Foundations: The Book of Micah
7 Day Devotional
The book of Micah alternates between
oracles of judgment and oracles of hope.
God hates idolatry, injustice, rebellion and empty ritualism but
delights in restoring His people when they return to Him. Micah
also depicts the future glory of Jerusalem as well as including many prophecies
about Jesus.
Micah 6:8 (NLT)
Introduction
to Micah
Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. Although Isaiah was born into the upper class
and had wealthy connections as a cousin to the king, Micah lived in a poor
region of Judah and was an ordinary country man. Micah saw the exploitation of the poor
firsthand and was deeply sensitive to the social ills of his day. His ministry was during the reigns of Jotham,
Ahaz and Hezekiah. At that time Israel
was split into the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom
(Judah). While Micah and Isaiah were
preaching to the region of Judah, Hosea was preaching concurrently to the
region of Israel before the exile by the Assyrians.
King Jotham and King Ahaz of the Southern
Kingdom led the country astray. Even
though Jotham was basically considered to be a good king he failed to remove
the high places and so the worship of pagan gods continued. Ahaz, on the other hand, was a bad king and
failed in keeping the people from following other gods. Evil practices spread from the Northern
Kingdom to the Southern Kingdom and from the cities to the countryside. The nation was becoming filled with
corruption, exploitation, greed, cheating, violence and cruelty. Social and political power was abused to gain
wealth as the poor were oppressed. Micah
was passionate about social justice and was horrified that such things were
happening among God’s people.
Read: Micah 1
Micah begins by pleading for the people to
hear and listen (v. 2). Judgment is coming
for Samaria, the capital city of Israel (Northern Kingdom) and for Jerusalem,
the capital city of Judah (Southern Kingdom).
God is not staying in His holy temple but He is coming down to the earth
to bring judgment (v. 3). It is God who
is bringing this judgment upon the people because of their sin. The people have not obeyed the covenant that
God made with them; they have not obeyed His commands. Verses 6-9 focus on the condemnation of
Samaria. The nation was full of idolatry
therefore God would break their idols.
They had even degenerated so far that they had temple prostitutes; even Baal
worship had become rampant. Micah mourns
for Samaria’s fall in verses 8-9.
History reveals that the Northern Kingdom was exiled to the Assyrians as
punishment for their sins. The sin of
Samaria did not just infect their region but had spread to Judah, a wound that
was incurable. In verses 10-15 Micah
uses poetic language to explain what would happen in various cities. He speaks to Gath, Beth-le-aphrah, Shaphir,
Zaanan, Beth-ezel, Maroth, Lachish, Moresheth-gath, Achzib, Mareshah and
Adullam, describing to each of them the downfall that they would
experience. If Micah was writing to
Canada he would include Canadian cities such as Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal,
Winnipeg, etc. The chapter ends with a
final lamentation in verse 16, “Shave
your heads in mourning for the children in whom you delight; make yourselves as
bald as the vulture, for they will go from you into exile.”
Prayer
and Journaling
1. What does this chapter tell you about God
(see vs. 3-4) and how He intervenes to deal with sin?
2. Micah has a strong emotional response to
the coming judgment (vs. 8). What does
this say to you about how believers should respond to the sins of their nation? Ask the Lord to show you how you can pray for
our nation.
3. How would the children be affected by the
people’s sins (vs. 16)? Ask the Lord to
show you how the children in our society will pay as the result of the sins of
our nation, then turn that into a prayer of protection for the children.
