Learning from Micah (Part 1)

An introduction
Micah was a prophet, a messenger for God. He was from a town in the southern kingdom of Judah, which had Jerusalem as its capital. He also had things to say about Samaria and the northern kingdom of Israel, but his main focus was on Jerusalem. Micah lived approx. 700 years before the birth of Jesus. Micah spoke out against the injustice and downright bad, self- interested approach of the rulers of Jerusalem. He told those in charge that if they did not change their ways the temple, the crucial place where the Jewish people worshipped God, would be destroyed.
Lots of what is written in this book of prophecy is quite heavy and hard, but throughout, I would maintain there is hope and there are things that we can learn from Micah: not least the soaring height of Micah 6:8.

Week 1 Sunday 18th February
Read chapters 1 & 2.

Chapter 1.
What a mess! And it is going to get even messier! God’s people are behaving so badly and not being faithful to how God wants them to live. So it is like God has summoned the whole world to hear what a thoroughly rotten place Samaria is (2-7) and then how Judah is going to suffer (8-16). The language is very strong and quite unpleasant and the list of towns in Judah is playing with words in ways that are now lost in translation.

The bottom line is that God is not happy with how his chosen people in Judah and Israel have been behaving and destruction at the hands of Assyria, the neighbouring super power is soon to come.

Chapter 2.
Micah shines a light on leaders in all areas of life. He is critical of those who abuse their power (1) and who oppress the poor and steal land.
These bad people will receive their “come-uppance” (3-5). Micah is not popular with those he speaks against! They try to silence him (6) and would
rather hear preaching that is safe and justifies their own lavish and luxurious lifestyles (11). But, Micah will continue and God’s justice rolls on (7-11). And in spite of all of this unholy mess God will gather good people and will lead them to better things.(12-13) There is hope!

Their time will come.

So, lots to take in. Can you identify with any of this?

Do you believe that our time will come, even when we are surrounded by the rubbish and ruin of everyday life?
Are the leaders and the powerful that Micah focuses on anything like those with power in 2018?
Where are we in what Micah describes?
What kind of messages do we want to hear in our world? In the news, in conversation, in the media in general and in church?

Is there anything else that grabs your attention?