The prophet Micah, featured in the last few days’ Old Testament readings, is one of the twelve minor prophets whose books appear in the Old Testament. Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea. He prophesied during the momentous years surrounding the tragic fall of Israel to the Assyrian Empire (722 BC), an event he predicted. Micah stated in his introduction to the book that he prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah in Judah, failing to mention the simultaneous string of dishonorable kings that closed out the northern kingdom of Israel.
During this period, Israel was imploding from the effects of evil and unfaithful leadership. Judah seemed on a roller-coaster ride—ascending to the heights of its destiny in one generation, only to fall into the doldrums in another. In Judah at this time, good kings and evil kings alternated with each other, a pattern seen in the reigns of Jotham (good, 2 Kings 15:32–34); Ahaz (evil, 2 Kings 16:1–4); and Hezekiah (good, 2 Kings 18:1–7]).
The problems that Micah addresses are universal. At one level, it is structural violence. At another, it is the subordination of human rights. For the people of God, it is a spiritual crisis. In Micah’s case, its roots went back to land ownership. In the early days of the Jewish settlement in Israel, when land was being apportioned, some inevitably did better than others but for the most part they fought on a level playing field. Come the monarchy, with Solomon’s adventures and the ‘blessings’ of foreign trade, there had grown up a rich elite, and since land in the fertile valleys was more desirable than that on the hillsides, who better to take advantage of the change than those in the know with both power and opportunity. So small landowners lost out to big landowners. Better land meant better crops. The discovery of iron meant better tools. Better tools meant better harvests and better weapons. All of which made so much sense and could have brought much benefit to the whole community had it not been for the fact that those who had most grabbed more, selfishness was added to corruption, and having taken the fields, the powerful went on also to take the women and the children for slaves.
In some communities, things like this might have ‘just happened’. But in Israel’s case it was being positively stoked by those with vested commercial interests who were still lying awake at night working out how to help themselves at the expense of others. Cleverness seeking to outwit ‘the little man’ of what little he had. Sound familiar?
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 later to Christ’s birth in Bethlehem and to His eternal nature (Micah 5:2). 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. 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. We know that these events have not yet occurred, so we should look forward to the millennial kingdom at some undetermined time in the future.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!