Truthfully, I wish I had a better track record understanding the minor prophets--can't tell whether it's the subject matter (woe), the obscure history, or genre of prophecy itself that puts me off so, but I find that I brace myself when approaching them.
The first layer of understanding Micah is as basic as trying to figure out where Philistia was and who was conquering whom. It sounds simple enough, but these things are not part of my collective knowledge of history. Assyria was invading. Interesting comment on Philistia here:
The name in Hebrew is "Peleshet" and means "land of immigrants or invaders". It comes from the Semitic word "plisha", meaning "invader". Philistia was the coastal plain where the Philistines lived after invading from Caphtor (Crete). In old Assyrian inscriptions it was called Palastu and Pilista. Philistia was in the southwest corner of Canaan, along the Mediterranean coast, and contained 5 cities - Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath. The area under Philistine control at times extended up the coast to Joppa. The modern names Palestine and Palestinian come from the Biblical names Philistia and Philistine. The term "Palestine" was never applied to the whole land of Israel until 135 AD. At that time, after Rome had crushed the second Jewish revolt, the Roman Emperor Hadrian began using the term "Palestine" for the whole land of Israel. His motivation for doing this was his anti-Semitism, to negate the connection between the Jews and their Promised Land. He was very successful in this. Down through the centuries the whole land has been called Palestine, even though Philistia was originally just a small corner of the land. -From biblicalzionist.com
Now I'm not entirely sure how trustworthy this source is (Biblical Zionist seems like quite a statement for a website), but this connection between Palestine and Philistia makes geographical sense and intrigues me...
Reflections on Particular Verses in Micah
"Do not my words do good to him who walks uprightly?" -Micah 2:5
The word of God is helpful and nourishing to those who follow His ways and seek righteousness. Right and righteousness has become such an abused word these days. To be "righteous" recalls "self-righteous" and has negative connotations. Certainly we don't naturally think of "God-righteous" as a default. Even just thinking about "righteous," it seems to carry a sense of superiority, a lack of humility that I don't think the original word intended.
From Strongs:
yâshâryaw-shawr'
From H3474; straight (literally or figuratively): - convenient, equity, Jasher, just, meet (-est), + pleased well right (-eous), straight, (most) upright (-ly, -ness).
"And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?—you who hate the good and love the evil" -Micah 3:1-2
This reminds me of some of the convoluted perspectives in our culture--what a great question! Do our leaders know justice? Does the Lord hope for them to? Certainly our leaders often choose otherwise-- hating the good and loving the evil.
Micah has much more to say about the corrupt state of leaders, priests, and prophets:
"The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us." -Micah 3:11
It discourages me to think that our political and religious leadership is guilty of such abuses. Corrupt leadership leaves the people vulnerable. Honestly, I feel so out of touch with leadership that I'm not able to discern their hearts. I'm concerned that the foundation of our system has become so entirely secular and socialistic that it has turned MY heart from the leadership and the people in need who seem to be "disabled" by the aid without accountability given to them. This aid, this "good" becomes a harm, an "evil" to them.
Comforting domestic imagery here---I think this is where I'd like to live, safe under my fig tree:
"...but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken." -Micah 4:4
"And this man shall be the peace" Micah 5:5
Definitely deep to think about the construction here---the tone is emphatic. The sentence pattern: S-VL-PN ?
Beautiful imagery of refreshment here:
"And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men." --Micah 5:7
John Wesley's commentary:
"As a dew - This remnant wherever they are, shall multiply as the dew that refreshes the grass, so where this remnant is, it shall be a blessing to those about them, that use them friendly. As the showers - God shall bless them by his immediate hand, as he alone, without the help of man, gives dew and showers. As this was fulfilled in the type, before the gospel was preached to all nations, so it hath been, now is, and ever shall be fulfilled in ages to come. God's remnant shall be a blessing to the places they live in."
Are we a remnant of sorts, or am I too far off here? I pray that we would be a people of blessing--giving a blessing, not obsessed with "getting" one. Sadly, the Church often seems oppositely motivated, seeking our own refreshment, demanding it of God like some type of cosmic gumball machine.
"You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be hunger within you; you shall put away, but not preserve, and what you preserve I will give to the sword." Micah 6:14
Isn't that the truth in life? Our satisfaction comes not so much from delicacies of food or drink, material goods or money we may store away. Satisfaction is a gift of the Lord. I am convicted by the thought that I put away but do not preserve--all of the extra clothes and household items that we have outgrown or do not use lie stuffed in our basement and attic. My problem? No time to get to them...don't want to emotionally deal with them. Lord, help me to find time, to make time, to be satisfied with what You give us, not to see more, to hoard up things for any reason--fear, avoidance, selfishness, despair. All hope and satisfaction surely comes from You.
"..,when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me." -Micah 7:8
This is such a comforting image--sitting in darkness, trusting the Lord as our light.
Historical Background
Here is some helpful background on Micah from Bible. org. Can you blame someone who probably saw their hometown pillaged and his relatives killed from being "heavy" in tone?
"Micah's hometown of Moresheth is probably the same town identified later as Moresheth-gath in the Shephelah (rolling hills) of Judah. This village was one of many that was captured by Sennacherib in his attack on Judah in 701 BC. (cf. Micah 1:14). Moresheth was an important city which guarded a key route into the hill country of Judah south of Jerusalem. Because of its importance it was fortified by Rehoboam as a defensive center (2Ch 11:5-12) Nothing else is known about Micah, but we can surmise that Micah may have actually prophesied during the invasion and witnessed the destruction of his own hometown by Sennecharib. He probably saw his relatives killed and hauled off into slavery." Bible.org
"Micah's hometown of Moresheth was also destroyed by Sennacherib at this time, and its people were killed or deported as slaves.
The trade routes were in the valleys. A city on a hill could guard the trade routes. That's where Moresheth was. Lachish was the largest city in the area. When Senacharib attacked, he captured Lachish but could not take Jerusalem. When he went home, he made reliefs of the battle with stone throwers, slings, ramps, battering rams, etc." Bible.org
Taylor Prism, from Nineveh, discovered 1830
"In 701 BC, a rebellion backed by Egypt and Babylonia broke out in Judah, led by King Hezekiah. In response Sennacherib sacked a number of cities in Judah. He laid siege to Jerusalem, but soon returned to Nineveh, with Jerusalem not having been sacked, in order to put down an attempted coup. This event was recorded by Sennacherib himself, by Herodotus, Josephus, and by several Biblical writers. According to the Bible, Sennacherib also withdrew because the "angel of Jehovah went out and put to death a 185,000 in the Assyrian camp" (2 Kings 19:35). -Wikipedia entry on Sennecharib
Isaiah 10 and Micah 1 give the battle plan that Sennecharib used to attack Jerusalem. You can only approach Jerusalem from the north or south. Sennacharib sent part of his army from the north (Isa 10:) and part of his army came up through the Shepelah from the south.
The only thing which spared Jerusalem was the Angel of the Lord. Sennacharib records that he took 46 strong walled cities, and countless unwalled cities which really left only Jerusalem. He took 200,000 captives. Mysteriously 185,000 Assyrians were killed and they fled home and there is no record of that in Sennecherib's chronicles." -Bible.org
Sennecharib's campaign was recorded in cuneiform on the Taylor Prism housed in the British Museum.
Perhaps even more interesting to my literary tastes is this once common, now somewhat obsolete, poem by Byron:
THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB, first published in 1815
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!
And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!
It amazes me to think that this poem was once part of popular culture, while here I sit, a fairly well-educated 21st century Christian, generally oblivious to the events and working so hard to understand even the background of Micah, never mind this poem. The threads of history we hold in our hands seem tenuous at best.
THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB, first published in 1815
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!
And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!
It amazes me to think that this poem was once part of popular culture, while here I sit, a fairly well-educated 21st century Christian, generally oblivious to the events and working so hard to understand even the background of Micah, never mind this poem. The threads of history we hold in our hands seem tenuous at best.
More details on the Assyrian attacks from Bible. org:
The two pronged attack against Judah and Jerusalem focused on the two strategic approaches into the hill country of Judah and its capital. The first side of this prong attacked north of Jerusalem against the cities on the Central Benjamin Plateau, the main entry to Jerusalem along the north (cf Isa 10:28-32). The second side of the prong swept through the Shephelah of Judah capturing the approaches into the hill country to the south of Jerusalem (Micah 1:10-15). The chief city in the Shephelah was Lachish—a city second in importance only to Jerusalem in the kingdom of Judah. Sennacherib captured Lachish; and this event was so significant to him that he commissioned a relief to be made of the battle which adorned the walls of his palace in Nineveh. The relief included graphic pictures of people impaled on poles, being skinned alive, beheaded. An Assyrian relief shoed the Jews going into captivity.
A piece of a relief from Sennacherib's palace.
Larger view of the relief, housed in the British Museum, capture of Lachish by Assyrians.
The full account of the history behind this prophet is worth reading 2 Kings 15:32-19:37. It is particularly interesting to watch Hezekiah's generally right approach to the aggression of the Assyrians. To his men's credit, they resist the derisive words of the Assyrian messengers who try to discourage them. Hezekiah takes the message and lays it before the Lord and prays over it, prays to be led in a proper response. Two thoughts while reading this:
1. Is my first impulse to pray over a bit of bad news for my proper response? Do I lay things fully before the Lord?
2. Would soldiers in our country resist negative words of attack or succumb to them? Actually, a good chunk of the military seems to necessarily have a stronger form of faith than many civilians.
End of Sennacherib's campaign..............................
More information on Micah specifically and parallels between Isaiah and Micah who were contemporaries:
************************************
Still working on background here:
*Ahab made Judah a vassal of the Assyrians in order to fortify itself against Israel and Aram. Aram was an ancient Syrian culture in the mountains of Lebanon.
From Bible History.com
Assyria eventually conquered both Aram and Israel, leaving Judah in an even more subservient position.
The two pronged attack against Judah and Jerusalem focused on the two strategic approaches into the hill country of Judah and its capital. The first side of this prong attacked north of Jerusalem against the cities on the Central Benjamin Plateau, the main entry to Jerusalem along the north (cf Isa 10:28-32). The second side of the prong swept through the Shephelah of Judah capturing the approaches into the hill country to the south of Jerusalem (Micah 1:10-15). The chief city in the Shephelah was Lachish—a city second in importance only to Jerusalem in the kingdom of Judah. Sennacherib captured Lachish; and this event was so significant to him that he commissioned a relief to be made of the battle which adorned the walls of his palace in Nineveh. The relief included graphic pictures of people impaled on poles, being skinned alive, beheaded. An Assyrian relief shoed the Jews going into captivity.
A piece of a relief from Sennacherib's palace.
Larger view of the relief, housed in the British Museum, capture of Lachish by Assyrians.
The full account of the history behind this prophet is worth reading 2 Kings 15:32-19:37. It is particularly interesting to watch Hezekiah's generally right approach to the aggression of the Assyrians. To his men's credit, they resist the derisive words of the Assyrian messengers who try to discourage them. Hezekiah takes the message and lays it before the Lord and prays over it, prays to be led in a proper response. Two thoughts while reading this:
1. Is my first impulse to pray over a bit of bad news for my proper response? Do I lay things fully before the Lord?
2. Would soldiers in our country resist negative words of attack or succumb to them? Actually, a good chunk of the military seems to necessarily have a stronger form of faith than many civilians.
End of Sennacherib's campaign..............................
More information on Micah specifically and parallels between Isaiah and Micah who were contemporaries:
************************************
Still working on background here:
*Ahab made Judah a vassal of the Assyrians in order to fortify itself against Israel and Aram. Aram was an ancient Syrian culture in the mountains of Lebanon.
From Bible History.com
Assyria eventually conquered both Aram and Israel, leaving Judah in an even more subservient position.
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