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Chunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 67: Covenant, old and newIn this final episode, I want to add one important qualification to what's been said in this podcast about God's covenant faithfulness. The teaching of the New Testament is that God initiated a new covenant in Jesus. Knowing the role of covenant faithfulness in books like Micah helps deepen our understanding and appreciation of this important fact!
2024-03-2909 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 66: Traveling through timeOur memories of the past shape how we see the present and the future. Because of this, we are all in a sense "time-travelers." This kind of imagination is crucial to hope, and it's the note on which the book ends: the prophet's hope for the future is grounded in his memory of God's past faithfulness.
2024-03-2907 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 65: Putting the kibosh on guiltNo one knows for certain the origin of the phrase "to put the kibosh on" something. But my own theory is that it comes to us from Yiddish, and is related to a Hebrew word that Micah uses to describe what a gracious God does to the guilt we incur from our sin.
2024-03-2206 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 64: Who is a God like you?The book of Micah ends with a beautiful and worshipful prayer from the prophet, one in which the people hopefully joined. The prayer seems to echo words spoken by God to Moses long ago; even if God punishes sin, he also abounds in mercy and forgiveness.
2024-03-2207 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 63: The fear of GodMuch of what Micah says presupposes that in their greed and wickedness, the people of Judah and Jerusalem have ceased to fear God as they should. By contrast, in chapter 7, the prophet envisions other nations coming to fear God, and by extension, his people. But we have to be careful here: the assumption is that the people have repented, and have returned to a proper fear of God themselves.
2024-03-2206 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 62: Shepherd your peopleWe've seen Micah use the metaphor of shepherd and sheep to describe God's relationship as king to his people. This is renewed in chapter 7, in a beautiful and hopeful picture of God's people returning to the lush pasturelands of their past...
2024-03-1506 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 61: Falling, rising...and moreBack in chapter 4, we heard Micah's prediction of a blessed future for Jerusalem. Something similar is said in chapter 7. Destruction will not be the end of the story...
2024-03-1506 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 60: WaitpowerWhat is hope? In one well-known description, a researcher describes it as "the will and the ways": a hopeful person is motivated to make something happen and can see a way to do it. Christian psychologist Everett Worthington calls these "willpower" and "waypower," and adds a third element: waitpower. Even if we possess the other two, can we truly have hope if we can't wait patiently for change to happen?
2024-03-1506 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 59: The great reversalWe tend to think of tragedies and comedies as sad and funny respectively. And they often are. But in a classical sense, what makes a story a comedy is that there is a reversal of fortune, where a bad situation turns around. And in the final chapter of Micah, even with all the doom and gloom, the prophet still looks for an ultimate reversal of fortune for God's people.
2024-03-0806 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 58: Watching and waitingIs hope possible when the situation is so dire, when the entire nation of Judah has collapsed morally? Despite the dreary portrait Micah paints, he still watches and waits for vindication from God.
2024-03-0806 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 57: UnravelingIt's bad enough that Judah's leaders have become corrupt. But worse, under their leadership, the entire moral fabric of the kingdom has unraveled. Micah gives a gloomy portrait of the nation, in which no one can trust anyone else.
2024-03-0806 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 56: Their best is the worstThe 16th century Italian statesman Machiavelli has the dubious honor of having a personality trait named after him: Machiavellianism. It describes someone who is manipulative and unafraid to use power to achieve selfish ends. But Micah's words suggest that this would describe the leadership of Judah.
2024-03-0106 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 55: Where’s the fruit?To me, one of the oddest stories in the New Testament is that of Jesus cursing a fig tree. What did the fig tree to deserve it? But the story makes more sense against the background of God's anger at his people for not producing proper fruit, as we can see from the book of Micah.
2024-03-0106 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 54: MomentumIf you took physics in school, you may remember the idea of momentum: once something is in motion, it will stay that way until some other force intervenes. But momentum isn't just about things like billiard balls: it can be about kingdoms. Once corruption takes hold, it keeps going, until...
2024-03-0106 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 53: The curse of futilityFrom the beginning of chapter 6, God has been bringing a lawsuit against his people. Now, in verses 13 to 15, we have the verdict--which is phrased in a way that runs opposite to ancient promises of blessing.
2024-02-2406 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 52: Doing dishonest businessMore words of condemnation: the people are accused of unethical business practices and other forms of wrongdoing, taking advantage of the poor and powerless...
2024-02-2405 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 51: God is callingAs we've seen, God doesn't want mere religious behavior from his people, no matter how impressive; he wants people of righteous character. In Micah 6:9, God calls to the people. It's a wake up call; will anyone listen?
2024-02-2405 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 50: ”Fake it till you make it”?At some point, most people find themselves having to do something they don't know how to do. Should they "fake it till they make it"? When it comes to the Christian life, the answer is...yes and no. We'll dip into virtue theory briefly to see why this is so.
2024-02-1708 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 49: Behavior and characterJesus often accused the Pharisees of hypocrisy. Though they excelled at following the rules of religious piety, they lacked the godly character that should have gone with the behavior. This is, in part, the lesson of Micah 6:8...
2024-02-1706 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 48: The life we’re meant to liveWe come now to what may be the best known verse in the book, Micah 6:8, which summarizes in a nutshell how a life of true righteousness should look. It will take a few episodes to unpack its implications...
2024-02-1705 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 47: Going through the motions?In Micah 6:6-7, the people seem to give a response to the lawsuit. The language seems respectful, even worshipful: "With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God?" But there's reason to believe that this display of piety isn't sincere...
2024-02-1007 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 46: Broken promisesThe oracle in Micah 6, in which God brings a lawsuit against his people, mentions two people who otherwise would be bit players in the Old Testament drama: "Balak, king of Moab" and "Balaam, son of Beor." Why these two men? It may be an echo of the story of Joshua--and a poignant reminder of how the people had promised to be faithful before.
2024-02-1006 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 45: Remember your journeyGod, as we've seen, is bringing a lawsuit against his people, and the verdict is not in question. But the case against Judah is not given in terms of a list of accusations: it's an almost tender reminder of God's faithfulness to them throughout their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.
2024-02-1005 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 44: LawsuitChapter 6 shifts the scene to a courtroom: God is bringing a lawsuit against his people for their unfaithfulness to the covenant. Micah is the prosecuting attorney, and the mountains and hills are called as witnesses...
2024-02-0305 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 43: A severe love"I will destroy..." The passage we've been examining over the last two episodes can be a disturbing one, particularly if we want to hold onto a one-dimensional view of God's love and grace. But we cannot soft pedal the wrath of God in this book or in this passage. Can we recognize the depth of God's anger at sin and still believe--and believe deeply!--in his love?
2024-02-0307 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 42: SecuritySecurity and trust point to a basic need we share as vulnerable humans. Even kings need reassurance sometimes...
In the previous episode, we considered Micah 5:10-15, in which God vows to destroy Judah's disobedience and idolatry. This passage may be best read against the background of King Hezekiah's concern about the imminent invasion by Assyria. The question is: when disaster threatens, in whom or what do we trust?
2024-02-0306 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 41: But first, this...The book of Micah assumes that God is a covenant God, a God who is faithful to the promises made to Abraham and others. It's because of this that the remnant will eventually destroy their enemies. But the people have been disobedient--which means that God must first destroy whatever stands in the way of their faithfulness to the covenant.
2024-01-2705 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 40: Like a lionIn the previous episode, we saw how Micah 5:7 prophesied that the remnant would be a blessing to the nations, like dew in an arid climate. But the next two verses portray the remnant as a marauding lion instead. How do we hold these two images together?
2024-01-2706 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 39: Like the dewGod's people were always meant to be a blessing to others. But the remnant--the much smaller number who would eventually return from Babylonian exile--would find themselves in tense relationships with their new neighbors. Were the people still meant to be a blessing to them? That's what Micah 5:7 seems to suggest...
2024-01-2605 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 38: He will be our peaceIn the previous episode, I suggested that we need to have both a view from below and a view from above to read Micah (and other prophecy) rightly. This episode will explore how we might do that using the words of both Micah and Isaiah to think of Jesus as the Prince of Peace.
2024-01-1906 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 37: The view from aboveMaking sense of prophecy requires a different way of looking at history: the texts can refer to both the people's current situation and the near or distant future at the same time. Put differently, we need both a view from below and a view from above...
2024-01-1906 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 36: Past, present, and futureThe beginning of Micah chapter 5 brings us to one of the best known passages from the book: the prophecy of the one who would come from Bethlehem to rule God's people, the prophecy cited by the advisors of Herod the Great in the gospel of Matthew. This episode begins our exploration of Micah's prophecy against the background of that New Testament story.
2024-01-1907 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 35: The threshing floorUnless God fights their battles, the people of Judah have no hope against the forces of Assyria or Babylon. Yet this is what Micah promises. Using the metaphor of threshing grain, Micah promises that God will give them a stunning victory against impossible odds.
2024-01-1205 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 34: Bad news, good newsDoom and gloom, heartache and hope. The oracles of Micah ping back and forth. We've seen some remarkable words of hope in recent verses--but now its time to go back to words predicting destruction and exile, even mentioning Babylon by name. And still there is hope, for Micah promises that God will rescue the people from Babylon.
2024-01-1205 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 33: The Shepherd-KingWe've raised the question of how long it would take for Micah's prophecy to be fulfilled. In Micah, God is portrayed as the Shepherd-King--and followers of Jesus should remember this when reading references in the New Testament to Jesus as Shepherd and King. In this episode, we'll explore some of those references.
2024-01-1207 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 32: The long viewMicah's oracle promises God's care for his flock, for the remnant of the people left after the exile. None of this would happen in Micah's lifetime. And although the people did return little by little when Persia defeated Babylon and ended their exile, the promise that Jerusalem's royal status would be restored still wasn't fulfilled. How long would it take?
2024-01-0506 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 31: Gathering the flockWe've already seen how the closing verses of chapter 2 uses the metaphor of God as the Shepherd-King. And we've seen how the opening verses of chapter 4 paint a beautiful picture of the eventual restoration of Jerusalem. That oracle of hope in chapter 4 continues in verses 6 to 8, again bringing in the metaphor of God as the shepherd who watches over the flock, the remnant who will return from exile.
2024-01-0506 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 30: Walking, not waitingIn previous verses, we've seen how Micah both predicts the punishment that is coming to Jerusalem and Judah, and yet also a future in which the nations will actually seek God. In the meantime, what? Do the people just wait for disaster or peace to come? No: they are to to walk in God's way, as they were always called to do.
2024-01-0506 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 29: Relaxed and unafraidImagine living (as many in the world do) under the constant threat of war. Then imagine having that burden lifted, so that you were free to relax in your garden and take it easy. That's the image Micah uses to speak of the hope that still lay in the future...
2023-12-2905 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 28: Swords into plowsharesThe oracle at the beginning of chapter 4 envisions Jerusalem a place to which the nations stream. Not only do they come to learn from God, they come seeking justice. And when this happens, there will no longer be any need for war: weapons will be exchanged for the tools needed for farming.
2023-12-2905 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 27: Like moths to a flameChapter 3 ended with a grim prediction of the fall of Jerusalem. But chapter 4 opens with a hopeful vision of the city being restored to a place of prominence, with the people streaming to it to learn God's ways...
2023-12-2905 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 26: Reduced to rubbleIn chapter 1, Micah already pronounced doom upon Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. Now, in 3:12, he uses similar language to predict the destruction of Jerusalem. This wouldn't happen in Micah's lifetime, but it would in Jeremiah's--and as we'll see in this episode, it was because of Micah's prophecy that Jeremiah was spared execution.
2023-12-2205 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 25: Drinking the Kool-AidAs we've seen, the various kinds of corrupt leaders in Judah had all been swayed by lure of money. But what they also share in common is a spiritual delusion: despite their greedy and unrighteous behavior, they think their worldly success is a sign of God's blessing.
2023-12-2206 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 24: Paid by the wordMicah has already lashed out against corrupt judges and false prophets. Here, he again speaks against judges and prophets, but also priests. What do all these leaders share in common? They've betrayed their duty for money.
2023-12-2206 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 23: Breaking throughIn contrast to the false prophets--who may have been Micah's former colleagues!--Micah claims to be filled with the Spirit and therefore empowered to declare the people's sins openly to them. As we'll see in this episode, what he says about himself might remind us of the apostle Paul...
2023-12-1505 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 22: The slippery slopeMicah now turns his condemnation against the false prophets who are paid to tell the powerful what they want to hear. While the previous oracle against corrupt judges was from Micah, this oracle is from God--for the false prophets claim to speak on God's behalf.
2023-12-1506 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 21: Eaten aliveImagine going to court as a plaintiff seeking justice, and finding that the judge is taking bribes from the defendant. Such is the injustice in Jerusalem, and Micah doesn't mince words in his condemnation of corrupt judges. His language is extreme, suggesting that the corrupt are eating the innocent alive.
2023-12-1506 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 20: Corruption instead of justiceIn chapter 3, Micah turns to some of his harshest condemnations. There are three oracles against the corrupt leaders of Judah, which we will explore one at a time in upcoming episodes. Here, I introduce the idea of corruption itself, especially as it relates to our understanding of sin.
2023-12-0805 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 19: The shepherd is my kingAs we've seen, some of Micah's words portray God as the shepherd of his people, conveying a sense of comfort and protection. But the metaphor would have meant more than that to Micah and his audience. As we'll explore in this episode, the metaphor of God as shepherd in the Old Testament cannot be easily separated from image of God as king.
2023-12-0806 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 18: The LORD is my shepherdPerhaps the best-known, best-loved psalm is Psalm 23, the so-called Shepherd Psalm. We are the sheep for whom God as shepherd cares. The metaphor is used throughout the Old Testament to speak of God's covenant devotion to his people. And even despite the dire prediction of the punishment that is coming to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, Micah still brings words from God that convey the shepherd's protection of his flock.
2023-12-0805 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 17: The prophet we deserveAs we've seen, Micah has spoken out boldly of the poetic justice that will befall the leaders of Judah. Here, he not only accuses them of injustice, but of both hedonism and gullibility: they'll believe anyone who tells them what they want to hear--especially if alcohol is involved!
2023-12-0105 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 16: Poetic justiceAgainst the teaching of the false prophets who told people what they wanted to hear, Micah now turns to describing the unjust way those with power among God's people have been taking advantage of the poor and weak. And what will God do? He will execute a poetic kind of justice...
2023-12-0105 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 15: Does God help those who help themselves?Some people think the saying "God helps those who help themselves" comes from the Bible. It doesn't--though Eugene Peterson's The Message does in fact translate one sentence from Micah that way. But as we'll see in this episode, those words are found on the lips of false prophets.
2023-12-0106 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 14: The professional half-truthIt's hard enough for Micah to bring words of condemnation from God. Would the powerful listen to what he had to say? But his job is made even harder by the fact that the rich and powerful have false prophets in their employ who tell them what they want to hear (Micah 2:6).
2023-11-2506 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 13: How the mighty have fallenAs Micah delivers words of judgment from God, he suggests that the pride of the powerful will become an object of scorn; they will become proverbial for their arrogance and cluelessness.
2023-11-2506 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 12: The rich get richerWhy is doom coming upon Judah? In Micah chapter 2, we begin to find out. The people are living lives of greed and economic injustice. The powerful are taking advantage of the powerless in a way that defies what the people should have understood of God's justice.
2023-11-2506 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 11: MourningAs I've suggested, Micah mourns for the fate that will befall Judah and Jerusalem. In Micah 1:16, he invites the people themselves to mourn as he predicts the coming exile. Texts like these form the backdrop to what I believe Jesus meant when he taught, "Blessed are those who mourn."
2023-11-1805 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 10: When names become omens, part 2The previous episode began exploring the odd wordplay Micah uses in chapter 1. This episode continues that exploration, looking at Micah 1:13-15. But the wordplay is no laughing matter: not only is Micah foretelling doom, he is naming some of the places of his childhood, and grieving the fate of his homeland.
2023-11-1805 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 9: When names become omens, part 1As we saw in the previous episode, Micah begins his oracle against Judah with the ominous words, "Tell it not in Gath" (Micah 1:10). What follows from there may sound quite strange to anyone reading the prophecy in English. The problem is that Micah is engaging in a form of wordplay that only makes sense in Hebrew, and therefore loses something in translation. This episode begins exploring the wordplay in the first part of that oracle, up to verse 12.
2023-11-1805 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 8: Tell it not in GathMicah has already foretold the destruction of Samaria (which would happen in his lifetime). He then turns to prophesying against Jerusalem, opening with the words, "Tell it not in Gath" (Micah 1:10). These words would probably have sent a chill down the spines of the people of Judah. To understand why, we need to be reminded of the significance of Gath, and the story of David and Saul.
2023-11-1006 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 7: The heart of the prophetMicah 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.
2023-11-1005 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 6: Pointing fingersIt'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...
2023-11-1005 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 5: Court is now in sessionAfter 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?
2023-11-0304 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 4: Where have all the good kings gone?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.
2023-11-0305 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 3: Holding out hopeLet'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.
2023-11-0305 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 2: Good kings, bad kingsThe 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.
2023-11-0107 minChunks: The Book of MicahEpisode 1: Prophet motiveEven 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.
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