Micah 1:1

Micah 1:1 says, The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.  Micah identifies himself and where he is from.  Then he declares that the word of the Lord came to him.  He didn't just come to an understanding of what was to happen on his own, but God revealed it to him.  When someone comes proclaiming God's word today, we need to know who they are, but more importantly we must know that what they proclaim really does come from God.  Micah prophesied during the reign of three kings, from one of the worst, Ahaz, to one of the best, Hezekiah.  Verse two adds, Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.  When Micah was proclaiming God's word, he could not demand that they listen but could only ask that they listen.  We cannot demand that people listen to the gospel, but we can only ask that they do so.  Verse three continues, For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.  God was coming in judgment against those who were called His people, and nothing could spare them.  If we, who are called God's people today rebel against Him, then instead of having peace with God we can be certain of His judgment against us.  Israel and Judah were God's people in name only.  Verse four states, And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.  Micah warned that there was no place where the people could go to escape the judgment of God.  Verse five adds, For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?  Through Micah God told the people that they were guilty of idolatry.  They may have questioned why they were to be punished, but deep down I believe they had to know.  As followers of Christ, we today know when we are outside the will of God.  Verse six continues, Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.  Instead of being under the protection of God, the nations of Israel and Judah were to be under His punishment.  Sin, especially idolatry, brings judgment and punishment from God, and we can only avoid it by God's grace in providing the only way to salvation, which is through faith in Christ.  Verse seven concludes, And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.  Micah told the people that all their idols would be destroyed.  When we stand before God, we can be certain that all those things that we put our faith in other than Christ will be destroyed.