Micah 1:1-2
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah – the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, you peoples, all of you, listen, earth and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
“Micah? Really? Why?!” Perhaps that’s what you thought when you saw the title of this new series. Micah’s never been a book of the Bible that I regularly turn to for comfort or encouragement. It wasn’t a part of the Bible I knew well, until I went on a conference earlier this year, and heard it taught. Whilst I’m still no Micah expert, I’ve understood enough to realise that this is a book well worth spending time in. I hope that by the end of this series, you’ll feel the same. But you don’t need to take my word for it. Here in verse 1, Micah himself tells us why this book is worth reading, and thinking about. This book contains the word of the Lord!
Just pause for a moment and think about that. The word of the Lord came to Micah. The Almighty eternal God, who made everything that has ever existed, picked a time and place in history in which he spoke intelligibly to a weak and limited human being. The God who dwells in unapproachable holiness made himself known in words to a sinful man, living among a sinful people, in a sin-ravaged world. It's extraordinary, isn't it? Not only that, but God caused those words to be written down, preserved, translated, printed and distributed so that now, centuries later, weak, mortal, sinful people like us would get to hear him speak, too. We might be so used to reading or listening to the Bible that the wonder of it has faded. So as we begin this series, let’s remember just what a great privilege it is to hear God speaking to us. When God speaks, the whole world ought to stop and take notice. “Hear, you peoples, all of you, listen, earth and all who live in it.’
If we were tempted to assume that hearing God speak is some kind of reward for good behaviour, a privilege given only to special, religious people, verse 2 makes us reconsider. This word is for all people. Yet it’s being spoken against them. God speaks, which is good news. But what he says is not going to be flattering. It won’t be easy to hear. It may not be what we would call encouraging. But before you switch off, and look for something a bit more cheerful, consider this. Because this is God who is speaking, we can be sure that his words are always true and important. So let’s pray today that we would be people who are willing to listen carefully to God’s words, whether they are easy or hard to hear, trusting that what he says will be always for our good.
