Micah - summary

Mnemonic: MESSIAH

1. Messages against Samaria, Jerusalem

2. Evils of Israel’s people
3. Sins of Israel’s leaders
4. Sovereign king in Zion
5. Introduction of Bethlehem’s Messiah
6. Actions of injustice rebuked
7. Hope in God’s future

Unique Place in the Canon

● Micah is the (what order number?) largest of the minor prophets.

4th

● Micah 5:2 - i) predicts that the Messiah would be born in which place ii) what is the
NT reference?

i) Bethlehem Ephrathah (not the Bethlehem up north) ii) Matt. 2:6

● Apart from Isa. 2:2–4, and Micah 5:2, other passages from Micah are quoted
elsewhere in Scripture (at least 3 times in the New Testament).
i) Micah 3:12 is quoted in Jer. 26:18 - bringing what outcome to Jeremiah?
ii) Micah 7:6 is employed by Jesus in Matt. (which chapter and which verse to
which verse?) when commissioning his disciples (about family members set at
variance to each other).
iii) Micah 7:15 is employed by Jesus in Matt. (which chapter and which verse?)
when declaring that the Father would shew him marvellous things.

i) Jeremiah’s life was spared from King Jehoiakim’s death sentence

ii) Matt 10:35-36
iii) John 5:20

● In which chapter and verse in Jeremiah the elders of the land note the influence of
Micah’s words on Hezekiah (directly quoting Mic. 3:12)?

Jer 26:18

● Another fascinating feature of Micah is the prophet’s fondness for what manner of
expression?

paronomasia
 ○ Another word for paronomasia is?

punning

Authorship
● Give 3 other references where Micah’s name is shared by others in the OT, along
with a short description of each reference.

One, Judg. 17:1 (Micah - a man of mount Ephraim);

Two, 2 Chron 13:2 (Michaiah - mother of Abijah);
Three, Jer. 36:11 (Michaiah - the son of Gemariah - Micaiah heard the words of Baruch)

● Micah is a shortened form of Micaiah, which means?

Who is like the Lord?

● In Micah 7:18, Micah uses a play on his own name, saying what?

Who is a God like you?

● Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah, but what was the difference?

Micah came from a humbler social class.

● Is Micah’s call recorded?

No

● Micah is never explicitly referred to as “prophet,” but the source of his power is
explicitly attributed to what in Mic 3:8?

The “Spirit of the LORD”

● Which location did Micah come from (Micah is identified by location rather than
ancestry)?

Moresheth

○ Moresheth is situated between the border of Judah and near which part of
Philistia?

Gath
 ○ Moresheth (at the foothills of the mountains of Judah) is: i) how many miles
ii) which direction from Jerusalem?

i) 25 miles ii) Southwest

● What kind of area was Moresheth?

A productive agricultural area

● In what way was Micah similar to Amos:

i) Both were country residents removed from what 2 things?
ii) Both were chosen by God to do what?

i) national politics and religion

ii) deliver a message of judgment to the leaders and people of Samaria (Hosea) and
Jerusalem (Micah).

○ Was Amos’ ministry to the Northern or Southern kingdom?

Northern

○ In Ch 3, in which verse, was Micah chosen by God to deliver a message of

judgment to the princes and people of Jerusalem?

v8

● Micah’s indictments of social injustices and religious corruption renew the theme
of Amos, and Micah’s contemporaries. i) Which prophet was a contemporary of
Micah in the North? ii) Which prophet was a contemporary of Micah in the South?

i) Hosea ii) Isaiah

Date
● Micah prophesied during the reigns of which 3 kings?

Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah

● Which year was i) Jotham ii) Ahaz iii) Hezekiah born?

i) Jotham - 784 BC
ii) Ahaz - 763 BC
iii) Hezekiah - 752 BC

● Micah’s main message was to Israel or Judah?

 Judah

○ Why is Micah’s ministry dated before 721 BC?

Because Micah predicted the Assyrian captivity before 721 BC.

Background and Theme

● The economic prosperity and the absence of international crises that marked the
days of which king of the North - during which the borders of Judah and Israel
rivaled those of David and Solomon - were slipping away?

Jeroboam II

○ i) What 2 nations invaded Judah temporarily under wicked Ahaz’s reign? ii)
And what did the 2 nations do to many people in Judah and Ahaz
temporarily (2 Chron 28:5-16?

i) Syria and Israel ii) The 2 nations captured Ahaz and many in Judah and slew
many in Judah and dispossessed them.

● Which nation overthrew Syria and Israel?

Assyria

● i) In which year did Sennacherib besiege Jerusalem? ii) Why did Sennacherib
besiege Jerusalem?

i) 709 BC ii) Because Hezekiah withdrew his allegiance to Assyria.

● After the prosperous reign of Uzziah, his son Jotham continued the same policies,
but failed to what?

Remove the centres of idolatry

● Worship of which Canaanite fertility god was increasingly integrated with the OT
sacrificial system (religious syncretism), reaching epidemic proportions under the
reign of Ahaz?

Baal

● When Samaria fell, where did thousands of refugees swarmed towards, bringing
their religious syncretism with them?
 Judah

● By the eighth century B.C. the old agricultural system in Israel and Judah, with its
fairly even distribution of wealth, was gradually replaced by a greedy,
materialistic, and harsh society that split the people sharply into the “haves” and
the “have-nots.” The rich land-owners got richer and the poor farmers got poorer.
What did the latter do?

Migrate to cities.

○ What 3 things were the cities characterized by?

One, poverty; Two, vice (alongside the upper classes’ luxury); Three, cruelty to
the poor.

● Trade with pagan nations also brought in what 2 bad things?

One, false religious cults; two, lower morals.

● Against this dark and worldly background Micah wrote his prophecy, weaving it
chiefly around which three cities?

Samaria, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem

● In each of three large units (i.e. 3 oracles or cycles), what is the plural imperative
used to begin a major section on judgment, and each unit moves toward hope and
deliverance (1:2–2:13; 3:1–5:15; 6:1–7:20).

“hear”

○ Within each oracle, Micah moves from what to what? Why?

Doom to hope.
Doom - failure to keep God’s covenant at Sinai.
Hope - God’s immutable commitment to his covenant promises (to Judah’s and
Israel’s forefathers).

● In summary, what 3 parts can the book of Micah be divided into?

One, sins of the people. Two, punishment of God to come. Three, hope for the faithful
after the judgment.

Outline
Ch 1
● In i) vv2-7, ii) in vv8-16 - indicate for each, was the judgment threatened on Judah
or Samaria?

i) Samaria ii) Judah

Ch 2
● In vv1-11, there were Abuses and abusers of Yahweh’s land. i) In vv1-5, what
would the indictment (=formal accusation) be followed by? ii) in vv6-11, what did
the people reject?

i) punishment ii) the prophetic word

● What was promised in Micah 2:12-13?

Restoration

Ch 3
● The leaders were denounced in Ch 3. i) vv1-4, who was the judgment against? ii)
vv5-8, who was the judgment against? iii) vv9-12, which 3 groups were the
judgment against?

i) Rulers ii) Prophets iii) Rulers, Prophets, Priests

Ch 4
● What is the cross-reference in Isaiah (which chapter and which verse to which
verse) showing the verbal similarity to Micah 4:1-3 [that raises the question who
quoted whom]?

Isaiah 2:2-4

○ What 2 possible reasons explain why there is a similarity between Micah

4:1-3 and Isaiah 2:2-4?

One, both Isaiah and Micah lived in close proximity to each other. Two, both
received the same message from God.

● What phrase in Micah 4:1 removes these verses from any postexilic fulfillment and
requires an eschatological timeframe surrounding the second advent of Christ
and the beginning of the millennium?

In the last (or latter) days.

 ● Jerusalem’s restoration among the nations is promised in vv1-8. i) in vv 1-5, in
what manner would the nations approach Jerusalem [when the LORD gathers
Zion and reigns from Zion]?

In peace

● ii) However, in vv9-13, in what manner would many nations gathered approach
Jerusalem?

In hostility.

● In v10, which nation is a looming instrument of divine sentence?

Babylon

○ At the time of Micah delivering his message, why did the threat from
Babylon seem remote?

Because Assyria was the dominant empire.

Ch 5
● In vv5-6, which nation is a looming instrument of divine sentence?

Assyria

Ch 6
● What were the 2 misconceptions regarding those corrupt, in relation to personal
sacrifice? - in vv6-7 and vv10-12

vv 6-7: One, personal sacrifice satisfies divine justice.

vv10-12: Two, personal sacrifice satisfies corrupt business practices and violence.

○ Rather, what 3 things does God desire in v8?

To do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God

Ch 7
● In 7:1-10, how would the nation react regarding its sad state?

Bewail.

● In v20, what is God’s forgiveness grounded in?

God’s faithfulness to his promises

● God’s saving acts in the past (6:4–5; 7:14–15) are interpretative analogies for what
purpose in vv19-20?

For God’s saving acts in the future