Micah - His Profile

His reputation as a prophet of doom was preserved (see Jeremiah 26:18-19). His preaching is more concerned with sin and punishment than with politics or matters of worship. In his concern for social justice, he does not fear princes, prophets or priests. Not being a member of such groups, he affirms his independence through his message. (Brown et al, 1992, 83)

Micah is a prophet of social protest, a spokesman of poor and simple men exploited by the upper classes. He denounced the greedy and hypocritical Establishment (Micah 3:11). He rails against the swindling merchants with their false scales and weights, and against the landowners who "covet fields, and seize them' (Micah 2:2). Like other prophets, Micah believes that true faith comes from he heart, and not from formal sacrifices. (Micah 6:7,8)

Restoration and Peace (Micah 4 - 5)

Calling People back to their roots in the covenant (Micah 6:1 - 7:7)

Repentance and hope (Micah 7:8-20)

Micah prophesied in Judah in the first half of the 8th century BC during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. He was therefore a contemporary of Isaiah in Jerusalem, and came a little after the prophets Amos and Hosea in the northern kingdom of Israel.

Forgiveness and restoration are promised

God's lawsuit against Israel

The people's rejection of God

Social Justice

Covenant

Hope

Like Amos, Micah had no time for formal religious worship as a substitute for justice and fair play. He looked back in Israel's history long before the establishment of the temple to see what had motivated faith in the earliest times, and argued that authentic spirituality would result in structures what would promote social justice. There woul be little hope for those who had so perverted their inherited faith that they were able to exploit the poor without any conscience. God's judgement would be so severe that even the temple itself would be oblitered - though beyond the destruction, God's promises would still stand. (Drane, 1998, 228)

A king from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2-4)

A call for justice (Micah 6:6-8)

The book of Micah contains some of the most familiar words of the Hebrew Bible. The basic summary of covenant conditions (Micah 6:6-8), the foundation of ethics in the Prophets ends with the words:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?