Who was Micah in the bible

Micah was an old testament prophet, whose listeners dismissed him as an outsider—a country simpleton. He was not from Jerusalem, after all—he lived in the rural foothills of southern Judah. Yet that did not stop Micah from delivering a forceful message aimed directly at the rampant corruption of Judah’s elite.

His prophecy was relatively straightforward. According to Micah, it was not hard to figure out why God was angry with Judah. Her wealthy landowners had committed fraud and outright theft, taking people’s farms and homes, depriving them of their livelihood and inheritance (Micah 2:1–2).

The authorities were systematically subverting justice and oppressing the poor (Micah 3:1–9). Judah’s merchants were cheating people with dishonest scales (Micah 6:11). Even the religious leaders did not escape God’s wrath, according to Micah—they had turned the sacred ministry of teaching into a commercial venture, demanding a price for their services (Micah 3:11).

Prophet Micah—whose prophecy is often compared to that of his contemporary Isaiah—was forceful and impassioned. His writing bore the marks of a divine lawsuit: God was, in effect, taking His people to court over their abuses and injustices (see Micah 6:1–2).

Micah predicted that both Israel and Judah would reap calamity for their sins. Samaria would fall first, but soon disaster would reach “even to the gate of Jerusalem” (Micah 1:12).

For all of Micah’s doom and gloom, he also promised hope—a time of restoration when God’s people would return to Him and pursue peace instead of violence (see Micah 4–5). In fact, each of Micah’s three oracles of judgment was followed by a promise of restoration.