Mic 3-5 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Mic 3:1-5:15: 3:1–5:15 This message indicts the evil leaders who were destroying God’s people and contrasts them with a glorious vision of God’s kingdom and the reign of a righteous king. After suffering judgment and exile, a purified people of Israel would return and experience God’s blessings. Summary for Mic 3:1-4: 3:1-4 Micah relentlessly indicted the leaders of Israel because they were responsible for the peoples’ well-being. The horrors here depict the terrors of a people under siege (cp. Deut 28:53 ; 2 Kgs 6:29 ). 3:1 The leaders, who were supposed to know true judgment and justice (6:8 ; Deut 10:12-13 ), were morally responsible for Israel’s guilt.

Summary for Mic 3:1-5:15: 3:1–5:15 ^a This message indicts the evil leaders who were destroying God’s people and contrasts them with a glorious vision of God’s kingdom and the reign of a righteous king. After suffering judgment and exile, a purified people of Israel would return and experience God’s blessings.
Summary for Mic 3:1-4: 3:1-4 ^b Micah relentlessly indicted the leaders of Israel because they were responsible for the peoples’ well-being. The horrors here depict the terrors of a people under siege (cp. Deut 28:53 ^c; 2 Kgs 6:29 ^d). 3:1 ^e The leaders, who were supposed to know true judgment and justice (6:8 ^f; Deut 10:12-13 ^g), were morally responsible for Israel’s guilt.
Summary for Mic 3:2-3: 3:2-3 ^h The leaders, like wild animals, destroyed their own people.
3:4 ⁱ Then: Even after oppressing the Lord’s people, the leaders would selfishly beg for help from the Lord.
3:5 ^j The false prophets were among the spiritual leaders of Israel, so they fell under Micah’s accusations. Prophets were supposed to call Israel to the true way, not to send them astray (see Deut 13 ^k, 18 ^l). These prophets used their gifts to benefit themselves.
Summary for Mic 3:6-7: 3:6-7 ^m Micah announced God’s judgment on the false prophets. Without God’s special communications, these seers and fortune-tellers were like the pagan court prophets of such nations as Babylon, Mari, and especially Assyria, who were expected to toe the party line but who had no real revelation from the Lord (cp. 1 Sam 28:6 ⁿ; Amos 8:11-12 ^o).
3:8 ^p There was a strong contrast between the true prophet and the false prophets (3:5-7 ^q). Truth, justice, and power come from God’s Spirit, who gave Micah the moral and ethical strength to declare his true message about the sin and rebellion of his people.
Summary for Mic 3:9-12: 3:9-12 ^r The leaders of Israel were building Jerusalem on a foundation of murder and corruption. Because of this, the city would be dismantled; it would be reduced to wilderness and ruins (3:12 ^s).
3:11 ^t the Lord is here among us: This expression indicates the Lord’s approval (see Exod 3:12 ^u, 14 ^v; 25:8 ^w; Mic 2:5 ^x; Zech 2:11 ^y) and his dwelling among his people. The false prophets wrongly claimed God’s presence.
3:12 ^z Mount Zion, where the Lord once lived, would become a thicket, an uninhabitable wilderness. Utter destruction awaited the fallen Jerusalem. Jeremiah later quoted this passage (Jer 26:18 ^aa).

• Just as a field needs to be cleared to prepare it for cultivation, Jerusalem had to be reduced to ruins in judgment.

‏ Micah 4

Summary for Mic 4:1-5: 4:1-5 ^ab Micah’s prophecy moves from utter despair to an eruption of hope as he expresses the future exaltation of Mount Zion in Jerusalem. God’s plan to bless all nations (Gen 12:3 ^ac) through Abraham’s descendants will be realized when the nations and the Lord’s people stream to the Lord’s house ... to worship. There (1) they will learn to follow God’s law and teachings; (2) the law and teachings will flow out among the nations as they are carried forth from God’s house; (3) peace and well-being will grow among the nations as they turn their energies to peaceful purposes and abandon war; and (4) the people will live without fear, having security, prosperity, and blessing (Mic 4:4 ^ad). The idols of the nations fail them, but Israel’s faithful God accomplishes all this; the prosperity he brings lasts for endless ages (4:5 ^ae).
Summary for Mic 4:1-2: 4:1-2 ^af In the last days: God promised to act in history to establish his kingdom.

• The mountain of the Lord’s house was Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where Solomon’s Temple was built (see 2 Sam 24:18-25 ^ag). It recalls Mount Sinai, the mountain of God (Exod 3:1 ^ah; Num 10:33 ^ai), where God appeared. The mountain of the Lord has significance as the place where God makes his identity known and his fellowship available.

• teach us his ways ... his paths: The wisdom of God’s laws and the knowledge of his ways will give the nations life (Deut 4:6 ^aj; 32:47 ^ak).
4:3 ^al The shalom (“well-being, peace”) of the Lord will cover the earth, and instruments of destruction will be used for peaceful pursuits. From its earliest records, ancient history is an account of war, of one people’s subjugation of other peoples and nations. Warfare and violence reached a frenzied peak in the Assyrian and Babylonian kingdoms.

• swords into plowshares: Implements of war will become tools for production. Alternatively, some scholars believe that this phrase means reducing “swords into metal shards,” which would render them useless.
4:4 ^am Everyone will be free of enemies as in Solomon’s time (1 Kgs 4:25 ^an; cp. Isa 36:16 ^ao; Zech 3:10 ^ap).

• The prophets frequently described God as the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. This military title expresses his control of the universe and his unlimited power. The warrior kings of the ancient Near East were no match for the Lord.
Summary for Mic 4:6-7: 4:6-7 ^aq Usually the remnants of destroyed cities in the ancient Near East were lost or assimilated. When Israel’s remnant was rescued, it would be the foundation of the Lord’s new people (Deut 4:26-31 ^ar; 30:1-5 ^as; 2 Kgs 19:31 ^at; Isa 10:21 ^au; Jer 29:10-14 ^av; see Ezra 9:8 ^aw; Neh 1:2 ^ax).
4:8 ^ay As for you, Jerusalem, the citadel of God’s people: Jerusalem was a fortified royal capital city with a watchtower for the defense and security of its people.

• The kingship will be restored: Cp. Amos 9:11-15 ^az; see 2 Sam 7:11-16 ^ba.
4:9 ^bb Israel’s king and wise people were supposed to provide leadership and embody the Lord’s instructions and covenant in their lives (Deut 17:18-20 ^bc). Now, however, the people would be without godly leadership (cp. Judg 17:6 ^bd; 18:1 ^be; 21:25 ^bf).
4:10 ^bg Distant Babylon lay about 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometers) from Jerusalem; it could not be reached by cutting across the barren eastern desert.

• The Lord’s rescue of his people from sure death in Babylon would surpass his bringing them out of Egypt. They were formed in the womb of suffering and awaited a promising rebirth (Isa 43:1-5 ^bh; cp. Ezek 37 ^bi).

• For Micah, Babylon represented the concept of exile. In Micah’s time (the late 700s and early 600s BC), there was not even the whisper of a Babylonian empire replacing the Assyrians. But Micah was speaking for God, who knows the future.
Summary for Mic 4:11-13: 4:11-13 ^bj gathered against you: While closely tied to the historical assault of Babylon against Jerusalem in 588–586 BC, this oracle also bears on a future in which the idealized and restored Jerusalem of 4:1-5 ^bk will be attacked (cp. Rev 20:7-9 ^bl).
4:12 ^bm God reveals his plans to his servants (Dan 2:19-23 ^bn; Amos 3:7 ^bo), but the nations don’t know—they are not privy to God’s great plans or to his behind-the-scenes activity on his people’s behalf. The hopes and plans of the nations around Israel were in vain—the Lord’s plans for his unique people will prevail, and he will rule the nations (Gen 12:1-3 ^bp; 15:12-21 ^bq; Exod 19:4-6 ^br; Isa 45:23 ^bs; 66:23 ^bt).

• At the threshing floor, grain was beaten and trampled to separate it from the chaff. So, too, the nations will be crushed (Mic 4:13 ^bu).
4:13 ^bv The horns and hooves of bulls and horses represent strength, as do both iron and bronze. Metal shoes may have been used on the feet of animals who trod out the grain. God will strengthen his peoples to defeat their enemies.

• stolen riches: Many nations had accumulated wealth by unjust means (war, plunder, oppressive tributes, forced labor, and conscription). The Lord of all the earth owned all of this wealth to begin with (Exod 19:5 ^bw).

• You will present: The Hebrew term (kharam, “dedicate”) refers to military spoils of war that were dedicated, or set aside, as holy to the Lord (see Lev 27:28-29 ^bx).

‏ Micah 5

Summary for Mic 5:1-15: 5:1-15 ^by This section calls Israel to prepare for the vicious onslaught of Israel’s enemy, Assyria (5:5b-6 ^bz). This siege of terror, death, and destruction will not annihilate Israel, for God will bring forth a ruler (5:2-5a ^ca) to lead his people back from exile. God’s preservation and purification of the remnant (5:7-14 ^cb) will complete their restoration as God’s victorious people. 5:1 ^cc Israel’s leader was defeated by the Assyrians (cp. 6:9 ^cd). Striking a person with a rod expressed contempt (cp. 1 Kgs 22:24 ^ce).
5:2 ^cf Ephrathah was the ancient name of Bethlehem (Gen 35:16 ^cg; Ruth 4:11 ^ch), David’s birthplace. In the future, an even more significant ruler than David would arise from there (Matt 2:5-6 ^ci; John 7:42 ^cj). The future king’s activities would stretch from the distant past (Hebrew qedem; cp. Deut 33:27 ^ck; Prov 8:22-23 ^cl; Isa 37:26 ^cm) into a still future time, suggesting a divine-human being.
Summary for Mic 5:4-5: 5:4-5 ^cn Following the Exile, Prince Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, was among the returned exiles and became the focus of Israel’s hopes (see Hag 2:20-23 ^co). But a greater ruler than Zerubbabel was needed. The leader from Bethlehem would be a source of peace; Isaiah called him the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6 ^cp). Only Jesus fits this description.
5:5 ^cq The Assyrians destroyed northern Israel in 722 BC. Sennacherib shut up King Hezekiah of Jerusalem “like a bird in a cage” (Sennacherib’s own words) in 701 BC and devastated over forty-six cities in Judah. The hoped-for deliverer-king did not appear in those days. The Assyrians represent all of Israel’s enemies.

• seven rulers ... eight princes: This literary expression indicates that an abundance of leaders will be supplied as needed to lead Israel.
5:6 ^cr the land of Nimrod: Nimrod laid the foundations of the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations (Gen 10:8-11 ^cs).
Summary for Mic 5:7-15: 5:7-15 ^ct God’s purpose was not to create another nation like all the other nations (Exod 19:4-6 ^cu; Num 23:9 ^cv; Jer 7:23 ^cw), but to have his own people who would walk in his ways and be holy as he is holy (Lev 11:45 ^cx). In that day (Mic 5:10 ^cy), God will rule a redeemed and purified people, healed of violence and the ravages of war. 5:7 ^cz The remnant are those whom God’s grace preserved to be the foundation of his new people (Ezra 9:8-15 ^da; Neh 1:2 ^db).

• Dew and rain are gifts from the Lord; no person can prevent his sending them.
Summary for Mic 5:8-9: 5:8-9 ^dc God’s people will have a unique place among the nations of the world (Gen 12:3 ^dd; Exod 19:4-6 ^de). They will be the head and not the tail (Deut 28:13 ^df), and invincible as a lion (cp. Esth 6:13 ^dg) as God gives them hegemony over the nations.

• The Lord will judge their foes (see Mic 5:15 ^dh) if they continue to rebel against him. The Lord’s desire, however, is ultimately to bless the nations, not to curse or destroy them (Gen 12:3 ^di; Jon 4:11 ^dj; John 3:16 ^dk).
Summary for Mic 5:10-14: 5:10-14 ^dl The Lord’s actions for and against his people purify them. The Lord removed several abominable things imported from the pagan cultures of Mesopotamia and Canaan.
Summary for Mic 5:13-14: 5:13-14 ^dm sacred pillars ... Asherah poles: Stones were set up as places or objects of worship; they could represent pagan deities. The Asherah poles were green poles or trees that represented the goddess Asherah and her powers of fertility. Both the stones and the trees may have had sexual implications—one male, the other female. Asherah was seen as the mother of gods and El’s (or Baal’s) consort.