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Micah, the Prophet of Unchanging Love, part 2

Micah spent much time warning Judah and Israel of impending disaster, yet in the end he also offers hope of restoration, based on God’s “unchanging love” (Micah 7:18, 20). In other words, even God’s judgments are designed to correct bad behavior and carnal nature. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:8 that “love never fails.” It will always win in the end. Its transforming power may seem to be helpless for thousands of years, but it will emerge victorious in the end.

Approaching Judgment of Israel and Judah

Micah 1:2 says,

² Hear, O peoples, all of you; Listen, O earth [eretz, “land or earth”] and all it contains, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple.

In the immediate context, Micah’s prophecy is directed toward the land of Israel and Judah. Yet this has an effect upon the earth as a whole, because the land was a microcosm (prophetic type) of the whole earth, just as the Canaanites represented all nations. The prophet calls upon the Lord God to bear witness against Israel and Judah. He speaks “from His holy Temple” because that is where He is seated on the mercy seat to judge the nations.

The tablets of the law were stored within the Ark of the Covenant and were situated below the mercy seat. So we read in James 2:13, “mercy triumphs over judgment.” The idea is to show that mercy takes precedence over justice itself. While justice will certainly prevail for a time, mercy eventually wins through the law of Jubilee, where all debt (liability) is canceled.

This speaks into the theme of “unchanging love,” which is the climax of Micah’s message.

Micah 1:3, 4 continues,

³ For behold, the Lord is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. ⁴ The mountains will melt under Him, and the valleys will be split, like wax before the fire, like water poured down a steep place.

The most immediate application of this prophecy was seen when the house of Israel was conquered and deported to Assyria during the fourth year of King Hezekiah of Judah (2 Kings 18:9). When judgment strikes, God is pictured as “coming” to administer the judgment.

On another level, this also prophesies of the coming of Christ. By His incarnation, He was able to “tread on the high places of the earth.” His second coming will see mountains (i.e., kingdoms) “melt under Him,” as they are incorporated into His Kingdom. Valleys are boundaries between nations. Perhaps Christ will settle boundary disputes between nations. Perhaps this refers also to the separation between the sheep and goat nations (Matthew 25:32, 33).

Micah 1:5 says,

⁵ All this is for the rebellion of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the rebellion of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? Where is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?

Here the prophet reminds us of the day that the house of Israel rebelled against Judah after the death of Solomon. The very existence of Samaria as Israel’s capital was evidence of rebellion. Israel’s King Jeroboam was afraid that if people continued to go to Jerusalem to worship God, they would have divided loyalties. So he built two golden calves, one in Bethel, and the other in Dan (1 Kings 12:26-29).

Micah says emphatically that “the high place of Judah” was Jerusalem, not Samaria. This is where the Israelites should have been worshiping God.

Micah 1:6, 7 then prophesies judgment upon Samaria:

⁶ For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country, planting places for a vineyard. I will pour her stones down into the valley and will lay bare her foundations. ⁷ All of her idols will be smashed, all of her earnings will be burned with fire and all of her images I will make desolate, for she collected them from a harlot’s earnings, and to the earnings of a harlot they will return.

God uprooted the foundation stones of Samaria as a symbol of uprooting the rebellion itself. In its place “a vineyard” would be planted. This is interesting because the kingdom was pictured as a vineyard in Isaiah 5:7, which says, “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel.” In those days, God’s “vineyard” grew sour grapes that could not be eaten, but Micah seems to be foreshadowing better days in the future.

Samaria was compared to a harlot, reminding us of Hosea’s prophecy. Hosea’s harlot wife, Gomer, was a prophetic type of the house of Israel. The Assyrians called Israel by the name of Gomer, or Gomri. Through idolatry, Samaria had played the role of a harlot, committing adultery with the Assyrians. She had earned a lot of money as a harlot, and so the price of sin was used to support the idolatrous temples. But God said through Micah that “the earnings of a harlot they will return.”

Perhaps this refers to the fact that Samaria’s earnings were taken back by the Assyrians as spoils of war.

Micah’s Response

Micah 1:8 says,

⁸ Because of this, I must lament and wail, I must go barefoot and naked; I must make a lament like the jackals and a mourning like the ostriches. ⁹ For her wound is incurable, for it has come to Judah; it has reached the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

The prophet identifies with the Israelites, who were soon to be led away “barefoot and naked” as captives. He may have actually been among the captives of Israel, for we know that the Assyrians conquered Lachish (2 Kings 18:17), which was very close to Moresheth, Micah’s home town.

Israel’s “wound,” caused by her sin, is said to be “incurable.” We understand that this applied to the present condition of Israel. It means Samaria is slated for judgment, because the people will not repent at this time. It is only much later that Israel will turn to God and be saved by God’s “unchanging love.”

Israel's sin-disease had spread even to "the gate" of Jerusalem. The gate was where the judges sat, as well as the king's counselors. Samaria's sin had reached this gate, infecting the political and judicial system in Judah.

Towns to be Judged

The prophet then uses a literary device to prophesy judgment upon various cities. He uses the names of the cities as a springboard to prophecy. Micah 1:10 says,

¹⁰ Tell it not in Gath, weep not at all. At Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust.

Dr. Bullinger comments on “weep not at all,” telling us that the Hebrew phrase is bakko ‘al Tibka, “Weep-town weep not.” Gath means “winepress.” Perhaps Micah was comparing the dripping eyes to the dripping winepress.

The second sentence can be translated, “Dust-house, roll yourself in dust.”

Micah 1:11 continues,

¹¹ Go on your way, inhabitant of Shaphir; in shameful nakedness the inhabitant of Zaanan does not escape. The lamentation of Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its support.”

Shaphir means “Beauty-town.” The prophet intended to draw a contrast between beauty and shame. This is probably a word picture of beautiful but naked captives walking in shame.

Zaanan means “outlet.” The phrase should read, “The inhabitant of the Outlet will not go out (of the house).” In other words, there is danger outside.

Beth-ezel means “the house of a neighbor. The phrase should be read as “The trouble with Neighbor-town will be (it is) a useless neighbor.”

Micah 1:12 reads,

¹² For the inhabitant of Maroth becomes weak waiting for good, because a calamity has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.

Maroth is derived from mara, “bitterness.” It is Bitter Springs. The prophet recognizes how “waiting for good” too long can generate bitterness. Scholars do not know where Maroth was located, but it is presumed to be in the Philistine plain.

So Micah 1:10, 11, 12 ought to read this way:

¹⁰ Don’t talk in the winepress; Weep not at all. Dust-house, roll yourself in dust. ¹¹ Go on your way, inhabitant of Beauty-town, in shameful nakedness. Inhabitant of the Outlet will not go out. The trouble with Neighbor-town will be (it is) a useless neighbor. ¹² For the inhabitant of Bitter Springs becomes weak [sick] waiting for good, because a calamity has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.