Verses 1-16

1:1-3:12 SAMARIA AND JERUSALEM DOOMED

A picture of coming destruction (1:1-16)

The prophet Micah was from a country village in the Judean foothills between the central mountain range and the coastal plain. He was probably a farmer, and he directed his attacks at the upper class city dwellers who drove the farmers into poverty. They lived in luxury by exploiting the poor. As a Judean he was concerned mainly with conditions in his country's capital, Jerusalem, but he also attacked the northern capital, Samaria (1:1).

Micah pictures the two cities crushed by the enemy, as if destroyed by the combined force of a volcano and an earthquake. This is God's judgment on the two kingdoms because of the sins of the people in Samaria and Jerusalem (2-5). Instead of being faithful to God, they went after idols. They were like a prostitute who goes after lovers. These idols and all the sacred objects associated with them (likened to the rewards a prostitute gains from her lovers) will be smashed to pieces, and Samaria will be left a heap of ruins (6-7). All these evils cause Micah unspeakable grief. They had their origins in the northern kingdom, but they have now spread to the southern kingdom. Consequently, it too will be punished (8-9).

In a short poem, announced no doubt with much feeling, the prophet pictures the advance of an enemy army as it moves along the coastal plain then turns east over the hills to attack Jerusalem. He sees the distress it brings in the various towns along the way as people are slaughtered and captured (10-11). Some flee with their goods loaded on horses and chariots; others look for safety by buying protection from better fortified towns; but their efforts are useless. Nothing will save them from defeat and captivity (12-16).