Micah 1–4
Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos, was given a message to deliver to both Israel and Judah. If you’ve been reading through the prophets I’m sure you’ve noticed that the message doesn’t change too much. God’s people had sinned persistently and defiantly. BECAUSE they’re God’s children He must chasten them, but He will not fail to change them in the process…and in the end, they will be restored – even exalted in the kingdom to come.
Micah warns that God was on His way, coming out of His place to tread down the high places of the earth.
Micah 1:5 (NLT) “And why is this happening? Because of the rebellion of Israel— yes, the sins of the whole nation. Who is to blame for Israel’s rebellion? Samaria, its capital city! Where is the center of idolatry in Judah? In Jerusalem, its capital!”
Micah loves the people and therefore mourns their judgment (Micah 1:8). He clearly prophecies the calamity of their captivity.
In Micah 2 he begins by describing people who actually plan out their wickedness. It’s one thing to stumble into sin, it’s quite another to strategize it. They seized lands, houses, and inheritances. Imagine the heartache, the injustice!
They wouldn’t listen to God who spoke through His prophets.
Micah 2:6 (NLT) “Don’t say such things,” the people respond. “Don’t prophesy like that. Such disasters will never come our way!”
Micah 2:7 (NLT) “Should you talk that way, O family of Israel? Will the LORD’s Spirit have patience with such behavior? If you would do what is right, you would find my words comforting.”
The people were ripped-off by the false prophets – who took their robes, their garments, even evicting them from their homes. There was no other option but for God to judge, for the people were lobbying for their own message.
Micah 2:11 (NLT) “Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you, ‘I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and alcohol!’ That’s just the kind of prophet you would like!”
And yet…in spite of all this, God promised to regather and restore Israel (Micah 2:12-13). Yes, the day will come when King Jesus rules from Jerusalem.
We discover in Micah 3 that the rulers were rotten. After the nation was divided, the northern kingdom never had a good ruler; the southern kingdom DID have good rulers at times, but the people vacillated. Society, much like today, had reached a point to where they actually hated good and loved evil (Micah 2:2). They were ripe for judgment.
The overall message of the false prophets and pretend priests was peace – “No need to listen to the likes of Micah – judgment is not on the horizon,” they said. The people preferred the message of the false prophets, and the false prophets knew it, which is why they spoke it, it was prophets for profit, a message for money – how tragic that ministries are sometimes run that way, “It’s all about the money.”
In Micah 3 he informs the people that in light of their sins, God would not hear their prayers, and He would not respond.
Micah 3:4 (NKJV) “Then 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.”
Micah 3:7b (NKJV) “…for there is no answer from God.”
But…even in wrath, God remembers mercy and we read in Micah 4 about the Lord’s reign in Zion. This is a prophecy regarding the Millennial Kingdom.
How we long for the day when the nations flock to the mountain of the LORD to hear His ways. How we long for the days when swords are turned into plowshares, weapons and training for war are no longer necessary, there will be peace on earth when Jesus reigns.
God will gather His people, the remnant of Israel and lift her up for all to see, and Jerusalem will be the capital of the world – the place where King Jesus sets up His throne.
Until that day there will be excruciating pain for Israel, like a woman in birth pangs. Micah prophecies not only the judgment of Israel, but the judgment of Judah, carried away captive to Babylon – but God would redeem them (Micah 4:10).
In the last of the last days many nations will come against Israel, but these nations are greatly mistaken, not knowing the plans of God, nor the love that God has for His people. He will gather the enemies of Israel together to be beaten and trampled like sheaves of grain on a threshing floor (Micah 4:12).
May we never forget Genesis 12:3.
Micah 5–7
Micah continues his word to the nation of Israel, but in the midst of it, He also prophecies of the coming of Christ, and mingles in messages to the whole wide world.
The siege in Micah 5:1 is most likely a prophecy of the Babylonians, but it begins to morph into one of the clearest Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. Micah identifies WHERE the Messiah would be born.
Micah 5:2 (NKJV) “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.”
Bethlehem wasn’t a big city, but it WAS the city of David. It would therefore be the ideal birthplace for Messiah-King whose rule would bring perfect and permanent peace. The ONLY one who could possibly bring this type of peace on earth would have to be the Maker of heaven and earth and it turns out to be true. He goes all the way back to the days of eternity.
It’s not random that Bethlehem means “House of Bread,” for Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 48), He’s the manna from heaven (John 6:31-33). He’s the only one who can satisfy our spiritual appetite and sustain us in the “wilderness.”
The prophecy of Christ speaks not only of His first coming, but also of His Second Coming in verses 3-5a.
Bible Knowledge Commentary, “As Micah had written earlier (Micah 4:9), Israel’s spiritual pain in being dispersed (abandoned) was like a woman’s physical pain in labor. But the time will come when the labor will end and birth will come. This refers not to Mary’s giving birth to Jesus, but to Israel’s national regathering (Micah 2:12; 4:6–7), likened here to a childbirth when His brothers (fellow Israelites; cf. Deuteronomy 17:15) will return and join other Israelites. Christ will be one of them. Micah 5:2–3 puts together the two Advents of Christ, much as is done in Isaiah 9:6–7; 61:1–2.”
Micah 5:5b-15 speak of the defeat of Assyria, the rise of Israel, and God’s judgment upon the nations of the world.
Micah 5:15 (NLT) “I will pour out my vengeance on all the nations that refuse to obey me.”
In Micah 6 God reasons and pleads with His people to get right in their relationship with Him, but their refusal to repent, led to God’s judgment upon them.
When we look back at all God has done for us, the way He’s saved and sustained us, shouldn’t it bring us to love and obedience? Tragically that wasn’t the case for Israel. Although God had redeemed them from slavery in Egypt, protected them from the curses of Balaam and Moab they still refused to walk with God. I wonder if we’ve finally realized that it’s not about superficial sacrifice and routine religion, it’s all about walking humbly with our God.
Micah 6:8 (NKJV) “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?”
Such a beautiful passage we would do well to memorize…and of course, to live. Tragically the Israelites did not do what God had vividly shown them to do – they continued to practice abominable injustices and idolatry – the worship of Baal – which led to their downfall.
Times would get so bad, that the faithful men and women would be obsolete (Micah 7:2). It wouldn’t even matter if you were related, you’d be hunted down, turned in to the authorities, betrayed even by “friends.” This was no-doubt the case in the days of Israel’s Assyrian captivity, but it is also a prophecy of what would happen to the followers of Christ. Jesus quoted this passage in Matthew 10:35-36.
In closing the book we are once again reminded that God gets the last word, and over the centuries the nations may come against God’s people, but His mercy towards those who have placed their faith in Him prevails. Israel will be exalted and all believers will be forgiven.
There really is no one like our God!
Micah 7:18–19 (NKJV) “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. 19 He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.”