Micha, whose name means “Who is like Yahweh,” prophesied during the same time frame as Hosea. Both of these men began their prophetic work around 760-750 B.C., and while Hosea’s work finished a few years after the Assyrians took Israel captive (722 B.C.), it is believed that Micah continued until around 700 B.C. Micah’s preaching was primarily in the southern kingdom to the people of Judah, but it was not limited to them alone.
Micah’s message was that God’s people were about to be destroyed because of the sins of Israel and Judah (Micah 1:5, NKJ). The prophet’s words are clear concerning Samaria; they would be reduced to ruins (1:6), while Jerusalem would be “plowed like a field” (3:12). The condemnation of these nations can be traced back to their corrupt leadership. Micah wrote of those in the upper class who should have provided an example of righteousness for the rest of the people, but because of their wickedness, they used their position to take what little the poor had. These people laid in their beds by night pondering their wicked deeds and executed them by day “because it is in the power of their hands” (2:1). They did it simply because they could.
Micah made it clear that such behavior was not acceptable in the sight of the Lord and that the Lord saw them as “an enemy” (2:8). Because of their taking what did not belong to them, God would bring about calamity that they would not escape. They would no longer walk in their prideful arrogance “for it is an evil time” (2:3). The rich upper class, rebuked in chapter 2, were the unofficial leaders of society. Yet, it was not only them who were corrupt; the rulers of the nations were guilty just the same (3:1). The kings of the nations were recognized as those “who hate good and love evil” (3:2). Instead of loving justice, as they should have, they hated good and loved evil. The ungodly leadership produced an ungodly people. Micah said in 7:1-6, that finding a righteous person among God’s people was virtually impossible.
What would be the result of their sinful ways? They would “cry out to the Lord, but He will not hear them; He will even hide His face from them at that time because they have been evil in their deeds” (3:4). It is of the utmost importance that the leadership of the Lord’s church, reflect the image of Christ and His righteousness. Failure to do so will lead to their fall and potentially to all who follow them in their wicked ways. If we want to be heard by the Lord, we must humble ourselves and glorify Him in our lives.
By: Jerrod Hammond