Scripture Reading: Micah 1:1-16; 2:1-11; 3:1-12
The Minor Prophets reveal that God uses the Gentiles as a means, an instrument, to chastise His elect, Israel. The Gentiles, however, do things in excess, and this offends God, who then comes in to punish the Gentiles. God’s chastisement of Israel and His punishment of the Gentiles issue in the manifestation of Christ, and the manifestation of Christ brings in the restoration, which will consummate in the new heaven and new earth. All the Minor Prophets have this same basic thought, although they use different expressions to convey it. In Micah the expressions are very poetic. The entire book of Micah is a book of poetry.
In this message we will begin to consider the prophecy of Micah, covering the introductory word and Jehovah’s reproof on Israel.
The introductory word is in 1:1.
Micah is a shortened form of Micaiah, meaning “Who is like Jah?” “Jah” is a shortened form of Jehovah. The longer form of the prophet’s name is found in the Hebrew text of Jeremiah 26:18.
The time of Micah’s ministry was about 750-710 B.C., at the time of Isaiah and Hosea.
The place of his ministry was Judah.
The object of his ministry was the northern kingdom of Israel (also Judah). In the Old Testament, the term Israel is used for two matters: the whole race of Israel and the northern kingdom of Israel. Because the term is used in these two ways, it is sometimes difficult for us as readers to know whether it refers to the northern kingdom of Israel or to the entire people of Israel. Here it refers to the whole race of Israel, including Judah.
The subject of Micah is Jehovah’s reproof on Israel and His restoration of Israel.
The central thought of Micah is that Jehovah reproved Israel of her evils and promised her His saving and gathering of her remnant for the restoration (Matt. 19:28) in the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6).
In Micah the revelation concerning Christ is very strong. Christ is revealed in His eternal origin (5:2c); in His human birth in Bethlehem (5:2a); in His being the Ruler, the Shepherd, and the peace of Israel in the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6; Micah 5:2b, 4a, 5a); in His becoming great (5:4b); and in His saving Israel from Assyria (5:6b).
Micah 5:4b says that in the millennium Christ will be great unto the ends of the earth. Daniel 2:34 and 35 tell us that Christ as a stone cut out without hands will crush the great human image and will then become a great mountain, the kingdom of God, and fill the whole earth. Today, apparently Jesus is very small, but in the coming kingdom He will become great.
The book of Micah has five sections: the introductory word (1:1); Jehovah’s reproof on Israel (1:2—2:11; 3:1-12); Jehovah’s comfort to Israel (2:12-13; 4:1—5:15); Jehovah’s contention with Israel (6:1-16); and the prophet’s observation and expectation (7:1-20).
Let us now consider Jehovah’s reproof on Israel.
In verse 2 the prophet tells the peoples to hear and the earth to give heed and let the Lord Jehovah be a witness against them, the Lord from His holy temple. Then, indicating that Jehovah is coming in judgment from His holy temple, the prophet continues, “For behold, Jehovah comes forth from His place, / And He will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. / And the mountains will be melted under Him, / And the valleys will be cleft, / Like wax before fire, / Like water poured down a slope” (vv. 3-4).
The cause of Jehovah’s reproof on Israel is found in verse 5. Here the prophet says, “All this is because of the transgression of Jacob / And because of the sins of the house of Israel. / What is the transgression of Jacob? / Is it not Samaria? / And what are the high places of Judah? / Are they not Jerusalem?”
According to verse 6, Samaria will be made a heap of ruins in a field, places for the planting of vineyards. Verse 7 goes on to say, “All her engraved idols will be smashed, / And all her gifts for harlotry will be burned with fire, / And all her images I will make a desolation; / For from the harlot’s hire she has gathered them, / And unto the harlot’s hire they will return.”
Verses 8 and 9 are concerned with the invasion of Jerusalem. Here the prophet declares, “Because of this I will wail and howl; / I will go about barefoot and naked. / I will make a wailing like the jackals / And a lamentation like the ostriches. / For her wounds are incurable, / For it has come as far as Judah; / It reaches as far as the gate of my people, / As far as Jerusalem.”
In the remainder of chapter one (vv. 10-16), we have an account of the terrors in Judah and Israel and the evils from Jehovah.
Micah 2:1-11 is a record of Jehovah’s reproof on Israel’s evils.
Micah 3:1-11 describes Jehovah’s reproof on the heads and rulers of the house of Israel.
Finally, verse 12 speaks regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and Mount Zion. “Therefore on account of you / Zion will be plowed as a field, / And Jerusalem will be heaps, / And the mountain of the house will become the high places of a forest.”
All the Minor Prophets touched the same thing — God’s chastisement over Israel and His punishment on the nations issuing in the manifestation of Christ for the restoration of the whole universe, consummating in the new heaven and new earth. This shows that in the consideration of the godly people, mainly the prophets, there was the expectation that the Messiah would come to restore not only the kingdom of Israel but also the entire universe, especially the sun, the moon, and the stars, for the growing of the living things on the earth, that the earth might be very rich in produce. Isaiah 30:26 says that in the restoration “the light of the sun will be sevenfold,” not for scorching but for shining, for giving sunshine to grow the living things on earth. This means that the heavens will answer the earth and cause it to grow things in a rich way (Hosea 2:21-22). The sun’s shining seven times brighter indicates that the produce of the earth will be seven times richer than it is today. At that time there will be no scarcity but rather plenitude.
Before Adam fell, the earth was rich in produce. Man did not need to labor with sweating. However, after man fell, God came in to curse the earth and to tell man that he would eat of the earth by the sweat of his brow (Gen. 3:17-19). But in the age of restoration, “the mountains will drop down fresh wine, / And the hills will flow with milk” (Joel 3:18). Since there will be no poverty or scarcity, there will be no need for the various “isms,” such as communism and capitalism, to exist in order to balance the social wealth. Like the birds (Matt. 6:25-26), the people on earth will partake of all the natural resources of the earth in a common way. In the restoration there will be no merchants (Zech. 14:21b, where “Canaanite” may also be translated “merchant”), no money (mammon, Luke 16:9), no buying and selling, no police stations, and no law courts. Christ will be there as the source of the rich supply, as the inner law of life, and as everything for us to enjoy.
