Micah (story of judgement and of hope)
The main 3 take-aways from the prophet Micah:
chapters 1-2: judgement is coming.
chapters 3-5: the Deliverer is coming.
chapters 6-7: therefore, trust in the Lord today.
Micah is a book full of pleas. Almost half of the English section headings in my Bible say "God Pleads". God sees the sin of His people, and He can't just sit back and watch. His just nature requires that He do something, and His first reaction out of love is to give a plea to His people to come back to Him. In his prophecies, Micah points out the sin and injustice of the people of Judah and compares it to the righteousness and justice of God.
It is almost as if God writes out three"sermons" all starting with the command to “hear."
1:2 Hear, all you peoples!
3:1 Hear now, O heads of Jacob, and you rulers of the house of Israel...
6:1 Hear now what the Lord says...
God wants us to listen. Let us never think that God wastes His words: anything He says is important enough for us to listen.
In 1:3-5, similar to when God came to Moses to give him the 10 commandments, Micah draws this picture of God coming down to Israel. But this time, it is not to make a covenant but to bring judgement on Israel for breaking parts of the covenant.
There was so much going wrong in Judah. The people of Israel who were blessed and rich were using their power to dishonor God. The prophets were being paid to say what the rich people wanted to hear. Sin was all throughout Israel (2:1-4,10-11). Sometimes, it feels like we are surrounded by sin and God is just allowing it to happen. But, God is an active listener to our cries and an attentive comforter to our struggles.
2:12-13 In the middle of the Lord's declaration of Israel's sin, He gives us a promise: the remnant of Israel (the ones who are faithful) will be restored to God with their head being the King.
"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."
This is a beautiful picture of the church years before its establishment, but it is not given in order that these Jews can sit and think about their great grandkids; this is a sign of hope IN THE MOMENT to encourage them to turn to the Lord so that they, too, can be a part of His remnant.
3:5-7 God stopped communicating with the prophets and leaders because of how they cheated the system and perverted His laws, accepting pay for false prophecies. This shows a deliberate action from God to be far from their sin. God wants nothing to do with sin but everything to do with us. That makes it our choice to be with God, to either remove sin or keep that barrier in our lives.
3:9-12 This part hits home. These people were using God's promises as a crutch for their wickedness. "Her heads judge for a bride, 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.'
Therefore 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."
Verse 12 is a clear promise of their coming judgement and captivity (that will soon occur, first by Assyria and then Babylon). The fault was on the Israelites, and there was no denying it. Micah was clear and seemingly harsh in much of his prophecy, but that was to get the attention of those living in sin.
4:1-4: Here is a prophecy of the coming Kingdom of God. This passage matches exactly with Isaiah 2:2-4. Israel all over needed to hear God’s promise for the future. In this passage, we are shown at least 4 different blessings that will (and for us, have) come with Christ and His church:
“He will teach us his ways”: this new period would offer freedom from ignorance. People under the old law knew that there was a certain mystery and were many unknowns about God's plan that would not be revealed until the Messiah's coming (1 Corinthians 2:6-10). God says that this will not always be the case; eventually, the full and implanted word of God will be available to the people of the earth. This comes with the completion of the New Testament: all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; see also James 1:21, 2 Peter 1:3-4).
“Neither shall they learn war anymore”: this time would be free from war. Part of the purpose of the church is to bring ultimate peace. There's a spiritual goal which cannot be accomplishing with physical fighting. And ultimately, in heaven, we will be a church who sees no more war or violence. The only scenario that brings no war is one where all people submit to the Messiah, where everyone does right. We also get to feel safer when we are with the Lord's people on earth.
“Under His vine and fig tree”: this time would be full of provision and free from want.
John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Christ brings us everything we need. In Him, we are full and are blessed and are certain of eternity. There's nothing left to want. His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue (2 Peter 1:3).
“No one shall make them afraid”: this time would bring the tool to fight fear. If we know all can ultimately work for good for God's glory, and we know what we and others need to do in order to be with God, then there is nothing or no one that can make us truly afraid. Christ as the ultimate prince of peace means He provides us unity with God, and no one can take that away from us unless we ourselves choose otherwise.
All of these promises are great, and they are to all nations who come to Him. To walk with God is a choice, though (Micah 4:5). We aren't going to be compelled. God has given us free will and some people are going to choose to follow something else, but those who commit to the Lord will get to be recipients of those promised blessings.
4:7-8 While anyone can receive this promise, Micah specifically points out that the disadvantaged will be included. These people, the ones going from nothing to everything, would most appreciate God's blessings. Micah made sure they knew that they were just as included in this promise as the ones in power, who seemed to always get the better end of the deal.
5:2-5 Bethlehem was known as the birthplace of David, but other than that it was an insignificant city among thousands in Israel. Yet, Christ was chosen to come out of this small city. Bethlehem means “House of Bread”, and Ephratah means abundance or fruitfulness. He literally is the bread of life –– the living, abundant water.
"Going forth from everlasting." His beginning wasn’t Bethlehem, it was never. He was always everlasting.
He doesn’t just bring peace, He is peace (vs. 5).
5:7-8 His remnant, the church, will be scattered abroad. They will be everywhere and they will include all kinds of peoples. I think this is also another stab at Judah’s current upper class elites' sins.
5:10-15 The Lord is very serious here about idolatry. In the past, He has overlooked Israel’s idolatry practices; He’s not going to be able to do that when the Messiah comes. He says He’ll cut them off from Him and His blessings.
Horses and chariots (can be good) vs sorceries and soothsayers (inherently evil): He promises as a punishment and also as a call to repentance that He will remove both the sin and the blessings in their lives. They were misusing their blessings and adding to their transgressions daily, and God had enough of it.
Verse 15 – Even the ones who have yet to hear will be judged. Why? Earlier, one of the blessings of Christ promised to come was that His ways would be taught. We have a duty to continue to carry out this blessing, teaching all people the way of the Lord, so that they aren’t the ones living in idolatry without hearing God’s plan. If people do not hear, it is not for lack of God providing the message that they have not heard; it is the lack of His ambassadors teaching.
6:1-2 Israel here is being put on trial. Micah sets the scene of the court room: the witnesses are unshakeable mountains and strong foundations of the earth, and the Lord has a complaint to bring against Israel.
6:3-5 The Lord shows His case. He has done no evil to Israel, and has actually gone to the extremes of deliverance to do good to them.
Numbers chapters 22-24 tell of King Balak of Moab and the prophet Balaam. Balaam is asked multiple times by King Balak to speak curses or give a positive affirmation of the king's plans. Balaam went with the king without God's authority, so God restated His limitations on Balaam's message. Balaam still went with the princes of Moab on the King's service, so God sent an angel to stop the donkey in its tracks – an angel that only the donkey could see. Long story short, Balaam ends up conversing with his own donkey, then the angel, before being told yet again by God to only speak the message God gives him. Balaam is then used to deliver blessings upon King Balak's enemies (Israel), much to the dismay of the king. The king is finally told how he can bring curses upon Israel: only when Israel herself is in sin, which would happen by the Moabites tempting them into idolatry and fornication. God would not be persuaded to curse Israel, except if they brought it upon themselves through their choice of idolatry and disobedience. In this court, God showed that if Israel felt cursed it was completely their responsibility and doing.
6:6-7 Israel’s reply to God in court would be one of bitterness and resentment. They reply to God: What do you want from me? Thousands of offerings? Our firstborn? It would never please you because you ask of too much. They deflect the righteous judgement of God by telling Him that whatever the consequence or price of their sin would be too much. It is as if they believe that if it is not something they can afford to pay, they should be pardoned altogether. This is not how sentencing works, although I am sure many criminals wish this were the case.
Israel's frame of reference is so altered that they think they are not the ones who need to change, but God is. They claim God’s demands are too high.
6:8 This court proceeding brings us to the most quoted verse from Micah. God stops Israel dead in their complaints in the courtroom by telling them there’s no mystery as to what He asks of them. It’s not unreasonable or unattainable. Simply do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord. He clearly has shown them what is good and what is required.
Act justly towards others. (@ the elites lol; God calls them out all throughout Micah)
Don’t just show mercy, but love to show it.
Remember to whom you’re talking: Your God. Keeping that in mind will lead you to walk humbly before Him.
The court shows that Israel knew what to do and had the ability, they just chose not to do it. None of God's demands were too high. Israel was just too unwilling.
6:9 God tells them to hear the Rod. Yes, they’ve felt the corrective discipline He has given, but they have not listened to the pleas behind it. The discipline was temporary pain to show them the path they were on. C.S. Lewis put it like this in his book The Problem of Pain:
“We can rest contentedly in our sins and in our stupidities; and anyone who has watched gluttons shoveling down the most exquisite foods as if they did not know what they were eating, will admit that we can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists on being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
Verses 10-16 talk again about their sin in deceiving one another. Israel was constantly out to make money through cheating each other and violence.
7:1-4 shows how Israel’s sin has made them impoverished. There was so much wrong with Israel and Judah. The poor were being forced and cheated out of food and housing. There was violence everywhere. Injustice was their icon. It makes me think of what went on with the riots in 2020. There were movements calling out injustices against races and other people groups. Micah would certainly advocate for the disadvantaged and call out the oppressive and wicked people of today. Yet, there were people in the riots of 2020 who used the protests as a mask for their violence, who ransacked stores and set fires and brought more pain and suffering to poor and abused groups, cities, and individuals. Micah shows us how vile of a nation Israel had become, with the faithful and poor being mistreated and neglected while the schemers got to grovel in their self-centered glory. In a day of civil unrest for the pure and defenseless, Micah mourned the state of Israel. We should always be emotionally struck by the failures of nations to love, be just towards others, show mercy, and walk humbly before God.
7:5-7 The people couldn't trust one another; even their families turned against themselves.
This is a bad thing, because people should be honorable and trustworthy enough that others can seek and find confidence and compassion from them. Nevertheless, God can use even this as a good thing in our lives, because it will force us to put our trust in the only One who can never let us down – the God of our salvation.
7:8 This shows the humility one must have when knowing he or she has sinned. These verses show the difference between remorse and penitence. Remorse is when a man is sorry for himself and mourns sin because it has brought about suffering to him. Penitence is when a man is grieving over the sin because of how it has wronged God. A penitent man submits to the punishment or suffering because he knows that by it God is setting him free from his sin.
7:18-20 The love, compassion, and mercy of God is available not because of us, but because of God's very nature –– He delights in mercy. True mercy, verse 20 shows, is given with truth. He loves us, so He does everything to make sure we know the truth of what sin does. Can we love mercy without telling people the truth about sin and redemption?
This is what the prophet Micah teaches: we need to know our sinful state, but also the power of God’s redemption. May we act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. And, when we fail, may we repent and love His mercy even more.