Read Micah 1:1-2:13
Micah is an especially appropriate book to study in Advent because of his famous prophecy that Bethlehem would be the town of Jesus’ birth. Of course every book of the Bible points us to Christ, but this particular prophecy is one that especially calls us to meditate on the significance of the birth of King Jesus. This particular passage calls us to submit to a King who is a tender Shepherd.
Micah was sent as a prophet by God to the southern kingdom of Judah to confront the sin of selfishness. In particular in this passage, he confronts selfishness in worship and selfishness in society. The judgment he prophesies concerning their sin is intense. And yet, chapter two closes with words of hope.
Micah prophesies of that great change that will come when Hezekiah makes his great reformation in 701 B.C., an event that will become second only to the Exodus as the clearest Old Testament forecast of Jesus’ redemption on the cross. This dark passage ends with that bright Messianic hope.
Through many years of study, I have noticed that whenever critical scholars observe such an about face in a passage—a sudden turn from despair to hope—they always try to explain it away as an addition by a later author. Sadly these scholars must be unfamiliar with the gospel, because this is the recurring theme of God’s redemptive story. God is constantly rescuing his people from desperate situations and does so as an intentional foretaste of the great and final deliverance.
To appreciate this prophecy, we have to understand the back story from history. In 722 B.C., God finally made good on his threat to the northern kingdom of Israel that he would allow Assyria to overrun them if they did not repent. The Assyrians dispersed the ten tribes such that they never reconstituted a government. Hezekiah heeded God’s instruction that he must not seek protection for his nation by paying tribute to the Assyrians as his predecessor Ahaz had tried to do. So he rebelled against Sennacherib, the most powerful king in the world at the time (2 Kg. 18:7). Though he did the right thing by not submitting to Assyria, he buckled under Sennacherib’s intimidation and determined that the only way he could do the right thing was to ally himself with some other pagan nations who also hated Assyria. But it didn’t work. Sennacherib marched against the cities and captured forty-six of them. Hezekiah’s faith failed even more greatly so that he offered Sennacherib a tribute in exchange for his withdrawal (2 Kg. 18:13ff). Sennacherib took the money but advanced anyway, ultimately driving those who survived his brutal attack into Jerusalem.
Gathering into Jerusalem seemed to be the worst thing possible. Sennacherib recorded that he had shut up “Hezekiah in Jerusalem his royal city like a bird in a cage” [1]. All seemed to be hopeless. The Judeans were no match against the mighty Sennacherib and his siege works. This time, Hezekiah’s faith does not fail. All of the faithful preaching from Isaiah to Micah finally took hold, and Hezekiah led bravely. Instead of offering a tribute or appealing to some pagan nation or devising some brilliant military strategy, Hezekiah did what must have appeared to be the most irresponsible thing—he left the company of everybody else and prayed. He “spread out the matter before God” and left it in his hands (2 Kg. 19:1-34). When the Israelites awoke the next morning, they were still alive and their city was still intact. When the scouts cautiously looked over the wall they could not believe the sight—the Assyrians were dead! God sent his angel of death who killed 185,000 of Sennacherib’s men and the great arrogant king was forced to withdraw to his capital in Nineveh in humiliation (Isaiah 37:35-38). And in a few more years, his own sons would assassinate him (2 Kg. 19:35-37).
What may seem to you to be an utter defeat, the end of the road, a hemming in on all sides is actually the Lord gathering you close so that he can protect you while defeating your enemies. Whatever course before you that promises the most glory to God, no matter how impractical, is the one you must take when your back is against a wall from serving the Lord.
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[1] Allen, 302.