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Survey of the Book of Micah

Who is like God? is the meaning of the ancient Hebrew name Micah, which also emphasizes God's promise to be gracious and bring His people back to their ancestral homeland. In addition to outlining God's promise to be gracious and bring His people back to the land, Micah also foreshadows His impending judgment on Israel.

God's punishment against Israel is announced by Micah.

Micah prophesied in the critical years leading up to the terrible fall of Israel to the Assyrian Empire (722 BC), an event he also foresaw, as a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea.

Micah 1:6 NIV

6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations.

Micah neglected to mention the concurrent line of dishonorable kings that put an end to the northern kingdom of Israel when he claimed in the introduction to the book that he prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and  Hezekiah in Judah.

Why is Micah so important?

The book of Micah provides one of the most significant prophecies of Jesus Christ’s birth in all the Old Testament, pointing some seven hundred years before Christ’s birth to His birthplace of Bethlehem and to His eternal nature.

Micah 5:2 NIV

2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Surrounding Micah’s prophecy of Jesus’s birth is one of the most lucid pictures of the world’s future under the reign of the Prince of Peace (5:5).

 Micah 5:5 NIV

5 And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses. We will raise against them seven shepherds, even eight commanders,

 This future kingdom, which scholars call the millennial kingdom, will be characterized by the presence of many nations living with one another in peace and security and coming to Jerusalem to worship the reigning king, that is, Jesus Himself. Because these events have not yet occurred, we look forward to the millennial kingdom at some undetermined time in the future.

 The big idea

Much of Micah’s book revolves around two significant predictions: one of judgment on Israel and Judah (Micah 1:1–3:12), the other of the restoration of God’s people in the millennial kingdom. In the final section of Micah's prophecy, a courtroom scene in which God's people stand trial before their Creator for straying away from Him and from others (6:1–7:20), judgment and restoration inspire terror and hope.

God reminds the people of His good deeds done on their behalf in this series, showing how He took care of them while they only took care of themselves. However, the book of Micah ends with the prophet pleading with the Lord as his only source of salvation and mercy (7:7), urging the people toward an everlasting hope in their everlasting God rather than leaving them with the fear and sting of judgment.

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