The book of Micah

Who is like our God?

Author: Micah of Moresheth
Written: Around 735-700 BC
Time covered: The reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah: the fall of Samaria (722 BC), then the Assyrian invasion of Judah (701 BC)
Key word: Mercy

Micah announces that the LORD is coming down to judge Samaria and Jerusalem: Samaria will become a heap of stones, and Zion will be plowed like a field. The rich steal the fields, the leaders devour the people, the prophets preach for money. But beyond judgment hope shines: the mountain of the LORD will draw the nations, swords will be beaten into plowshares, and out of little Bethlehem will come the Ruler of Israel. In a great lawsuit, God recalls his blessings and sums up what he expects: to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with him. The book culminates in wonder: who is a God who pardons like him?

Main theme

The holy God brings a lawsuit against his people for the injustice of their leaders and their idolatry, but he promises a gathered remnant, a Ruler born in Bethlehem, and a pardon that casts sins into the depths of the sea.

Outline

Micah 1-2 — The judgment of Samaria and Jerusalem
The LORD comes down against both capitals; the land-grabbers will be stripped, but a remnant will be gathered.
Micah 3-5 — From corrupt leaders to the King of Bethlehem
After the condemnation of the leaders and false prophets, the promise of exalted Zion and of the Messiah.
Micah 6-7 — The LORD’s lawsuit and his mercy
God pleads against his people, then the prophet celebrates the God who pardons.

Key points

Micah prophesies against both Samaria and Jerusalem, the two guilty capitals (1:1, 5).
He denounces the land-grabbers and the leaders who “eat the flesh of my people” (2:1-2; 3:1-3).
Against paid prophets, he is “full of power by the spirit of the LORD” to denounce sin (3:5, 8).
His prophecy “Zion shall be plowed as a field” is quoted a century later in defense of Jeremiah (3:12; Jer 26:18-19).
He announces the peace of the nations on the mountain of the LORD, where everyone will live “under his vine and under his fig tree” (4:1-4).
He foretells the exile to Babylon and the deliverance that will follow (4:10).
The Ruler of Israel, whose origin is from everlasting, will come out of Bethlehem Ephratah (5:2; Matt 2:5-6).
God sums up his requirements, justice, mercy and humility, and pardons by casting sins into the depths of the sea (6:8; 7:18-19).

But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

Micah 3:8 — The secret of the true prophet: to be filled with the Spirit of the LORD so as to dare to name sin.

But thou, Beth–lehem 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.

Micah 5:2 — The prophecy of the Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem, quoted in Matthew 2:6.

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 — The summary of what God expects: justice, mercy and humility before him.

Jesus in Micah

Micah points to the Messiah’s birthplace with astonishing precision: Bethlehem Ephratah (5:2). The chief priests and scribes quote this verse to Herod when the magi come seeking the king of the Jews (Matt 2:4-6). But this king born in a small town has an origin “from of old, from everlasting”: he is the eternal Word made flesh (John 1:14). A shepherd who rules in the strength of the LORD and “shall be the peace” (5:4-5), he is also the one who, on the cross, obtained the pardon celebrated in 7:18-19.

Did you know?

The name Micah means “Who is like the LORD?”, and the book ends with precisely this: “Who is a God like unto thee?” (7:18).
Micah 4:1-3 is almost identical to Isaiah 2:2-4: two contemporary prophets passed on the same vision of peace, which Micah completes with the image of the vine and the fig tree (4:4).
A century after Micah, the elders of Judah quote his prophecy about Zion word for word to defend Jeremiah, threatened with death (3:12; Jer 26:17-19).

Quiz on Micah

According to Micah, from which city will the Ruler of Israel come?

Complete Micah 6:8: “…to love mercy, and to walk … with thy God.”

Where, according to Micah, will God cast the sins of his people?

There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start your free trial.