Micah 1
From:https://considerthegospel.org/2017/01/13/the-sign-of-the-branch-the-dead-stump-reborn/
From :https://visualunit.me/2023/01/12/micah-overview-updated/
Historical setting: reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah (Judah kings)
Audience: Samaria (Israel) and Jerusalem (Judah)
Micah = rural prophet (Moresheth)
โHear, you peoples, all of youโ
- God comes as witness and judge
- Theophany imagery: Mountains melting, valleys splittingย
Root cause:
- Samaria = rebellion
- Jerusalem = high places (idolatry)
- north and south equally guilty
Judgment on Samaria
Samaria will be reduced to a heap in the open country
- note: Assyria destroys Samaria (722 BC)
Idols smashed, wages burned
- โwagesโ (ืึถืชึฐื ึทื, โetnan):
- cult prostitution imagery
- what theyโve gained through idolatry will be taken awayย
Lament Over Judah
- Micah mourns like a prophet:
- โwail and howlโ
- stripped, naked
โHer wound is incurableโ
- Judgment spreads from Israel โ Judah โ Jerusalem
City Lament Wordplay
- Series of puns (Hebrew wordplay)
| City | Hebrew Meaning | Wordplay |
| Gath (ืึทึผืช, gat) | โwinepressโ | Not so much wordplay but โTell (ืชึทึผืึดึผืืืึผ) it not in Gathโย |
| Beth-le-aphrah (ืึตึผืืช ืึฐืขึทืคึฐืจึธื) | โhouse of dustโ | โRoll yourselves in the dustโ |
| Shaphir (ืฉึธืืคึดืืจ) | โbeautiful / pleasantโ | Will go out in naked shame |
| Zaanan (ืฆึทืึฒื ึธื) | โto come outโ | โDoes not come outโ |
| Beth-ezel (ืึตึผืืช ืึธืึตืฆึถื) | โhouse beside / nearby houseโ | Will offer no support/standing or โneighborโ cannot help |
| Maroth (ืึธืจืึนืช) | โbitternessโ | Waits anxiously for good, but receives disaster |
| Lachish (ืึธืึดืืฉื) | possibly โteam of horses / chariot cityโ | โHarness the chariotโ |
| Moresheth-gath (ืืึนืจึถืฉึถืืช ืึทึผืช) | โpossession/inheritance of Gathโ | โYou shall give parting giftsโ dowry imagery |
| Achzib (ืึทืึฐืึดืื) | โdeception / lieโ | Will prove deceptive to Israelโs kings |
| Mareshah (ืึธืจึตืฉึธืื) | โpossession / inheritanceโ | โI will bring a possessor/conquerorโ |
| Adullam (ืขึฒืึปืึธึผื) | possibly โrefuge / hiding placeโ | โGlory of Israel shall come to Adullamโ |
Micah 2
Sin begins internally: โdevise wickednessโฆ on their bedsโ
- But then publicly: โbecause it is in the power of their handโ
Key injustice: coveting leading to seizing land
- Violates inheritance lawsย
Punishment mirrors sin: they divide land โ their land divided
- Irony that no one to cast the lot (inheritance lost)
People say: Do not preachโ
โIs the Spirit of the LORD impatient?โ
- No Godโs words do good to the upright
Social injustice:
- stripping garments from the peaceful
- evicting women and children
- attacking the vulnerable
โArise and goโ Reversal:they displaced others now they are displaced
False prophets preferred those who promise wine and strong drink
Sudden shift to hope in verses 12-13
- โI will surely assemble all of you, O Jacobโ
- โThe breaker (ืคึนึผืจึตืฅ, porets)โ one who breaks open the way
- Likely: kingly/Messianic imagery
Micah 3
Leaders should know justiceโฆbut instead they are graphically described as those that:
- Strip skin and flesh
- Eat flesh
- Flay skin
- Break bones
- Chop them into pieces
- To eat
Judgment reversal: they ignored cries so God ignores theirs
False prophets:
- โpeaceโ when fed
- war when not fed
- God will bring them to shame
- no vision, no divination
- darkness replaces them
Micahโs contrast: โfilled with powerโฆ with the Spirit of the LORDโ
- A true prophet declares sin boldly
Judgment on Jerusalem
Leaders:
- โabhor justiceโ
- โmake crooked all that is straightโ
Jerusalem built on blood and iniquity
Three corrupt groups:
- rulers: bribes
- priests: price
- prophets: money
- Yet they claim:โIs not the LORD in the midst of us?โ
- Final judgment:
- Zion plowed like a field
- Jerusalem becomes ruins
- Historically fulfilled:Babylonian destruction (586 BC)
- Quoted in Jeremiah 26:17-19
Application
Micah 1-3 reminds us that God is not impressed by outward religion when our hearts are unjust. We see that sin often begins quietly within us but eventually shows up in how we treat others, especially the vulnerable. We cannot declare that God is with us when we do not follow Him.ย
Jo Reads The Bible 
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