Having finished Jonah, it is now time to start learning about the book of Micah. The following is from one of my study Bibles:
Introduction: Micah prophesied in Judah during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (about 750–700 B.C.), at about the same time as Isaiah. It was a time of prosperity, and Micah denounced the wealthy, who were oppressing the poor, and warned of impending judgment. The northern king dom actually fell during Micah’s ministry, in 722, and Judah almost fell in 701 (2 Kings 18–20). The book contains three sections, which alternate between words of warning and messages of hope. Micah told of a day when there would be peace among all nations, who would then be able to “beat their swords into plowshares” (4:3), and of a royal deliverer who would save God’s people from all her enemies. This deliverer would be born in
Bethlehem (5:2).
1:25 describes the judgment of God upon His erring people: “Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel.”
Being a spokesman for God, one must be sure that he is telling the people what God wants them to hear, not what they want to hear. As listeners, we must speak as Cornelius did to Peter in Acts 10:33, “. . . we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”