Micah 1: False Idols
Sunday, November 23, 2025
It is likely that Micah’s prophesy saved a nation for a time. “Micah is remembered in Jeremiah 26:18 as having uttered words of doom against Zion and Jerusalem that prompted Hezekiah to repent.” (Mays, 660) And it is likely that Micah’s prophesy can save us as well. All of these names in the opening chapter might be removed and the names of our own cities and nations inserted. What would we do if we heard these pronouncements about our hometown, our favorite shopping locations, the places in which our loved ones reside?
Sennacherib sweeps into the Israelite homeland to take forty-some cities, including Jerusalem. He also takes many captives. This could have been avoided if the people had turned back to God instead of becoming addicted their unhealthy ways. Micah does not treat lightly God’s message he has been asked to deliver. He is unambiguous and exact. When we study scripture closely, we know that there is always a clear, appropriate and certain consequence for sins of omission and commission. About this there is no doubt. And so we pray . . .
Merciful and forgiving God, you send your prophets to us to warn us, to urge us, to exhort us to change. Yet we are convinced somehow that we can barter when the time comes, that we can out-maneuver you, that we can hide our secrets from you, that our false idols will keep us safe and warm and whole. Help us to see that you are wholeness and truth and so you know nothing but truth; and if we wish to live in you we must become accustomed to casting away all idols and dark secrets. Help us to understand that you are safety and mercy and so you know nothing but mercy; and if we wish to live in you we must become accustomed to casting away all thought of envy and revenge. Help us to believe that you are comfort and love and so you are nothing but love; and if we wish to live in you we must become accustomed to acting in love and compassion always. We ask this through Jesus Christ your son who witnesses is your presence among us, together with the Holy Spirit who is your comfort dwelling in us. Amen.
A re-post from October 29, 2011.
Image from: http://leftcoastvoices.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/3944/
Mays, James L., ed. HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988. 660. Print.
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