The Old Testament is full of rich history that any serious Bible student would do well to study.  There is much to learn about how God dealt with his people, the Israelites.  The Israelites were God’s chosen people.  He promised Abraham in Genesis 22:17-18, “blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”  Because of Abraham’s great faith, the people of Israel obtained great favor from God.  They were brought out of captivity by Moses and shown many great wonders by the Lord.  They were promised an earthly inheritance in the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey.  They were blessed beyond belief, and yet……..time and time again, they turned their backs on God.  They disobeyed His laws and worshiped false idols.  God sent prophets to them to instruct them to turn from their wicked ways or there would be consequences.  God is a loving God, and he is a just God.  He cannot abide with sin.  You will find very similar stories in each of the books of the minor prophets, but for our purposes, we will focus our attention on Micah.

Not much is known of Micah, as far as who he was or what he did for a living before becoming a prophet of God.  He was chosen to deliver a message to the people of Israel.  The message was that of a coming destruction.  Because of their wicked ways, God determined that his wrath would befall them.  He speaks specifically to the rulers and prophets in chapter 3.  These were the “heads of Jacob” who ruled over the people at that time.  They were the ones who were supposed to provide justice and rule righteously.  Instead, they were oppressing the people, plotting in the night how they would take advantage of them for their own wicked gain.  They hated good, and loved evil.  Micah declares to them, “Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, and the mountain of the temple like the bare hills of the forest.” (Micah 3:12)  Their wickedness would bring them utter destruction.  All of the good that they had been blessed with would be taken away because they turned away from the love of God.

Throughout the Old Testament we see God’s relationship with his people.  It was very much a Father to children relationship.  And it is no different today.  God has blessed this great nation with so much good.  Yet evil seems to be making so much headway in our land.  Headline after headline reflects the fact that we are turning away from God, no longer seeing it necessary to seek His face.  Our pride has made us fools.  Instead of kneeling on our knees in prayer seeking forgiveness, we are boldly mocking and cursing the very One who gave us everything.  Like the people of Israel, we say, “…Is not the LORD among us?  No harm can come upon us.” (Micah 3:11)  Do we not think that destruction can come upon our land because of our own wickedness?  History proves it to be true.  It would behoove us to learn from past mistakes and make corrections before it is too late!