How will you respond to the Bad News? (Micah 1)

Translation Micah 1

1The word of Yahweh which [came] to Micah the Morashite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Kings of Judah, which he saw against Samaria and Jerusalem.

2Hear, you peoples! All of them! Listen, you earth and it’s fullness. And let Yahweh our Lord be among us as a witness, our Lord from the palace of his holiness. 3For behold, Yahweh [is] going from his place. And he comes down and treads upon the high places of the earth. 4And the mountains melt beneath him, and the valleys will burst open like wax from the face of the fire, like water pouring down a slope.

5Because of the transgression of Jacob, all of this [will happen], and because of the sin of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?

6 And I establish Samaria as a heap of ruins of the field, as a plantation of a vineyard. And I will hurl her stones into the valley, and uncover her foundations. 7And all her idols will be crushed, and all her wages as a prostitute will be burnt with fire, and all her images I will set [as] a desolation, because she accumulated [them] from the wages of a prostitute, and to the wages of harlotry they will return.

8Upon this, I will wail and I will howl, I will walk barefoot, and I will make lamentation naked like Jackals, and mourning like the daughter of an ostrich. 9For her wounds [are] incurable, for it has come as far as Judah, it has struck as far as the gate of my people, as far as Jerusalem.

10In Gath [report town], you (pl) shall not report [it]. You shall certainly not weep at all! In the house of Le-Aphrah roll yourself in dust (aphar) 11Cross over to them, [you] who dwell in Shaphir! Nakedness! Shame! The ones dwelling in Tzanan have not gone out. Wailing! The house of Haezel received from you (pl) its support. 12For the ones dwelling in Moreth waited with writhing for good [news]. For evil came down from Yahweh to the gate of Jerusalem.

13Harness the chariot to the horse, [you] who dwell in Lacish. It was the beginning of Zion’s sin. For in you (s) the transgression of Israel was found. 14For this reason, you will set parting gifts upon Moresheth Gath. The houses of Achzib [are] a deception for the kings of Israel. 15Once again I will bring the possessor to you, you who dwell in Moreshah. As far as Adulam will I bring the glory of Israel.

16 Make [yourself] bald and cut [the] hair upon the sons of your luxury. Enlarge your bald spot like the eagle. For they [your sons] are exiled from you (s)

Introduction: Bad News

What is your response when you get bad news? I’m sorry, but your shares have taken a nose dive. Half your super’s gone. You’ve no longer enough to retire.

I’m sorry, you’ve been retrenched. No, don’t go back to your desk. Your bag has been packed for you. Security will escort you to the door.

I’m terribly sorry, but the bank will foreclose. The sheriff will be over within a week!

Dear John, I’ve found someone else. The kids are with me. Don’t come looking for us. My solicitor will be in touch.

I’m sorry, it’s worse than we thought. The cancer’s spread. You’ve 6 weeks at best.

This is an emergency service announcement. A cyclone/earthquake/tsunami/bush fire/air strike will hit your locality in 15 minutes. Life and property are seriously endangered. All residents are strongly advised to immediately evacuate and head to higher/clearer ground. Go now. Take nothing with you. Good bye and have a nice day.

What’s your reaction?

Denial. This isn’t happening. I’ll just ignore it.

Run. Fly you fools, swords are no use here. Flee, sell.

Fight. Over my dead body. Bring it on.

Shoot the messenger! He’s a man. She’s a woman. Look how old, young, fat, thin, rich, poor, ugly, beautiful, smart, stupid he/she/it is! What would they know?

Beg. Please please please. I can change, I can pay, just give me time.

Give up. Let’s go out with a bang. Eat, drink, be merry, tomorrow we die.

Today we look at Micah 1. God’s people have received some very bad news. God is angry with them. He promises to destroy their cities. Samaria and Judah are doomed. And the question is, what will Hezekiah, the King in Jerusalem, do?

Context

Let’s read verse 1

The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah-- the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. (Micah 1:1 NIV)

Who was Micah? He received these messages from Yahweh. He lived in Judah, in the Southern Kingdom. He didn’t come from Jerusalem, but from Moreseth-Gath[1]. It was a village in the hill country of Judah. Micah and Isaiah were saying the same message at the same time. Isaiah was in Jerusalem, the capital, but Micah was from the villages in the Judean foothills. All this is happening in the last half of the 700s BC[2]

Micah chapter 1 is a grave warning that both Jerusalem and Samaria, and their surrounding countryside, will be destroyed. Now, Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. And Jerusalem was the capital of the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

And the Northern Kingdom had a long history of idol worship and disobedience to Yahweh. For the 210 years that the Northern Kingdom existed, they did not worship Yahweh properly. Not one King followed Yahweh's laws. In fact, all of them decided that it would be better for the people to worship gold statues of calves that they had set up than worship Yahweh at Jerusalem. And prophets like Amos and Hosea pleaded with them to repent. But though the prophets continually called on Samaria and the northern kings to repent, they wouldn’t.

And Jerusalem was a little better, but not much. Jerusalem had her share of disobedient rebellious Kings. And if the head stinks how much more the tail. If the king rebels against God, how much more the people. And so Jerusalem is facing the same danger as Samaria.

What we have in Micah is a collection of the prophecies that he spoke to the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem. They are placed together in a single book for us. But they probably were given at different times in the prophet’s life. And the first one was given before 723 BC, before the fall of Samaria.

1. Micah’s frightening vision:

Yahweh’s mountain-squashing descent (verses 2-4)

The book of Micah it opens with an earth flattening oracle in verses 2 to 4.

² Hear, you peoples, all of you[3]; hearken, O earth, and all that is in it[4]; and let the Lord GOD[5] be a witness against[6] you, the Lord from his holy temple[7]. ³ For behold, the LORD is coming forth out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. ⁴ And the mountains will melt under him and the valleys will be cleft, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. (Micah 1:2-4 NIV)

The cities of Jerusalem and Samaria were placed on mountains. Well, they’re not Mount Everest type of Mountains. They’re probably not even Mount Kosciusko type of mountains. They’re more like big hills. But they are hard enough to climb up if you have to.

These cities were put there for security. An attacking army had to come uphill and face defenders from above. But also, it had religious significance. Mountains were thought to be closer to God – they were, after all, ‘higher up’. You can almost ‘touch heaven’ from a mountain, or so it is thought. Even now we talk of ‘mountain top experiences’.

Do you notice how people love building churches on top of a hill? It means everyone can see it. It is no accident that a church building is the highest man made point in a suburb. Church architects are always looking for an imposing position. And same with a city on a hill. It is part of its splendor that it can be seen for miles around.

But the picture here is Yahweh stomping on the cities from a great height. Yahweh launches out from his holy palace, probably heaven. And he lands on what we think are high mountains. And he squashes them flat. They melt under him. The turn to jelly. The great mountains turn to water, spreading out like a lake under his feet. They are like tall candles melting down to a wickless flat blob of wax. Like crushing when you stomp on an empty drink can end on, or like stepping on a fallen ice cream.

Such are the tall mountain top places that men have established. Their cities, their religious buildings, seemingly secure. Yahweh will flatten them.

2. Two towns terminally ill: God’s anger with

Samaria and Jerusalem (verses 5-9)

So the question is, why? Why is God descending from his dwelling place in such anger? Why will Yahweh flatten these mountain top strongholds? And the answer is found in verse 5:

All this is because of Jacob's transgression, because of the sins of the house of Israel. What is Jacob's transgression? Is it not Samaria? What is Judah's high place? Is it not Jerusalem? (Micah 1:5 NIV)

The reason that God is going to stomp down upon these two high cities, is because of their sin. As the capital, so the nations. These cities have become bywords for rebellion and sin. A bit like the words, ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’. Or Kings Cross or Darlinghurst in Sydney. It is a place where sin and rebellion has overtaken.

Notice how Jerusalem is called a ‘high place’. ‘High places’ were synonymous with idolatry. It was typical of pagan worship to set up ‘high places’ for their immoral activities. God is calling Jerusalem, the place where he said to offer sacrifices. The place where his house was, and his name dwelt. Yahweh is calling the city of David that bore his name, a ‘high place’. It would be like calling our church building ‘a brothel’. And the hearers could only have been shocked, offended and concerned.

Now, generally in matters of disobedience to Yahweh, Samaria was ahead of Jerusalem. Samaria after all, had the advantage of leaders like Ahab and Jezebel. And so we see in verses 6 to 7 that punishment will first come to Samaria.

⁶"Therefore[8] I will make Samaria a heap of rubble[9], a place for planting vineyards. [10] I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations. ⁷ All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts [lit, wages as a prostitute] will be burned with fire; I will destroy[11] all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used[12]." (Micah 1:6-8 NIV)

Samaria will be stomped on. Her idols will be pulverized. Her worship was nothing less than prostitution. Both literal and metaphorical. Her worship involved sexually immoral acts, and she worshipped other gods. So the city and its temples will be destroyed. And all her riches will be carried off, to be used by other nations in even worse prostitution.

And this is what happened to Samaria. Around 723[13] BC, just as God said, Samaria was destroyed by Assyria. And the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the 10 tribes, were no more. They didn’t exist anymore. They were taken away to other lands, they intermarried with other nations. And you can read about their destruction in 2 Kings 17. And everything of value was taken by Assyria, to be used in a far off country in pagan worship.

3. Micah Mourns the coming catastrophe (verses 8-16)

But there is something even worse than this. As if 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel being wiped out is not bad enough. There is something worse, that makes Micah strip down to his undies and howl like a demented dingo.

Verses 8 to 9

⁸ Because of this I will weep and wail; I will go about barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl[14]. ⁹ For her wound[15] is incurable; [16]it has come to[17] Judah. It has reached[18] the very gate of my people, even to Jerusalem itself. (Micah 1:8-9 NIV)

Micah has seen that the fate that will soon overcome Samaria will eventually reach Jerusalem. The sins of Samaria reached Jerusalem. That which Samaria habitually engaged in, Jerusalem dabbled with and experimented. And so the punishment of Samaria has reached the gates of Jerusalem. And in 701BC, the Assyrian army came to the very gates of Jerusalem. Here was retribution for the sins of Jerusalem and Judah.

For Micah, this is terrible news. He’s not rubbing his hands with glee, saying, ‘Yes, Jerusalem will be nuked. Told you so!' He is grief stricken. For when Micah announces judgment on Jerusalem, he is announcing judgment on himself, on his people, on the city God chose, the temple where God symbolically dwelt and put his name, the city of David, of the promises, of the hopes of the people of Israel.

And Micah wants his neighbours to join him in his grief. For it will affect them too. Micah was from Moresheth-gath. But these are all the villages around where he lives. Gath, Achzib, Adullam, Beth-leaphrah, Lachish They too will suffer God’s wrath. None will be spared when the invading army marches along the road to Jerusalem.

But this is God’s grief as well, not just Micah’s. For God is grieved at what he must do to his people. So in verses 10 to 16 there is a macabre, black humour word play on the names of the towns around him.

Read along with me as I take it from Micah chapter 1 verse 10:

• Verse 10: Tell it not in Tell-town. Gath[19] is ‘tell town’, because it has some similar sounds to the Hebrew for tell. This is what David said when he was mourning the fall of Saul (2 Sa 1:20). It is a lament.
• Or, in the house of dust, Beth Ophrah, roll in the dust. That’s what you do in grief, you throw dust on yourself.
• Then in verse 11: Pass on in nakedness and shame, you who live in Shaphir, or beautiful town. There is no longer beauty but shame.
• Those who live in come out town will not come out. They will be in hiding from the invading army.
• Beth Ezel is take away town – its protection is taken away.
• Verse 12: Maroth is bitter town. She will be writhing in pain because of the disaster.
• Verse 13: You who live in Lachish, ‘Team town’, harness the team of race horses to the chariot, because now you will go out to fight.
• Verse 14:You will give parting gifts, perhaps a bridal dowry to betrothed town, Moresheth Gath. Now Judah will have to pay tribute and taxes to a conquering superpower.
• Deception town, Aczib, will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel. Whatever peace they had there was only a deception.
• Verse 15: I will bring a conqueror against you who live in Conqueror town, Mareshah[20].

What Micah is doing is a bit like this. Imagine we’ve been invaded by an enemy country, say New Zealand. And as the New Zealand Army marches down Shellharbour Road, I say:

‘Shellharbour’s now ‘Hell Harbour’. Dunmore is done for. Kilallea is killed you see. Jamberoo is in the poo. Blackbutt? Yeah, we sure do! Flattened is Oak Flats. Hammered is Kiama. War songs and a bloody throng from Wollongong to Geringong.

That’s what Micah is doing from verses 10 to 15. Notice in verse 12 that God has brought this disaster.

Verse 12: because disaster has come from the LORD, even to the gate of Jerusalem.

This disaster has come from Yahweh. Even though God uses the Assyrian army as his weapon. God brings both prosperity and adversity. In fact, literally the verse reads:

12For the ones dwelling in Moreth waited with writhing for good, For bad came down from Yahweh to the gate of Jerusalem.

God stands by and behind the disaster that he sends. And we see more specifically why Yahweh is judging Israel in the oracle against Lachish:

Verse 13:¹³ You who live in Lachish, harness the team to the chariot. You were the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.

Here is a reference to chariots and horses. Chariots and horses speak of military power. They were the ancient tank. But whenever we see reference to chariots and horses, we should remember that Yahweh drowned the Egyptian chariots, riders and horses, in the Red Sea. And Yahweh gave this law to the King of Israel:

¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, "You are not to go back that way again." (Deuteronomy 17:16 NIV)

However, getting the best weapons was always a temptation for the Kings of Israel and Judah. Lachish for centuries had been used at different times as a fortified city (Jer 34:7; cf Josh 10:3,5,23,31-35). Like most important cities, it was built on a hill. King Rehoboam heavily fortified it over 200 years previously. (2 Chr 11:5-12). And it became part of Judah’s defensive strategy against attacks from the South. And part of the defences, it seems, were to get chariots and race horses. And the place to get them from was Egypt, in disobedience to Yahweh’s command.

But all this careful strategic planning was to no avail. For Judah and her kings forgot to use their secret weapon, Yahweh. They trusted horses and chariots rather than him. So Lachish fell with a crash in 701BC. The King of Assyria, Senacherib, was there when it fell. Archeologists have found friezes in Nineveh, of the central tower of Lachish being stormed by Assyrian siege works, of Jews being horribly executed by being impalled on stakes, and other vanquished Jews being led off into captivity[21], and King Sennacherib receiving booty from Lachish.

And then Sennacherib used Lachish as his staging post for his siege of Jerusalem (2 Kgs 18:14, 17; 19:8;2 Chr 32:9; Is 36:2; 37:8). His huge army, of almost 200,000 troops marched on Jerusalem and camped at it’s gate. So seeing all this lying just around the corner, Yahweh through his prophet calls out:

Verse 16:Shave your heads in mourning for the children in whom you delight; make yourselves as bald as the vulture, for they will go from you into exile.

And that is what happened. Lachish and the towns around it fell. And the children of Judah were led out of their cities by the Assyrian captors. Only Jerusalem stood when Sennacherib’s force surrounded it in 701BC. There would be no-reinforcements from Lachish, or Egypt, or anywhere.

What will Hezekiah do?

The doom Micah warned about actually came and stood at the gate of Jerusalem. What would the King of Jerusalem do? He is faced with catastrophe?

Denial? Business as usual.

Run? Flee the doomed city.

Fight? March out and meet the 200,000 strong force with the remnant of his people.

Beg? I’m sorry Senacherib. Please let me live.

Shoot the messenger? Kill Micah! How dare he say such things!

Give up? Let’s eat, drink and be merry; tomorrow we die.

All depended on how King Hezekiah would respond.

You can read Isaiah 36 and 37 to find out what Hezekiah did, and what Yahweh did.

¹⁴ Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: ¹⁶ "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁷ Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. ¹⁸ "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. ¹⁹ They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. ²⁰ Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." (Isaiah 37:14-20 NIV)

And God gave Hezekiah what he asked for.

About 100 years later, Jeremiah started saying them same things as Micah. Jerusalem was on the brink of falling to Babylon. And Jeremiah started telling Jerusalem that it was about to be destroyed. And many people wanted to kill Jeremiah for saying such treacherous things. But then…

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.' {18 Micah 3:12}

19 "Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death? Did not Hezekiah fear the LORD and seek his favor? And did not the LORD relent, so that he did not bring the disaster he pronounced against them? We are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves!" (Jeremiah 26:16-19 NIV)

Micah was the model prophet, declaring the bad news with clarity. And Hezekiah was the model hearer of God’s word, not shooting the messenger, but repenting, turning to Yahweh, and asking for forgiveness.

What will you do?

Hezekiah’s response was a good one. Beg, but not Sennacherib, but Yahweh his God. See God for who he is, the threat for what it is, and ask for salvation.

What about the doom that faces us? It is our own death, sure and certain, unless Jesus returns first. In the end, everyone dies. No one gets out of here alive. Death is the great leveler. Rich or poor, old and young, fit and fat, beautiful or ugly. Botox and gym work or the nip and tuck hasn’t yet stopped people from dying. At best, it delays the inevitable.

And after that, what then? Are you heading for hell? I know it’s not fashionable to talk about hell. But the bible talks about it, and Jesus talks about. So I should. A place of in the utter despair and aloneness of unforgiven sins. A place where God’s presence is only felt in his wrath. Where the worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched. It is horrible to contemplate. It is far worse to have to endure. And it won’t be empty.

Jesus warns us:

¹³"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-15 NIV)

Friends, if Hezekiah’s hope in the face of an imminent threat can be found in Isaiah 37, our hope in a desparate situation can be found in Romans 10.

⁹ That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ¹¹ As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." ¹² For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile-- the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:9-13 NIV)

The response is, come to the Lord Jesus Christ, for he is mighty to save. Let’s pray.

[1] Micah 1:1, 14; Jeremiah 26:18

[2] Based on the dating in John Gray, 1 & 2 Kings, 75

[3] Lit, ‘them’.

[4] Lit, ‘all it’s fullness’

[5] Lit, ‘YHWH our God’

[6] Lit, ‘among us’

[7] Lit, ‘palace of his holiness’

[8] Lit, ‘and’

[9] MT adds, ‘of the field’. NIV takes it with next clause.

[10] MT adds ‘and’.

[11] Lit, ‘set as a desolation’

[12] Lit, ‘they will again return’

[13] Gray, 75

[14] Lit, ‘like the daughter of an ostrich’

[15] MT is plural

[16] MT has ‘for’

[17] Lit, ‘as far as’

[18] MT, ‘as far as’

[19] Perhaps this same town had times of occupation by Philistines or Judah. Or perhaps there were different towns that bore the name ‘Gath’. See Harper’s Bible Dictionary, 333, which seems to take the latter view.

[20] The ‘glory of Israel’ which comes to Adullam (v 15) may be the elders of Judah hiding in the caves of Adullam, as David did to Saul, or YHWH going to Adullam in punishment.

[21] See Harper’s Bible Dictionary, 362, 538-9, for nice pictures.