Micah 1:6-7 gives a sobering picture of the destruction that is coming to the kingdom of Israel and its capital, Samaria. But Micah doesn't preach his message self-righteously. As verses 8-9 tell us, he grieves openly about the fate of Samaria, and even more so for the way their spiritual disease has infected his home of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem.

It's human nature to want to blame others when there's a problem. But that doesn't work when God comes in judgment. While the people might first have thought that Micah was prophesying God judgment against other nations, Micah 1:5 makes it clear that judgment is coming for the people of Israel and Judah...

After a brief introduction of the prophet Micah himself, the text goes right into prophecy, as Micah delivers an oracle from God. As we'll see in Micah 1:2-4, God is coming as judge--and coming in such power that even the mountains will melt at the touch of his feet. Dare the people think that God comes to judge their enemies? Or does Micah mean something else?

Circling back to Micah's political context: the story of the kings of Israel in the years before their downfall is a sorry one. So too for the southern kingdom of Judah, where Micah preached, though there were a couple of reasonably good kings during Micah's time. As this episode summarizes, Israel would be swept away by Assyria, and Judah would be swept away by Babylon. 

Let's face it: there's so much doom and gloom in the prophets that it can make for a depressing read. But there is also hope amidst the heartache. This episode gives a brief survey of some of the more hopeful texts, in which the prophet assures his hearers that God will still be faithful to his people.

The very first verse of Micah tells us that his ministry spanned the reigns of three of the kings of Judah: Jothan, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. If we want to understand Micah's prophetic ministry of speaking truth to power, we need to locate him in his political context. This episode briefly explores that history.

Even if you've never read the book of Micah, you may be familiar with some of the passages from it. When King Herod is visited by the magi, for example, the foreigners who come looking for the one born to be King of the Jews, Herod privately asks his advisors where this would happen. When they told him that the king would be born in Bethlehem, they were citing an ancient prophecy of Micah.

But who was Micah? What made him a prophet? This first episode introduces us to Micah and a bit of his background.