The Book of Micah Introduction to Micah I. Who was Micah? 1. His name מ יכ ה) =Micah) means Who is like Yahweh? (Probably short for Micaiah.) Part of his message is that only Yahweh is God. He alone is sovereign. 2. He is from Moresheth, a small town about 25 miles SW of Jerusalem. II. When did he preach? 1. He preached during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, & Hezekiah 742-686. 2. He probably preached from about 725 until 700, but maybe a little before or after that. a. 1:2-7 contains reference to Samaria, which fell in 722. b. 1:10-16 contains what appears to be a description of military action, probably by Sennacherib in 701. c. Jeremiah 26:18 tells us that Micah announced the judgment against Jerusalem during the reign of Hezekiah, i.e. probably 701. 3. What was it like: a. Worship was perverted: --Prophets & priests worked for profit. --Idol worship b. Oppression of the poor --Separation of the rich & poor --Unethical merchants --Lack of justice III. Where did he preach? --Almost certainly he preached primarily in Jerusalem: --Frequent mention of Zion & Jerusalem. --Preached against Judah (except a couple of references to Israel). --Preached against the rulers, prophets, etc., who were primarily in Jerusalem. --This makes him a contemporary of Isaiah. 26
27 IV. What was his message? --Judgment is coming. Why? --Sin, Rebellion, Iniquity --Covenant God hold His people accountable --A remnant will survive Hope for the future V. The Book of Micah: I. 1:1 Superscription II. 1:2-2:13 Judgment & Hope A. Call to Judgment B. Hope for the Remnant III. 3:1-5:15 Judgment & Hope A. Judgment on the Leaders of Judah B. Hope for the Remnant after Judgment IV. 6:1-7:20 Judgment & Hope A. Judgment on God s People B. Hope in God s Compassion 1:1--Introduction Micah 1-3 MIC 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah--the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Vision he saw --Prophets are often called seers --They see the Word of the Lord. --This points to the visionary aspect of the prophetic ministry. In essence, the word is something that the prophet can visualize & then proclaim to his/her audience. 1:2-16 The Coming Judgment 1:2-7 God s impending judgment 1:2 A summons to hear the prophetic word. --The Message: The Lord Yahweh is coming as a witness against His people. --He is coming from His holy temple (cf. Amos 1:2) 1:3-7 Judgment is coming --The Lord Himself will come to the earth. --Total destruction: --Mountains melt --Valleys split apart
28 --The will melt like wax --They will be gone like a flood on a hill. --Jacob s Transgression: --Samaria --Judah s High Place: --Jerusalem --These cities are the sin of the nation. This is where the people go to engage in sin & Baal worship. --The judgment: --The city will become rubble. --Idols will be destroyed --The harlot s hire will return to harlot s hire. They received their riches by chasing after foreign gods, perhaps in literal prostitution, at least in worship. Their riches will now revert to use by foreign people, i.e. harlot s hire. 1:8-16 The Prophet s Lament --1:8-9--The Prophet s Reaction to judgment -- Weep & wail, go about barefoot & naked & howl & moan are all associated with mourning. The prophet is mourning the death of his nation, even before it is actually dead. This is common for prophetic laments. --Judah s wound, i.e. her sin, is beyond cure. Death is inevitable. --The sickness, i.e. sin, has reached the gates of Jerusalem, like an illness reaching the vital organs of the body. --1:10-16 Warning of Judgment --List of cities, apparently on the road of conquest by a conquering king. Each city has a symbolic meaning, sometimes only based on sound. --Gath= tell Tell it not in tell. --Beth Ophrah= House of dust Roll in the dust (in mourning) in House of Dust. --Shaphir= Pleasant Those in Pleasant will be put to shame. --Zaanan= Go out Those in Go out will not go out to battle. --Beth Ezel= House that is near The one that is near (suggesting refuge/help) will have no protection. --Maroth= bitter Those in Bitter will be in pain w/o relief. --Lachish= team (of horses) Those in Team of Horses will hitch up the chariot, but will be defeated. Lachish was traditionally the final major city conquered before the invading army came against Jerusalem. --Moresheth Gath= dowry Those in dowry will depart, i.e. as a bride leave her home. --Aczib= deception Those in Deception will deceive Israel, i.e. be no help. --Mareshah= conqueror Those in Conqueror will be conquered.
29 --Adullam The place where David hid from Saul. The Glory of the Lord, i.e. the Lord Himself, will be removed to hide in a cave. Be prepared to mourn. You will go into exile. 2:1-11 Woe to the Oppressors! --2:1-5 Woe to the land-grabbers --The rich plot at night how they will steal property the next day. They steal the inheritance from their countrymen. --But they, too, will lose their inheritance! They will mourn because they have lost what they have stolen. It will be stolen from them as they stole it from others. --2:6-11 False Prophets --They command that Micah stop prophesying. --They deny that evil will come. They are standing on a theological principle that God will not allow His own people to be destroyed. --Micah defends his prophecy against the evils of the people, i.e. vv 1-5. --The kind of prophecy they want is I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer! They have fooled themselves. They only want good words, when their action have earned words of judgment. 2:12-13 Word of Hope --A remnant will return from exile. The theology of a remnant is common in OT prophecy. God will judge His people, but He will not abandon them completely. There will be a remnant of the people for the future. --Yahweh himself will lead them back from exile, just like He brought judgment in 1:3. 3:1-12 Judgment on Rulers & Prophets 3:1-4 The rulers are singled out for condemnation because they should have known better. --They knew the true meaning of justice, but they disregarded it. --Rather than doing the good, they hated it. And they loved evil. That evil is exploiting the people, i.e. tear the skin off my people, and the flesh off their bones; 3 who eat the flesh of my people, flay their skin off them, break their bones in pieces, and chop them up like meat in a kettle, like flesh in a caldron.1 --This is a total disregard for the people, the very people they should have been leading. They were doing the opposite of their responsibility. They were 1The New Revised Standard Version, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989.
30 responsible to stop people from exploiting those less fortunate, but instead they themselves were doing the exploitation. --Because of this, a time of judgment will come when God will not hear their cry for help. He will disregard the leaders of Judah just like they disregard those they exploit. 3:5-8 The prophets are also singled out because they had the responsibility of hearing & proclaiming God s word to His people. --Rather than lead the people to God, the prophets have led them astray. --They preach peace to the one who gives them food, but preach against those who do not, lit. wage war against. --Therefore, the prophets & seers will no longer hear from God. --Instead of seeing the light from God, they will see only darkness. --Instead of a word, there will be only silence. --Thus, they will be disgraced because they can no longer do their job (which, of course, they were not really doing anyway). --cf. with the famine for God s Word in Amos 8. --On the other hand, Micah is: --Filled with power & the Spirit of the Lord --Filled with justice & might --Able to proclaim rebellion/transgression & sin. -- Rebellion/Transgression - פ שע, suggests conscience rebellion against God s standards, i.e. the law. -- Sin - ח ט את --A generic term, often seen to refer to a missing of the mark, i.e. not living up to God s standards. But this can be over-emphasized. The term can also mean sin or rebellion. 3:9-12 The leaders are again denounced: --The despise justice --They build up Jerusalem with bloodshed & wickedness, lit.? --Rather they judge for a bribe --The priests teach for a price --The prophets perform divination for money. ( Perform divination was a normal activity for prophets in the ANE. This was done with extipicy, augury, hepatoscopy, or other means.) --They proclaim, God is in our midst. This was the theology called the inviolability of Jerusalem, i.e. Jerusalem is God s city & will never be destroyed. It was a common belief in Judah, as seen in the prophecies of Micah, Isaiah, & Jeremiah, thus spanning more than a century. --Because of their sin, Jerusalem & the temple will be destroyed! 4:1-5:15 Zion s Hope
31 4:1-5 The Mountain of the Lord -- The Mountain of the Lord =Temple Mount=Mount Zion=Jerusalem --Here is symbolizes the place where God dwells among His people. --The prophecy refers to a time when Yahweh s mountain, i.e. Yahweh himself, will be exalted to a place where people from all nations will come to Him. As Smith notes, this is in essence a reversal of the curse at Babel. -- Many nations will: --Come to Yahweh --Learn from Him -- Walk in His paths, i.e. they will see Yahweh as the true God and will desire to know & follow Him. --NOTE: Yahweh Himself will do the teaching. It is a time when the people will learn directly from Yahweh, without a mediator, i.e. no mention of priesthood or even prophet. This is similar to the New Covenant prophecy of Jeremiah, where Yahweh will change the hearts of His people so that they can know & follow Him. CHARACTERISTICS: --The law/word of the Lord will go out. --Yahweh will serve as judge for the entire world. Of course, He has always been the judge, but now the implication is that all nations will acknowledge His lordship over the nations. --No war swords into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks There will no longer even be armies, or the need for them. --There will be true peace, w/o fear, i.e. every man under his own vine & fig tree. --These verses must be seen as a description of the eschatological, or messianic, kingdom, even though that term is not used here. This is looking forward to a time of unparalleled blessing, which will be brought by Yahweh himself, not by an earthly, human king. --v. 5 The present situation A confession that Yahweh s people will choose to follow Him. We should probably see this as based on the previous verses, i.e. because He will reign supreme in the future, we will choose to follow Him now. --Micah 4:1-3=Isaiah 2:1-4 (see handout) --Why the identical passage in both books? 1. Isaiah copied from Micah 2. Micah copied from Isaiah 3. Micah & Isaiah used an existing oracle 4. A later redactor placed the oracle in one or both books --I opt for #3, that both prophets used an existing oracle, although the identical nature does not rule out #1 or #2.
32 4:6-13 Restoration after judgment --vv. 6-8 This is a promise that the lame, exiled, & grieving will be restored. Yahweh will gather them as a remnant to Zion=Jerusalem. The city will be restored to power with the Lord as ruler. --vv. 9-10 Satirically describes the nation weeping without a leader. --But like a woman in labor, the pain will one day cease & they will be restored/redeemed. --vv. 11-13 Contrasts the present state in subjection to foreign nations to the future restoration when the riches of the nations will be devoted to Yahweh. 5:1-5a The Promised Ruler from Bethlehem --v. 1 Israel will be defeated and it s ruler put to shame. --v. 2 A future ruler will come from Bethlehem, not from Jerusalem! --This ruler is from ancient times, even from eternity. --Could this describe an earthly, human king? Not in my mind. --This should be seen as a messianic prophecy. It follows on the promises of a universal kingdom in Micah 4. This seems to be an ideal, messianic kingdom. --However, it could be seen as a reference to David s monarchy from Bethlehem, chosen from eternity by Yahweh. Micah would then be looking to the reestablishment of David s kingdom after the exile. --3-5a An elaboration on the promise of a future leader. Israel will be abandoned by Yahweh until the time of the future king is born (cf. (Is. 7:14). --He will rule in Yahweh s strength. --He will bring peace, lit. And this one will be peace. This partial verse may introduce the next section as the promise of peace to come. 5:5b-15 Judgment & Deliverance --vv. 5-6 The Assyrian menace will end in deliverance, --or does this refer to a time of deliverance following judgment. If so, then the chronology is off, because the Babylonians, not the Assyrians, were the source of judgment for Judah (no called Israel). --vv. 7-9 The remnant in the midst of the nations, i.e. in the exile/judgment, will be: --like the dew, is this symbolic for blessing or judgment. Judgment would fit the context, but dew is usually seen as a blessing (i.e. God s coming as the dew in Hosea). --Like the lion, defeating their enemies. This would point to deliverance from captivity. --vv. 10-13 The prophet describes the destruction of : --Military strength --Fortresses --False worship. --This probably refers to Israel & the nations, i.e. v. 15b. After the exile Israel never struggled with idolatry again. This should probably be ultimately connected to the oracles of messianic peace in ch. 4.
33 ) ב ר י 6:1-16 The Lord s Judgment (rib Micah 6-7 --6:1-8 The Lord presents His case --This is a rib passage. Yahweh calls upon Israel to present her case & then presents His own case. All three highlighted words below represent the Hebrew word rib, the 1 st as a verb & the 2 nd two as a noun. Micah 6:1 Arise, plead your case before the mountains, And let the hills hear your voice. 2 Listen, you mountains, to the indictment of the LORD, And you enduring foundations of the earth, Because the LORD has a case against His people; Even with Israel He will dispute.2 --The Lord s case: 1. He delivered them from slavery in Egypt. 2. He gave them Moses, Aaron, & Miriam as godly leaders. 3. He blessed them in the wilderness, i.e. Balaam. 4. He brought them across the Jordan River, i.e. Shittim to Gilgal. --The prophet s response: --What is a proper response to what Yahweh has done? Burnt offerings? Rivers of oil? My firstborn? --NO! He has shown His people what he requires: -- Do justice Live with justice to all people. -- Love mercy/kindness/devotion They are to love chesed, i.e. be completely devoted to Yahweh. -- Walk humbly/wisely with your God This is true worship, letting God lead in His wisdom. This is what God requires! (Note Snaith s quote in Smith, p. 52.) 6:9-16 Yahweh s Judgment --He will no longer acquit those who: --Have used dishonest scales --Have used a short ephah, i.e. false measures. --Have acquired riches dishonestly. --Thus he will, in fact has begun to, judge them. They will be hungry & will not enjoy the fruits of their (dishonest) labor. 2The New American Standard Bible, (La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation) 1977.
34 --They have followed in the practices of Omri & Ahab & likewise will come to ruin. Omri and Ahab s practices greatly affected both Israel & Judah because of intermarriage and military cooperation (although it may have been forced by Ahab). 7:1-6 God s Visitation --The prophet (or another individual) looks throughout the land for a righteous person, i.e. good fruit. All he finds is evil, and the good have been removed, forced out or corrupted? --Look at the sins: --They wait to shed blood Blood may be metaphorical for the things that he needed, i.e. material goods. --The ruler & judge receive bribes. --The great one, i.e. the powerful, demands whatever he wants. All of the leaders conspire together. --They are like a brier or thorn bush. They offer nothing good, only pain & destruction. --Even immediate family members cannot be trusted. --v. 4b--God will visit His people, like the Day of the Lord in Amos. The Lord has been watching & now will come in judgment. 7:7-13 Restoration after Judgment --v. 7 The prophet expresses his trust in Yahweh. --He will wait for the Lord s deliverance. --He knows that God will hear him. --(This verse may go with the previous oracle. It is a transition verse that could go with either.) vv. 8-13 The prophet (as a liturgy for the people?) proclaims that God will come to restore the destroyed city, probably Jerusalem. At the same time He will destroy her enemies. In fact, the enemy lands will be completely desolate. (This is probably poetic & hyperbolic.) 7:14-20 Prayer & Praise --vv. 14-17 These verses are a prayer that God would care for his people and that their enemies will be destroyed. --vv. 18-20 These verses are a doxology or benediction, hymn? -- Who is a God like you? a play on Micah s name. There is no one like God! --Why? He pardons & forgives sin, transgression, & iniquity. (The latter is a general wickedness that carries with it the connotation of guilt.) God removes sin completely! --Instead of judgment, God will show truth and mercy/steadfast love (chesed) to His people. They failed to love chesed, but Yahweh will give them chesed anyway, because
He is a God of compassion & He is faithful to His covenant with their forefathers Jacob & Abraham. See John 1:17, where grace & truth come through Jesus Christ. 35