The Book of Micah

How To Read the Book 

You can also watch a video teaching about prophecy that has different content from the blog post (in the video I misspoke and said “Abraham” when I meant “Moses”).

Historical Context

Because of Solomon’s sin, turning away from the Lord, God took the kingdom away from his offspring. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, took the throne after Solomon’s death, but he was immature and unwise. He listened to the counsel of his peers instead of listening to the counsel of the elders. The people revolted, and the kingdom was split into two separate kingdoms: Israel and Judah. Rehoboam ruled over Judah while Jeroboam ruled over Israel.

From this point on in the history of Israel, we read of two nations. Most of the prophetic books are written to one nation or the other, but Micah addresses both kingdoms. In Micah 1:5, he mentions Samaria, the capital city of Israel, and Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah. Micah was a contemporary of Hosea, who prophesied in Israel, and of Isaiah, who prophesied in Judah.

This book of prophecy is categorized as pre-exilic because it takes place and prophesies the Babylonian exile, as do most of the other prophetic books of the Old Testament. At the beginning of the book, we are told that Micah prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, giving us a pretty precise date for this writing.

Remnant

One of the words that has come up again and again in the book of Micah is remnant. This is a word tied very closely to God’s covenant, and therefore, it shows up repeatedly through many books of prophecy in Scripture. Every time disaster is prophesied for the nation of Israel, there is hope in the remnant, those who will survive the judgment and return to the land God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to rebuild and restore God’s people. This idea of a remnant provides hope for the Israelites as they are tossed to and fro as a result of their sin. And the remnant is mentioned in Revelation, too.

Covenant

When we studied the book of Genesis, we came across several different covenants. Because this book of prophecy is tied to God’s covenant, it is a good idea to rehearse the meaning of the word and explain its implications. A covenant is made between two or more parties indicating a promise to fulfill or perform certain actions. Another word for covenant is testament. This would make the divisions in our Bible the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

A covenant might be conditional or unconditional, in other words, in a conditional covenant, one party will only keep his promise if the other person does their part. Whereas an unconditional covenant means that one party is bound to fulfill his promise no matter what the other party does. While God’s covenant to make Abraham a great nation was unconditional, He often added conditions for how it would play out with the nation of Israel.

The New Covenant is a bit different because the indwelling of the Holy Spirit gives us a desire to be faithful, which is a perk the Israelites under the Old Covenant didn’t have. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did indwell some people, but He could also leave them (i.e. King Saul). Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant.

When God made a covenant with Abraham (Abram at the time), the ceremony is a little strange to our western thinking. Abram had just rescued Lot and made enemies of the surrounding nations. God begins chapter 15 by reminding Abram that God is his protector, so he doesn’t need to fear. Then God asks Abram to bring specific animals, cut them in half and lay them with a path between the pieces. This was the way a covenant was made in Abram’s culture. This was not foreign to him.

What was strange, even for Abram, was that he did not participate in the covenant. He was asleep! The covenant didn’t need Abram’s participation because God would fulfill it no matter what Abram did. In fact, Abraham repeatedly put God’s plan in jeopardy, but God protected it.

The fire pot and flaming torch that passed down the path between the pieces of the animals would have been reassuring to the Israelites, Moses’ audience, because they had been wandering in the wilderness following a pillar of fire/cloud. It always amazes me how God maintains the same imagery throughout the Scriptures no matter how much time has passed.

There are covenants beyond the book of Genesis. Here is a list, but keep in mind that not all scholars agree on all of the covenants, whether they are conditional or unconditional, whether they have all been fulfilled or not, etc.

• Adamic Covenant (divided into the Edenic covenant [2:16-17] and the Adamic covenant [3:16-19])
• Noahic Covenant [9:11]
• Abrahamic Covenant [chapter 15 and more]
• Palestinian Covenant [Deuteronomy 30:1-10]
• Mosaic Covenant [Dueteronomy 11 and more]
• Davidic Covenant [2 Samuel 7:8-16]
• New Covenant [Jeremiah 31:31-34]

To read a brief explanation of these covenants, click here.

High Places

The term “High Places” is the Hebrew word bamah. It refers to something to which one ascends or something associated with the clouds (1 Samuel 9:13-14, 19; Isaiah 14:14). It has a double meaning in Scripture because it can refer to a high place in elevation, but it can also refer to a place of worship, a shrine, or a cult site.

While there were many high places devoted to idolatry (worshipping pagan gods), other high places were devoted to worshipping Yahweh, the true God of Israel. Between the time of wandering in the wilderness and the construction of the temple, the Israelites utilized high places to offer their sacrifices to God. Unfortunately, the practice seems to have continued for some even after the Temple was in place, which was an affront to God.

Throughout the Old Testament, we find that Israel, when conquering the cities in the Promised Land, was supposed to tear down the “high places.” In fact, through the books of Chronicles and Kings, we see that most kings did not tear down the high places, even some of the kings who were considered to be good kings of Israel. Leaving the high places would tempt the Israelites into idol worship. In fact, Moses had warned the Israelites that they would be exiled from God’s promised land due to idolatry at the high places (Lev. 26:30).

Learning about high places in Scripture should remind us that we are to worship God in the way He directs us to worship. We cannot improve on His instructions for how to worship Him best, regardless of our feelings, preferences, or what is popular.

Read a more detailed description here.

Zion

While the term Zion refers to a place, specifically the mountain on which the temple was built in Jerusalem, it has come to symbolize much more. Physically, the word can refer to Jerusalem (sometimes called the daughter of Zion) or to the Israelite nation as a whole.

Figuratively, the main idea behind the word is that God reigns. When you encounter the word Zion in Scripture, think “the Lord reigns.” Zion is the highest mountain regardless of elevation because it is the Lord’s mountain from where He reigns. To see the glory of Zion is to see the glory of God, and to despise Zion is to despise the Lord Himself. God abandoned His throne at Zion because His people rebelled against Him, and thus, they were taken into captivity by other nations.

Micah 4:1-5, Isaiah 2:1-5

Read a more detailed description here.

Lord of Hosts

The phrase “Lord of Hosts” is translated from the Hebrew phrase Yahweh Sabaoth. It is a very majestic title. This title conveys some powerful truths about who God is:

1. He is God of armies (Ps. 24:8, 10)

2. He is God of angels (Isa. 6:3)

3. He is God Almighty (Ps. 46:6)

“King of fullness of his glory, who surrounded by regimented hosts of angels, governs the whole world as the Almighty, and in his temple receives the honor and acclamation of all his creatures.” –Herman Bavinck

The title also demonstrates some truths about what God does:

1. He preserves the elect (Isa. 1:9, Rom. 9:29)

2. He opposes injustice (James 5:4, Rom. 12:19)

3. He establishes peace (Ps. 46:9)

“The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Ps. 46:7, ESV).

Read a more detailed description here.

Biblical Justice

The word justice gets thrown around a lot in our society, so it is important to understand what the Bible says about justice. After all, God is the author of justice, and He should get to define it. In that pursuit, I searched through the notes in my study Bible, and it took me to many different passages.

Isaiah 42:1

“Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”

Jeremiah 22:3

“Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.”

Amos 5:7

“O you who turn justice to wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth!”

Here are the takeaways:

• Biblical justice is fulfilling mutual obligations in a manner consistent with God’s moral law.
• It is making right decisions according to God’s commands and case laws.
• It is much more than legal equity but the entirety of God’s government of His world.
• Justice is a fair and just use of power and judicial system, especially when it comes to protecting the weak from the strong.
• It is honest and fair business dealings and faithfulness to keep one’s word, not taking advantage of the weak and poor.

How does this compare to our modern-day society’s definition of justice? Where are we lacking? I encourage you to research this topic for yourself.

*This information came from my ESV Study Bible notes.

Concurrence

One of the most difficult concepts for me as I read Old Testament prophecy is that God ordains that foreign nations attack, oppress, and take captive the nation of Israel, but when their judgment is over, He punishes those nations for their treatment of His people. In the midst of our time in the book of Micah where this idea is present, I have been attending a Sunday school class where we have been learning about the providence of God. Through that discussion, I have learned about a concept known as concurrence.

There are many definitions I have found for this term:

“God acts, and His creatures act, both unto His intended purposes” (Christopher Morgan)

“God’s all-encompassing cooperations with His creation” (Gregg Allison).

“God and human beings both act at the same time so that the Lord’s plan is fulfilled and our choices are really truly our own” (Ligonier).

While God is sovereign (in control) over everything, His intent is never evil. However, He works through the evil intents of others to fulfill His good intent.

Take the favorite example of Job. Satan’s intent was to disprove Job’s faithfulness. God’s intent was to prove Job’s faithfulness. The Chaldeans and Sabeans’ intent was to get rich. All of it worked together to fulfill God’s good intent.

There are many, many more examples in Scripture of this idea. Joseph particularly comes to mind. God orchestrated all of it so that Joseph could be where he needed to be to save the nation of Israel and put them in a position to flourish, but his brothers intended to simply get rid of him, and slave traders wanted to make money off of him.

When it comes to the nation of Israel being captive to a foreign nation, it is also important to understand that the foreign nation could have repented as they heard of the God of Israel. The book of Daniel spends some time on this idea.

It is a complicated topic because His thoughts are not our thoughts, but it helps us find hope in a time of trouble, holding fast to the fact that God is truly working it all for His good intent.

Click here to read an article from Ligonier about concurrence.

Metanarrative

To watch a lesson on the metanarrative of Scripture (the big picture of the Bible), click the button below.

Scripture Memory

This month we will be memorizing two short passages in Micah, 6:6-8 and 7:18-19. I created a PDF so you can print out the verses to use as a reference. They are in the ESV, but I am happy to create one in whatever version you would like to memorize. Just let me know, and I’ll get it right to you. You can click here, on the button, or scroll to the bottom of the page to access the PDF.

I’ve written this blog post to help you understand why it is important to commit Scripture to memory and give you some tips for how to do it.

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