3. Three quotations from Micah
Swords into plowshares
Expectation of a new ruler from Bethlehem
Do justice, love loyalty, and walk shrewdly with God

4. Micah
Micah = Who is like Yahweh? But we know nothing of his person. Ca
Contemporary of Isaiah; the Amos of the southern kingdom (small town, social issues).
Hometown = Moresheth—25 miles sw of Jerusalem
Words of judgment for Israel/Samaria and Judah/Jerusalem 1:5. Samaria will be made a heap 1:6; Zion shall be plowed as a field 3:12
Opponents say: Do not preach; one should not preach of such things. Disgrace will not overtake us. Mic 2:6

5. Structure of Micah
Judgment 1:2-3:12 Hear, you peoples…(short word of hope in 2:12-13)
Mostly Salvation 4:1-5:14 But wrath for peoples who have not obeyed
Judgment 6:1-7:7 Hear, mountains and hills (a post-exilic social critic)
Salvation 7:8-20 Who is a God like you? God does not hold on to God’s wrath forever 7:18
Historically speaking, chs 1-3 primarily from the prophet Micah himself.

6. Structure of Micah
1:2-2:11 Judgment against Israel and Judah; social criticism
2:12-13 Salvation for the remnant of Israel
3:1-12 Zion and Jerusalem as fields of ruins
4:1-5:14 Pilgrimage of nations to Zion; swords into plowshares; messiah from Bethlehem
6:1-7:7 Judgment against Jerusalem
7:8-20 Salvation for Jerusalem; judgment on world

7. Some of the Sins in Micah
Idolatry 1:7 All her (Samaria’s) images shall be beaten to pieces
Corporate farms 2:2 they covet fields and seize them; Cf. Isa 5:8. (Consequence: God will parcel out our fields among our captors)
Do not preach…one should not preach of such things. Disgrace will not overtake us 2:6
Violence of the rich: you tear the skin off my people, eat their flesh, flay their skin, chop them up like meat in a kettle 3:2-3
Lavish sacrifices take the place of justice 6:6-8

8. A Lament by Micah 1:8-16
For this I will go naked and barefoot (v. 8); Judah’s wound is incurable (v. 9)
Gath, Beth-le-aphrah (roll yourself in dust), Lachish (horses #ykl // #kr), Moresheth-Gath, Achzib (deceitful brook), Mareshah, Adullam, Jerusalem—towns that are victims of Sennacherib in 701
Make yourself bald and cut off your hair—rituals of lament are appropriate (v. 16)

9. Gath
Beth-
leaphrah
Shaphir
Zaanan
Beth-ezel
Maroth
Lachish
Moresheth Gath
Achzib
Mareshah
Adullam

10. Micah 2
1-5 people plan injustice (land grabs) at night and carry it out in the morning. The land will be parceled out among Judah’s captors.
6-11 No one should preach like Micah preaches, say his critics. Micah: If someone would preach about wine and beer, he would be their preacher

11. Micah 2:12-13
Hope for the remnant (hope has the last word; God’s story is not over):
I will surely gather the survivors of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold
The united flock is released from its pen and marches out with God as the leader:
Their “king” will pass on before them,
Yahweh at their head.
Yahweh is also their king!

12. 3:1-4
Evildoers have those who oversee the justice system on their side. The leaders act metaphorically like cannibals.
The rulers who did not hear the cry of the oppressed will soon experience God’s refusal to hear their own cry.

13. Prophets have their price 3:5-8
The prophets preach “good times” when they have something to eat; they proclaim war when no one puts anything in their mouth Mic 3:5
No more revelation, no new light, only darkness for the prophets. The sun shall go down upon the prophets. Punishment specific to their profession—no vision or revelation Mic 3:6
But I (Micah) am filled with power, with the spirit of Yahweh…to declare to Jacob/Israel their transgression/sin 3:8

14. Rulers, priests, prophets—3:9-12
Rulers abhor justice and pervert all equity. They judge for bribes, priests instruct for a price, and prophets give oracles for money
They say: “Yahweh is in our midst (v. 11); no harm shall come on us.” (Immanuel?)
Because of you rulers, priests, and prophets
Zion will be plowed like a field
Jerusalem will be a heap of ruins
Mountain of the temple will become a wooded height
Jeremiah 26:18-19 Micah’s words in 3:9-12 must have been heeded; did not Yahweh change his mind? Jeremiah’s neck is saved after his temple sermon by the precedent of Micah!

15. Micah 4:1-5//Isa 2:2-5 Pilgrimage to Zion; swords into plowshares
Added in Micah: All will sit under their vine and under their fig tree, and no one will make them afraid
For all the peoples walk, each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God forever and ever.
Ironic reversal for the nations who have to fight against Yahweh: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears Joel 3:10

16. 4:6-13 tough times before vindication comes
In that day—after a wait
The former dominion will return to Jerusalem
Now no king (4:9), you are on your way to Babylon, there you will be rescued, redeemed (by the best sister or brother you ever had) 4:10
Now many nations assembled against you who want to profane Zion and do not understand God’s plan (4:11-12) Then thresh, O daughter Zion, and beat into pieces the enemy. (4:13)

17. Micah 5
Now: City of Jerusalem is under siege. With a rod they strike the “ruler of Israel” on the cheek 5:1
Then A new “Ruler” for me will come from Bethlehem, not Jerusalem 5:2.
Ephrathah, a clan within the tribe of Judah, that encompassed the towns of Bethlehem, Tekoa, and Kiriath-jearim. Ephrathah and Bethlehem are synonymous in Gen 35:19 and 48:7.
Bethlehem = Least among the clans of Judah—Size, status, power, influence are irrelevant
By no means least among the rulers of Judah Matthew 2:6. Emphasizes messianic significance of Jesus. A ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel 2 Sam 5:2

18. Micah 5:2-4 Coming ruler’s Origins are of old (v. 2)—cf. 2 Samuel 7
Time that is being allotted 5:3
Until the time when “she who is pregnant gives birth” in Babylon cf. 4:10—a painful time will be followed by a joyous time
when the rest of the kinsfolk return home from exile
The coming ruler will feed his flock in the strength of Yahweh (not in his own power) 5:4

19. Micah 5:5-9
5-6 Are the “Assyrians” any great power that might threaten Israel after the new king has begun his reign?
7-9 Israel’s effect on the nations
Like rain, life-giving
Like a lion in the forest

20. Judgment on Israel and the Nations 5:10-15
God will cut off false securities—weapons, fortresses
God will cut off false images and faulty religious practices
God will remove every false and undependable crutch
I [Yahweh] will angrily execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey.

21. Micah 6:1-8 Mountains and hills as witnesses to the divine lawsuit
byr the word for “lawsuit” appears once in v. 1 and twice in v. 2
Has Yahweh “wearied” Israel by the Exodus, by sending Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, by Balaam’s “answer” from Shittim to Gilgal?

22. The Goal of Yahweh’s Actions
Remember—bring past into the present; identify fully with the ancient story
That you might “know” (acknowledge, commit yourself to) the “righteousnesses of Yahweh”
Song of Deborah: At the watering places they repeated “the righteousnesses of Yahweh” Judg 5:11
Samuel: I will enter into judgment with you before Yahweh with respect to “the righteousnesses of Yahweh” 1 Sam 12:7

23. How should I respond to the indictment? 6:6-8
Burnt offerings, yearling calves, thousands of rams, ten thousand streams of oil (as a drink offering)?
Child sacrifice for my rebellion?
Doing justice
Loving loyalty or loving kindness or loving relationships (among people, between people and God), embracing faithful love
Walking appropriately, carefully, shrewdly, prudently, wisely with your God.

24. Micah 6:9-16
Can I, Yahweh, tolerate wicked scales, dishonest weights? V 11
Consequences of such sinning [frustration oracles]: You shall eat, but not be satisfied; you shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread grapes, but not drink the wine vv 14-15
You have kept the statutes of Omri and all the works of the house of Ahab = The south is as bad as the north v 16

25. Micah 7:1-7 Lament of the prophet
There is nothing left to satisfy one’s hunger v 1
Public sins in vv 2-4—violence, ruling class corrupt, demand for bribes by judges
Private sins in vv 5-6—don’t trust your friends or your sexual partner, or your parents or your inlaws for that matter. Family members turn on each other
Still I will watch out for Yahweh; I will wait for my saving God. My God will hear me.

26. A Closing Liturgy 7:8-20
Zion speaks to Nineveh: vv 8-10 Yahweh will bring me out to the light, and my enemy will fall.
11-13 a prophet addresses the people. The land will be restored to Davidic proportions
14-17 Intercession: shepherd your people. Show us marvelous things as you did at the Exodus
I will gather the survivors of Israel and set them together like sheep in a fold…the sheepfold will resound with people 2:12
He shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of Yahweh 5:4
The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might. They shall turn in dread to Yahweh our God. vv 16-17

27. Hymnic prayer
“Micah”: Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression? God delights in showing clemency/faithful love dsx v 18
You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea v 19
You will show faithfulness to Jacob; unswerving loyalty to Abraham; based on ancient oath to the ancestors v 20