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Micah, our Predictor

by Alfonso Abels  
3/22/2013 / Christian Living

Beloveds, God, because of repetitive sins, periodically need to send His prophets to warn the nations to repent their sins. Millions of people daily deal with issues of sin.

Our lives and communities are characterized by greed, crime and fraud, not forgetting the other sinful natures of man. These things, unfortunately, bring unnecessary hurt and grief to those, including their families, involved. Jesus Christ.

The prophets are then used, where the Israelites engaged in acts of sin, as channels of communication between God and man. The basis for the function of the prophets is the Mosaic covenant between God and Israel. Deuteronomy 28 in the Bible explains that, should Israel adhere to God`s principles, they would be blessed. If not, judgment would befall them.

The prophets were people that inquired and searched the manner of time God was indicating the sorrows and glories. They did not always understand their prophecies, but still felt compelled to apply it. The prophets also made use of the Abrahamic (Genesis 12, 15, 17) and Davidic covenants (2 Samuel 7).

Prosperity is promised upon the upholding of the covenants. The Abrahamic covenant refers to the era where people of faith from various nations will unite in true worship of God. This is thus bigger than just the restoration of Israel.

Beloveds, the basic points of the prophets` messages are: Repent, no repent judgment, hope beyond judgment for a glorious, future restoration. They are indicted against Israel`s idolatry, social injustice and reliance on religious ritual to cover these two aspects.

Micah, a prophet whose writings can be found in the Old Testament, was also used in this regard. However, this book seldom receives attention it deserves. Sadly, we need to ask: Who is Micah? How does his life relate to this discussion? In fact, how does his life relate to us?

Beloveds, Micah, meaning "Who is like Jehovah?", was a contemporary to Isaiah, Amos and Hosea. His name is more than just a popular child`s name. Micah was a prophet that lived and prophesized in Judah`s southern Kingdom in the days of kings Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.

Micah prophecies` started when Judah was still prosperous. King Jotham, who just came to power had a successful reign as he based his leadership on the Lord`s principles.

Micah and Isaiah confronted the same kings at the same period. Therefore their writings will show similarities to each other. They predicted and lived to see Israel and Judah, who struggled with this cruel pagan power, fall to the Assyrian conquerors.

The book Isaiah receives more attention as it is quite lengthy. The scope of his prophecies also receives undivided attention. However, Micah was equally God`s man for the task at hand.

The Assyrians played an enormous role in Micah prophecies. He, being critical of Israel`s leaders, declared that their lack of justice, coupled with idolatry, would not stop the judgment of God.

He felt deep distress at the way the Israelites were carrying on sinning. Micah`s prophecies was against national and personal sins. The weak spiritual climate was the reason for his messages.

Micah is a typical pre-exilic prophet whose messages synthesizes down to the three standard themes of the prophets. Micah, although feeling alone when he declared God`s message, remained unmoved in his mission as prophet.

Beloveds, Micah, the book, offers a colorful wordplay on various cities. The book depicts that the deliverer will come from Bethlehem. God thus used Micah to indicate where our Lord would be born.

By using the changing of hammering swords into plowshares, it illustrates the peace that the deliverer will bring. Micah, portrayed as an anthology, is divided into three central units:

Judgment, yet promise for the future

Micah`s prophecy concerns both Jerusalem, capital of Israel, and Samaria, capital of Judah. God comes in judgment against them as both capitals are found guilty of idolatry.

All the kings were leaders in these aspects. In Micah 1 v 8 16, repeated wordplays are used to convey the message of the coming judgment. The wickedness of the people is heavily emphasized.

Therefore, God`s anger is so severe that he plans to bring everything to ruin.

Numerous cities are mentioned with judgment words used in relation to their names or meaning of their names. God is planning, whilst people are planning to steal land, to strike them with disaster resulting in exile and loss of land.

Justice, Leadership and the Coming One

Corrupt leaders and their weakness to carry out justice are focused upon in Micah 3. God declares that He will not hear their prayers. The issue of false prophets is addressed. These prophets, who were leading God`s astray, were just interested in personal gain.

God cannot okay this by compromising His character.
Micah is, however, certain of his call from God. Micah 4 and 5 are recognized as the main chapters of this book. Micah 4 focuses on the future messianic restoration.

It is prophesized that a Davidic king, who will rule as a good shepherd, will come from Bethlehem. Jewish scholars were not aware that Jesus would first appear in humility.

Life in the Present and hope for the future

The misconception about religious rituals is addressed in Micah 6 and 7. These chapters form the third and last portion of Micah`s prophecies. Micah 6 and 7 takes on a more personal tone as Israel is invited to walk a path with the Lord.

The Israelites of the time`s business dealings were also unjust and needed to be purified. Micah 6 focuses on a "covenant lawsuit" against Israel. Micah 6:8 therefore indicates that God wants us to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Him.

Micah is very unhappy with the completely unfruitful state of the nation (Micah 7).We will find the Lord`s words very unpleasant if we were engaging in sinful natures. Prophecies are warning signals to us to repent our sins.

No man must see himself as being immune to evaluation. Nobody has special privileges regarding repentance of sins. Remember, the living God is never amongst us just because we are connected to a particular tradition, heritage or group.

Beloveds, the future messianic restoration is connected via Micah`s closing verse to God`s promise to Abraham. This is clearly seen in the New Testament. God requires us to be involved in ritual, justice, deep desire for love and mercy.

We need to recognize him as our Saviour, our great Creator. Not being like the chief priests and scribes who chose to ignore the eternal sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to have a close relationship with Him.
Only then will our rituals carry meaning.

All rituals must provide in our hearts. The true worship and upright adoration of God will also then be reflected in this way.

The Old Testament prophets` powerful predictive aspects are reflected in Micah`s clear identification of Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah will be from.

This confirms that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament. We should thus trust God who is moving towards the fulfillment of His plan. We can truly do so even if there are no reliable friendships elsewhere.
Micah points to a glorious future of hope for the world.

Therefore, in the darkness of light, look for light from God and, should we sin, endure His hand of discipline. He remains producing His righteous character in our lives.

Beloveds, Micah never envisioned that his few words of prophecy would resound in the ears of several generations to come. However, God used him exactly for this purpose. Why not allow Him to use us likewise?

God Bless!

Alfonso lives in Mamre, South Africa and is married to Jean. Both are born - again Christians. Alfonso is a full - time minister of the Word and author of Christian materials.

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