Introduction to the Book of Micah

Table of Contents

• General Info
• Brief Survey
• Key Verses
• Author, Date and Recipients
• Historical Background & Timeline
• Themes, Purpose & Theology
• Interpretation Hints and Challenges
• Outline

General Info

As with all the minor prophets, the book of Micah is named for its human author, whose name is a shortened form of the Hebrew Micaiah, meaning “Who Is like the Lord?”.  Like the prophet Amos, Micah addresses one of the largest “hot button” subjects of our modern times, that of “Social Justice” and/or “Social Injustice”.  As does Amos, the book proposes much different solutions than what is being demanded by the various pundits, protestors and politicians of our day.

Unlike the false prophets of the day, who for their own personal gain, attempted to endear themselves to the rich and powerful by predicting a coming period of Jubilation and prosperity, Amos faithfully proclaimed the Word of the Living God.  His nineteen prophecies were divided into three oracles that consisted of the familiar prophetic pattern of coming judgment for wickedness followed by future restoration for repentance. 

In the Protestant Canon, Micah is grouped with the other eleven books in the section called the “Minor Prophets”.  In the Hebrew Bible Canon, the twelve books of the minor prophets (along with Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) are grouped into a section called the Nevi’im Aharonim, or the “Latter Prophets”.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Brief Survey

The prophet Micah begins with a proclamation of coming judgment against the northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and against the city of Jerusalem (representing the southern kingdom of Judah).  In the second chapter, he condemns several of their transgressions, warns of the false prophets, and closes the first oracle with a promise of restoration for a faithful remnant of Israel.

Micah begins his second oracle in chapter 3, rebuking the political and religious leaders for their injustices such as judges accepting bribes and false prophets telling fortunes for money.  Chapter four begins with a close parallel to the beginning of Isaiah chapter 2.  The prophet speaks of the end times, specifically about the reign of Christ from the temple on the mountain of the Lord.  He also prophecies of the judgments to come on Jerusalem and the final triumph of God’s chosen people.  Chapter five closes the second oracle in which the prophet foretells of the coming Messiah (5:1-8) who will be born in Bethlehem (5:2, quoted in Mt 2:6), and again proclaims coming judgment on Jerusalem followed by restoration of a faithful remnant (5:9-13).

The prophet opens his third oracle by further laying out the Lord’s case against Israel (6:1-5).  He then reveals what God requires of all believers, to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with him (6:6-8; 6:8 alluded to in Mt 9:23,23:23; Mk 12:23; Lk 11:42; see also Hos 6:6; Zech 7:9-10).  Micah then returns to the subject of guilt and resulting punishment of Israel (6:9-16).  The final chapter begins with a lament over Israel’s misery due to her wickedness (7:1-7) then, as with the first two oracles, the final ends on a high note with the future promise of victory over her enemies due to their restored reliance on the One True God (7:8-13) and with a final prayer of praise to God for His guaranteed promises to Israel (7:14-20).

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Key Verses

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.  Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen, O earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign LORD may witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.  Look!  The LORD is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads the high places of the earth.  The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.  All this is because of Jacob's transgression, because of the sins of the house of Israel. (1:1-5)

I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.  I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people.  One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out.  Their king will pass through before them, the LORD at their head. (2:12-13)

This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead my people astray, if one feeds them, they proclaim ‘peace’; if he does not, they prepare to wage war against him.  Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination...”  But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin. (3:5-8)

In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.  Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob.  He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”  The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.  He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.  Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.  (4:1-3)

“In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief.  I will make the lame a remnant, those driven away a strong nation.  The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.” (4:6-7)

Marshal your troops, O city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel's ruler on the cheek with a rod.  But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.  Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.  He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.  And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. (5:1-4)

With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God?  Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?  Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the LORD require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (6:6-8)

Do not gloat over me, my enemy!  Though I have fallen, I will rise.  Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.  Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the LORD’s wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right.  He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness. (7:8-9)

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?  You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.  You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.  You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago. (7:18-20)

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Author and Date

The human author of the book is Micah, whose name, as we noted earlier, is a shortened form of the Hebrew Micaiah, that means “Who Is like the Lord?”.   Similar to Obadiah, the normal custom of identifying his father and certain other personal details that is typically included in a book’s opening statement is limited.  The only information given is his name and hometown, “Micah of Moresheth” (some translations read “Micah the Moreshite”), and the names of the reigning kings of Judah during his ministry.  The author then immediately transitions into his first oracle from God concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.  This might indicate that the author probably came from modest means, and may have had no relationship to royal or priestly lines.  Moresheth was a relatively insignificant village located about 20-25 miles southwest of Jerusalem in the territory assigned to the tribe of Judah.  That said, Micah may have been living in Jerusalem during the time of his ministry.

We can date his ministry based upon the reigns of the kings of Judah noted in the first verse, namely the reigns of Jotham (750-731 BC), Ahaz (731-715 BC) and Hezekiah (715-686 BC).  From this information, we can’t precisely determine the precise years in which Micah delivered each oracle, or even the exact years of his total ministry.  We can only state for sure that his ministry overlapped portions of each king’s reign.  We also can’t say that he recorded one oracle in each of the king’s reign, since we have independent verification from the prophet Jeremiah that the second oracle (chapters 3-5) was delivered during the reign of Hezekiah (see Jer 26:17-18 that quotes Micah 3:12).  So, it’s likely that the first oracle was delivered during the reign of either Jotham or Ahaz, and the second and third during the reign of Hezekiah (assuming that the oracles were recorded in the order in which they were delivered, but this is not always the case).

The original audience for the messages of Micah were the people of the southern kingdom of Judah, and particularly to those in the capitol city of Jerusalem, although some parts were addressed to the northern kingdom of Israel (sometimes called Samaria).  Like many of the other Old Testament (OT) prophets, he often used the term “Israel” or “Jacob” to refer to both kingdoms as one.  Any oracles given after 722 BC, the year the northern kingdom was conquered and exiled, would have been addressed only to Judah and Jerusalem.

Notable Quotations by other Authors of Scripture

We’ll already made mentions of some in our “Brief Survey” chapter above, but at the risk of repetition, we’ll provide a few additional ones here.  First we note the striking similarity between Micah 4:1-3 and that of Isaiah 2:2-4 on the subject of the mountain of the Lord in the last days.  It has been much debated over which author copied from the other, and we’ve also noted the overlap of their ministries to the same territories, but the debate remains unsettled.  It’s also possible that God may have given the same message to both for maximum exposure.  Next Micah 3:12, in which the prophet foretells the coming destruction of Zion and Jerusalem is quoted in Jeremiah 26:18.  This was an extremely crucial time since Jeremiah was facing a death sentence at the time, but by delivering a prophecy that included Micah’s words, King Hezekiah revoked the sentence (see Jeremiah chapter 26).

The Prophet Micah was also quoted by New Testament (NT) authors.  Perhaps the best known quote is found in Matthew 2:6, in which the apostle quotes Micah 5:2 that accurately predicts the birthplace of Jesus the Messiah approximately 700 years before His birth.  After the birth, King Herod attempted to use this prediction to locate the Christ Child in order to kill Him, but an angel warned the family to flee to Egypt.  The family thus lived in Egypt until Herod’s death, when an angel again appeared and instructed them to return to Israel, which they did and settled in Nazareth (see Matthew 2).  Finally, when Jesus began His earthly ministry, He quoted Micah 7:6 (Mt 10:35-36) while commissioning and sending out His twelve disciples (see Matthew chapter 10 for additional context).

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Historical Background and Timeline

Micah began his ministry about 20 years prior to the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) to Assyria in 722 BC.  At this point, the territorial expansions and economic prosperity during the reign of Jeroboam II (793-753 BC) were greatly diminished.  Her fall was now inevitable so, except for a brief proclamation of judgment against Samaria (1:3-7), Micah directed his attention on his home kingdom, the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  Even the timeline information provided for his ministry was based solely on the reign of the Judean kings only, namely the kings Jotham (750-731 BC), Ahaz (731-715 BC) and Hezekiah (715-686 BC).  The reigning northern kings were not mentioned.

Although the people were corrupt, Jotham was a good king who walked with the Lord.  He made needed repairs to the Temple and rebuilt and fortified several towns in the hill country (2Chr 27).  Unfortunately, his successor Ahaz followed the corrupt ways of the Israeli kings by worshipping idols, practicing child sacrifice, and many other atrocities (2Chr 28).  He was then followed by the godly King Hezekiah (2Chr 29-32).  In the first month of his reign, he made a covenant with the Lord, repaired, purified and reopened the Temple so the Levites could get back to work.  He also re-instituted the celebration of the Passover and other festivals to the Lord, and sent couriers throughout the land urging the people to return to worshiping the One True God.  In the latter part of his reign however, Hezekiah’s pride caused God to strike him with an illness that left him close to death, but when he repented, God forgave him and added fifteen years to his life (Is 38-39).  In addition, when the Assyrians invaded Judah, God saved the king and the people by sending His angel to annihilate all the men in the Assyrian camp and deliver Judah a great victory (2Chr 32:21).

During the time of Micah, Judah enjoyed a thriving commercial economy, led primarily by agriculture.  Unfortunately, the wealthy state of the nation also resulted in a significant increase of greed and corruption, accompanied by injustice and immorality.  During this time, God sent his message to His people via four primary prophets.  First, he sent Amos and Hosea to the northern kingdom of Israel, then Isaiah and Micah to the southern kingdom of Judah, although the latter two also had some words for the northern kingdom.

The eighth century BC brought some remarkable developments in the political and social life of Palestine, both in the northern kingdom of Israel and in the southern kingdom of Judah.  Agriculture and commerce thrived, but with the rapid growth of wealth came the temptations of greed, corruption, injustice and immorality.  This in turn resulted in rebukes and warnings from God’s messengers, the prophets.  Micah was the last of four prophets of this period whose writings have been preserved in the Bible.  The first two, Amos and Hosea, primarily concentrated their prophecies toward the northern kingdom of Israel until its fall to Assyria in 722 BC.  Isaiah and Micah, who ministries somewhat overlapped that of the first two, and virtually overlapped each other (compare Isaiah 1:1 with Micah 1:1), were more focused on the southern kingdom of Judah, and particularly on the capital city of Jerusalem.  In fact, Bible scholars have pointed out so many similarities between their respective books, that some have even suggested that Micah may have even been a disciple of Isaiah.

The messages of Micah (and Isaiah) also reveal much about the social and religious practices of the day.  He continually renounced the rich and powerful for oppression of the poor.  They often cheated the poor in the marketplaces, and even out of their houses, lands and other possessions (2:1-11; 6:9-16).  In addition, the poor received no justice from the political leaders or false prophets, thus Micah prophesized inevitable judgment upon the nation (3:1-12).  Regarding religion, Judah was a pluralistic society.  Although the people continued to worship the true God of Israel, their worship was primarily reduced to religious rituals.  They also combined these rituals with the worship of idols and false gods.  Not surprisingly, their rituals had no affect on their daily lives.  The Lord’s message that Micah delivered stressed that God was primarily concerned with obedience toward Him and with righteous living (6:1-8).

The people mostly ignored the warnings of Micah and Isaiah and ultimately, Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC (2Kg 25; 2Chr 36:15-23).  Fortunately, this is not the end of the narrative.  Micah also proclaimed a message of future hope, that God would also restore a remnant of the people devoted to Him (4:1–13; 7:8–20).  This prophecy was initially fulfilled with the first coming of Christ (see Mt 2:6 quoting Micah 5:2,4).

See the Historical Background of the OT History Books and the Historical Background of the OT Prophets for additional information.

See OT History and Monarchy Chronology for timeline of additional historical events.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Themes, Purpose and Theology

The primary theme for the book of Micah, as with many of the other OT prophets, is judgment for disobedience to, and rewards and restoration for obedience to, the OT covenants.  He consistently called out the political and religious leaders for consistently perverting justice by preying on the poor, including cheating families out of their homes.  They also did not hesitate to resort to violence to accomplish their wicked  agenda, while simultaneously attempting to appear pious by carrying out their religious rituals.  The all-knowing God was not fooled however, and shortly brought justice to Judah by utilizing the Babylonians, who conquered and exiled the Jews.  The Lord also remained true to His promises of restoration (2:12-13), in that He would return the Jews to their homeland after 70 years as also prophesized by the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 25:1-14).  Micah also foretold the ultimate restoration under Christ during the end times in chapter 4.

The primary purpose of Micah is closely related to the theme, that is to provide warnings of dire consequences for disobedience and promises of hope, redemption, and restoration for obedience to the covenants.  The prophet also taught the people how to truly please God.  With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God?  Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?  Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the LORD require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (6:6-8).

The theology of most of the prophetical books should be understood in the broader concept of the OT covenants, along with the related aforementioned punishments for disobedience and rewards for obedience.  In Micah, we witness God’s inevitable response to His people’s defiance of the covenant law, but also His mercy in always preserving an remnant, even during the exile, and eventually restoring His covenant people back into their homeland.  Even during the darkest of times, the Lord can be trusted to fulfill His promises (7:18-20).

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Interpretation Hints and Challenges

Perhaps the most difficult challenge in reading Micah, and other Hebrew literature containing future prophecy, is to understand how to interpret the genre or literature style that was typically used by the prophets.  For a better grasp of this writing style, please see Interpreting Prophetical and Apocalyptic Literature.

With regard to specific challenges, there is one that may cause some confusion for some readers.  Micah 4:3 states, Then they will cry out to the LORD, but he will not answer them.  At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.  Yet, we find passages elsewhere in the Bible that, at first glance, might appear to be in conflict.  For example, Luke 11:10 states that everyone who asks will receive and James 1:5 echo's the same sentiment with respect to asking for wisdom.  To add to the confusion, we find further support for Micah’s statement in Isaiah 1:15 and James 4:3 that God will not always hear our prayers.  So which verses are right?  The short answer is all are correct, when read in context.  As we often state, the top three rules for Bible interpretation are context, context and context.

Thus, we first turn to the historical technique of context known as the “Analogy of Scripture” (Analogia Scripturae).  This principle basically states that the Bible is its own best interpreter.  Another way of stating this is to say that, we interpret each passage in context of the whole, and in addition, we can interpret the passages with “fuzzy meanings” in the context of those with obvious clear meanings.  Going back to our subject verses, we first notice that the writers are addressing different types of people in differing circumstances.  James 4:3 is addressing people who are asking with wrong motives, and Isaiah 1:15 is referring to those whose hands are full of blood.  Likewise, Maich 4:3 is targeting those who are unrepentant of doing evil.  Also, we must not forget the requirement to ask in accordance with God’s will (1Jn 14-15).

 God obviously would never refuse to hear any requests from His faithful followers, but He may delay or not answer immediately if the timing is wrong or if He has something better in mind.  Two of the best examples of this might be that of the Apostle Paul’s thorn in the flesh (2Cor 12:7-10), and the temporary suffering of God’s servant Job in the OT.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Outline

Micah’s nineteen prophecies are divided into three oracles that pronounce coming destruction against Samaria and Judah with a remnant to be later restored.  The first oracle is contained in chapters 1 and 2, the second in chapters 3 to 5, and the final oracle in chapters 6 and 7.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]