The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Coming Destruction
Hear, you peoples, all of you;
pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place,
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
And the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
like waters poured down a steep place.
All this is for the transgression of Jacob
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
Comment: Micah is the speaker, and as we go through the book we will hear him as a powerful, no-pulled-punches proclaimer of the coming acts of God in both judgement and grace. Time wise we know historically that his ministry was about 700-750 years before the coming of Jesus. He starts with a clear and challenging call to everyone to sit up and listen carefully! God is coming and it will be obvious and not hidden. It is a proclamation of coming decisive judgement and because of other prophecies in the scriptures I think that this picture in full has yet to come, even though it began with Jesus’ coming as a baby. It sounds much more like what is going to happen at Christ’s second coming than what the world experienced when He came as a tiny babe in a small country town in the tiny country of Judea!
But then (and a prophet is allowed to do that) he focuses on two spots which were very much at the heart of God’s dealing with the Jews in Old Testament times, and which now are the centres of coming judgement. Samaria was under the king of the Northern part and Jerusalem was capital of the Southern kingdom of what was once a combined nation in the times of King David and King Solomon. They have the spotlight of God’s judgement centred on them. They are places for coming judgement! So listen carefully!
Prayer: Help me to listen and learn, O God.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for your comments on this passage. Listening to God and learning from God are two things which are important in the life of a believer. We need to “hear what the Spirit says to the Churches”, and be ready to take action when God directs us to. God bless you.
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