Micah

Overview

The book of Micah is found in the middle of the Minor Prophets, and in fact it contains the middle verse of the twelve minor prophets: a prophecy of judgment on the holy city of Zion and its temple (3:12). Within the Minor Prophets, Micah is in the middle of a trio of books (Jonah, Micah, Nahum) dealing with the nation of Assyria and with Israel’s and Judah’s relation to this hostile power. Jonah and Nahum deal with the salvation and judgment of Assyria, respectively, while Micah deals mostly with the impending judgment on Judah at the hands of the Assyrians, as well as with the eventual judgment of Assyria itself.

Micah is set in the late eighth century BC and represents a collection of oracles that the prophet Micah pronounced at various times throughout his ministry to the southern kingdom of Judah. Micah witnessed the collapse of the northern kingdom of Israel, which he had predicted (1:6–7), as well as the near collapse of the southern kingdom of Judah, which he had announced also (1:8–16; 3:9–12). However, because the southern king and his people repented, judgment was averted (Jer. 26:18–19).

Micah’s collection of oracles is not simply an arbitrary arrangement but is highly organized in a triad of units that stress judgment first and then salvation. In many ways, this trilogy might be likened to a symphony, in which similar themes are repeated and intensified before finally building to a crescendo. The first unit of the book (Mic. 1:2–2:13) contains mostly judgment, with some relief provided in a final salvation oracle (2:12–13). The second unit continues the judgment (3:1–12) and then looks ahead to a future of salvation that will be possible only by means of suffering (4:1–5:15). The final unit continues the judgment (6:1–7:7) but looks beyond the darkness to the final salvation, which is effectively captured in a final vision of a transcendent God who fulfills his covenant (7:8–20).

This little book links the future of the world to the people of Israel. Looking back to the promises made to Abraham (7:20), Micah also looks forward to a time in which the temple and the King of Israel will dominate the world and produce everlasting shalom (4:1–4; 5:2–3). There will not be peace until the King born in Bethlehem rules to the ends of the earth (5:1–5a). But this will not occur until the nation goes through major upheavals, turmoil, and judgment.

In some ways this little collection of oracles is a miniversion of the much larger collection of oracles in the book of Isaiah. It is almost as if Micah’s little book were a theological sketch of his more famous contemporary. There are many similar themes, and in particular one oracle is presented virtually verbatim in each book: Micah 4:1–4 and Isaiah 2:1–4.

Title and Author

The title of the book comes from the name of its author, Micah (mikah) of Moresheth. He is described as coming from Moresheth likely because he seems to have exercised his prophetic role in a different location, most likely Jerusalem. His name was a short, popular name for boys in ancient Judah,¹ but its meaning carried heavy theological freight, for it is a rhetorical question—“Who is like Yahweh?” As such, it is an exclamation of praise, “an expression of adoration and wonder at the incomparable God of Israel.”² Micah’s name appears only at the beginning of his oracles, in the superscription, or title, of the book (1:1), but there is a pun on his name near the end of the book, which functions to provide a fitting conclusion: “Who is a God like you [mi ʼel kamoka], pardoning iniquity . . . ?” (7:18).

While the opening verse identifies Micah as the human source of the words of this book (1:1), it is clear that he is only the messenger of words that come from God. Many scholars assume that less than half of the words that follow the title are those of Micah of Moresheth (usually chs. 1–3), but the book makes no such distinction. All of the words that follow should be viewed as coming from Micah. Whether Micah himself physically wrote down the words is debatable, as at least some prophets had scribes who recorded their words (Jeremiah 36). What is clear from the superscription, however, is that the collection of speeches in this book originates from Micah of Moresheth.

Some scholars reject Micah’s authorship of many of the oracles in the book bearing his name due to their belief in the incompatibility of a message of judgment and salvation in the same historical period. Consequently, the oracles of judgment in the first part of the book (Mic. 1:2–2:11; 3:1–12) are viewed by such scholars as authentic, while the salvation oracles in the latter half of the book (chs. 4–5; 7:8–20) are believed to be from a later hand that sought to temper that judgment. But such a belief imposes categories of consistency on an ancient prophet that would not be sustainable even for speakers in our own time. Over a course of a few decades, public speakers could give many different types of speeches in many different changing contexts.

Date and Occasion

In terms of historical context, Micah’s prophecies are dated rather precisely to the reigns of three kings of Judah: Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1). Nowhere in his recorded speeches does Micah mention any of these kings—there may be an allusion here or there,³ but no explicit mention is made of them. Jotham was a co-regent with his father, Uzziah, for a number of years before assuming sole kingship around 742 BC and reigning until 735. He was succeeded by his son Ahaz, who ruled for twenty years, until 715, and he in turn was followed by Hezekiah, who assumed leadership for twenty-eight years, until 687. This leaves us with a maximum period of fifty-five years for Micah’s prophetic activity (if he started at the beginning of Jotham’s reign and stopped at the end of Hezekiah’s) and a minimum of just over 20 (if he started at the end of Jotham’s reign and stopped at the beginning of Hezekiah’s). But since it is known from other sources that Micah predicted the destruction of the temple during the crisis of Sennacherib in 701 BC (Jer. 26:18–19), and since the devastation of southwest Judah described in Micah 1:8–16 most likely took place during this historical period, the minimum period of Micah’s prophetic activity would be about thirty-five years (from the end of Jotham’s reign to the crisis of 701 BC).⁴ While one cannot achieve certainty in such historical matters, details of many of the oracles suggest that the period before and leading up to 701 BC is the most suitable historical context for the present collection of oracles.

The main body of oracles were originally proclaimed orally and then written down after the events, either by Micah or by a scribe. That Micah could have been involved in writing his oracles may be suggested by a statement in 3:1, “And I said,” which introduces an oracle of judgment. But Micah probably did not write the book’s superscription, which refers to him in the third person (1:1); he also may not have been involved in the final arrangement of his speeches, since the third-person superscription is echoed by the conclusion (7:18). The summative nature of the final conclusion to the book (7:8–20) also suggests more of a literary composition and may point to an editor’s involvement.

Genre and Literary Features

As with most of the prophets, the speeches in Micah were probably spoken before they were transmitted in writing and included in a literary collection. Only a few parts of the book itself seem to have a literary origin, such as the book’s superscription (1:1), which functions as the initial part of the prophet’s biography and provides information about the author, his location, authority, and historical period, and the recipients of his messages (cf. 3:1a). Twenty to thirty independent speeches can be identified in the book, and each of these would have had a specific social and historical context, which can no longer be precisely identified.⁵ The original oral nature of these speeches is quite clear. Sudden transitions in theme, choppy sentence structure, switch in person and number of verb forms, use of imperatives and oral interjections, grammatical incongruities, semantic ambiguities, and colloquialisms—all of these indicate the original nature of the oral discourse. In other words, the written form of these speeches largely preserves their original oral qualities.⁶ Discourse first composed in written form has more thematic coherence, logical structure, consistent grammar, and extensive vocabulary to compensate for the loss of spoken features such as tone, gesture, stress, and emphasis.⁷

Micah used a variety of genres to communicate his message: lament (1:8–16; 2:1–5; 7:1–6), judgment speech (3:1–4, 5–8, 9–12; 6:9–16), salvation oracle (2:12–13; 4:1–5), disputation (2:6–11), covenant lawsuit (6:1–5), entrance liturgy (6:6–7), futility curse (6:14–15), and hymn (7:18–20).⁸ These genres each represent a different type of speech common in ancient Israel. Just as it is important to know in one’s own language the genre of speech being used in order to understand what is being said, it is important to understand the genre of speech from another language and another time in order to facilitate communication. For example, puns in English are often humorous, showing wit and cleverness. But puns as used by ancient Israelites are much more serious and profound, connecting places and people with events, and thus they can be either auspicious or ominous (1:8–16).

Micah is rich in such wordplays and linguistic associations, and they abound throughout the text. For example, in 2:2 we read that greedy landowners covet and seize fields (sadot), while in 2:4 we read that these wicked men will be certainly destroyed (sadod nesaddunu). In another example, a salvation oracle concludes with an announcement of a future King going before the head of the people in leading them out of captivity (2:13). The next oracle returns to the present and condemns the heads of Jacob (i.e., the present leaders) for their injustice (3:1).

Theology of Micah

Throughout the collection of Micah’s speeches, the audience of Micah—whether ancient or modern—learns a great deal about God. He is a God who takes his covenant with his people seriously (1:5), who will brook no rivals to his transcendence (1:6–7), and who controls the nations—even the dreaded Assyrian army (1:6–16). Yet he is also concerned with the plight of the “little people” and their exploitation at the hands of the covetous rich (2:1–3, 8–9; 3:1–3), with truth-telling (2:6–11; 3:5–8), with a just society and the importance of human rights (6:6–8), with the terrible blight of war in the world (4:1–5), and with what it means to be human (6:6–8). In addition, this God is not a dispassionate, distant figure but rather one who passionately cares for the victims of oppression and is angry with their oppressors—hence the passionate language of Micah on behalf of victims and against their victimizers (2:1–5, 6–11; 3:1–12). Moreover, God is exasperated with his people when they do not respond to his grace (6:3). This is surely a God like no other, a transcendent One—“high and lifted up” (cf. Isa. 6:1) but also concerned with matters of everyday reality such as fairness and equity, poverty and wealth, and the poor and helpless.

The God of the book of Micah is the One before whom creation dissolves when he arrives to judge and to save (Mic. 1:3–4). Importantly, he is a God of both justice and mercy, and these are not pitted against each other, as they sometimes are in popular theology (2:1–5, 12–13). This is a God who commands people to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with him (6:8). In other words, concern for the right ordering of society stems from a love for mercy (ESV “kindness”), which comes from walking in the ways of the Lord’s law. The Lord is the one who is omnipotent and full of mercy (7:18–20). The word for mercy (hesed) is a rich Hebrew word that cannot be defined precisely in English. It is often translated as “mercy,” “fidelity,” “loyalty,” “covenant love,” etc. God delights in hesed; it is central to who he is. The word indicates someone who will respond to the needs of others by helping them. It is often connected with duty, but need not be.⁹ One’s helplessness evokes “mercy,” the desire to help, in another’s heart. This quality is deep within the heart of God. It makes him faithful to his covenant and results in forgiveness of sin and the final conquest of all evil that would separate him from his people (7:19–20).

Relationship to the Rest of the Bible and to Christ

Micah is very much aware of the covenants of God with his people and the essential narrative of Israel’s early history: the covenant with Abraham (7:20), the exodus (6:4), Sinai (2:2, 7b; 3:1), the wilderness wanderings (6:5a), and the conquest (4:13; 6:5b). Micah believes that God’s purposes in history will finally triumph. This is based on two essential points: the elevation of the temple in Zion (4:1–5) and the elevation of a King (5:2–5a). Both will result in the triumph of a new world order that will lead to Yahweh’s rule over the entire earth. Both of these emphases develop central themes in the biblical storyline.

The centrality of the temple for Israel and the world is an important biblical theme. Humans were banished from sacred space—from the garden temple in Eden (Genesis 2–3). Autonomous humans sought to recapture this blessing on their own by building the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1–9), but God judged this project and instead called out a special people through whom this blessing would come (Gen. 12:1–3). Eventually the place of this blessing was located in Jerusalem, Mount Zion. The Psalms describe the centrality of Zion as the locale of God’s blessing (Psalms 46–48). It will eventually be elevated to the highest place (Mic. 4:1; cf. Ezekiel 40; Zech. 14:8), and from it will flow a life-giving stream that will become a mighty river and bring life to trees, which in turn produce leaves that bring healing (Ezek. 47:12).

Alongside the elevation of the temple as the locale of God’s blessing is the elevation of a King through whom this blessing will be finally mediated. From the beginning a promise was given to Eve that she would have a descendant who would reverse the curse (Gen. 3:15). This is the so-called protoeuangelion—the “first [proto] gospel [euangelion].” The expectation of such a figure can be traced throughout the Scriptures (e.g., Gen. 49:8–12; Num. 24:15–19; 1 Sam. 2:10) and is finally linked to a covenant made with David, who would have a son who would someday rule the world, bringing everlasting peace and justice (2 Samuel 7; Psalms 2; 72; 89). Micah is distinctive in that he locates the birthplace of this King not in Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah, but, appropriately, in David’s hometown, Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2; cf. 1 Sam. 16:1–13). The birth of this “Messiah” will take place after a long gestation period (Mic. 5:3), and it will result in a King whose reconstituted remnant of Israel will be like dew to the nations (5:7) and a lion to their enemies (5:8–9); he himself will bring an end to all war (5:10–11).

The NT confirms the centrality of Zion, the place from which the good news about Christ’s birth in Bethlehem and death and resurrection in Jerusalem is proclaimed (Acts 1:8). Jesus is regarded as David’s greater Son (Matt. 21:9) who brings the blessings of forgiveness and healing to the nations (Luke 24:46–47). His temple no longer consists in an actual building made of literal stones but is composed of living stones (believers) and inhabited by God’s Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 2:5). They are elevated on a hill, shining their light to all the world and sending to the nations the good news of forgiveness and reconciliation (Matt. 5:14–16). Those who hear the good news can respond with faith and repentance and discover the ways of peace. In fact, this is the name of the Messiah in Micah: “their peace” (Mic. 5:5a), for he breaks down the dividing walls between nations, races, genders, and social classes (Eph. 2:12–17) and brings an end to war (Mic. 4:1–5). He is the one through whose atoning death sin has been conquered (7:19).

Preaching from Micah

This book is a rich treasure trove for ministers of the Christian church. First, its depiction of a God of absolute and utter transcendence should be a reminder to all of the need for humility and repentance. As sinful people, we are tempted to domesticate God, to use him for a political party, a particular group, a philosophy, a program. This was true in pre–World War II Germany. The German Christian movement essentially used Christianity to shore up the Nazi movement, and the rest of this sad story is history.¹⁰ It was also true in Micah’s day, when the themes of election and temple became excuses for the nation to sin without consequence and guaranteed them a supposed “eternal security.” But Micah’s God will not be domesticated by any program or philosophy or culture. Even the most sacred institution stands under God’s judgment and will be destroyed if it loses its concern for justice and mercy (3:12).

Today there are many ministers who preach what people want to hear, not what they need to hear. The temptation is to cave in to popular sentiments, but the preacher must make known to a culture and people their true diagnosis if there is to be any cure. As the French Huguenot pastor Jean Daillé remarked, “Ministers are not cooks but physicians, and therefore should study not to delight the palate but to recover the patient.” In contrast to the false prophets and prosperity preachers of his day, Micah was empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak boldly of the need for justice and righteousness and to declare to Jacob his sin and to Israel his transgression (3:8). When ministers become popular rather than faithful, they have probably lost their calling and will eventually lose their inspiration (3:7).

Finally, the book is a reminder of the importance of living a life of justice, mercy, and relationship with God. In a masterful reminder of the importance of what true worship means, Micah tells his audience that worship is not about ritual or one-off performances of dedication to God, but about a life of dedication (6:6–8). This is especially important in cultures where Christianity is regarded as “fire insurance,” with no call on a person’s life after he or she makes a commitment to Christ. Such a view is a travesty of biblical faith. In the words of A. W. Tozer, “God saves us to and not just from!” In other words, the purpose of salvation is to save not only from judgment but also for a life of holiness and justice. This is fully in line with the teaching of the NT; Jesus himself said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Interpretive Challenges

Particular interpretive challenges in Micah occur in several places:

1. The text in 1:9–15, which lists cities and uses wordplays on their names, is a notorious passage riddled with text-critical difficulties. Sometimes the Septuagint identifies a town while the Hebrew text does not. Moreover, some of the towns have not been identified, occurring only here in the OT. Nevertheless, the general sense of the text is clear: a number of cities, with Jerusalem at the center, are described as an ancient “hit list” of towns in southwest Judah that God will judge. Their names are connected to their fates, to add an ominous note of doom.

2. It is difficult to detect the speakers in 2:6–7. In this text Micah is engaged in a dispute with false prophets who are telling him to cease and desist from prophesying judgment against Judah. The ESV understands the verses as follows:

“Do not preach”—thus they preach—

“one should not preach of such things;

disgrace will not overtake us.”

Should this be said, O house of Jacob?

Has the LORD grown impatient?

Are these his deeds?

Do not my words do good

to him who walks uprightly?

This is a logical way to understand this text, with the words provided in quotation marks (which are not included in the Hebrew text) viewed as the words of the false prophets. But another reading of the Hebrew suggests that, after the command to stop his preaching,

Do not preach.

Micah describes the false prophets:

They will not preach about these things;

he [the LORD] will not remove disgraces [or: disgraces will not be removed].

The false prophets probably then continue with three rhetorical questions that expect a negative answer and criticize Micah’s preaching:

Should this be said, O House of Jacob?

Has the Lord grown impatient?

Are these his deeds?”

Micah then responds with a word of the Lord, emphasizing the stipulations of the covenant. This time God’s rhetorical question assumes a positive answer:

Do not my words do good

to him who walks uprightly?

The rest of the speech expands on these words, which show that the people of Judah are not walking uprightly.

Thus, while it is not completely clear who is speaking at times in the text, the general sense is clear: Micah is defending his preaching in a dispute with false prophets about judgment.

3. Another text posing an interpretive challenge is 2:12–13, which seems to interrupt preaching of judgment with a salvation oracle concerning return from exile, which is in the distant future. A significant number of interpreters see this text as a continuation of judgment speeches, understanding it in an ironic sense: the people gathered in Jerusalem like sheep, in fear of the Assyrian armies, will be led into exile by God out of the land, which has become defiled. This interpretation has a venerable pedigree going back to John Calvin. Other recent interpreters have tended to see this as a salvation oracle by the false prophets; they understand this prophecy to speak of God’s salvation for the people in light of the Assyrian invasion, and thus Micah continues quoting the false prophets, which again he will contradict in 3:1 (“But I said”). Both of these interpretations attempt to make the passage fit into the context of judgment, but if the structure of the book is understood as judgment followed by salvation in each of its three sections (1:2–2:11 vs. 2:12–13; 3:1–12 vs. 4:1–5:15; 6:1–7:7 vs. 7:8–20), there is no problem. In 1:16; 2:3–5, 10–11, an exile is predicted, but 2:12–13 is the final word to that exile: God will save his people and bring them back home. Thus there need not be any extraordinary exegetical endeavors that seek to conform the passage to its literary context.

Outline

1. Title of the Book: Micah, His Message, His Times, His Audience (1:1)
2. I. First Movement: Judgment and Salvation I: Samaria Judged, Jerusalem Judged, and a Remnant Saved from Exile (1:2–2:13)
   1. A. The Divine Epiphany of Judgment (1:2–2:11)
      1. 1. The Coming Judgment of Samaria (1:2–7)
         1. a. The Epiphany (1:2–4)
         2. b. The Ultimate Iconoclast—The Judgment of Samaria (1:5–7)
      2. 2. Lament for a Nation—The Judgment of Judah (1:8–16)
         1. a. The Prophet Laments (1:8–9)
         2. b. The Lament for the Cities—Topography of Terror (1:10–15)
         3. c. The Lament for the Exiles (1:16)
      3. 3. Dead Men Walking: Reasons for Judgment and Exile (2:1–5)
         1. a. Indictment of the Covetous (2:1–2)
         2. b. Sentence Passed on the Covetous (2:3–5)
      4. 4. Theological Polemics (2:6–11)
         1. a. “Cease and Desist!” (2:6–7)
         2. b. Micah’s Defense (2:8–9)
         3. c. “Get Out!” (2:10–11)
   2. B. The Divine Epiphany of Salvation: Breakout (2:12–13)
      1. 1. The Gathering of a Remnant Flock (2:12)
      2. 2. The Shepherd-King (2:13)
3. II. Second Movement: Judgment and Salvation II: The Judgment of Jerusalem, Its Leaders, and the Temple; the Resurrection of the Temple; the Judgment and Salvation of the Remnant and the Nations (3:1–5:15)
   1. A. Judgment on the Present Jerusalem (3:1–12)
      1. 1. Cannibalism in the Courts (3:1–4)
         1. a. Indictment: No Help! (3:1–3)
         2. b. Sentence: No Help! (3:4)
      2. 2. Profiteering Prophets (3:5–8)
         1. a. Indictment: Religious Mercenaries (3:5)
         2. b. Sentence: The Sun Sets (3:6–7)
         3. c. The Sun Shines (3:8)
      3. 3. Zion’s Death and Bad Religion (3:9–12)
         1. a. Indictment: Bloody Zion’s Famous Last Words (3:9–11)
         2. b. Sentence: Bloody Zion’s Death (3:12)
   2. B. The Future Glory of Jerusalem and Temple: Resurrection and Good Religion (4:1–5)
      1. 1. The Magnetic Hill of Zion—A Mecca for the Nations (4:1–2)
      2. 2. The Consequence: Shalom, Satiety, Security (4:3–4)
      3. 3. Present Response: Walk in the Name of Yahweh (4:5)
   3. C. The Pathway to the Glory (4:6–5:15)
      1. 1. The Future: The Weak Made Strong in Yahweh’s New Kingdom (4:6–7)
         1. a. The Survival of the Weakest (4:6)
         2. b. The Weak Made Strong (4:7)
      2. 2. The Present Crisis: Zion’s Labor Pains (4:8–5:1)
         1. a. Reassurance of the Little Flock—Revival of the House of David (4:8)
         2. b. The Present Crisis—The Birth Pangs of Redemption (4:9–10)
         3. c. The Nations Defeated (4:11–13)
         4. d. Judah’s Leader—The House of David Humiliated (5:1)
      3. 3. The Time in Between: Birth of a Shepherd-King and the Role of the Remnant (5:2–9)
         1. a. Bethlehem Will Rule the World (5:2–4)
         2. b. Assyria Finally Defeated (5:5–6)
         3. c. The Remnant—A Boon (5:7)
         4. d. The Remnant—A Bane (5:8–9)
      4. 4. The Future: Final Judgment and the Abolition of War (5:10–15)
         1. a. Demilitarization (5:10–11)
         2. b. De-Idolization (5:12–14)
         3. c. Judgment for the Impenitent (5:15)
4. III. Third Movement: Judgment and Salvation III: Call to Repentance, Confession, and Hope in God (6:1–7:20)
   1. A. Yahweh’s Case against Israel (6:1–7:7)
      1. 1. Yahweh Pleads with His People (6:1–8)
         1. a. Yahweh and His People in Court (6:1–2)
         2. b. Yahweh’s Past Actions for His People (6:3–5)
         3. c. Yahweh’s Requirements for His People (6:6–8)
      2. 2. Yahweh’s People Do Not Listen—Injustice, Violence, and Walking with Ahab (6:9–16)
         1. a. Indictment: Injustice in the Marketplace (6:9–12)
         2. b. Sentence: No Profit for Profiteers (6:13–16)
      3. 3. Lament for a Nation—Again! (7:1–7)
         1. a. A Moral Wasteland—No Fruit on the Vine (7:1–4)
         2. b. “Don’t Trust Anyone!” (7:5–6)
         3. c. Look to God Alone! (7:7)
   2. B. Israel’s Hope in Yahweh’s Grace: Final Prayer of Confession, Hope, and Praise (7:8–20)
      1. 1. Acceptance of Judgment, Confession, and Hope (7:8–9)
      2. 2. The Demise of the Enemy (7:10)
      3. 3. Jerusalem: The Metropolis of the World (7:11–13)
      4. 4. The Divine Shepherd’s Salvation (7:14–15)
      5. 5. Defeat and Salvation of the Nations (7:16–17)
      6. 6. Hymn of Praise to the Incomparable God (7:18–20)