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Home Group – Micah

by | Thu, Nov 29 2012

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Micah (Me’xah)

Micah is from the name Micaiah in the same way John, Jon, Joan, Jan, Jane are basically the same name but with tiny variations that don’t alter the meaning in any significant way. Micaiah means ‘Who is like Yahweh?’ and Micah is made up of ‘mi’ which is the common inquisitive word ‘who?’ in the Hebrew, as well as the word ‘koh’ or ‘ka’a’ which means to be disheartened or frightened. In the context of this name, the foundational name being Micaiah – ‘Who is like Yahweh?’ – the name Micaiah is the rhetorical question ‘Who is like Yahweh?’ and then the show of trust in Him responds from the name Micah with ‘Who is afraid?’, Because if one trusts in Yahweh, who could possibly be afraid?

Micah, like Amos, is the author of the book that bears his name which is a small book of only 7 chapters. Micah is listed among the minor prophets and there is little known about him personally. His parents are not listed but his name suggests he possibly had godly parents. He comes from the town of Moresheth which is located in the foothills of Judah approximately 40km southwest of Jerusalem on the border of Judah and Philistia near the town of Gath where Goliath came from.

Also like Amos, Micah was from an agricultural area, a country resident removed from the politics and religion of his nation but he was chosen by God to deliver an unpopular and unwanted message of judgement to the princes, false prophets and people of Jerusalem. (Mic 3:8)

Micah lived during the reigns of kings Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, approximately 735-710 BC and the godly prophets alive during his prophetic ministry years were Hosea in the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Isaiah in the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

Micah’s ministry was primarily to the southern kingdom of Judah because the Northern Kingdom of Israel was about to fall to the invasion of the Assyrians which took place in 722 BC, so this devastating event happened half way through Micah’s ministry and should have been a serious example of what would happen to Israel if they didn’t repent and return to the Lord. This is why only Judean kings are named by him.

There was a great deal of corruption in Judah and enormous injustice toward the people and by the time Hezekiah came to power things in Judah were very bad. Fortunately, judgement was stayed because of the turnaround brought about by king Hezekiah. Hezekiah refused to continue paying tribute to Assyria and this caused Sennacherib to lay siege to Jerusalem in 701BC and this rightly caused Hezekiah to call upon the Lord who delivered Judah from their enemy and the people were led back to right worship of Yahweh.

A consequence of the destruction of Israel was the flooding in of refugees from the Northern Kingdom into Judah and with them they brought their idolatry, so the return to the Lord in Judah was short-lived.

Micah addressed this sin of idolatry but his most vehement warnings were to the individual responsibilities of the people themselves for their sin, rebellion, idolatry and injustice to the weak and vulnerable in their communities. The fact that Judah’s biggest threat came from Assyria made Micah’s prediction of invasion by Babylon very remote however, they simply refused to even consider the possibility of invasion by the Babylonians.

The book of Micah is seven chapters long.

  • Chapter 1 Micah exposed and denounced the idolatry of Samaria and Jerusalem and Micah grieved over it and called the people themselves to mourn over their sin from their heart, not just for being caught in sin but to be genuinely remorseful and repentant for sinning in the first place;
  • Chapter 2 Micah called out their sins of oppression and foretold of the punishment that would come upon them but he also foretold them of Israel’s restoration because of God’s faithfulness;
  • Chapter 3 Micah rebuked the princes for their cruelty toward their own people and then he rebuked the false prophets because they were responsible for so much evil in the land. He exposed the sins of the princes for their oppression of the own people because they were feeding their own greed and comfort at the expense of the populace. Both the religious and civic leaders were the ‘shepherds’ of the people, and the shepherd was supposed to put the needs of the sheep before himself and God promised to deal severely with these false shepherds for their abuse of the sheep…God’s people. Micah warned them that their sin will be the downfall of Jerusalem;
  • Chapter 4 Micah again told of the restoration of Jerusalem and of the eventual glory of the house of the Lord as well as Israel’s eventual victory over other nations;
  • Chapter 5 Micah foretold of a powerful king who would come from Judah who would vanquish other nations and ultimately destroy idolatry; this is a Messianic prophecy about the birth and work of Yeshua the Messiah;

Micah 5:2, ‘But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.’

  • Chapter 6 Judah is again rebuked for her sins, most particularly her injustice to the people and punishment is promised as a result;
  • Chapter 7 Micah grieves over the lack of righteous men and Israel’s corruption but he comforts Israel as well, promising that they will eventually be restored to their land and will triumph over their enemies;

Those who like to deny the Old Testament as honouring a God who is brutal, loveless, merciless, blood-thirsty and cruel because He promises and brings judgement don’t understand the intensity of God’s love and the extremes of His mercy. God sent warning after warning to both Jew and Gentile nations in the OT, and sometimes waited hundreds of years before finally having to honour His warnings. God takes no delight in the death of the wicked.

Ezekiel 33:11, ‘Say to them, “As I live,” declares the Lord God, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! When then will you die, O house of Israel?”

Sometimes we find it difficult to believe that God brings judgement because it messes with our theology that says God IS love and therefore would never bring judgement, but it’s because God’s love is perfect and right He must also hate. Because God is perfect in all He does, His hatred is also perfect and right. For example, because God loves children, He hates abortion; because God loves truth He hates lies; because God loves purity He hates immorality; because God loves life He hates murder. So because God loves He also hates and both are perfect and right because He is perfect and always right in His judgments.

God’s promise of the eventual restoration of Israel to the land was a great encouragement to the few, the ‘remnant’ in Judah who were faithful to Him, even though they would go into captivity into Babylon eventually God would see them restored and re-established in the land He promised would be theirs. This is exactly what happened and Daniel the prophet was just one of those who ended up in Babylon.

Micah was to Judah was Amos was to Israel. They warned their people that their worship of God had to not only be genuine it had to be right. It’s very possible to be genuine, but genuinely wrong. People don’t determine how they will worship God, people are to worship God the way He says they should, because human beings left to themselves ultimately re-form God in the image they think He should be and then become guilty of idolatry. How we worship and approach God really does matter.

Because God loves people, we are to treat them carefully and thoughtfully. How does a person know if they are truly honouring and worshipping God? They worship Him and honour Him according to His Word and not their own preferences and opinions and they represent Him in their words, thoughts and deeds and in how they treat other people.

If we allow God to reach into the very deepest part of our heart where our secret motivations reside to bring conviction and genuine remorse for our sin, He can then transform us and the evidence will be seen on the outside in how we speak, think and behave.

Proverbs 6:16-23, ‘There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him; haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers. My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother; bind them continually on your heart; tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life.’

The last sentence of this passage reveals so much; the commandment, the Word of God, is a lamp for us, it disciplines us when we need it and it is a WAY OF LIFE…as opposed to being something we step into on Sunday and then step out of again on Monday.

Study the Word, learn the Word, live the Word and love God supremely.

Shalom

Mandy