Micah 1 – 7
Verse 1:3 expresses the fear of most children awaiting punishment from their father:
For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place,
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
Remember when you really did something wrong and were told to wait until daddy gets home? I sure do! Well this is on a global scale where mankind has just blown it and God, our father, is coming to punish us. We see there are a few times when God needs to slap Israel upside their head to get them back on track with following His ways. Micah is prophesizing one of these instances. The next 1/3 of the book goes into the sins of Israel.
Verse 3:2 goes into some of the problems Israel has with justice:
“Is it not for you to know justice?—
2 you who hate the good and love the evil,
who tear the skin from off my people
and their flesh from off their bones,
Justice is gone when people pervert it! This is when evil wins out in the courts and good falls by the wayside. I often wonder if this is one of those times in history. The only time the “good” win is if they have tons of money, a high profile case or a possible huge settlement and someone will step up to represent them; otherwise the system will lose to the evil. I wonder if this a prophecy for the people 750 years before the coming of Jesus or us today?
Verse 5:2 answers this question by a prophecy some 750 years prior:
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
If you were to hear this before Jesus, one would assume King David would be returning. I think that is where the confusion of the Messiah came with the people of Israel, since David was a warrior that defeated enemies by force. David even passed the building of the temple to his son Solomon since his hands were bloody. We read this today and place it in the context of history and see it pointed to Jesus.
Now we build on this and have to wonder if history is repeating itself? We are awaiting the second coming of Jesus and seem to be falling into this road of despair. Are we starting to hate good and love evil again? I look at Ayn Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged where the hero is John Galt, trying to restore freedom and markets. At the same time if you look at the underlying purpose of this book as a possible hand book, this “good” is ultimately “evil” ushering in a New World Order. The book is gaining popularity as the book seems “prophetic” in its talking about a corporate controlled government body. I have a tough time with the “handbook” theory, but am trying to figure out how “evil” is in the “good” of this book.
In reading Micah you see three parts. This first are the sins of the people. Then next is the punishment on the people. Finally you see the hope of God’s love. Now the question is like the previous book of Jonah, is there hope for redemption if true repentance is done? I pray that revelations becomes one of those books people sulk about not happening!!