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The prophet Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. Both prophesied in the years leading up to the Assyrian siege of Samaria and Israel’s exile. We know this by comparing Isaiah 1:1 with Micah 1:1.
Isaiah 1:1 dates the prophet, saying,
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Micah 1:1 dates the prophet, saying,
1 The word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Isaiah’s ministry began in the reign of Uzziah, but his vision of “the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted” (Isaiah 6:1) came immediately after Uzziah’s death. This seems to imply that Isaiah’s full ministry could not begin until Uzziah died in 740 B.C.
Micah then began to prophesy some time during the reign of Jotham (740-736 B.C.), who succeeded Uzziah. Jotham was succeeded by Ahaz (736-716 B.C.), and his son Hezekiah ruled with him as a co-regent from 726-716 B.C. Upon the death of Ahaz, Hezekiah was the sole ruler from 716-698 B.C.
Samaria fell to the invading Assyrians in 721 B.C. during the reign of Ahaz and Hezekiah. Israel’s exile was a dominant theme of both prophets. Impending judgment of Jerusalem was also envisioned by both prophets, but as we know, Hezekiah’s repentance gave Judah another century of life before the nation finally succumbed to the Babylonian army.
Micah’s full Hebrew name is Mikayahu, derived from Mikayd and Yahu (Yahweh). It means Who is like Yahweh? The name Michael is similar, Who is like God? If read as a statement of fact, Micah’s name could be seen as a testimony that he was a type of Christ, being (on some level) in the image of God (Hebrews 1:3). Those who saw Christ in him were able to receive his message by faith.
Just as Michael is an archangel representing God when he gives the word to someone, so also Micah represented God in his prophecies.
Micah was from the town of Moreshesh (Micah 1:1), later called by its complete name, Moresheth-gath, “possession of Gath” (Micah 1:14) It was situated south of Gath, not far from Lachish, and was ruled by Gath, one of the five main Philistine cities. Gath, if you recall, was the hometown of Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4).
When Jeremiah was defending himself against charges of treason for prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem, he cited Micah who said the same things without being executed by Hezekiah. We read in Jeremiah 26:18, 19,
18 Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, “Thus the Lord of hosts has said, 19 ‘Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become ruins, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest’.”
The difference is that Micah did not go so far as to prophesy that Jerusalem would never be repaired or rebuilt, whereas Jeremiah 19:10, 11 does so. Micah’s prophecy about the fate of Jerusalem, then, had a limited scope—limited to the Babylonian destruction of the city. Because the city was rebuilt after this destruction, it is clear that Jeremiah foresaw a final event at the end of the age.
David often went to Gath while being persecuted by King Saul. In fact, David must have made a big impact on the people of Gath, because in 2 Samuel 15:18 we find that his most loyal palace guard was made up of 600 Gittites (from Gath). No doubt these were converts to the God of Israel as a result of David’s revelation and testimony.
It is interesting, then, that Micah came from a town ruled by Gath. I wonder how many other families from Judah lived peaceably in Philistine territory. Though Micah lived 300 years after King David and his band of Gittites, I wonder if there was still some meeting place where Judahites and Gittites worshiped the God of Israel.
Isaiah was from the big city (Jerusalem), whereas Micah was a small-town prophet. As such, he rebuked the greedy rich and noble men who oppressed the ordinary folks. Yet he also addressed the looming problem of his time—the impending collapse of Israel with its capital in Samaria. Ultimately, this captivity was the result of corruption in the temple and in the government, and their oppression of the common people.
The book of Micah can be outlined in this way:
1. Approaching judgment of Israel and Judah (1:2-16)
2. Doom of corrupt oppressors and false prophets (2:1 to 3:12)
3. Vision of hope through Christ (4:1 to 5:15)
4. Jehovah’s lawsuit (6:1 to 7:30)
5. Doxology (7:18-20)
Dr. Stephen Jones has been writing blog posts since 2005 on a variety of topics from Bible Studies to World News, and he has been writing books since 1992. Dr. Jones' most important writings came after God brought him back into the full-time ministry in 1991. It is here that all his earlier years of searching the Scriptures began to come into clear focus. He combines a knowledge of the Old and New Testaments with a personal revelation of God that began and developed during the "wilderness" period of his life, which he often refers to as God's True Bible College... Read More
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