Who is Micah?

When we look at the people in our churches, we see great variety. Tall and short. Young and old. Thin and . . . not so thin (especially after all those Thanksgiving and Christmas goodies!). Big churches, little churches, well-to-do parishes, and those that struggle financially. We could break it down into Protestant, Catholic, Evangelicals and then name various denominations. But what’s my point? 

My point is that during the ancient days in which Micah, Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos prophesied (yes, they were contemporaries), they were very different men who spoke nuanced messages to different audiences. If you’d like to read a book that shows their varying ages and lifestyles, I wrote about all of them—including the senior prophet of the bunch, Jonah—in my third book, Love in a Broken Vessel.  

Hometown Boy 

Today, we’ll focus on what made Micah and his message unique. Scripture tells us he came from Moresheth (or Moresheth-Gath), a small town in the Shephelah of Judah’s territory, an area of fertile lowlands conducive to farming and raising herds. Unfortunately, it was also very near the Philistine border and the Philistine town of Gath, keeping Moresheth’s citizens in constant fear of enemy attack and making its people all too familiar with pain and poverty. Micah knew too much about real life to pretend about a distant God. 

Kingdom Impact 

Micah’s message was similar to that of Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos in that he called Israel and Judah to repent. Like other prophets of his day, he threatened coming judgment if they refused to heed God’s merciful warnings. Micah spoke of both Israel’s (northern nation) and Judah’s (southern nation) destruction.  

“Therefore, I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations.” Micah 1:6 

Micah lived to see Israel’s destruction by Assyria’s ruthless King Tiglath-Pileser. Judah’s destruction, however, occurred 136 years later. Micah had died, but his words had not. When Jeremiah was brought before a council, and in jeopardy of losing his life, it was Micah’s words and ministry that stirred the men’s hearts to fear the Lord and release him. 

“Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people: ‘The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the things you have heard…Some of the elders of the land stepped forward and said to the entire assembly of people, ‘Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.” Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death?…Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.” Jeremiah 26:12,17-19,24 

Truth, Fact, and Fiction 

Micah plays a minor role in Isaiah’s Daughter. He first appears in chapter two, rescuing his sister Yaira and the little orphan-girl, Ishma, after they were taken captive to Samaria.  

“In one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand soldiers in Judah—because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors…The men of Israel took captive from their fellow Israelites who were from Judah two hundred thousand wives, sons and daughters. They also took a great deal of plunder, which they carried back to Samaria.” 2 Chronicles 28:6,8 

We have no idea the identity of those 200,000 wives, sons, and daughters taken captive, but 2 Chronicles 28:9-15 gives us rich detail about the captives’ reception in Samaria and their reunion with families that took place in Jericho. 

Remember, Biblical fiction is built FIRST on the foundational layer of Scripture—God’s Truth. Then comes the second layer of historical fact, which is often difficult to confirm with conflicting historical accounts and various “expert” opinions. In order to weave those together, I often take a few facts from several historian’s perspectives, finding a golden thread that seems to build a strong story on the Truth already established in God’s Word. I can then use fiction to fill in whatever details are needed to add emotion, color, and texture to our story and characters. 

Micah, the Man 

Though Micah’s prophecies are similar in many ways, he makes a clear distinction in his overarching theme. Micah was the blue-collar prophet. Though he hailed from a rural setting, he was obviously familiar with the “big city corruption” in Jerusalem, corruption in both its government and religious officials.  

Though he joined the other prophets in condemning pagan worship and fake religiosity, Micah’s heart seemed to beat with a passion to fight social injustice against farmers, peasants, and the poor. Micah was, at his core, a man of the people, who kept his heart and ministry focused on keeping the main thing the main thing. He boiled it down to one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture: 

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 

Tweet-A-Licious! 

• Micah, Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos were very different prophets who spoke nuanced messages. Today: Who Is Micah?
• Micah knew too much about real life to pretend about religion. He prophesied a real God.
• Micah was the blue-collar prophet, who hailed from a rural setting but knew about big city corruption. 

Today’s Question: 

• If someone wrote an article, “Who Is {insert your name}?”, what would it say your consistent life message has been?