I heard several appreciative comments after Sunday's sermon on Micah 1. The Minor Prophets are often over-looked and under-preached, but Pastor Allen did a great job of making Micah relevant to us!
Pastor Allen made the point that the specific prophecies of Micah against the ten cities were a play on the Hebrew meaning of the city's name. He listed several as examples, but as I followed I found that the NIV footnotes had these translations for eight of the ten (I have included Micah's prophecy at the end of each line):
1. Micah 1:10 Gath sounds like the Hebrew for tell..."tell it not"
2. Micah 1:10 Beth Ophrah means house of dust..."roll in the dust"
3. Micah 1:11 Shaphir means pleasant..."nakedness and shame"
4. Micah 1:11 Zaanan sounds like the Hebrew for come out..."will not come out"
5. Micah 1:11 Beth Ezel (no translation provided)
6. Micah 1:12 Maroth sounds like the Hebrew for bitter..."writhe in pain"
7. Micah 1:13 Lachish sounds like the Hebrew for team..."harness the team to the chariot"
8. Micah 1:14 Moresheth Gath (no translation provided)
9. Micah 1:14 Aczib means deception..."Will prove deceptive"
10. Micah 1:15 Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew for conqueror "I will bring a conqueror against you"
The Bible is amazing! Hebrew prophets were often thought to be crude, uneducated herdsmen and farmers. But here is Micah using subtlety, wit, and incisive articulation to bring a proud and hard-hearted people to repentance. May it not be so among us, that God should have to raise up such a prophet. May we respond now to the Spirit's urgings, as we study the Word together.
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