MICAH - Chapters 1-4
MICAH – Chapters 1-4
Tuesday Morning Bible Study
September 15, 2026
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Though the sins of Israel and Judah are named in judgment, verse two clearly identifies this prophecy is to “all you peoples,” and to the “earth.”
1:2: Hear, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all that is in it. Let the LORD GOD be a witness against you. The LORD from His holy temple.
All the people of the earth are summoned to give attention to his accusations, and even the earth itself is pictured as trembling under His tread. Therefore, the message is for the whole world and like all the Holy Writ, timeless.
The message of judgment to Israel could be the reason I have not felt led to teach the whole book of Micah because since 1948, we are in the time of the restoration of Israel - not the judgment of Israel. I have preached certain verses but have failed to preach the whole book. Micah prophesies into the Latter Days even into the restored Kingdom after the Second Coming. I have been blessed to get a glimpse of the glorious spiritual Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven (at least a small portion), but the LORD has not given me the foresight as He did Micah into the Kingdom after the Second Coming. I can read what others have written, but like me, they are only able to give their understanding of what is written.
“We the church, like Micah of old, are “full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, and of judgment (justice) and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.” We the church should not water down the Word of God, for the sins of Israel and Judah are the same sins as the generations on the earth.
Also, just as the earth is to “Listen,” the land must be cleansed of all impurities where blood has been shed, women have been raped, children have been mutilated, abortions have been committed, Prophets and Spiritual leaders have been presumptuous with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the 5-fold Offices given by Jesus. We can only hope we get a passing grade for effort.
Micah is a shortened form of Micaih and means, “Who is like Jehovah?” Micah is a prophet of power, might, and justice (3:8).
Of Micah, himself, we know no more than we are told in 1:1: The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Jeremiah prophesied about thirty years after Micah. He recognized and quoted Micah.
Jer. 26:18: Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Zion shall be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,
And the mountain of the temple
Like the bare hills of the forest.”
Since then, Jerusalem has been destroyed three times, the first one being the fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC (4:10), about 150 years after Micah gave this prophecy.
Micah was a contemporary of the prophets, Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea. Micaiah, Son of Imla, was a different prophet in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.
The township of Moresheth was in the southern uplands of Judah.
Micah was the first prophet to predict the downfall of Jerusalem. According to him, the city was doomed because its beautification was financed by dishonest business practices, which impoverished the city’s citizens. He also called to account the prophets of his day, whom he accused of accepting money for their oracles.
In Matthew 10:35-36, Jesus quotes Micah 7:6 as fulfillment of prophecy: For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother- in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
7:20 - Micah reminded Judah of God’s covenant to be merciful to Jacob and show love to Abraham and his descendants. This is repeated in Luke 1:72-73 in the prophecy of Zechariah at the circumcision and naming of John the Baptist. It is a step in the fulfillment of the blessing of the descendants of Abraham.
Micah 5:2 is a prophecy that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Messiah.
But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet of you shall he come forth unto me He that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
A couple of weeks ago, Shelly Mohammed, read Mic. 1:3-4 on a Tuesday morning describing the flood disaster which struck Nepal and the border region with China (August 26, 2026).
Mic. 1: 3-4; 6: Behold the LORD is coming out of 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 split like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place …therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, places for planting a vineyard; I will pour down her stones into the valley, and I will uncover her foundations.
The reason for the Lord coming to exercise His sovereign judgment was that His Holiness has been outraged by Jacob’s transgression and the sins of the house of Israel. Jacob stands for the northern kingdom, and Israel for the southern kingdom. The capital city is indicated as leading the way into sin, and thus inviting more severe punishment.
1:8: Therefore, I will wail and howl. I will go stripped and naked. I will make a wailing like the jackals and a mourning like the ostriches.
Despite his acknowledgement that the punishment is richly deserved, Micah, like Moses and Amos is filled with bitter sadness. To go barefoot and naked was a sign of mourning. The moral wound of Samaria is not only incurable, but has also infected her neighbor, Judah, and festers in Jerusalem itself. As so often, a bad example is easier to follow, and more popular thana good one.
Mich 1:10: “Tell it not in Gath” is a repetition of David’s lament for Saul and Jonathan 1 Samuel 1:20: Tell it not in Gath, Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon--- lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
Gath was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines. They were not to rejoice over Israel’s judgments because all who rejoice over Israel’s punishment will receive a more severe judgment.
1:10: Tell it not in Gath, weep not at all in Beth Aphrah. Roll yourself in the dust. “Beth” means House and “Aphrah” means dust.
Verses 10-16 refer to the invasion of Sennacherib in 701 B.C., Sargon in 711 B.C. and the Assyrian forces in Palestine after the fall of Samaria in 721 B.C.
1:13: Lachish is singled out as the town in which the transgressions of Israel first flourished.
1:15: Micah sees the glory of Israel shall flee the city. Just as David took refuge in the cave of Adullam.
1:16: The children in whom you delight shall go into captivity – which happened with Nebuchadnezzar.
Chapter 2 takes up the theme of social evil. The rich come to seize every opportunity of acquiring other people’s land. They lie awake plotting at night planning iniquity on their beds. They not only buy up what comes on the market but covet fields and seize them. Such behavior is an affront to the God who is LORD of land as well as people, and against its perpetrators.
The punishment will fit the crime. It will consist in the loss of the ill-gotten property to an enemy invader.
Such forthright condemnation of the abuse of wealth could not fail to make enemies for Micah.
2:6: “Do not prattle,” you say to those who prophesy. So, they shall not prophesy to you. They shall not return insult for insult.
“Do not prophesy and disgrace will not overtake us.” Shows how firmly he and his message were rejected and disrespected. So complete is their moral blindness that each considers himself as one whose ways are upright, and to whom words truly coming from the LORD must do good.
The paragraph closes with a biting vignette of the prophet who, by contrast with Micah himself would be popular with the rich --- a man who would be a liar and deceiver and prophesy of wine and beer. There remains today a willing audience for anyone who panders to the vices of the age under the guise of proclaiming God’s truth. We have a lot of that going on with the “apostate” Church.
Mich 2:11: If a man should walk in a false spirit and speak a lie, saying, “I will prophesy to you of wine and drink.” Even he would be the prattler of this people.
Prattle is a good word which describes foolish talking.
2:12-13 looks beyond the punishment to the restoration. Jacob and Israel stand for the whole nation, which Micah foresees as gathered again after the defeat and deportation. The God who dispersed can bring together and recreate a nation which is a throng of people, like a flock of sheep in a pen or pasture. The people will break out triumphantly from their place of captivity under the leadership of their king, none other than the LORD himself, who will pass through before them… at their head. The doctrine of the remnant is attested throughout the Holy Writ.
The doctrine of the remnant teaches that, despite widespread judgment or apostasy, God preserves a faithful minority who survive and inherit His promises. (Gen. 6:9; Isa. 10:20-22; Jer. 23:3; Ro. 9:27; Ro. 11:5). There is a remnant chosen by Grace. I thank you Jesus, that by your Grace, it seems I have been found in the remnant and those whom you have sent to Eastgate Church. Lord Jesus may our families and extended families be found in your remnant. O’ Lord Jesus keep us in that Holy Place until we see you in Heaven.
2:12-13: I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob. I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep of the fold, like a flock in the midst of their pasture. They shall make a loud noise because of so many people. The one who breaks open will come up before them. They will break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it. their King will pass before them, with the LORD at their head.
In chapter 3, Micah attacks Judah’s leaders, political, legal, and religious.
In verses 1-4, the task of rulers is to know justice and to put it into practice but the leaders of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel do exactly the opposite. They hate good and love evil. They treat my people as a butcher loves a carcase. They tear the skin from the people and separate the flesh from their bones. They eat… the flesh and break their bones in pieces. They are in fact no better than cannibals in their dealings with the people of God.
Then they will cry to the LORD, but He will not hear them. He will even hide His face from them at that time…
In verses 3:5-8, from the political leaders, Micah turns to the prophets, from whom better things might be expected.
They proclaim peace, that is, pronounce favorable oracles to anyone who feeds them, but wage war with avaricious threats against those too poor or too honest to do so. Those who claim to speak in the name of God tailor their standards to suit the current fancy of wealthy patrons. But the ultimate exposure and humiliation of such venal prophets is assured. When true spiritual revelation is needs most, they will have nothing to say.
3:6-7: You shall have night without vision. You shall have darkness without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be dark for them. So, the seers shall be ashamed, and the diviners abashed. Indeed, they shall cover their lips; for there is no answer from God.
Micah stands unapologetically in His Office of Prophet:
3:8: Truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, and of justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
His concern is not with lining his pocket, but with justice. The administration and reception of such reproof remains a test of the presence of the Spirit of the LORD. Without His Spirit of Grace, it can neither be given in love nor received in humility.
Chapter 4 is ministering hope to that faithful remnant in the midst of judgment. The prophet now stands in the promises made to Israel and His faith they will be fulfilled. Without the foundation of a confidence in such a God, the nation of Israel could never have survived the trauma of the exile or the Holocust much less triumphed over it.
Verses 1-3 are almost identical with Isa. 2:2-4. It is eschatological in that verse 1: Now it shall come to pass in the latter days. We are watching as some of these verses are being fulfilled in Christ. Others are yet to be fulfilled. The guarantee that these blessings will see fulfilment is the fact that they are promised by the LORD ALMIGHTY. The people of God will worship and obey the LORD our GOD forever and ever (Isa. 2:5).
To say this is after the Second Coming of Christ, I cannot say. The only time give is in the latter days.
4:1-5: That the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways. We shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion, the law shall for forth, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples and rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. Everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, No one shall make them afraid. For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. For all people walk in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our GOD forever and ever.
In this next section, the perspective oscillates between the future restoration and the present agony.
In verses 6-8, The Lord speaks of the people whom he has brought to grief. The Lord will gather and assemble His people. Though they may seem like sheep, lame and driven away, they will constitute a remnant. No longer a grim reminder of past failure and punishment, but now a spark of hope for a bright future. “So, the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever.” I take that as the revived national Israel will never again be exiled or destroyed.
They will again form a strong nation from the outcasts (4:7). This has been done.
The pastoral metaphor of “O tower of the flock” Jerusalem will again be like a watchtower where God, like a shepherd, watches over his people. Its former dominion will be restored, that is its territory will be as extensive as it was in the idyllic days of the united monarch under David and Solomon.
Such is the future blessing, but the present reality in Micah’s days is much less idyllic. The present was a time of anguish, a time for enduring the pains of labor (4:10). The leadership was impotent as though it no longer existed, as though there was no king or counselor. Though the end for Jerusalem was not to come in 701 B.C. eventually it would no longer be postponed, and the inhabitants would have to leave the city into exile (to Babylon), just as their northern neighbors had. But even in that dreadful day, they could reassure themselves that they would be rescued, that the LORD who was allowing punishment would one day redeem them out of the hand of their enemies.
4:11-12: For also many nations have gathered against you, who say, “Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.” They do not know the thoughts of the LORD, nor do they understand His counsel. For He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make you horn iron, and I will make your hooves bronze. You shall beat in pieces many peoples. I will consecrate their gain to the LORD, and their substance to the LORD of the whole earth.
I thought to finish all seven chapters, but when I got to 5:5, The seven shepherds and eight princely men, I preached a prophetic message on that verse in 2011 in preparation for our Tent Conference.
I should include that in this teaching, so, will finish next week as the Holy Spirit leads.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church, 10115 W. Hidden Lakes Lane, Richmond, TX.
www.eastgateministries.com
I entered into the labors of F. F. Bruce Bible Commentary, David J. Clark. Historical background (2 Ki. Ch. 15-20; 2 Chr. Ch. 27-31; Isa. 36-39). Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those who I enter into their labors.