Micah's prophesy regarding Bethlehem and Christ
The book of Micah begins by telling us when Micah prophesied and the cities he addressed. “The word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz , and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem .” Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom, Israel , and Jerusalem was the capital of the southern kingdom, Judah. The years of the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah extended from about 735 to 700 BC. So Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and prophesied during those tragic days when Assyria conquered Samaria, took the ten northern tribes into captivity ( 722 BC ), occupied Judah, and besieged the holy city, Jerusalem. Micah is a hard prophet to understand because the book alternates back and forth between threats of doom and promises of hope. It is hard to figure out what situations he is referring to and how the hope and doom relate to each other. Probably the reason the book is arranged like this is to make the point th