Micah 1:2

Micah gives an order to all the people in Samaria and Jerusalem. The people in *Israel had a special relationship with God because they had made a *covenant with him. But they had not followed the rules in the *covenant. So God calls both *Israel and the other nations to a court of law. He asks them to defend themselves. Yes, God would punish Samaria and Jerusalem. But the whole world must hear this message. The *Lord will come to be a witness against *Israel and against the whole world. Everyone and everything in the whole world must listen to these words.

1:3-2:13 Punishment and Rescue

1:3-16 God will punish Samaria and Judah

In verses 3 to 7, Micah describes how God will punish Samaria. Our God is the God about whom we learn in the Bible. He is the God who is alive. But many people take no notice of him. The people in Samaria forgot God. They prayed to false gods. The way that God punishes Samaria will teach all people something. Everyone in the entire world must listen to these words. All people must obey this message. God chose *Israel to be like an example for all the nations. God warns them in these verses.

Then Micah describes how God will punish Judah. The style of Micah’s message is like a sad song after a war. He uses the names of several cities. Each name has a meaning. And Micah uses these meanings to emphasise his message. But the war had not yet happened. Perhaps Micah was hoping that the people might confess their *sins to God. They might change their behaviour so that God would forgive them. But, in the end, this did not happen. The people in Judah suffered greatly. Everything that Micah described happened.

v3 Look, the *LORD will come out of the place where he lives. He will step on the high places of the Earth. v4 The mountains will melt under him. The valleys will split. The mountains will be like wax in front of the fire. (Wax is a substance. It melts when someone heats it.) Those mountains will be like water that pours down a steep hill.