Micah 1:6-7

‘Therefore’ links the crime to the punishment. Samaria’s people prayed to images. This showed that they did not understand God or his laws. Their evil religion did not teach good behaviour. In fact, it caused evil behaviour. It showed that they understood the world in a wrong way. When people serve images, there is a cause and effect in this. (Look at Romans 1:18-31.) It causes people to do bad things. And the effect is evil. ‘They said that they were wise. But they became fools. They exchanged the greatness of the God who can never die for images. They made these look like men, birds, animals and snakes’ (Romans 1:22-23). That is how Samaria’s leaders acted against God’s *covenant. As a result of their actions, the people did all kinds of wrong things. Among these things was when people used sex in the wrong way.

God was like a husband to the people in Israel. They had a special relationship (called the *covenant) with him. But they were not loyal to him. They were like *prostitutes, who leave their husbands to go with other men. The people in Samaria had become wealthy because of this wicked religion. But they would not keep their wealth. They had learned this behaviour from the other nations. And soon the other nations would control Samaria. The people in Samaria would become slaves. And the army from Assyria would take away their (Samaria’s) wealth.

v8 I will be very sad about what will happen. I will go about without shoes and clothes. I will cry like a jackal (wild dog). I will weep like an ostrich (large wild bird). v9 There is no remedy for Samaria’s problems. And Samaria’s *sin is a like a disease that has spread to Judah. It has reached the gate of my people’s city. It has spread all the way to Jerusalem.