ;

5:2

5:2 ; ;

5:2

5:2 []

5:2 ; []

5:3

5:3 ;

5:4 [; ]

5:4

5:5 []

5:6

5:7

5:8

5:10

5:10 ;

5:12

5:13

5:14 Hebrew Asherim, Canaanite deities

5:15 []

5:15 Or obeyed

Micah 6

6:2 ,

6:2

6:2 []

6:3 ,

6:4 []

6:5 ,

6:5

6:5 Hebrew Shittim (compare ; ; )

6:7

6:8 []

6:8

6:11

6:12 ,

6:13

6:14

6:14 Or Emptiness or Humiliation

6:14 Targum and Vulgate read You shall take hold.

6:15

6:16 ,

6:16

6:16 Following Masoretic Text, Targum, and Vulgate; Septuagint reads of nations.

Micah 7

7:1

7:2

7:3 ; ,

7:4

7:5

7:6

7:7

7:8

7:8 []

7:9 ,

7:9

7:10

7:11 []

7:11 Or the boundary shall be extended

7:12 [; ]

7:12 Literally he, collective of the captives

7:12 Hebrew arey mazor, possibly cities of Egypt

7:12 Hebrew mazor, possibly Egypt

7:12 That is, the Euphrates

7:13

7:14

7:15 ;

7:15

7:15 Literally him, collective for the captives

7:16

7:17 []

7:17

7:18

7:18 , ,

7:18

7:18 , ,

7:18 []

7:19 Literally their

7:20 ,

7:20

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