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.
Micah 1:1
Micah’s ministry spanned a period of about 50 years (750-700 BC). He lived and preached at the same time as the prophet Isaiah.
During this time, Israel was divided in two—the Northern Kingdom (often called Samaria), and the Southern Kingdom (Judah, with its capital in Jerusalem). Micah’s focus was on the south, where he spoke the Word of God during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
Jotham was a believer with a good heart, but he didn’t have the courage to follow through on his convictions. Ahaz presided over a national moral disaster—he lost territory, drained the economy, and introduced God’s people to other gods. If you had lived in Ahaz’s time, you would have felt that the whole nation was plunging to a disaster from which it could never recover.
But when Ahaz died, his son Hezekiah came to the throne (2 Kings 18:1-7). He was a king with an entirely different profile. Not only did he do right in the eyes of the Lord, but “there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him” (18:5). He was greater even than King David.
So, Micah lived through the best of times and the worst of times. He lived through a moral disaster and a spiritual revival. There is great encouragement for us here. God can bring a great revival from the worst disaster.
Do you feel as if everything is lost? Why? Have faith in the God who can bring a great revival even from a moral failure.
