Our English version of the Old Testament is arranged in a similar way to a popular version used in the time of Jesus, the Septuagint. The name means “Seventy” in Latin. The Old Testament was originally written mostly in Hebrew. In the third century before Christ was born the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek (the common language of Jesus’ day). According to tradition the translation was done by about seventy translators who worked independently and then brought their work together to form that Greek translation. When Bible scholars look closely at the language of quotations of the Old Testament in the New Testament they can often tell whether the writer was making their own translation directly from a Hebrew version or quoting the Septuagint. Often they were quoting the Septuagint. So the Septuagint was an accepted translation of the Old Testament in Jesus’ day and by Jesus and his original followers.
Although we often talk about the Bible as being a book (in fact the word “bible” traces all the way back to Hebrew and was the word for papyrus scrolls on which people would write, so the work “bible” means book), the Bible is really a collection of writings by at least 39 authors written over a period of 1500 years (Moses wrote at least the first five “books” of the Bible around 1400 BC and John wrote the last “book”, Revelation, about 95 AD). Although “The Book”, the Bible, was written and collected together this way it really is one book with one main theme (See “The Old Testament Connection”) and is amazingly consistent.
In the older Hebrew collection of the Old Testament the various writings were collected together and arranged in groups. The first group was the “The Law” and was the first five books of the Old Testament (Sometimes these five are referred to as the Torah). The next group was the Prophets and Included Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve shorter books, Hosea through Malachi. Those twelve prophetical books are often called the minor prophets, not because their writings are less important but just because their “books” are shorter. In the older Hebrew arrangement the Prophets also included the books of Joshua, Judges, 1&2 Samuel, and 1&2 Kings. Also in older Hebrew “Bibles” (Just the Old Testament) Daniel (who’s writings contain some very important prophetical information) and Lamentations (written by the prophet Jeremiah) are part of the third group, often referred to as the writings. The writings also included the rest of the “books” that make up our Old Testament.
Micah was a prophet (a messenger for God) at the same time that Isaiah was (Unfortunately I never wrote the Intro to Isaiah). Micah indicates that he wrote, or at least received his message, from God during the reign of three kings of Judah (the Southern Kingdom after the nation of Israel split), Jotham (750-731 BC), Ahaz (743-715 BC), and Hezekiah (728-686 BC) (Kings would sometimes share their rule with their son or father that is why the dates overlap) . Micah tells us that he was from Moresheth. The land of Israel is bordered on the west by the Mediterranean Sea. As you move inland you cross a broad plain (much like the Los Angeles/Orange county area). Further inland lie the Judean Hills, this range is about the same elevation as the Santa Ana mountains here in Orange County of which Saddleback peak is a part. East of the mountains is a deep depression in the earth known as the Dead Sea Rift or Jordan Rift Valley. It is a valley that contains the lowest elevation on Earth (that is not under water) along the shore of the Dead Sea (-1401 Feet). The plain between the coast and the mountains was known as the Shephelah. Micah tells us he is from Moresheth. That word means “belonging to” or “in the neighborhood of”. In Micah 1:14 the word is linked to the name of a town in the Shephelah called Gath. Gath was west of Jerusalem about two thirds of the way to the Mediterranean Sea. Micah was evidently from that area and so was a part of the Southern Kingdom. Although his message is about both parts of Israel he probably uses the names of southern kings for two reasons, because he was from the south and also because, as a prophet, he would recognize Jerusalem as the true center of worship and government for the whole nation.
From the first few verses of the book we learn that the message is for both the Southern and Northern Kingdoms. He uses the term Samaria for the Northern Kingdom (Samaria was the name of a capital city for the kingdom) and he calls the Southern Kingdom Judah. The message is different for the two kingdoms, as we shall see. Micah 1:2 seems to tell us though that the message is also for all the inhabitants of the Earth. If you’ve read “The Old Testament Connection” you will know that that is consistent with the purpose of the nation of Israel, they were to help the world see God, our broken relationship with Him, and His love for mankind.
The northern part of the nation or Northern Kingdom was in steep spiritual decline during the days of Micah. In fact from the beginning it had defected from God setting up alternate worship in various cities. After many warnings (Hosea was a prophet from the Northern Kingdom and both he and Amos had messages directed to that part of the nation). In 722 BC the Assyrians (a powerful people group who’s capital, Ninevah, was in what is modern day Iraq) invaded the Northern Kingdom. Many of the northern Israelites were relocated in various parts of the Assyrian empire and other people were brought in to intermarry with the remaining Israelites. The Assyrian strategy was to destroy the identity of a group of people which would hopefully bring them into submission to their new rules. Thus the Northern Kingdom came to an end.
As the Assyrian empire increased in power in the years before the invasion of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) Israel prepared for the invasion by forming an alliance with Syria. This coalition tried to force the southern kingdom (Judah) to join them. The response of the kings of the southern kingdom was to ask Assyria for help against this alliance. If you read through Isaiah with us you might remember that God was very displeased with this response. Later during this period the southern kings would make various alliances against Assyria, again a move which God was not happy about. It was during this time of spiritual defection in the North and lack of faith in the south that Micah wrote.