Summary
Micah
Micah is one of the twelve "minor" prophets—called minor only because his book is shorter, not because his message is small. He prophesied in the eighth century BC, working alongside the great prophet Isaiah, and his ministry addressed both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah on the eve of Assyrian and (later) Babylonian judgment.
The opening chapter sets the tone: Micah declares that the Lord Himself is coming down against the high places of His people, and the mountains will melt under Him like wax before fire. The reason is plain—the transgression of Jacob and the sins of the house of Israel. Samaria, the capital of the North, will be made "a heap in the open country," her stones poured into the valley and her idols laid waste; and the wound will not stop there—it reaches even to the gate of Jerusalem Micah 1:1-9. God despises idolatry, and Micah's word is a sober announcement that He is not indifferent to the sin of His covenant people.
Yet Micah's landscape, like that of every faithful prophet, is not only desert. Out of the soil of judgment a remarkable flower emerges in chapter five: "But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days" Micah 5:2. Centuries before the manger, Micah named the very town where the Messiah would be born—a small, almost forgotten village chosen by God to be the cradle of the world's true King. The chief priests and scribes would later cite this very verse to Herod when the wise men came seeking the newborn King.
Micah's pairing with Isaiah is significant. Where Isaiah named Cyrus and the Persian kingdom long before either existed, Micah pinpointed Bethlehem long before Mary and Joseph traveled there for the census. Together their prophecies form part of the great body of Scripture fulfilled before Christ, testifying that the God who keeps the small details of His Word can be trusted with the great promise of salvation. For more on this pattern of fulfillment, see Biblical Prophecy: Lesson 2 and Flowers Emerge 1-13-19.
The shape of Micah's book is the shape of the Christian life. Sin is exposed, judgment is announced, and the people's pride is stripped bare—but God's mercy has the last word. Even amidst weeping and warning, the flower of grace breaks through. As Rugged 1-20-19 summarizes the witness of these prophets: amidst dry bones there is breath, amidst weeping there are flowers, and the last word is never the desert—the last word is always the Ruler born in Bethlehem.
Video citations
- Biblical Prophecy: Lesson 2 — Hello and welcome to our second session on Biblical Prophecy. Let us pray together. Gracious Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for this opportunity to spend time in your Word. And especially, O…
- Rugged 1-20-19 — Well, we have been walking these past few weeks in this series of entitled Flowers in the Desert and just to refresh where we were last week, we were taking a look at the book of Isaiah. That is…
- Flowers Emerge 1-13-19 — We studied last week in our walk in this class called Flowers in the Desert. And specifically, we're taking a look at the prophets from Isaiah to Malachi. And as you walk through that landscape of…