Micah, Prophet of Gloom and Hope

Bob Russell
Aug 1
8 min read

What would Micah’s Message be for Today’s America?

Dark clouds fill the twilight sky, creating a dramatic silhouette against a fading sunset. The scene is calm and moody. — © Bob Russell

The book of the prophet Micah in the Old Testament is a relatively short seven-chapter document. Micah wasn’t a major prophetic figure like Isaiah or Jeremiah; he spoke somewhat like Jeremiah as a voice against the apostasies and evil that had engulfed both Jerusalem (Judah) and Samaria (Israel) in his day.

What if Micah were a prophet appointed to America, representing a people of God? As children of Abraham, what would he say about our conduct? I understand this is more of a spiritual thought perspective and not in Scripture. That being said, there are parallels that can be applied.

First, as Micah forecasted in Micah, chapter one, there will be a consuming wrath of God that will be brought in vengeance and rage. While God is slow to anger — why He allows time for a nation’s sins to mature without destruction — He will hold the guilty accountable.

Micah describes a scene of destruction that matches other prophetic depictions of the Day of God’s wrath, which is detailed in the last Biblical book, Revelation. The graphic language of mountains quaking, the earth heaves, and God’s wrath is poured out like an all-consuming fire. [i] The imagery of a thriving nation becoming desolate.

Micah’s complaint is against those who devise wickedness and evil deeds; deeds they can perform as it is in their power to do so. Those who are dominating the land, ruling over others, are able to push their influence around, exploiting the people and against those who are weaker. Those who dream and plan to pillage and take even more themselves every single day.

In chapter two, Micah calls out deeds like taking property, oppressing homeowners, and taking all their belongings. He further claims that God is preparing a trap, a noose around the necks of those who do such things that will lead to their utter ruin. Now Micah speaks in a day before Israel and Judah are taken in captivity to Assyria and Babylon, so he prophesies that this will be their fate due to their sins. What can this mean for America? First, let's move on to identify atrocities that God monitors, the evil deeds He hates.

Continuing in chapter two, Micah calls out false preachers — those who preach lies and promise good fortune and make people feel good in whatever they choose to do. Nothing bad will come upon them. Micah reminds us that God desires us to do good and walk upright, honest, and truthful in our deeds. However, what he sees is people rising up against one another, treating one another as enemies. Does this seem familiar to America’s politically divided condition?

Micah identifies those who take possessions from peaceful people who don’t and can’t resist them. A simple people of peace, who trust, have no ill will or hate towards their fellow people. What we today would call “gullible” people, easily deceived. Those that believe the mouth and words of those that lead them — does this seem familiar?

Micah identifies families driven out of their homes, while preachers talk falsehoods of plenty, wealth, and gain. These types of preachers are what the powerful, privileged ones want to hear. Again, it seems familiar.

Micah does provide hope, a remnant of the people; the survivors will be led by the Lord and protected.

In chapter three, Micah goes deeper into the actions of wicked leaders and false preachers. Those who hate the good and love the evil. Those who use and devour the simple people and take what they want, and use them as they please. The powerful and mighty call out to the Lord, claiming we are prosperous, but God is not listening because they are acting wickedly.

The people are being led astray — their leaders cry out “peace” when they have something to eat (profit), but cry war when they have nothing to gain. For such as these, Micah claims God will darken their vision, provide no revelation, their prophets will see only darkness, and there will be no answer from God.

Micah reflects on what the powerful, the leaders, and the wealthy are doing to their nation. He describes a disrespect towards justice, perverted equity, rulers who give judgment for bribes and profit. Even the religious leaders teach — for a price! They teach and preach for money and tell their followers that all is well, nothing will harm our mighty nation!

America is full of churches and a variety of religions; yet there is no light, no vision, no one who speaks against the evil deeds and greed of the nation’s actions. Micah describes a bleak future for such people and their nation. That nation will become a heap of ruins.

Micah sees the Future

Micah in chapter four sees a vision of the future; he sees the established Kingdom of the Lord Jesus ruling out of Zion (Jerusalem), on a large, high mountain. He sees people from all over the world coming to Jerusalem seeking the knowledge of the Lord. There are no more wars, and all weapons have been turned into farming products.

No nation will ever lift up their hands in war, and all people will have their own land and grow their food, and no one will make others afraid anymore. Micah shares this vision with Isaiah (Isaiah 2:4), and the prophet Joel (Joel 3:12) alludes to it in Revelation 20 — the Millennial Kingdom!

Micah also sees a place for the lame, those rejected by society. They will be among the remnant that were cast off and made into a strong nation with the Lord reigning over them in Mount Zion[ii]. Micah then writes of those remnants that live to see the reign of the Lord and how they will be protected, and their former enemies and their evil works cut off. This is a warning to those who practice evil, deny justice, exploit the poor, live only for profit, and ravage the land — do we see any of this taking place now?

So, what does God want from those who call Him their God?

Micah provides an excellent message on what God really wants, as well as contrasts it against the Law of Moses' purification and sacrifice ritual in Micah 6:6–7. He clarifies that God isn’t interested in sacrifices, burnt offerings, or child sacrifices for the sins of the parents. Yes, this is rather extreme, but it wasn’t in the days of Micah, as it was a common practice among idol-worshipping Israelites to sacrifice their firstborn child in fire to the god Molech. [iii]

Micah’s capstone is his revealing of the true heart of God; that He is a God of justice and doing what is right. He is not a God that loves rituals, even the ones He himself brought into existence, such as the Mosaic Laws. We later see in the book of Romans and Galatians in the New Testament that obedience to the Law never pleased God or brought righteousness — instead, it only brought us a knowledge of sin. The Law was for us to examine ourselves and see why we needed saving.

Micah shares that god has already told us what he desires, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God,” — Micah 6: 8 NRSV

There can be no mistaking what currency to Almighty God is — kindness, fairness, truthfulness, seeking good outcomes for all, and not just yourself. Being a faithful witness that speaks truth to all, including the powerful, and most of all, honoring God as our creator, and showing Him the respect He is worthy of.

What is doing evil before God?

In chapter 6, Micah goes on to describe a series of wrongdoings that God hates. One is wicked scales — unfair measurements that favor the exploiter. You might call it loaded dice, marked cards, cheating, creating conditions when and where you always win at a cost to others. Micah calls out the wealthy as full of violence, that the people speak lies. People practice deceit and lie with their mouths. For this reason, God plans to strike out at such a nation and will reduce it to a desolate place.

Such a nation will hunger, and they will save and invest to store up wealth they cannot use or save. Their labors will be in vain and ultimately produce nothing.

In such a nation, the faithful shall depart, leaving none that are upright; [iv] they will disappear from the land. [1] Now, Micah 7:1–2 provides a prophetic window of events. “Woe is me! For I have become like one who after the summer fruit has been gathered, after the vintage has been gleamed, find no cluster to eat: there is no first-ripe fig for which I hunger.”

Spiritually, these words are similar to the events seen in Mark 11:12–25. Here, the Lord Jesus, being hungry, went to a fig tree and, finding no fruit, He cursed the tree so that never bear fruit again.

We understand that the fig tree represents Israel and the Old Covenant. Israel had failed to present any fruit of righteousness when the Lord sought it. His curse was a proclamation that the covenant was being removed from Israel, which was demonstrated in the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.

Micah is proclaiming this in his prophecy of that very event to come, but it goes that any nation claiming to be for the Lord that bears no fruit of righteousness will ultimately face the same fate. I preference this with a shadow of Revelation 18:1–24 — the fall of Babylon!

Back on what Micah describes as evil that drove out or martyred the righteous out of the land, we find in chapter 7 -lying and waiting to shed blood, the hunting of humans by humans with nets (images of the African slave trade); officials, judges, politicians that make decisions based on bribes from the highest bidders; the rich and powerful that dictate their desires and pervert justice. (2–4). Even the best among them are described as a thorny or prickly hedge full of needles. Can you see anything like that here in America?

Given the high amount of wickedness, times of confusion occur. Starting in verse 5, we see the breakdown of social norms and society becomes hostile, desperate, vindictive — much as Jesus forewarned in Matthew 24:12, “because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.”

Micah further tells us that under these conditions, to put no trust in family, friends, or loved ones; that the enemy will be those within their own households. These words reflect the same sentiment given in Matthew 10:35–36; Psalm 41:9; Psalm 55:12–14; Jeremiah 12:6; and Matthew 10:21.

It’s a theme concerning how evil grows and spreads within a society to the point that betrayal and self-advantage are everywhere! No righteousness can live or survive in such a condition. Total corruption is at hand, no guiding principles or values other than greed, and gain at any expense.

Micah places his hopes in the Lord; he will wait for the God of his salvation, as he knows his God will hear him. This is also what all saints should depend on as our society grows colder. Micah reminds us that our enemies should not be happy with their temporary dominance and victory, as God will rise against them. However, he knows until then, he will have to bear indignation, for he too has sinned — but God will bring him out to the light.

Micah understands that during such times, others will mock him; people will ask, “Where is the Lord your God?” This reflects the very words of the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3: 8–13; so, we should not be surprised how daily we are buffeted by false claims about our Lord and a growing general denial of His coming.

Micah ends his prophecies' with good news for the righteous, but he foreshadows the doom coming to the nations in verses 16–17, as seen in Revelation chapters 15 to 19.

God hates evil and wickedness. He hates sin and will punish those who sin, but His anger isn’t forever, and He will forgive our sins for those who place their hope and trust in Him. These are Micah’s parting words.

If America were the Israel that Micah describes, the future of this nation looks very bleak. The foreshadowing I mentioned earlier is that it is very possible America is Mystery Babylon.

If so, the nation will face a great fall in the near future. It is important for us today to see how history often repeats itself.

Go set a Watchman, and we wait for our salvation!