Weeping Over Wickedness - MICAH START

The prophets at the end of our Old Testament are not necessarily in the order of their ministries. Micah follows both the books of Amos and Hosea, yet his ministry falls in a generation between Amos and Hosea. He prophesied during the same time as Isaiah, whose visions are long before the book of Micah in the order of the canon. Whatever the case for the ordering of his book, we do well to recognize the time in which Micah prophesied. It was a time of extreme income inequality. The rich were exploiting the poor and seizing up lands to pad their own pockets. Like Isaiah and Amos, Micah did not cater to the wealthy elite by speaking well of their lot in life. He called them to account and considered the soon-coming judgment on the land, as written in Deuteronomy 28. 

Micah’s name means, “Who is like Yahweh?” An appropriate name for a man raised up to challenge the rampant love for increase and spiritual adultery so prevalent in the nation at the time of his ministry. He took the Lord's word so seriously that it affected how he presented himself. 

The Word of the Lord comes to Micah regarding the capital cities of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. 

Micah 1:1 (ESV) The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

The Lord begins by bringing a case against these cities.

Micah 1:2 (ESV) Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

God has a case against His people. And why the cities? Because the city holds the most influence and power over the nation. The Lord deals with authority figures and structures throughout the canon of scripture. Authority demands responsibility. As the city went, so went the nation. So the Lord brings His charge first against these capitols who polluted His people. 

Micah 1:5 (ESV) All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?

Micah declares the cities themselves have become "high places". That is, they have become places of sacrifice and worship to the gods of prosperity, abundance, and wine. Nothing has changed. Cities are often attractive to young people for the same attractions. People hope in them to bring about the sort of life they desire. 

Micah 1:8–9 (ESV) For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. 9 For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.

Micah goes about in a loincloth in the public streets. Why? It was the universal sign of mourning in the ancient world. The prophet does not rejoice in God's judgment; he weeps over the city. 

Leaders still need to do this. In fact, we aren't true leaders until we weep for our cities and the spiritual condition of the people. God's judgments are just, but they are also terrifying. We learn from Micah that knowing the Lord moves one to mourning over sin. And through our Lord, we find comfort in His salvation when we come to a brokenness within over the state of our hearts.

Matthew 5:4 (ESV) “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

The city of Samaria was destroyed in 722 under the rule of Sargon II, the Assyrian ruler. He ordered many of its citizens to be taken captive or killed. Subsequently, Sargon II imported people from various conquered nations into the land. As Jews and Gentiles intermarried, a mixed race emerged that the Jews despised.

Most devastating of all, the children of this generation would suffer as a result. 

Micah 1:16 (ESV) Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.

What Micah saw was the end of a nation brought about by her rampant iniquity. A solemn reminder that without the Lord a nation fails. Without righteousness, kingdoms crumble. And those who see it coming, should seek the Lord today.