Micah - A Major "Minor" Prophet
Micah prophesied at about the same time as the prophet Isaiah, during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. A century later, Jeremiah prophesied doom over Israel in the tradition of Micah. The elders of Israel would have killed him, except that they recognized a legal precedent inasmuch as Micah had also prophesied doom, but Hezekiah did not kill him. This "minor" prophet was a major prophet.
Micah 1:1 - "The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem."
Prophecies Are Historic, Noteworthy, Highly Significant
Joel and Amos were the first of the minor prophets to pronounce clear and articulate Messianic prophecies, foretelling a day when Israel would be mightily revived and the LORD Himself would rule on earth. A generation later, more historic, epochal prophecies were penned by Micah and Isaiah.
Micah 1:2-3 - "Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth."
Earthquakes And Volcanic Eruptions When Jesus Comes
Micah's prophecies pertained to Samaria (northern capital, of Israel) and Jerusalem (southern capital, of Judah). His prophecies said that God would come to earth and do great destruction because of the sins of the people. This unfulfilled prophecy will occur when Jesus comes to Armageddon.
Micah 1:3-4 - "The LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place."
Micah Prophesied Israel's Rejection, Ruin And Revival
What other nation in the world had such a line-up of prophets who simultaneously denounced its citizens for their evil ways, condemned and cursed them into captivity and near oblivion, then prophesied an eventual rebirth and re-establishment of that nation, including the rise of an eternal king who would be no less than Almighty God incarnate? Only Israel.
Micah 1:5,12-13 - "For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. ...evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem ...for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee."
Samaria's Contagious Sins
The word of the LORD by Micah warned that He would make a heap of Samaria for its idolatries and whoredoms. "All the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires [harlots] thereof shall be burned with the fire," (v 7). Micah wailed, howled and stripped himself in mourning, sorely lamenting that the sins of Samaria had spread to Jerusalem. We have all the same reasons to mourn for our generation.
Micah 1:9 - "For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem."
God Will Judge The Small As Surely As The Great
Micah mourned several small towns in Israel. Gath - keep silent, do not weep. Aphrah - roll in the dust. Saphir - go away ashamed and naked. Zaanan - will not be mourned. Lachish - a swift beast pulling a chariot symbolizes her aggressive sins. Achzib - will deceive the king. Mareshah - baldness symbolizes the loss of his children. God will judge the small, the insignificant, and the obscure just as surely as He will the rich and famous.
Micah 1:16 - "Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee."
God Devises Affliction Upon Those Who Afflict
Micah prophesied divine retaliation against insolent Jews who devised evil [Hebrew: affliction] against their own people, scheming in their beds at night, practicing evil by day, coveting and stealing houses, stealing garments from soldiers returning from war, casting women out of their houses, depriving children of their inheritance, and demanding that prophets not prophesy against them.
Micah 2:3 - "Thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation."
Lying Prophets Cannot Negate The Spirit Of Prophecy
The prophets of God have always had to contend with phony prophets. The people almost always prefer someone who will prophesy smooth things. "If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people." But they reject the prophets of doom. "PROPHESY NOT!" they say. Foolish error! God will ALWAYS have the last say.
Micah 2:7 - "Is the spirit of the LORD straitened [curtailed, discouraged]?
...do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?"
They Shall Cry - He Will Not Hear Them
Again and again, the prophets warned Israel that God would cease to hear their prayers if they did not repent. God complained against them, because they "hate the good, and love the evil," and persecuted the righteous. Take note of this frightening threat. If you continually contradict God with with sinful beliefs, He may decide to ignore or oppose you the next time you call.
Micah 3:4 - "Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings."
The Prophets That Make My People Err
Prophets who deceive the people of God are like the serpent who beguiled Eve in the Garden. God condemns them all to darkness.
Micah 3:5-7,11-12 - "Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, ...night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, ...the sun shall go down over the prophets, ...Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: ...the prophets thereof divine for money: ...Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps."
The Mountain Of The House Of The LORD
Jesus will soon come to live on Mount Zion in Jerusalem for 1000 years. "In the last days... The mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established... and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it." Many nations will come to the mountain and house of Jehovah. He will teach them His ways, and they will walk in His paths. He will rule the world from Jerusalem (not Moscow, New York, Brussels, or Beijing).
Micah 4:2 - "For the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem."
The Whole Earth Will Be At Peace Under Christ
Micah and Isaiah echoed a similar theme. When Messiah (Jesus Christ) makes His home in Jerusalem, there will be no end of His government and power. The whole world will be at peace.
Micah 4:3-4 - "And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid."
Sin's Debt Must Be Paid Before Restoration And Blessing
Three great truths propel Micah's prophecies. One: Messiah will gloriously rule the earth. Two: Israel will fully recover from their former reproaches, and have great dominion in the earth under Christ. Three: Israel must first suffer punishment for their sins.
Micah 4:7,10 - "I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion... for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, ...thou shalt go even to Babylon; ...there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies."
God Will Trap The Nations Who Try To Take Jerusalem
The lustful nations that are right now trying to take Jerusalem and Israel are falling into God's trap. "Many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor." Jesus will crush them all at Armageddon. Israel will rule the nations.
Micah 4:13 - "Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: ...thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD."
Bethlehem - Messiah Will Come From You
Micah prophesied, "they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek." That was fulfilled in Matthew 27:30. "They ...took the reed, and smote him on the head." Micah also prophesied that He would come from Bethlehem. "Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king," Matthew 2:1.
Micah 5:2 - "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
God Sometimes Gives Up On People
Nobody anywhere is more longsuffering than God. But there is a point of no return when God takes His hand off of a situation, and leaves fools to their folly. After centuries of rebellion and apostasy, God abandoned Israel to their own devices, until His appointed time comes to finish the work and regather them in righteousness. Take heed lest sin causes God to give up on you.
Micah 5:3 - "Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel."
Jesus Will Deliver Israel From The Assyrian Antichrist
Jesus will come "in the majesty of the name of the LORD." He shall "be great unto the ends of the earth" (King of Kings), and overthrow the Assyrian Antichrist. "I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: ...This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth," Isaiah 14:25-26.
Micah 5:5 - "This man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces ...thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land."
Seven Shepherds And Eight Principal Men With Christ
Israel will be given to "the Assyrian." European powers and the Roman Catholic Church (Beast and False Prophet), via the United Nations, will apparently mandate a Muslim government over Israel. 42 months of great tribulation follow, until Jesus comes at Armageddon. Seven kings or nations, and eight principal men will stand with Christ and His hosts.
Micah 5:5-6 - "Then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod ...thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land."
God's People Are Like Dew From The LORD
In this godless global society, God says that the presence of Jews is like dew from the LORD. The hope of civilization in based on God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God also depicts them as lions who conquer their adversaries.
Micah 5:7 - "The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles ...as a lion among the beasts of the forest, who ...both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver."
Armageddon: Vengeance Such As They Have Not Heard
At the battle of Armageddon, Jesus will lead an army comprised of resurrected Israel (Ezekiel 37:11-12), the saints of all the ages (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17), and seven earthly nations (Micah 5:5) against an attempted "final solution" - the utter annihilation of Israel, by an international army led by Russia, Turkey, Iran, Libya and Ethiopia (
see "Ezekiel's War").
Micah 5:9,15 - "Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. ...And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard."
Do Justly. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly With Thy God.
Micah retrogressed from his prophesying to do a little preaching. He told Israel that God had a controversy with them. He reminded them of God's awesome mercies throughout history - deliverance from Egypt, from false prophets like Balaam, giving great leaders like Moses, Aaron and Miriam, and the law. God demanded that they show what He had done to them to make them hate Him.
Micah 6:8 - "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
Treasures Of Wickedness In The House Of The Wicked
Micah reminded Israel that God knows what you have hidden in your house, and He knows what sins you have been up to. He knows when you have cheated or deceived someone. He knows your lies, your violence, your idolatries. He is sworn to casting down your evils, and He most certainly will.
Micah 6:10,13-15 - "Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked? ...I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; ...Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap."
My God Will Hear Me
Micah was one of the earliest prophets to condemn the gross apostasy in Israel. Before the days of Hezekiah of Judah, Micah saw that "the good man is perished out of the earth; there is none upright." He saw blood-lust and violence, extortions, endless mischief, sons and daughters dishonoring their fathers and mothers. Then, as now, the only consolation is to call on the LORD for His favor. That is what we must do today.
Micah 7:7 - "Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me."
When I Fall, I Shall Arise
Countless times throughout the Bible, the prophets scathed the people for their abominable sins, leveling judgments against them in the name of the LORD. Just as consistently, they looked with hope to the day when God, in His mercy would save Israel.
Micah 7:8-9 - "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, ...he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness."
Israeli Security Walls Signal Antichrist Will Soon Appear
Security walls are now being built throughout Israel. "In the day that thy walls are to be built, ...In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, ...and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain." The Assyrian Antichrist will soon appear, but soon thereafter, the true Christ!
Micah 7:16-17 - "The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. ...they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee."
Who Is A God Like Unto Thee?
Where will you find a god like our God? He pardons iniquities. He passes by the sins of the remnant of His people. He does not stay angry longer than He should, because He delights in mercy. We will worship no other but Him.
Micah 7:19-20 - "He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old."
