Prophecy – Micah

How long do you take to read a book, say something like a novel?

Depending on various factors, such as how exciting or well-written the book is, some of us need just a few days, while the busier ones might take a few weeks. All in all, we do try to finish what we start reading, don’t we?

The books we’ve read pack a lot into the hundreds of pages – the setting, characters, plot, twist, letdown, and the resolution. When we get to the end, we feel satisfied with the story.

Despite having its events and contents spread out over hundreds of years, the book of Micah can be finished in just 1 day. Micah’s prophecies are packed into 7 chapters, and that is our reading for the day:

Bible Passage: Micah 1 – 7

That was quite a bit of reading for a day wasn’t it? After the marathon Psalm 119 on Sunday, we’re back for another round of a long reading, but thank God, we got a lot of His words for our daily dose today. We now look at the various contents of this ‘story’.

More on the “minor” prophet…

Micah was a prophet who lived during the reigns of 3 different kings of Judah. Despite being a minor prophet in the Bible, the adjective referred in no way to the weight of his prophecies. Rather, his message was as weighty and as severe as those of Isaiah. (We’ll recall now that being a “minor” prophet refers more to the shorter length of the book attributed to the prophet.)

Yep, Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea. While Hosea was working in the Northern Kingdom (Israel), Isaiah and Micah were both in the South (Judah). The only difference between Isaiah and Micah was that Isaiah served in the palace while Micah was about God’s business amongst the locals and commoners. All in all, the 3 prophets of God preached the message carrying the same colour of grey first, before drawing the silver around that grey cloud.

More on the prophet’s message…

Micah can be admired for his straight-talking, truth-declaring words. He takes special aim at the unrighteous evil-doers who start devising their wicked plans even at night! (cf. Micah 2:1). He also declares that for those who oppress the poor, the Lord in return is “devising disaster” for their just punishments (cf. Micah 2:2-3).

Further on, Micah becomes slightly more explicative and lurid in his allegorical depiction of Israel’s rulers’ wickedness. This is seen vividly in Micah 3:1-3 and Micah 7:2-4. For us who come from a highly civilised background, these descriptive scenes are highly disturbing, if taken literally.

Yet, such were the factuality of the rulers’ corruption and wicked dealings and in doing so, they polluted the very people they were tasked to lead and care for – God’s people. Their corruption was reflected in their self-seeking, spiritually cannibalistic, and business-minded deceit (cf. Micah 3:1-5).

For their punishment, God would overturn Jerusalem and make it into a pile of stony ruins. This was to happen later on in the days of Jeremiah when Jerusalem was sacked (cf. Jer 26:16-19). But then Micah brought a glimmer of hope, with the silver lining coming in the form of the coming Messiah who would restore Israel by having compassion and once again, giving truth to the heritage of Jacob.

First this…

But then comes this…

More on the prophetic truths for us…

Micah may seem very far removed from us, perhaps even story-like with all the characters, plotlines, and resolution. We might want to turn our noses and say that it is all too familiar (What? Yet another negative prophecy? Tell me something nicer, will you not?)

Micah’s truth was declared as God would have him do so, and he was faithful in saying so. Why say “Peace” when what’s really needed is a jolting reminder of sins? Why try to encase the words of God in nicely packaged attractions when what’s really needed is to read the Word as it is?

Admittedly, it takes a fair bit of associations and metaphorical thought to see how Israel’s sins can be related to ourselves. But it becomes easier to understand when we think of how we don’t act in the way that God requires of us (cf. Micah 6:8). He requires us to act justly and to be merciful to all, according to the likeness of God Himself. We hardly do that, and the danger in not heeding God’s word is that we are like raging bulls who fall off the cliff despite the glaring stop sign that is there as a warning.

Reading all the prophetic books only remind us of one thing – people never learn from history, in the vein of Hegel’s famous quote: “The only thing people learn from history is that we learn nothing from history”. Israel’s not-so-illustrious history of unrighteous behaviour should do more than enough to stir us up from our slumber, but so often do we find ourselves acting out the same mistakes that they did.

We all know where we stand in relation to God’s Word, and that which is written in the Bible would be that which judges us (John 12:48).

Despite all this, God still retains His compassion for us. If we turn back and confess our sins, He will “plead (our) case and execute justice for (us), and bring (us) forth to the light” (Micah 7:9b). Thank God who is the ever righteous and ever merciful God. Following Micah’s persuasion, let’s put our resolve into acting upon that famous verse.

“Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God”

Micah 6:8