micah

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“THE PROPHECIES OF MICAH!” MICAH - “Who Is Like The LORD?” > DATE: 735 – 710 B.C. (Kings: Jotham (739-731B.C.); Ahaz (731-715 B.C.); Hezekiah (715-686 B.C.) all of Judah. (Sidenote: Northern Kingdom falls to Assyria in 722 B.C.) Micah was a contemporary of Hosea in the Northern Kingdom and Isaiah in Jerusalem. > THEME: JUDGEMENT & RESTORATION OF JUDAH (Micah exposes the injustice of Judah and the righteousness and justice of Yahweh. Micah deals with the oppression and bribery that was among judges, prophets and priests. False prophets preached for riches, not for righteousness. Princes thrived on cruelty, violence and corruption. Whereas, Priests ministered more for greed than for God. Landlords stole from the poor and evicted widows. Businessmen used deceitful scales and weights. Sin had filled all of society. Then Micah offers hope and restoration.) - Armor Peisker, a Bible commentator writes that, “Micah was in this respect a model for preachers of all time. The preacher should be a man of God and of God’s Word. He must be confident that he has a divine revelation. He must be a man courageous to speak the truth in a manner which is assured and convincing. Only a man who, like Micah, feels compelled by God should engage in the business of preaching. But the man who feels this compulsion dares not tarry.”

> KEY VERSES: Micah 6:8 - “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 7:18 - “Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy.” > FAMOUS PROPHETIC PASSAGES: - Christ Kingdom: Micah 4:3 - “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” - Birth of Christ Predicted! - Micah 5:2- "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." - Micah was quoted in the New Testament: Micah 5:2 - Matthew 2:5-6; John 7:42 Micah 7:6 - Matthew 10:34-36; Mark 13:12; Luke 12:53 CHAPTER OUTLINE: Chapters 1 - 3- “Pending Judgment” Chapters 4 – 5- “Future Restoration” Chapters 6 – 7- “Call To Repentance” (Micah gives three messages, each beginning with “Hear” (Micah 1:2; 3:1; 6:1). The first message is addressed to “all people,” and the second message is addressed specifically to the leaders of Israel, whereas, the third message is a personal word of pleading to Israel to repent and return to God. J. Vernon McGee writes, “In Micah we find that the message is, “Who is like God in proclaiming, in prophesying, in pleading, and in pardoning?” That is how the book of Micah is divided.””)

> The Conquest of Israel - In 722 BC, the Assyrians conquered Israel. The Assyrians were aggressive and effective; the history of their dominance over the Middle East is a history of constant warfare. In order to assure that conquered territories would remain pacified, the Assyrians would force many of the native inhabitants to relocate to other parts of their empire. They almost always chose the upper and more powerful classes, for they had no reason to fear the general mass of a population. They would then send Assyrians to relocate in the conquered territory. When they conquered Israel, they forced the ten tribes to scatter throughout their empire. For all practical purposes, you might consider this a proto - Diaspora ("diaspora"="scattering"), except that these Israelites disappear from history permanently; they are called "the ten lost tribes of Israel." Why this happened is difficult to assess. The Assyrians did not settle the Israelites in one place, but scattered them in small populations all over the Middle East. When the Babylonians later conquered Judah, they, too, relocate a massive amount of the population. However, they move that population to a single location so that the Jews can set up a separate community and still retain their religion and identity. The Israelites deported by the Assyrians, however, do not live in separate communities and soon drop their Yahweh religion and their Hebrew names and identities.

> The Samaritans - One other consequence of the Assyrian invasion of Israel involved the settling of Israel by Assyrians. This group settled in the capital of Israel, Samaria, and they took with them Assyrian gods and cultic practices. But the people of the Middle East were above everything else highly superstitious. Even the Hebrews didn't necessarily deny the existence or power of other peoples' gods—just in case. Conquering peoples constantly feared that the local gods would wreak vengeance on them. Therefore, they would adopt the local god or gods into their religion and cultic practices. Within a short time, the Assyrians in Samaria were worshipping Yahweh as well as their own gods; within a couple centuries, they would be worshipping Yahweh exclusively. Thus was formed the only major schism in the Yahweh religion: the schism between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Samaritans, who were Assyrian and therefore non-Hebrew, adopted almost all of the Hebrew Torah and cultic practices; unlike the Jews, however, they believed that they could sacrifice to God outside of the temple in Jerusalem. The Jews frowned on the Samaritans, denying that a non-Hebrew had any right to be included among the chosen people and angered that the Samaritans would dare to sacrifice to Yahweh outside of Jerusalem. The Samaritan schism played a major role in the rhetoric of Jesus of Nazareth; and there are still Samaritans alive today around the city of Samaria.

CHAPTER 1- “Judgment On Israel, Samaria & at the Gates of Jerusalem” (v1-5) Judgment - Israel (all people beware) (v6-16) Judgment - Samaria & Gates of Jerusalem

CHAPTER 2- “Sins, Evil, & False Prophets” (v1-5) Sin & Evil (“an evil time” – 2 Timothy ch. 3) (v6-11) False Prophets (2 Corinthians ch. 11) (v12-13) Hope of Deliverance

CHAPTER 3- “Leaders, Prophets, Rulers & Priests Rebuked” (v1-7) They hate good & love evil (v8-12) The faithful Prophet declares justice (“Prophets of Covetousness”- Acts 8:18; 2 Peter 2:1-3; John 10:13)

CHAPTER 4- “The Latter Days” (v1-5) 1000 year Reign of Christ (v6-8) Israel and the Last Days (v9-10) Babylonian Captivity (“times of the Gentiles begins” - Luke 21:24) (v11-13) Armageddon Is Coming (Jesus Prophetic Picture - Matthew 24 & 25)