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Bible Study: The Book of Micah
Happy 2019!!
I’m so excited to be back with you guys this year, and what better way to start out the new year than with some Bible study! This month, you and I will be reading through the book of Micah!
Micah is a book that I’ve found myself overlooking for a long time, and I’m honestly never really remember any pastors or anyone really going through Micah much. So this is going to be exciting!
Before we start digging in, I wanted to take a moment to give you guys a brief rundown on Micah and what you can expect from our study these next few weeks!
The Intro
The book of Micah was written in Palestine around 772-722 B.C. by the prophet Micah(source: Dake Bible).
During the time that the book of Micah was written, Judah and Israel were going through a lot. A good king would come into power, followed by a good king, then another good one, and so on and so forth.
Israel and Judah were also becoming worse, morally, and rejecting God. The book covers God’s plans for judgment and restoration, as well as other prophesies from Micah.
Mind you, I’m preparing and reading along with you guys. To me, it almost sounds like another book of Jonah. Jonah was an excellent study, so I can’t wait to get into this one!
The Plan
We will read one chapter per week. So this week, read chapter 1 of Micah with me! On Sunday, I will post my commentary for the first chapter and we can have a discussion in the comments below or on Facebook!
I’m excited to start reading and I can’t wait to see what we can all learn from the book of Micah together!
See you soon!
Chapter 1
The first few verses really did take me back to Jonah. Israel had fallen ALL THE WAY off, especially Samaria and Jerusalem. All kinds of terrible things are going on, and Micah was instructed to let the citizens know that God had had ENOUGH!
When Micah said, “The Lord is making accusations against you(verse 2),” and “The Lord is coming(verse 3).” That was scary! But, if we stop and think about it, is that not what’s happening in our world right now, in a way? It’s like when you and your siblings are being too loud in your room and your dad warns you to chill out, but you keep getting loud anyway….then you hear his footsteps coming towards the room….all games are over! God was finished playing with these folks!
And how he called the cities out by name? Poor Moreshethgath had no chance to be saved (verse 14)! How scary is that? When God calls you out by name, you KNOW it’s a problem!
There wasn’t much else happening in chapter 1 of Micah, but it definitely set the stage for how the rest of the book will be.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 of Micah seems to focus on greedy and power-hungry people.
Micah had to let the people know that the tables were about to be turned – no longer would those people have the upper hand.
Verses 6-11 are interesting to me. They basically were like, “We dont receive that, dont tell us that. We don’t like what you have to say.”
This sounds pretty familiar. People dont wanna hear the truth, they’d rather just feel good than realize that God loves them enough to warn them! All they have to do is get right!
The chapter ends with God’s redemptive plan. Despite all the wrong they’ve done, God had a plan. He would clear out the weeds and, with God’s leadership, they’d be led back into victory.
It’s amazing, God’s redemptive power!
Chapter 3
To me, this chapter was a continuation of chapter 2. Micah was calling out the leaders in this chapter, making sure they understand that they lead their people astray in exchange for money and power. And, because of that. They will most definitely be held accountable.
This is why people of God must know the word for themselves, “watch and pray,” as the Bible instructs, use discernment, and pray for our leaders and those that we know have gone astray in the word and in practice.
Chapter 4
Chapter 4 of Micah was a bit more upbeat than the previous chapters. In this chapter, God basically lays out His plan. Despite their wrongs, God plans to redeem Israel and return it back to a place of godliness. He doesn’t promise that the journey will be easy(notice the reference of labor pains), but it will be well worth it, not only for Israel, but for God’s glory also.
Chapter 5
In chapter 5, Micah discusses how foriegn powers will bring Israel to its knees; however God would bring a great ruler to Israel from Bethlehem. Now, we all know the significance of Bethlehem!
Micah told his people that, despite the punishment, God still loved Israel and still has a plan to restore them back to glory. Do much so that even future threats from outsiders wouldn’t prosper due to God’s blessing of leaders for Israel.
This is a great lesson to us all, individually and as a nation, that redemption is possible and that, despite the trials and tribulations, God does and always will have a plan for restoration!
Chapter 6
I really enjoyed Chapter 6 of Micah! In this chapter, Micah, being used by God, gives us a breakdown of the situation.
In this chapter, we’re taken to a courtroom, where God is the Plaintiff and Israel is the Defendant. God discusses how good he has been to Isreal and that any curses they’ve had, they brought on themselves, despite what Israel wants to believe. Israel tries to argue that they don’t know what God wants from them and trying to say He asks for too much, but God broke that down too in verse 8. They couldn’t say much after that.
God then goes on to lay out just how they were cursing themselves: bad business dealings, lies, sexual immorality – they were doing it all! But still felt like God was the source of their issues. Innacurate!
The chapter ends with God’s judgement. And he reminds them that they are getting what they asked for, so they cannot blame Him at all.
This chapter makes me think about how you see teenagers fighting with their parents on TV (and in real life, for some people!) The teen tries to make every excuse in the book for their behavior and compare to other nations. But God, just like any good parent, calmly shut them down and let them know who boss and their punishment for their actions.
Chapter 7
In the last chapter of Micah, God reminds Israel that, although they were going to be punished, God already had a plan in place to restore the nation and bring them back in relationship with God.
This goes to show that God really is like our natural parents. We may get in trouble, anger, or upset our parents, but He still loves us and wants the best for us, no matter what. And He’s always there to welcome us back with open arms. It’s a beautiful thing.
So, there you have it! We finished the book of Micah! What did you think about the chapter?
What should we read next? Tell me in the comments below!
