So what I'd like us to do is to move on to another minor prophet and that's being Micah. We've studied Habakkuk and Zephaniah and I've preached through Jonah and Haggai and Malachi and so we're getting our way through the 12 minor prophets. Now I want to back up about a hundred years from Zephaniah. and go to the prophecy of Micah. You'll see that Micah is a little bit longer than both Habakkuk and Zephaniah. It has seven chapters to it. By my count, we have about five Wednesday evenings left before we take our summer break for this year. It is not my goal to finish Micah in those five weeks, so we'll just go as far as we can. Come September, as God allows, we'll jump right back into where we left off and keep going. Let me make some introductory remarks about Micah, which will probably more than take up the rest of our time. But let's understand what we're dealing with and where we are in all this. First of all, Micah's name. The name Micah is a shortened form of the name Micaiah. There were two particular men in the Old Testament who bore that name. There is another man earlier in the Old Testament who has the long name Micaiah, and here is the minor prophet Micah. The name Micaiah means literally, who is like God, which is a great name. If any of you are expecting children any time in the future, I would recommend the name Micah. Who is like God? Brent, do you and Edie have another one? No? Okay. Even a girl? Micaiah? That'd be good. But look over at chapter 7, verse 18, where I think Micah does a little bit of play on his own name as he brings his prophecy to a close. When he asks the question in verse 18, Who is a God like thee? who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of his possession." And there is that initial question, that initial phrase, who is a God like thee? And it's a play off of the same Hebrew word that we translate over, transliterate over into English as Micah. Micah, which means who is like God. And so, as Micah brings his prophecy to a close, he does that little play on his own name. Who are Micah's parents? We have no idea. Where does he come from? He comes from a town called Moresheth. You can see that in chapter 1, verse 1, where he calls himself Micah of Moresheth. You can look down in verse 14 of that same chapter and see that the town is called Moresheth Gath. Gath, is that a familiar name? Where have we heard of Gath? It's one of the Philistine cities, one of the great five Philistine cities, remember? It was, for all you Bible trivia folks, it was the one Philistine city that was not mentioned in Zephaniah chapter 2. Now you can impress all of your friends tomorrow at work, and anybody else, say, what Philistine city is not mentioned in Zephaniah 2? The answer? Gath. That's one of the great Philistine cities, Moresheth Gath is how it is is referred to, and that says that it's really a Jewish city, a Jewish town on the border of Judah and Philistia, the closest large city, which appears to have been the Philistine city of Gath. And so that makes it something on the order of about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem. And so Micah would have likely often traveled into Jerusalem And that will have some impact on some of the things that he has to say. His occupation, I would suggest to you, is unknown. I don't find any evidence about that. I can't find anybody else who makes any suggestions about it. Although being a resident of a moor-shaped gaff, his background is likely fairly rural. The historical context for Micah can be helpful to us. You can see in the first verse, that this is the word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. And so Micah is prophesying during the reigns of these three Judahite kings. That means several things for us that may end up being helpful as we move our way through. It means, first of all, that he is the contemporary of the prophet Hosea. You can look at Hosea 1.1 Where Hosea writes, the word of the Lord which came to Hosea, the son of Baeri, during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. So Hosea was prophesied, he has 14 chapters, and so he has a longer prophecy, and he's prophesying through four kings' reigns, beginning with Uzziah. which means he probably had to have started prophesying prior to Micah, but they became contemporaries in the majority of their ministry. That's similar to the major prophet Isaiah. If you look at Isaiah 1.1, you see exactly the same kind of thing. 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." So again, Isaiah is beginning his ministry prior to Micah, but he is contemporaneous as well. So Micah, Hosea, and Isaiah are all ministering at the same general time, though Micah would be the rookie of the three of them. And I think it's helpful to note that he is also prophesying right after the minor prophet of Amos. In Amos, let's see, Amos 1.1, Amos is prophesying, he envisions visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah, but he doesn't go beyond that. And so he begins to prophesy the same time that Isaiah and Hosea do, does Amos, but Amos stops. Hosea and Isaiah continue, and then Micah steps in and begins to prophesy along with them. I want to suggest to you that that puts the dates for Micah somewhere around 735 to 700 BC. where we've most recently been, as I made reference earlier, thus this would put Micah about a hundred years prior to Zephaniah and Jeremiah who were contemporaries with each other. The issue of course here in part being that Jeremiah and Zephaniah are prophesying prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, the captivity of Judah in the southern kingdom, And Micah is prophesying a hundred years approximately prior to that, where even before the northern kingdom of Israel is taken captive. There's about a hundred year, a little more than that, actually closer to about a hundred and forty year span between that. This is the part of the divided kingdom where there's Israel in the north, ten tribes there. Judah to the south, that one tribe, they have separate kingdoms, separate kings, and it is the Assyrians who come in and overrun Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom, and take the ten tribes into captivity some 140 years later. Even with that warning, the Judahites break covenant with God, and then it's the Babylonians who come in and destroy Jerusalem and Judah at that point. I get them mixed up, so I'm saying that as much for myself as for you. So it's the Assyrians who took over Israel and the Babylonians come in later and take over Judah. So this is prior to both of those captivities, about 735 to 700. The literary style is Hebrew poetry, and that means that we're going to look at a lot of Hebraic poetic couplets of parallelism. And you can see some of that. Look at verse 5. All this is for the rebellion of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. Those two statements say exactly the same thing. They say it in two different sorts of ways. I've told you before, that's the way you have to read through the book of Proverbs. It is Hebraic poetry that uses profusely that tool of the couplets of parallelism, where a single statement is made in two different ways. It's not two different things, but one thing, two different ways. And that's what we're going to look at in Micah a lot. The cultural context is this. It is a time of outward wealth for Israel and Judah and this is where I think Amos is helpful to us to recognize that. Remember that Amos prophesies during the reign of King Uzziah And Micah begins in the reign of Jotham, who is right after Uzziah. So Amos is right in front of Micah, historically. This is what Amos says about the divided kingdom in Amos chapter 6, beginning with verse 4. Here's what God's people are like, in other words, in the days when Micah begins his prophetic ministry. Those who recline on beds of ivory and sprawl on their couches. Can you relate to any of that? That's sprawling on the couch, maybe. Are you going to go home and recline on a bed of ivory? Do you want to? Look at this next phrase. They eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall. What's the big deal about that? This isn't seasoned beef and mutton. It's a time of wealth and prosperity. They can afford to kill the lambs and to kill the calves and eat them and get the tenderest meat instead of waiting for them to grow up and get larger and get a little tougher and so on. They don't need to wait for these animals to grow up for a market. They can just kill them as lambs and calves and get that real tender natural meat because we would consider that a waste. But we consider that a luxury. For them, it's not a big deal. Verse 5, "...who improvise to the sound of the harp, and like David have composed songs for themselves. They have nothing more to do during the day than sit around and write music." Now that's not anything disparaging upon any musical people, but their there's more to life than that, but these people don't have anything else to do except to eat lambs and calves and recline on their couches and beds of ivory while they strum their harp and sing songs that they're making up as they go along. See? Verse six, who drink wine from sacrificial bowls while they anoint themselves with the finest of oils. You get the idea of the culture of the day at this particular point in time, and yet that's the outward financial sense, but the next phrase in verse 6 of Amos 6 is the moral and the spiritual decay, or the spiritual and moral condition, where they're doing all this stuff, yet they have not grieved over the ruin of Joseph. It was a day of great idolatry and gross idolatry. Go back to Michael chapter 1 again, look at verse 7. All of her idols will be smashed, all of her earnings will be burned with fire, 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. So it's a time of financial outward wealth and prosperity and comfort, and yet it's a time of spiritual and religious bankruptcy as well. In fact, archaeologically, as they've been digging up Samaria now for years, they're finding all kinds of pieces of pottery and documents that include Hebrew names that have been compounded with the name Baal. Joseph Ba'al, Jacob Ba'al, and it's that syncretism of here are these Jews who are giving themselves over to idolatry to the point where they're taking this name of this horrendous Canaanite god upon themselves, and so he's Randy Ba'al. That's where they are spiritually. For us also to note, as I referenced, Assyria is the dominant regional power, and Israel is going to figure that out pretty soon. The focus of Micah's prophecy is Samaria and Jerusalem. You see that in verse 1. This is the word of the Lord which came to Micah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. In verse 5, again, you can see this. What is the rebellion of Jacob? Is it not Samaria, the capital city to the north? What is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem, the capital to the south? Yet, we need to note that after chapter 1, Samaria is never mentioned again. Perhaps that is true because Samaria gets sacked by the Assyrians in 721 BC. Micah may be prophesying about Samaria and Jerusalem in chapter 1. And then after that Samaria is sacked and he turns his attention clearly in the text at this point to Judah and Jerusalem. Again, about 140 years before Jerusalem and Judah are destroyed themselves because of their covenant breaking. I think the book is divided very easily into three different parts. Each part begins with an exhortation for the people to hear. Look at chapter 1, verse 2. Hear, O peoples, all of you. Listen, O earth, and all it contains. Look at chapter 3, verse 1. Hear now, heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel. And look at chapter 6, verse 1. Hear now what the Lord is saying. But I've gone through and tried to suggest perhaps where each of the three messages may have fallen as far as the reign of these Judahite kings are concerned. Again, in chapter 1, verse 1, he specifically states that he is ministering during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. And I've put up here on the board the basic dates when each of them reigned in Judah, in Jerusalem, and you can see that. And what I didn't write up there, which I meant to do, is this, that I want to suggest to you that the first prophecy, the first message was given during the reign of Jotham. I think the second message was given during the reign of Hezekiah. And the third message was given during the reign of Ahaz. And if that's correct, that means that the book of Micah is not going to go in a chronological order necessarily. But what I have up here also is some of the reasons why I think that is probably so. You can look at chapter 1, verse 6. where God is again saying, by way of Micah, I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country, planting places for a vineyard. I will pour her stones down in the valley and will lay bare her foundations. That, of course, is a prophecy of the destruction of Samaria, the capital city to the north we know historically. that Samaria was sacked in 721 B.C. That means, of course, it could have come here in the days of Ahaz, but I'm suggesting that it came prior to that, during the reign of Jotham. Over in chapter 3, verse 12, if you look there, which is what those notes are all about, Chapter 3, verse 12, Therefore on account of you Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the temple will become high places of a forest. That verse is quoted in Jeremiah 26. And what I wanted to call our attention to, Jeremiah 26, beginning with verse 18, he says, Jeremiah says this, Micah of Moresheph prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Micah 3.12. Did Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and treat the favor of the Lord, and the Lord changed his mind about the misfortune which he had pronounced against them? We are committing a great evil against ourselves. Now remember where Jeremiah comes in. He's a contemporary of whom? Oh please, thank you. He's a contemporary of Zephaniah. He's prophesying, of course, about the Babylonian captivity that was coming upon Judah and Jerusalem. And what he's doing here in Jeremiah 26 is he's going back to Micah 3.12 and he says, look what happened to Israel. Look what happened to Samaria. We're worse than them. You see what Jeremiah is doing? He is warning his generation of the accountability that God held its previous generations in Micah's day. And he's quoting from Micah, and he specifically says that Micah 3.12 was declared by Micah in the days of Hezekiah. So that's why I have suggested that his second message must belong to the reign of Hezekiah. If you look over in chapter 6 of Micah, verse 7, He says, does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of oil? He says, shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He's saying, shall I sacrifice my children for my soul as a part of my religious faith? That's what he is talking about and what I want to suggest to you From 2 Kings 16 verses 3 and 4, that's exactly what they were doing in the days of Ahaz. That he did the sins of his fathers. And his fathers were Ahab and Omri, and I'm not going to bore you with those references, but you can read about that in 1 Kings 16. All of these guys in northern Israel were sacrificing their children to idols. and the activity then that Micah is referring to in chapter 6 is the activity that was running rampant in the days of King Ahaz in Judah which in Israel happened to be the days of Ahab and Omri and so all of that I would say to you simply suggests what I have said that I think the first message belongs to the reign of Jotham I think the second message belongs to the reign of Hezekiah, and the third message to Ahaz. The theme of the book is this, I would suggest to you. It is a warning for sin, particularly in relationships, but a hope in God. It is a warning for sin, And I'm suggesting especially in relationships, but that our hope is in God. And I think you can see a lot of that in this one passage in chapter 7 of Micah, beginning with verse 2. He says, The godly person is perished from the land, and there is no upright person among them. All of them lie in wait for bloodshed. Each of them hunts the other with a net. This is describing the relationship amongst the people. Remember, these are Israelites. Verse 3, Concerning evil, both hands do it well. I love that description. They are ambidextrous in their sin against God. The prince asks also the judge for a bribe, and a great man speaks the desire of his soul, so they weave it together. The best of them is like a briar, the most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post a watchman, your punishment will come. Then their confusion will occur. Do not trust in a neighbor. Do not have confidence in a friend. From her who lies in your bosom, guard your lips. And where are you going to go in terms of relationships? Who are you going to turn to? You can't turn to the judge, you can't turn to the priest, you can't turn to your neighbor, you can't turn to your friend, you can't turn to your spouse. For son treats father contemptuously, daughter rises up against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the men of his own household. Does that sound like a secure way to live and a joyful way to live? It's the issue of sin, particularly in the context of relationships, but hope is in God. Verse 7, but as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy. Though I fall, I will rise. Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me. That'll be some great stuff when we get over there. So that's where I think we're going. Just an initial outline is what we'll take up as God allows then. Next week, I think the first message, remember it's divided up into three messages. The first message is what we're going to be looking at here up front. It has to do with the fact that God the Judge is coming. He's going to judge His covenant people. He's going to begin in the north and He's going to move to the south. And we'll go on from there. Shall we pray? Our God, we thank you that we can turn to your word and find our hope here. Whether we talk about a man named Zephaniah, who spoke some 2,600 years ago, or whether we talk about a man like Micah, who ministered maybe some 2,750 years ago. The message is real. And it is a message that is for us today, that in spite of ourselves, our hope lies in you. In spite of the sin of others around us, we hope in Christ our Redeemer. We pray, Lord God, that you would help us to see and understand these matters. We pray that as we are warned from these prophetic truths that are given to us, that we would not ignore them like your people did of so long ago, even as Jeremiah is pleading with the people of his day to remember what you spoke through Micah a century and a half prior to that. And yet, Lord, we recognize they didn't listen. They did not listen. and they reaped the whirlwind. We pray, Lord God, that you would open our hearts and we pray that you would help us to be used of you, to extend the word of the gospel of your salvation and truth and hope to those around us. Help us to give that clarion call that the day of the Lord is upon us as well, that it is imminent. And we ask, Lord God, that you would help us to be prepared to look with faith to that great day of our salvation, and that you would allow us to minister the gospel until that day comes upon us. Our God, we commit our lives to you, and we thank you for our time, and we pray for these matters in Christ's name. Amen. Thank you all.