The Book of the prophet Micah
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
consists of seven chapters, and is remarkable for the importance of its prophecies, uttered by the prophet Micah over a period of almost fifty years, from the beginning of the reign of Jotham to the end of the reign of Hezekiah. They may be divided into the following sections: the first section (ch. 1) contains an announcement of punishment for the sins of Israel, a prediction of the approaching fall of the ten tribes’ kingdom, together with an emphatic declaration of the punishment to come also upon the Jews. The second section (ch. 2, 3) contains an indication of the causes for which the wrath of the Lord will overtake Judah and Israel, namely: the general moral corruption of the people, sustained especially by false prophets.
Therefore, he says at the end of this section, Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps (III, 12), and the mountain of the house shall become a wooded height. The third section (ch. 4, 5) has as its purpose to show that although threatening calamities will inevitably come upon Judah, yet in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow unto it, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.
Every man shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree (4:1–5). This prophecy is repeated almost word for word in the Book of the prophet Isaiah (2:2–5). In this section, especially notable is the prophecy concerning Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messiah: But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting (5:2).
This prediction, well known to the Jewish Sanhedrin, was the answer given to King Herod, in response to his question to the chief priests and scribes of the people: Where shall Christ be born? (Matt. 2:4–6). The fourth section (ch. 6), like the first two, contains stern rebukes of the people for their impiety. In the fifth section (ch. 7) the prophet laments the calamities of the people, and especially their sins, which brought calamities upon the people. The prophet Micah in his book often expresses himself like his God-inspired contemporary, the prophet Isaiah, who labored among the same people.
The last three verses of the book, in which the prophet expresses the full depth of his feeling, clearly confirm how deeply he cherished in his heart the interests of his countrymen, and how firm was his faith in the mercy of God: Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities (7:18–20).