Micah
Minor Prophets · Old Testament · Book 33 of 66- Author
- Micah of Moresheth
- Written
- c. 700 BC
- Time covered
- c. 735–700 BC, under Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah
- Where
- A country town in Judah, speaking to both capitals
- Written to
- Samaria and Jerusalem, and the people ground down by both
- Genre
- Prophecy
- Chapters
- 7
“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”Micah 6:8 KJV
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Overview
Micah was a countryman like Amos, and like Amos his anger is at those who use power to take land and homes from people who cannot fight back. He names rulers, priests and prophets alike, all of them selling their office.
The book moves in cycles between judgment and hope. It foretells Samaria’s ruin and Jerusalem’s, and it also names the small town where the ruler of Israel would be born, and sums up the whole of religion in a single famous sentence.
Background
Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah, but wrote from the rural Shephelah rather than the capital — the districts an invading army crossed first.
A century later, elders remembered Micah’s preaching in Hezekiah’s day and used it to defend Jeremiah’s life. One of the few times in Scripture a prophet’s influence is reported long after his death.
Key themes
- God hates injustice done by those who should protect the weak.
- Leaders and preachers who serve themselves face particular judgment.
- A remnant will be gathered and shepherded.
- The Messiah will come from Bethlehem, whose goings forth have been from of old.
- What the LORD requires: do justly, love mercy, walk humbly.
Outline
- The chargeChapters 1–3
Samaria and Jerusalem indicted; rulers who tear the skin from the people; prophets for hire.
- HopeChapters 4–5
Swords into plowshares, a remnant gathered, and a ruler out of Bethlehem Ephratah.
- God’s caseChapter 6
O my people, what have I done unto thee? — and what doth the LORD require.
- Waiting and pardonChapter 7
The faithful man is perished, yet I will look unto the LORD — who delighteth in mercy.
Key passages
- Micah 2:1-2 Woe to them that covet fields, and take them by violence.
- Micah 3:11 The priests teach for hire, and the prophets divine for money.
- Micah 4:3 They shall beat their swords into plowshares.
- Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah — out of thee shall he come forth.
- Micah 6:8 To do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.
- Micah 7:7 I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation.
- Micah 7:18-19 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity?
Christ in Micah
The chief priests answered Herod’s question about where the Christ should be born by quoting Micah 5:2, and the wise men went to Bethlehem. The same chapter says His goings forth have been from everlasting — a village birth and an eternal origin in one sentence.
Reading it
- Read 6:6-8 as the answer to a question the previous verses ask.
- Note how the book alternates: judgment, then hope, then judgment again.
- Read Jeremiah 26:17-19 to see Micah quoted a hundred years later.