63…MICAH: GOSPEL IN A NUTSHELL

Based on the Book of Micah (Mi)…Read more there

Scholars believe parts of Micah may have been added after the return from Babylon (after BC 538) but most of the book bearing his name comes from the early 700s BC when he was a Prophet in the old southern kingdom of Judea. The issues Micah (& Isaiah) address in Judea are much the same as those Hosea & Amos address in Israel in the north. The ‘nutshell’ of Micah’s good news is found in CH.6:8..”what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, & to love kindness, & to walk humbly with your God?” [NRSV] [1]. Christians believe Jesus later embodies this ‘life-style’. Suggestion: Read the rest of the book in the light of 6:8.

CH.1 refers to the people of Samaria, capital of the Northern Kingdom which fell to the Assyrians in BC 721, but beginning with v.8 Micah turns it against the southerners too. CH.2 & 3 attack the ‘bad guys’ who are the living antithesis of Micah’s ‘nutshell’. Over- privileged & under-caring, government & other rulers, false prophets, all cop a serve! Are there those among us who still need to heed YHWH’s word through Micah, later expanded & demonstrated in Jesus? CH. 4 speaks of better things ahead for Jerusalem & its people. CH.5 introduces the theme of a Ruler (Messiah) to come, & vv. 2-5 have become part of Christian ‘back-grounding’ of the later birth of Jesus the Christ (Messiah) in Bethlehem. The rest of the chapter, though, is pretty threatening. CH.6 begins with YHWH setting a court scene to try people failing Him. We’ve already seen the centrality of vv.6-8 above, we may recognise v.3 in liturgies of Holy Week, & Jesus quotes CH. 7:6 [MT:10: 35-36]. So much for Micah being ‘minor’! 

In CH.7 he highlights the country having lost its moral compass. That compass, not so much lost as thrown overboard, is of course YHWH Himself, who must be restored to His rightful place in society before there can be change in the required direction. The key to this necessary change lies in Micah saying [v.7] “As for me I will look to the Lord…..”. In effect, personal responsibility starts with me! The rest of the chapter heralds new hope for the Israelites, but takes a passing swipe at nations that will not turn to YHWH, before ending with a noteworthy prayer of faith & confidence [2]. And still there’s more to come…64: FALL ,FAITH, JUDGMENT…NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH

Notes: [1] A possible summary: ‘act justly & compassionately & walk humbly with God.

[2] ‘The book that begins with the faithlessness of human beings ends on the note of the faithfulness & goodness of God’. J.B. Taylor: The Minor Prophets, SU, London,1970, p.60, 

Q: What ‘moral compass’ bearing are we ourselves taking personal responsibility for steering by?