Micah.

Author.

Micah of Morastite,
Micah 1:1
Micah came from a little known village, about 20 miles South-West of Jerusalem. He was an evangelist and social reformer, a messenger from God to the general people, dealing with personal religion and their living a life pleasing to God. He lived at about the same time as Isaiah,
compare Isaiah 1:1.

Date written.

Approximately 700 B.C.

The Basic thoughts in the text.

The book is in two sections, chapters 1 to 5 are prophetical, while chapters 6 and 7 are concerned with the Jewish nations behaviour before God and the future judgement by God.

The message through Micah applies to both Judah and Northern kingdoms. The two nations will be attacked by the Assyrians, However, God will still preserve His chosen people,
Micah 2:12.

" 12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men."

Important facts.

Hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, Micah prophesied that Bethlehem would be the place where the birth would occur,
Micah 5:2.

"2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

Samaria and Judah will be judged.

Micah 1:2-7.
The area known as Samaria, obtained its name from a very prosperous city of Samaria built by an evil king Omri about 857 B.C.
1 Kings 16:24..
The city of Samaria become just a pile of rubble in 722 B.C. when Sargon of Assyria attacked the city.

Micah predicted the invasion in,
Micah 1:2-7.
and then in,
Micah 1:8-16.
He shows great grief over what was about to happen to Samaria and Judah. In 701 B.C. Sennacherib’s army capture all the cities of Palestine and laid siege to Jerusalem,
See 2 Kings 18:9 - 19:37.

God judges various classes of the people.

Micah 2:1-11.
Misrule and a corrupted priesthood.
Those in charge are out to seize power, riches whatever way they can, they lay in bed planning their evil action, then seize their desires the next day. They are taking the properties and businesses of the normal people for themselves. The people cry to God for judgement.
Micah 2:12-13,
The Lord is about to carry out His judgement but protects a remnant.

Condemnation of various classes.
Micah 3:1-12.,
The ordinary people are treated as if they are animals by these rulers. In this evil system, every man in a position of power was prepared to commit evil and they are willing to pay any price to achieve it, even the priests, who claim that they were serving God, so no judgement will happen by their actions. The ordinary people cry out to God but He does not appear to respond.

Jerusalem was judged and fell in 586 B.C.

The future of Jerusalem.

Micah, chapters 4 and 5, reveal the future restoration and glory of Israel, with the restoration of the Davidic kingdom.

Micah 4:1-5.
Note that Isaiah 2:2-4,
Is a duplication of ,
Micah 4 1-3,
Both received revelation from God on the future of Jerusalem. The "mountain" is Zion and the "house" is referring to the millennial temple,
See also Ezekiel 40 to 42.
The prophecy is that Jerusalem will be exalted to be the government and religious center of the world, and the people of the earth will "flow" into it, learning and walking in the way of the Lord. Note, it does not say that the whole world is "walking in the way of the Lord."

Micah 4:6-13,
Eventually Israel will be gathered into the kingdom but the Babylonian captivity comes first, verses 9,10 and setting up of this kingdom will involve an end-time attack by the nations against Jerusalem, verses 11-13. the Armageddon battle.

The First and second coming of Christ the Messiah.

Micah 5:1-15.
The Jewish nation, for many years before their time in captivity, fell into disgrace, they are predicted to be in trouble. Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops! Either a summons to the enemies of the Jews, that had troops available, to come and do their worst against the Jewish nation, or the Jews are told to call their own troops to protect them or call for help from others.

The Messiah is promised, and the place of birth announced, The coming of the Messiah would be forever, but there is to be a delay, the salvation of the people and Jerusalem, must be waited for until the time that "she who should bring forth," e.g. the virgin Mary happens. Divine salvations must be waited for, until a time fixed by God. The Messiah is to be rejected at first, but the Messiah will eventually become a ruler to help the people, an indication of the second advent, when the Jewish nation will be rebuilt in Israel, this happened in 1948.

"2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

David is listed as Ephrathites,
Ruth 1:2;
1 Samuel 17:12,
Ephrath was a suburb of Bethlehem, later to be fully incorporated in to the town.

Verse 3 indicates that there will be a time associated with the events prophesied. "Until the time that she which travaileth" is referring to the "last days tribulation" events.

verses 4,5,6, The Messiah will grow and offer protection for His people, with a victory over his enemies.
verses 8-15, The nation will be reformed and then there will be the destruction of the enemies of the people of God.

Jehovah’s problems with His people.

In these last two chapters Micah describes the sins of the people and the reaction of God to their behaviour, His judgement and mercies. Micah also prophetically tells us that the people will one day confess their terrible sinful life and so receive the blessing promised. The text is recorded as if it is a law suit, with Micah being the prosecuting counsel for God. It appears that the mountains and hills of the world are the jury.

The first complaint of God.

Micah 6:1-5.
Jehovah demands that He is heard, " O my people, what have I done unto thee? " God asks. God does not wait for an answer but lists all that He has done for them in the past, verses 4,5

Verses 6-8, the people respond with three answers:
Can we please God with the sacrifice of animals?
Can we please God with many, many sacrifices?
Can we please God by breaking the laws given by Moses, e.g. making human sacrifices?

What God wants is for all Mankind "to walk humbly with thy God." To have humiliation and trust through faith, this is the "sacrifice" that God wants from each of us.

The second condemnation of God.

Micah 6:9-16.
Verses 9-12, God starts by giving warnings to the city of Jerusalem. The people are dishonest in business, wrong measures, the rich robbing the poor, lying, deceiving.

Verses 13-16, The way the people live is the result of sin so must be punished. They are about to have food problems, hard work with little result, because they are still following Omri and Ahab,
1 Kings 16:17ff.
As a result of this God will judge, "I should make thee a desolation."

The Second reply of the people.
Micah 7:1-10.
Verses 1-6, The Law suit continues, Micah said that the nation has lost all of its standards, all men are very evil, they are so evil, even against each other, and worse still they are even evil with their families. The people cannot even rely upon the law as even the judges were ready to take a bribe to misuse the law.
God had sent His "watchmen," the true prophets, and the people had just ignored the warnings of future judgement by God, so now God is about to carryout the judgement for the sins of the nation.

The nation now seems to turn to the Lord, they appear to confessing their sins, one day they will "behold his righteousness." The enemy, Assyria is also told not to rejoice as their time of judgement will also come.

The nation is prepared to take the anger of God, they know they deserve it. The enemy, Assyria, is warned that God will also visit them for not believing in Him.

However, after the judgement, there is promised blessing to follow,
Micah 7:11,12.
But judgement must be the fruit of their actions, but after the judgement they will be allowed to rebuild their walls.

Micah 7:14-17,
The final blessing, Israel to be gathered from many nations. The God who pardons the transgression, because He delighteth in mercy.