“Hear, O people, all of you, listen, O earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign LORD may witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.”
~ Micah 1:2
Hi James and Ellen,
How do you think that a guy from a small town called Moresheth became a prophet? Moresheth was located in southern Judah. The small town guy’s name is Micah. Do you know anything about Micah? Except for what Micah wrote about himself and something that Jeremiah wrote in his missive about Micah, there is very little that is known about Micah. The short book that Micah scribed goes by his name. Micah’s book is one of twelve books that are referred to as the Minor Prophet books. Micah wrote in his book or dispatch that he was a prophet during the reigns of three Judah kings. These kings were Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. Hosea – another Minor Prophet book author, lived during the same time period that Micah lived. Hosea was a prophet to the guys and gals who were living in Israel’s Northern Kingdom – which was called Israel. Isaiah – who was one of the five Major Prophet book authors, also lived during the same time period that Micah lived. Isaiah was a prophet to the guys and gals who were living in Israel’s Southern Kingdom – which was called Judah. Micah’s God inspired words that he wrote in his dispatch or book were for the guys and gals who were living in Israel and Judah. Micah may have walked around barefoot as a way to try to get the attention of God’s specially chosen guys and gals. Micah knew what was going to take place to God’s specially chosen people if . . . it was as if Micah could see it happening even before it happened. Jotham was appointed king over Judah about 180 years after Israel split into two countries – Judah and Israel. King Jotham was Judah’s king for about fifteen years. King Jotham seems to have been an okay king. King Jotham’s kid – Ahaz, was an awful king. King Ahaz was Judah’s king for about twenty years. Isarel – the Northern Kingdom, was overrun in 722 B.C. by the Assyrians during the time when King Ahaz was king over Judah.
How do you think that it was like to have to be a prophet to God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids who were living in Israel and/or Judah? Do you think that being a prophet – like Micah was, was an easy job? How do you feel when another kid just will not listen to what you want to tell him or her? God’s specially chosen guys and gals rarely would listen to the prophets. Do you know how a guy became a prophet? Any guy could end up being a prophet. A prophet was a guy who God specifically spoke to to be His spokesman to His specially chosen guys, gals and kids. Do you know how God spoke to the guys who He wanted to be His prophets? God at times used a vision to speak to a guy to be a prophet. God spoke to Micah through a vision. God showed Micah – through a vision, what was going to happen to His specially chosen guys, gals and kids who were living in Samaria and Jerusalem. The Northern Kingdom – Israel, was called Samaria while Jerusalem was the big city in the Southern Kingdom – Judah. God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Samaria and Jerusalem were disobeying God. God’s specially chosen guys and gals were living their lives for themselves, they were worshipping false gods or idols instead of worshipping God and they were doing all kinds of gross things – which God had made it very clear to them that they were not to do. Being a prophet would not have been an easy job to have – if you wanted to have results. What do you think that God expected from a prophet – like Micah? God expected prophets – like Micah, to just faithfully pass on the messages that He was giving them to pass on to His specially chosen guys and gals.
How do you think that a guy from a small town called Volga became a missionary? It more or less happened about the same way that it did over 2700 years ago when God asked a guy then to be a prophet. Micah probably was minding his own business when God suddenly spoke to him – as Micah 1 says, in a vision. Micah’s call from God was to go out as a prophet to tell His specially chosen guys and gals what verse 2 says “Hear, O people, all of you, listen, O earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign LORD may witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.” Your grandpaa was sitting in church one night – with your grandmaa, listening to a missionary talk. Your grandmaa and grandpaa were sitting on the back bench in the church – which is where your grandpaa always likes to sit. Your Aunt Lynn probably was in the nursery. The special speaker that night was a missionary. Larry Wright was a missionary in a country called the Ivory Coast – a country which is in Africa. Mr. Wright asked the parents of kids to do something different that night. Mr. Wright said that sometimes God would call a kid to be a missionary but when the kid told his or her ma and/or dad about God’s call, the ma and/or dad would sometimes tell him or her to just wait to think about being a missionary – that he or she should finish school first and . . . kids sometimes would then get turned off at becoming a missionary. That evening in the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Aberdeen, South Dakota, Mr. Wright asked that all the mas and dads to stand up to show their kids that if anyone of their kids was certain that he or she had been called by God to be a missionary, that they would encourage their kid. There were a lot of mas and dads in the church that night. Mas and dads were standing up all over the church. Your grandpaa did not stand up. Your grandmaa wanted to stand up but she did not want to stand up unless your grandpaa stood up first. Do you think that your grandmaa was happy that your grandpaa did not stand up? Your grandpaa did not stand up that night because God’s voice told him that He wanted your grandpaa to be a missionary and that your grandpaa could take his kids with him wherever he went. That night was twenty-seven years ago. Your grandmaa and grandpaa can attest that God will bless guys who obey His call to pass on His Word to other guys, gals and kids.
Micah 1 (102)