Micah 01

     On Tuesday evenings at the church, we have begun a 6-week study on a lesser known prophet by the name of Micah.  The following material is provided for users of the Internet Study - Also for members of the Tuesday class who would like to catch up on some of the material from a session they missed or to re-review information. 
     This includes information presented and a few comments from some discussion that took place.
     Micah was a prophet of the 8th century b.c. He was a contemporary with Isaiah, Hosea and possibly Amos. One major difference between Isaiah and Micah is the fact that Isaiah was from Jerusalem a “city boy” whereas Micah was from a small community in the country.

Members of the class commented on the fact that city size at that time were not the same as what we might consider cities today.

      Micah and the other Minor Prophets have sometimes been treated as less important than prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. They are called minor, however, primarily because their written works are very short.
     In the past, scholars sometimes admit that Micah was regarded as less important. Some of the reasons include the lack of information about the prophet himself and an underestimation of his literary abilities. Though no more is really known about the man, his literary ability and the importance of his prophetic work has gained more attention.
      Micah’s words were spoken orally and later written down. He spoke his prophecy in poetic form. Hebrew poetry had different forms than much poetry of today. Rhyme and rythm would be difficult to translate in any case. The forms of poetry found in Micah are:

Synonymous parallelism (repitition of a thought, though with variations in vacabulary, grammar and syntax)

Traditional word pairs

metaphors

similes

     Some points of the discussion about the poetry at the Bible Study session on Tuesday, October 19:  Poetry would be a very expressive way to communicate. In an oral form, poetry would also be easier to remember. Comments were made concerning Micah’s obvious intelligence, and his awareness of history and religious traditions of his people. Questions were raised over how educated he might be, but with the lack of biographical material, it is hard to know how formal his education might have been.

1:1 This first “verse” would have been added by a later editor, and it's the only one not in poetic form. It gives what little information we have about the prophet himself. (biographical data was given by/about prophets when it seemed important – one thing a prophet sometimes shared was an account of his call to become a prophet – Isaiah 6; Jeremiah 1; The call was part of the prophet’s “credentials.”


Moresheth – probably Moresheth-Gath near the old Philistine of Gath – It has been identified with Tell el-Menshiyeh. Micah lived, therefore, in a small village of the low foothills of SW Palesine halfway between Jerusalem and Gaza, near the Judean stronghold of Lachish and close to the Philistine cities.


verse 2 – 3: begins in the manner of an accuser in the law court, then quickly shifts to a vision of judgement


God’s ‘dwelling place’ seen as a place high above the earth


verse 3-4:  Fearful picture of God as a gigantic figure walking upon the earth, the mountains dissolving beneath God’s feet.


WHY WAS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN?  Verse 4-5


     The Eighth century (B.C.) prophets looked at the covenant and the history of the people and presumed from this that since Israel/Judah clearly had failed to keep their end of the covenant, then God would destroy them. The contemporaries of the prophets found this surprising. It wasn’t as obvious to them that the covenant wasn’t being fulfilled, partly because they interpreted religious obligations much more loosely. They saw a “divinely appointed king” and the presence of God in the sanctuary (the holy of holies). These things were to them a guarantee of God’s favor. The prosperity early in the century probably helped cement this idea.

Members of the class discussed how difficult it must have been for these prophets to go against the tide of popular opinion.  Prophets didn't do their job joyfully, they didn't enjoy speaking such things to the people.  They did it out of love and because they felt called to do so. 

     In the case of the southern Kingdom, Micah's words were heeded.  Reforms were made and there was a period of better times.  Jeremiah 26:16-19 alludes to this, as does I Kings 18:1-7a. The I Kings passage doesn't refer to Micah, but does describe the reforms that king Hezekiah made. 

      The prophets, such as Amos, Micah and Hosea made predictions about what was coming. Their predictions were fulfilled as to the Northern Kingdom (and in the prophets’ lifetime and/or shortly enough afterwards that their predictions were fresh in the minds of people.) Their words were thus treated with respect and in time were written down.


Vs 5-6 = crime of Jacob (Israel, the northern kingdom) is Samaria


Crime of Judah (the southern kingdom) is Jerusalem – though not specified, the “crime” is likely the kind of worship that goes on in them – for that is the image that Micah moves to next.

vs 6 - begins comments about judgement. 

vs 7 – “carved figures”... refers to idols. In both kingdoms, a considerable amount of worship had been done outside the covenant. (Some scholars have speculated that there was a goddess figure that even stood in the temple during part of its history). The image of harlotry is used here. This was an image used by a number of prophets, picturing Israel in the role of infidelity. Thereby the idols were a result of “harlotry.” When defeated, the idols of one nation normally became spoils to the enemy, offered in their temples. Thus Israel and Judah’s idols came through harlotry and would become a harlot’s fee again.


Vs 8 – The actions of Isaiah as reported in Isaiah 20, indicate that this might not have been speaking only in metaphor. (Isaiah 20:2... at that time the LORD had spoken to Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go and loose the sackcloth from your loins, and take your sandals off your feet,” and he had done so, walking naked and barefoot. Then the LORD said, “Just as my servant Isaiah ahs walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Ethiopia...”


Verses 10-16 - a Lament, with word-plays, puns and other double-meanings, though the specifics are not always clear.  example Beth-le-aph'rah means house of dust.  In essence, Micah was saying, 'in the hosue of dust, roll in the dust.'

Questions to consider in the weeks ahead as we look at Micah:

(These were indentified by Daniel Simundson in his commentary on Micah in the new Interpreter’s Bible)

Ways in which God relates to humanity

The anger of God

What does God expect from us?

Interpretation of disaster and suffering as judgement

Where do prophets and others receive their authority?

The pain of a prophet’s job

How do you articulate a message of hope in times of despair?

Micah – prophecy – Jesus

When is the appropriate time to speak of hope?