20060109
        Today begins the next book in the Bible Study a Day series, the prophetic book of Micah. I am not as familiar with Micah as some of the other Old Testament prophets, so I look forward to reading this book through for the first time. I have also provided links to the relatively neutral Bible.org and BibleGateway.com commentaries on the books as well as to the Google search for commentaries on Micah. Recommended reading on the subject also includes the NIV Concordia Study Bible introduction to the book, and the LCMS and WELS commentaries available through their publishing houses. There are many other resources available, however these are a good starting point.
         The first two chapters of Micah are the pronouncement of judgment of an angry God on an unjust and idolatrous people. God promises the people of Judah and Samaria judgment because they have stopped following God’s commands.
         Common to these pronouncements in most of the Old Testament prophets is the fact that the people prophesied against have often abandon the laws of morality and charity that set the faithful apart from everyone else. Basically, when the people of God stop living as the people of God, they bring judgment upon themselves.
         This is a warning modern Christians would do well to heed in this day of ‘going with the flow’. When Christians do not go to church on Christmas, and it is often difficult to tell a Christian from anyone else, why is there so much wonder that our beliefs are under assault by the unbelieving world?
         But, God also promises relief for those who remain faithful, as He says in Micah 2:12-13. As Proverbs 3:12 says, ‘the Lord disciplines those He loves’. In that way, the judgment visited upon the unrighteous is a way to strengthen the righteous as well, and to provide a warning to them that they cannot tolerate immorality and idolatry among them and to bring them closer to Him.
DLH
