Since the creation of mankind in Genesis, beginning with the first couple, Adam and Eve, we have all rebelled against our Creator, each of us turning aside to follow our own way, Isaiah 53:6. We often act as if somehow we all have more insight than our Creator. In fact, when God allowed us to do our own thing without restraint the corruption and evil grew so great, things got so out of hand, that God intervened to wipe the slate clean before we destroyed everything. God, in effect, restarted mankind with Noah and his family. After the flood, by limiting our lifespans, dividing us into nations, and giving us different languages, God severely limited our ability to collaborate and carry out our evil plans, thus slowing the spread of evil, preserving His creation, and setting into motion His grand rescue plan for mankind.
Further, from among all the nations and peoples of the earth God chose one people group as His ambassadors to the rest of the world. God Promised that through the father of the Hebrew people, Abraham, a blessing would come to all of the people of the world. Genesis 12:1-3 God gave Abraham His Word and entered into a Covenant relationship with him. Abraham and his descendants were commissioned by God to be His priests. They were given the task of perpetually reminding the people of the world about God and His love and care for them.
Summarizing God’s Sinai Covenant with the people, Abraham’s descendant Moses explained:
Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. Deuteronomy 11:26-28
However, just like all people, even God’s chosen ambassadors were unfaithful. To their shame and condemnation they not only forgot the commands of their Creator but they also frequently adopted the evil ways of the very people that they were to teach about God. Because of their unfaithfulness, God has, throughout history, sent prophets to remind them of two things:
First, prophets reminded the wayward people of their Covenant obligations; there would be consequences for idolatry, worshipping false gods, disobedience, and ignoring God’s perfect law, as expressed in the Ten Commandments. Because God’s law is designed for our thriving and happiness, beauty and blessings are found in following the path of their Creator.
Second, prophets always offered hope, teaching God’s wayward image bearers that because their God loves mercy He is always ready to forgive repentant sinners. The Bible goes so far as to explain: Even though we are faithless God remains faithful… 2 Timothy 2:13 His discipline will not last forever.
Micah was one such prophet. He brought God’s hard words of warning along with the promise of blessing to the three successive kings of Judah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, and to two kings in Israel.
Micah 1:1 Yahweh’s word that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
By the time of Micah’s prophesies the Kingdom of Israel had been divided by civil war into two nations, Israel in the north, represented by its capital, Samaria, and Judah in the South, represented by its capital, Jerusalem. Micah was commissioned by God to speak to both nations.
Micah spoke to King Pekah and King Hoshea in the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah in the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
Pekah: King of Israel
Pekah the son of Remaliah, the captain serving under King Pekahiah, conspired against him and attacked him in Samaria, in the fortress of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites. He killed Pekahiah, and reigned in his place… 27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria for twenty years. 28 He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. He didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. 2 Kings 15:25
In the Northern Kingdom, Pekah, the captain of the army of Israel serving under King Pekahiah, staged a coup and seized power. During his twenty year reign he did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight.
Jotham: King of Judah
In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign. 33 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem… 34 He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes… 35 However the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. He built the upper gate of Yahweh’s house. 2 Kings 15:32
Meanwhile, in the Southern Kingdom, Jotham began his reign. During his sixteen years in power he attempted to follow God, however, in a compromise with the pagans, he did not destroy the temples to the false gods and he allowed the people to continue to sacrifice to and worship worthless idols.
Ahaz: King of Judah
In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He didn’t do that which was right in Yahweh his God’s eyes, like David his father. 3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yes, and sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out from before the children of Israel. 4 He sacrificed and burned incense in the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree… 10 King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest a drawing of the altar and plans to build it. 11 Urijah the priest built an altar. According to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Urijah the priest made it for the coming of king Ahaz from Damascus. 12 When the king had come from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and the king came near to the altar, and offered on it. 13 He burned his burnt offering and his meal offering, poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 2 Kings 16:1
After Jotham’s reign ended, Ahaz became king in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. While Jotham had compromised with the pagan culture, allowing their temples, priests, and worship to coexist within Judah, Ahaz went all in with the pagan worship, completely forgetting about Yahweh. So enamored was he with the pagans’ gods that he commissioned the high priest to build a replica of the Assyrian altar in Jerusalem. And he went so far as to sacrifice one of his own sons to the gods.
Hoshea: King of Israel
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel for nine years. 2 He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him… 5 Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria… 7 It was so because the children of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, 8 and walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they made. 9 The children of Israel secretly did things that were not right against Yahweh their God; and they built high places for themselves in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city; 10 and they set up for themselves pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill, and under every green tree; 11 and there they burned incense in all the high places, as the nations whom Yahweh carried away before them did; and they did wicked things to provoke Yahweh to anger; 12 and they served idols, of which Yahweh had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” 13 Yet Yahweh testified to Israel, and to Judah, by every prophet, and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” 14 Notwithstanding, they would not listen, but hardened their neck, like the neck of their fathers, who didn’t believe in Yahweh their God. 15 They rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified to them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom Yahweh had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 They abandoned all the commandments of Yahweh their God, and made molten images for themselves, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served Baal. 17 They caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger. 18 Therefore Yahweh was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight. There was none left but the tribe of Judah only. 19 Also Judah didn’t keep the commandments of Yahweh their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. 2 Kings17:1-19
After Pekah’s reign ended in the Northern Kingdom Hoshea became king. And like the kings who led Israel before him, he did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. It was during his reign that Assyria, serving as God’s instrument, ransacked Israel and carried the survivors off into slavery, leaving only the Southern Kingdom, the tribe of Judah behind.
You would think that after seeing all of the other tribes slaughtered and carried into slavery that the remaining Southern tribe of Judah would be careful to turn back to Yahweh… but you would be wrong. Instead they continued to walk in the [false] statutes of Israel which they made. In other words, the people in the Southern Kingdom continued to follow the evil practices for which God judged their cousins in the north.
Hezekiah: King of Judah
Now in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, according to all that David his father had done. 4 He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because in those days the children of Israel burned incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in Yahweh, the God of Israel; so that after him was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him. 6 For he joined with Yahweh. He didn’t depart from following him, but kept his commandments, which Yahweh commanded Moses. 7 Yahweh was with him. Wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria, and didn’t serve him. 8 He struck the Philistines to Gaza and its borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.
9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. 10 At the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 The king of Assyria carried Israel away to Assyria. 2 Kings18:1-11
Meanwhile in the south the son of the wicked King Ahaz, Hezekiah began to rule. Of all the kings that Micah was commissioned by God to speak to, only Hezekiah took the warnings to heart. Despite the corruption of the people he ruled over he attempted to bring a true reformation doing that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes.
Micah certainly had his work cut out for him. Of the five kings that Micah was commissioned to bring God’s message to, three, Pekah and Hoshea reigning in the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Ahaz ruling in the Southern Kingdom were outright evil. The kings of Judah were a mixed bag, as already mentioned, Ahaz was evil, Jotham had compromised with the pagan culture, and only Hezekiah willingly listened to the message that Micah brought and did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes. God gave Micah three messages to give to the kings, both Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom, the kings that ruled over God’s chosen people, the children of Israel, the Old Covenant Church.