Dr Paul Allen

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...

He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will live securely, for then His greatness will reach to the ends of the earth  (Micah 5:4). If there is any book in the Old Testament that confounds the higher critics, it is the book of Micah. This is because Micah clearly predicted concrete future events that actually came to pass, and no one is able to maintain that Micah lived after the events he predicted. For instance, Micah 3:12 stated that “Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.” When was this statement written? All the evidence supports Micah’s own claim to have made these statements over a century before the destruction of Jerusalem ( Micah 1:1). A liberal critic, however, might insist that Micah simply made a lucky guess. Or, he might maintain that a later writer inserted Micah 3:12 into the text, after Jerusal...

Prophet Micha (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Micah 5:1–6 “He shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God ” (v. 4a). The final prophecy we will examine in our brief study of the Old Testament teachings about the Messiah is Micah 5:1–6, a passage cited in part by Matthew  in 2:6 of his gospel. A more thorough reading of Micah’s word to Israel than we undertook when we looked at Matthew 2:6 will help us better grasp the significance of our Savior’s birthplace. As always, we begin with the original context of the prophecy in order to interpret the text rightly. Micah prophesied during the second half of the eighth century and the first decade of the seventh century B.C., a time of great moral decline in the history of Judah and Israel . The poor were oppressed and some priests were sexually promiscuous. Because of such debauchery, God sent Micah to prosecute the covenant, that is, to convict His people of...

Figures 047 The Lord Appears to Moses in a Burning Bush (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? 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; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob , and the mercy to Abraham , which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old." ( Micah 7:18-20 )   The lengthy passage above is quoted in its entirety because, coming as it does at the end of Micah's dual prophecy of imminent judgment of the sinful, rebellious nation of Judah, and of the coming glorious reign of the Lord , it sums up the work of God's grace in dealing with iniquity. Each of the three verses quoted describe a part. Such grace:   Pardons iniquity  ( v. 18 ): As sinners, we have the...

Image via Wikipedia "O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal ; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD." ( Micah 6:5 )   Three New Testament writers have left us sober warnings concerning Balaam. Peter warned against "the way of Balaam"; Jude, against "the error of Balaam"; and John, against "the doctrine of Balaam" ( 2 Peter 2:15 ;  Jude 11 ;  Revelation 2:14 ). God evidently considers these warnings necessary and appropriate for Christians even today. Yet Balaam, in his day, was a genuine prophet (note  2 Peter 2:16 ), possessed great knowledge concerning God, and even received direct revelations from God. What, therefore, were his way, his error, and his doctrine?   "The way of Balaam" was a readiness to prostitute his high spiritual gifts and privileges for "the wages of unrighteousness" ( v. 15 ); being willing to pre...