Background
Among the Minor Prophets, the book of Micah shows thematic parallels with Amos. Both 8th-century prophets castigate the Hebrews for social injustices that violate the covenant God established with them at Sinai. But unlike Amos, Micah does not narrow his focus on a northern audience; rather, he indicts the capitals of both Israel and Judah for transgressions that invoke the covenant curses (Dent. 28:1568). The condemnation of Samaria and Jerusalem dominates chapters 1-5. But in the last two chapters (6-7), Micah issues oracles of hope, which envision restoration for a "remnant" of Hebrews - a theme developed in Isaiah 1-39. This hope emanates from faith in the forgiving nature of the ever-loving God, who makes good on his historic promises. Micah's name (= "who is like Yahweh") expresses the wonder of this God, who delights not in punishment but in compassion.
Background
During Micah's lifetime, Assyria posed the greatest threat to the divided Hebrew kingdoms. By sacking Samaria in 722/21 B.C., Assyria sealed the conquest of the northern kingdom. In 701, Judah narrowly escaped the same fate when the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem failed (2 Kings 18-19).
Composition
The stringing together of originally independent oracles has left abrupt transitions that make for Micah's rather jerky literary style. Scholars generally agree that Micah uttered the oracles in chapters 1-3. Debate continues concerning the source and original audience of chapters 4-7, which refer to events that may more closely reflect the Babylonian assault on Jerusalem in the early 6th century.
1 Samaria and Jerusalem Put on Alert
Verse 1 identifies Micah as a Judahite whose hometown lay ca. 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem. References to the reigning kings of Judah locate him in the 8th century (cf. Jer. 26:18), when his prophetic contemporaries would have included Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah. Micah's prophecies, which welded divinely communicated words and visions, targeted the capitals of both the northern and southern Hebrew kingdoms - Samaria in Israel and Jerusalem in Judah.
Micah's opening oracle warns all the world of its imminent upheaval by God as punishment for his people's sinful rebellion, perfected in Samaria and exported to Jerusalem. "Jacob"/Israel may stand for the northern kingdom or the nation as a whole (v 5). Outdoor pagan shrines were called "high places," and identification of Jerusalem as the "high place of Judah" makes a derogatory play on the city's mountain elevation and its inhabitants' religious disloyalty (v 5). With the charges leveled and the evidence stated, verses 6-7 declare the sentence: the smashing of Samaria, source of the sin. Her "harlot's earnings" refer to illegitimate gains from cult prostitution, which commonly attended pagan worship.
Micah describes his public lamentation of the devastation to come, yet he does not want word of the disaster to reach neighboring Philistine Gath, likely to gloat over the misfortune of its enemies (vv. 8-9). Verses toff. contain a series of puns on place names to portend the doom of nearby Judahite cities and towns. For example, the inhabitants of the "House of dust" (Beth-leaphrah) will roll in the dust - a sign of mourning; those who live in "Going out" (Zaanan) will lack an escape route; the "House of removal" (Beth-ezel) will have its support removed; the inhabitants of "Possession" (Mareshah) will find it possessed by an invader.
The fortified city of Lachish receives singular blame for adopting the sins of Israel and spreading them to Jerusalem, "daughter Zion" (v. 13). Adullam, a Canaanite city in Judah, will inherit Israel's glory, while the Hebrews shave their heads to mourn the departure of their exiled children (vv 15-16).
2 Poetic Justice for Oppressors
Here the emphasis on injustices perpetrated by the rich and powerful parallels Amos's focus on social sins. Proclaiming the poetic justice of God's threatened judgment, Micah warns that calamity is coming for those who bring disaster on others. Mosaic law forbade the confiscation of land, which embodied a family's participation in the covenantal promises. Because land also provided the basis for one's livelihood, preserving its apportionment helped ensure an equitable distribution of wealth. In Micah's oracle, law-breaking confiscators of their fellows' land will lose their own land, and God will reapportion it to nonbelieving outsiders (vv. 1-4). The former land-grabbers will go unrepresented for marking out new territorial claims (v. 5).
Micah exposes the efforts of the socially powerful to silence the reproaching prophets of God (vv. 6ff.). The abusive elite, who rob unsuspecting fellow citizens and evict women and children, would rather listen to the lies of false prophets who tell them what they want to hear (cf. V. ll, "wine and liquor," symbolizing wealth and prosperity). Micah orders the merciless evictors to get out of town themselves (v io).
The prophet foresees a future in which God reassumes his position as champion of his people (vv. 12-13). The oracle may relate to the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem in 701, when according to 2 Kgs. 19:35 God saved the penned-up inhabitants of the great walled city by slaying the besiegers overnight (cf. 5:1-6; 2 Kings 18-19).
3 An Undaunted Micah Tells It Like It Is
Micah continues to castigate evil-loving leaders by grotesquely portraying their social oppression in cannibalistic terms (vv 2-3). Just as they had ignored the needs of the unfortunate, now
God will refuse to hear their own cries for help (v. 4).
Micah exposes the corrupt prophets who align themselves with the wealthy and comfort the rich with what they want to hear in exchange for their own economic advantage N. 5). Justice for these false prophets will consist in "darkness;" the inability to receive revelation from God (vv. 6-7).
In contrast, Micah declares his empowerment by God's spirit to seek justice and to expose the nation's sins (v. 8). The prophet upbraids both secular and religious leaders - politicians, judges, priests - all of whom presume God's unconditional protection (vv. 9-11). God's judgmental ruination of Jerusalem, home to his temple, rests on the heads of these corrupt covenant-breakers (v. 12).
4 No Pain, No Gain
In language nearly identical to Isaiah's, Micah describes the future restoration of Jerusalem to an exalted position in a world of peaceful nations (vv. 1-3; cf. Isa. 2:2-4). To epitomize the reversal of fortunes enjoyed by the Hebrews in these "last days;" Micah pictures individuals sitting under their "vines" and "fig trees" - a symbol of prosperity. The power of God's spoken word ensures the fulfillment of the prophecy (v. 4). This divinely afflicted but preserved remnant will return to Zion to be transformed into a "strong nation" under God's rule (vv. 6-8). "Tower of the flock" and "hill of daughter Zion" (v. 8) refer to Jerusalem (Mt. Zion), the center of God's rule.
Micah interprets the coming judgment as the painful, purgative precondition for Zion's ultimate exaltation (v. 9). Micah's contemporaries may assume that expulsion from the promised land signifies abandonment by their divine King and Counselor, but the prophet views the inevitable exile as an integral trial in the plan of their very-much-engaged God. Verse to anticipates the Babylonian exile of the 6th century, though in Micah's day (8th century) Assyria posed the current Mesopotamian threat (5:5-6). Eventually, God will equip the redeemed remnant to judge the unjust nations. Threshing (vv. 12-13) involved trampling grain stalks to dislodge the kernels from the chaff. Horns of iron and hoofs of bronze ensure the success of Zion's "threshers."
5 Anticipating a Davidic Deliverer
This chapter weaves together oracles addressing present circumstances and prophecies concerning the future. Verse 1 appears to have in view the 701 Assyrian siege of Jerusalem (the "judge of Israel" referring to King Hezekiah). The next three verses anticipate a future deliverance of Judah by a ruler in the tradition of King David: a "shepherd" from the king's hometown of Bethlehem (v. 2; cf. Matt. 2:1-6). In verses 5-6, the current Assyrian invasion becomes a symbol of the future attack from which this Davidic shepherdruler delivers his people. The pairing of "seven" and "eight" is a literary device meant to communicate not literal numbers of subordinate leaders but a number "sufficient" to finish vanquishing the enemy. "Nimrod," a royal city of Assyria, serves as a poetic equivalent for the empire.
Verses 7-9 envision the "remnant" of the chosen people as pervading the nations, where their presence brings both blessing and judgment (cf. Gen. i2:3; also 4:9-13). God will match the fierce judgment of the people's enemies by purging them of their own military might and the trappings of pagan religion (vv. 10-15).
6 God's Lawsuit against His People
This chapter takes the form of a covenantal lawsuit, to which God calls witnesses from nature (vv. 1-2; cf. Deut. 4:26). God begins by citing from his people's history evidence that proves his own covenantal fidelity (vv. 3-5). After God establishes his faithfulness as fact, he sets forth the core legal, ethical, and religious requirements of the covenant: righteous conduct rather than lavish ritual (vv. 6-8; cf. 1 Sam. 15:22). Verse 7 alludes to the pagan practice of sacrificing one's firstborn child to placate the gods - a practice at times carried out even by the Hebrews (2 Kgs. 17:17-18).
God specifies several breaches of contract committed by his people: dishonest business practices, violence, lying, and deceit (vv 9-12). The chapter closes with the sentencing of God's people (vv 13-16). Dissatisfaction and futility will characterize their lives, as reward for their following the example of the wicked northern kings Omri and Ahab.
7 Light at the End of the Tunnel
Micah bewails the thorough moral bankruptcy of his society. With corrupt political and judicial decision-makers, money talks. People with influence work deals with those in power. Trying to keep them honest only risks retaliation. A person can't trust anyone - neighbors, friends, even family members (cf. Matt. 10:34-39).
But Micah maintains hope in the midst of this moral darkness. He recognizes the justice of God's present punishment without losing sight of a future characterized by divine vindication of the chosen people at the expense of their enemies. God will set things right by action portrayed as miraculous military triumph covering the whole of the ancient Near Eastern world, from Egypt to Assyria and the Euphrates River, and will instill the fear of the Lord among the pagan nations, which will slither forth in surrender (vv. 12, 16-17). In contrast, Micah paints a peaceful, pastoral picture in petitioning his Shepherd-God for a return of the Hebrew flock to fertile fields. Micah's hope for the restoration of his people to a position of divine favor, in accordance with God's promises to the patriarchs, rests with his faith in the forgiving nature of God and in his "unswerving loyalty."