Introduction and Micah 1 Introduction Micah was an prophet. The book which bears the title of his name is called a “______.” Minor prophets are those books shorter in length. ______books constitute the minor prophets. The “______” are the longer prophetic books of the Old Testament. ______books constitute the major prophets. Micah prophesied the word of the Lord generally from about 750-725 B.C. His prophetic word can be ______from the reign of kings from Israel and Judah who were Jotham, and . Details of the reign of these kings can be found from 2 Kings 15:32-16:20 and 18-20. Micah’s prophetic word from the Lord is dated similarly to the prophetic ministries of both ______and ______. Micah was from the town of ______in southern Judah. His prophetic word was for both ______(the capital of Israel in the divided northern kingdom and ______(the capital of Judah in the divided southern kingdom). Micah’s prophecies concerned the ______of the governmental, kingly leadership in and , and the Lord’s impending judgment against them because of their great sinning against the ______people of these lands. Micah prophesied the ______of Samaria (Israel) to the Assyrians in 722-721 B.C. Micah’s name is stated as a rhetorical question: “______?” Micah 1:1 says, “The word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.” Micah’s prophecies are all contained within his book except for a small section from :18, specifically, and from 26:16-24 in full context. God used Micah’s prophecy along with those of others to ______Jeremiah from a death sentence. As we have begun to learn, Jotham was approved by the Lord, but not ______. Ahaz was a desperately ______king. Hezekiah was a ______king of Judah! His son, Manasseh, is generally considered the most evil king Judah ever had. Micah’s prophecy from the Lord concerned Samaria of Israel and Jerusalem of Judah. The prophecy would be one of impending ______, because of their many sins against God and against the people under the rule of the elite. Micah 1:2-5 say, “Hear, O peoples, all of you; Listen, O earth and all it contains, And let the Lord God be a witness against you. The Lord from His holy temple. For behold, the Lord is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. The mountains will melt under Him And the valleys will be split, Like wax before the fire, Like water poured down a steep place. All this is for the rebellion of And for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the rebellion of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?” Micah’s prophecy contained key words beginning with “______.” The ruling elite certainly had not been listening to God. The next key word is “______,” as the Lord sees all (His omnipresence). And what the Lord had witnessed was much sin! The final key word is “______,” as the Lord comes and passes judgment in different times of human history, as a precursor for the final judgment He will pass on impenitent humanity in what the calls the “______of the Lord.” Jacob and Israel are synonymous for each other, as Jacob’s name was ______to Israel as he wrestled with God (the angel of the Lord). The Lord’s judgment was coming upon Samaria and Jerusalem, on both houses of God’s kingdom who were under the old covenant law of . Micah 1:6-7 say, “For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country, Planting places for a vineyard. I will pour her stones down into the valley And will lay bare her foundations. All of her idols will be smashed, All of her earnings will be burned with fire And 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.” This prophecy from Micah from the Lord was ______when destroyed Samaria in 722-721 B.C. Samaria met her judgment because of her spiritual prostitution (idolatry and utter sinfulness), by which many earned their “living.” To the ______, godless Assyrians would their earnings go to be used for, ironically enough, purposes of idolatry and sin of every kind. Micah 1:8-9 say, “Because of this I must lament and wail, I must go barefoot and naked; I must make a lament like the jackals And a mourning like the ostriches. For the wound is incurable, For it is has come to Judah; It has reached the gate of my people, Even to Jerusalem.” Micah’s ______to the impending judgment of the Lord against Israel was to “lament and wail.” Physical signs of mourning included going barefoot and naked (wearing only a loincloth). What was coming to Israel would also come to the doorstep of Judah, where sin was filling their eventual destruction (586 B.C. to the Babylonians). Just like in the days of Noah, when sin had filled up to the Lord’s judgment upon the world, so it ______be when God our heavenly Father sends Jesus Christ His Son our Lord back to our earth at His second coming. Micah 1:10-12 say, “Tell it not in , Weep not at all. At Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust. Go on your way, inhabitant of Shaphir, in shameful nakedness. The inhabitant of Zaanan does not escape. The lamentation of Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its support.” For the inhabitants of Maroth Becomes weak waiting for good, Because a calamity has come down from the Lord To the gate of Jerusalem.” Gath was a pagan city (where Goliath was from—the Philistines). Micah did want the people of Gath to even know about the coming calamities upon Israel and Judah—because he knew they would ______that God had judged His own people because of their wickedness. The other cities here, whether from Israel or Judah, all were going to eventually face God’s judgment. Judah was ______by the Assyrian king, Sennacherib in 701 B.C., just 20 or so years later than the fall of Samaria in Israel in 722-721 B.C. Only Jerusalem was spared until Judah’s final demise in 586 B.C. Micah 1:13-16 say, “Harness the chariot to the team of horses, O inhabitant of Lachish—She was the beginning of Sin To the daughter of Zion—Because in you were found The rebellious acts of Israel. Therefore you will give parting gifts On behalf of Moresheth-gath; The houses of Achzib will become a deception To the kings of Israel. Moreover, I will bring on you The one who takes possession, O inhabitant of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will enter Adullam. Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, Because of the children of your delight; Extend your baldness like the eagle, For they will go from you into exile.” Lachish was a large town in Judah. It is recorded that King Sennacherib was so pleased to have conquered it in 701 B.C. that he decorated his palace in ______with images of his victory. Israel would be ______in 722-721 B.C. Judah in 586 B.C. Why did the Lord judge them? The answer: To ______them that those not judged unto death would ______and ______to the Lord so that they might be saved for eternity! What lengths has our Lord had to go to throughout our human history to strive to ______people spiritually to fear Him and take His word seriously for their own soul’s sake. It seems as though our present time very well may be another intervention of judgment from the Lord.