What Is Micah Prophesying?

¶ … Micah and his prophesied message. Biblical historians have placed the time of Micah's ministry at approximately 735 and 700 B.C. "Micah's hometown of Moresheth is probably the same town identified as Moresheth-gath in the Shephelah (rolling hills) of Judah." (Micah) As was custom, Micah was most likely known as Micah of Moresheth and has been considered one of the Minor Prophets. The word Micah has been defined to mean 'Who is like Yahweh?' Micah's village was believed to have been captured by Sennacherib during his attack on Judah in 701 BC because of the minor prophet's recollections. (cf. Micah 1:14).

Micah lived in a time of upheaval and war. Around the years 730 to 700 BC, both Israel and Judah were at a point of political turmoil. Historians have confirmed that Samaria had been conquered by the Assyrians who exiled the majority of the population. Historians have also confirmed that a method of ruling the conquered regions was to mix a conquered territory's peoples with those of other conquered lands and therefore diluting the overall strength of each. At the time, Moresheth was a city strategically placed on the route to Judah which was south of Jerusalem. This locale gave the city great importance and justified for fortification.

But, other than these facts, very little else is known regarding Micah. The majority of the information historians use to retell Micah's story is actually surmised through his writings and other writings of the period. One such summation is that because of the brutal times of the period, in all likely hood he saw his city decimated by Sennecharib. He also most likely saw friends, family and neighbors murdered or taken into slavery.

The prophecies of Micah are very similar to other prophets of the period. Micah concurred that man sins and therefore God must bring judgment against them. Micah prophesized that God should be considered merciful and because of this, those who sin should repent and offer them selves to God. God more or less represents an opportunity for people to turn their lives around and to stop their immoral ways. Basically, Micah felt that God brought replenishment to the human spirit.

Micah used various techniques to get his message across. His style is brief but does show some similarities to other great prophets of the time. For example, Micah 4:1-3 ("they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning books") is almost identical to Isaiah 2:2-4. This implies that he was a disciple or a contemporary of Isaiah's. Micah wrote with a very poetic style. An example can be seen in the poignant passage 2:4. "On that day they shall take up a taunt song against you, and wail withy bitter lamination, and say, we are utterly ruined; the LORD alters the inheritance of my people; how he removes it from me! Among our captors he parcels out our fields." (cf. Micah 2:4)

In later verses Micah exacts for justice from thieving merchants: "scant measures," "wicked scales" and a "bag of dishonest weights" all imply how dishonest the peddlers and vendors were as they cheated the populace with scales that had been fixed to enrich the merchants. "Therefore I have begun to strike you down, making you desolate because of your sins." (cf. Micah 6:13)