The Book of Micah

Micah wrote to warn his nation of the certainty of God's judgment; to expose the specific offenses that made God angry and; summarize God's prophetic message to Samaria in the north and Jerusalem in the south. He foretold Israel's downfall before it happened in 722 BC., and he prophesied that a similar destruction would happen to Judah and Jerusalem because of the ever-rising presence of sin among the people. This book allows the message of Micah to be kept for Judah's last generations before the Babylonians came against the nation. It also makes an important contribution to the total Old Testament revelation about the coming Messiah.


Five major features characterize the book of Micah. 1. It holds up the cause of the humble and helpless who are taken advantage of and mistreated by the rich and proud. This is similar to James message in the New Testament (James 1:27). In the challenge that Micah presents in chapter 6, the prophet gives the highest requirement possible for the people of God in reference to their conduct: "to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humble with your God" (6:8). That statement basically summarizes what God expects of His followers. 2. Some of Micah's language is rough and direct, other times it is eloquent and poetic, using many figures of speech and wordplays. 3. Like the prophet Isaiah, Micah expresses a strong awareness of God's call and God's prophetic anointing by the Holy Spirit: "I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgressions, to Israel his sin" (3:8). 4. The book contains one of the greatest and most complete descriptions in the Bible of God's mercy and forgiveness. 5. It has three important prophecies that are quoted in other parts of the Bible: one that saved Jeremiah's life, one about the Messiah and one used by Jesus Himself as He taught on the cost of discipleship.


Like other Old Testament prophets, Micah saw beyond God's judgment of Israel and Judah to the coming Messiah and His future reign on earth. Seven hundred years before Christ came, Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Micah also revealed that Christ's future reign on earth would be a kingdom of peace and that the Shepherd would reign God's people with perfect justice. Micah's references to future salvation reveal God's continuing desire and purpose to save - not to condemn. He wants more than anything to have a personal relationship with all of humankind. The New Testament focuses on this truth even more.