Do we learn from history? Or do we let it repeat its horrors without our courage to hear, and heal?
Micah is the first among the Hebrew prophets to be officially remembered in historical context - decades after he lived and protested.
He may have been the first among Judea’s prophets to stand up and warn the people on behalf of God, and he may have been inspired by Hosea and Amos who lived a generation earlier, further north in the Kingdom of Israel. Like the prophet Isaiah, who was his contemporary and also roamed the streets of Jerusalem with visions for the better future - Micah saw the signs of doom and did not hold back. Isaiah was adamant - but was also part of the power-structure, an aristocrat with standing in the court and what to lose. Micah was an outsider, and had his strong words and visions, speaking powerful truth to those in power -- and that’s part of his lasting legacy and power. He may even be attacking Isaiah for his ‘fake news’ prophecies in this chapter’s accusation of hypocrisy and blame:
רָאשֶׁ֣יהָ ׀ בְּשֹׁ֣חַד יִשְׁפֹּ֗טוּ וְכֹהֲנֶ֙יהָ֙ בִּמְחִ֣יר יוֹר֔וּ וּנְבִיאֶ֖יהָ בְּכֶ֣סֶף יִקְסֹ֑מוּ וְעַל־יְהֹוָה֙ יִשָּׁעֵ֣נוּ לֵאמֹ֔ר הֲל֤וֹא יְהֹוָה֙ בְּקִרְבֵּ֔נוּ לֹֽא־תָב֥וֹא עָלֵ֖ינוּ רָעָֽה׃ לָכֵן֙ בִּגְלַלְכֶ֔ם צִיּ֖וֹן שָׂדֶ֣ה תֵֽחָרֵ֑שׁ וִירוּשָׁלַ֙͏ִם֙ עִיִּ֣ין תִּֽהְיֶ֔ה וְהַ֥ר הַבַּ֖יִת לְבָמ֥וֹת יָֽעַר׃
“Judah’s rulers judge for bribes,
Her priests give rulings for a fee,
And her prophets divine for pay;
Yet they rely upon YHWH, saying,
“ YHWH is in our midst;
No calamity shall overtake us.”
Assuredly, because of you
Zion shall be plowed as a field,
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins
And the Temple Mount - a shrine in the woods.”
Micah 3:11-12
This may be the first time that the fate of Jerusalem is a vision of violent horror.
The people heard - and didn’t do much about it at first — but his message was repeated across the generations.
One of the most intriguing references to Micah’s lasting legacy comes from the Book of Jeremiah, chapter 26. Jeremiah comes before Micah in the order of the biblical books but chronologically a full century later. Micah warns the Judeans that if they don’t change their ways their city will fall -- Jeremiah is there to witness the fallout.
In chapter 26 the angry prophets' words create a clash between him and the angry people, under siege, in need of scapegoats. The mob demands that Jeremiah, guilty of treason, is executed on the spot. A trial is set up and during the proceedings, described in detail, some of the elders, old enough to remember history, step up to defend the prophet from the people’s demand that words of warning are worthy of capital punishment.
They quote Micah verbatim:
“Micah the Morashtite, who prophesied in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah, said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus said YHWH -
Zion shall be plowed as a field,
Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins
And the Temple Mount a shrine in the woods.’
Did King Hezekiah of Judah, and all Judah, put him to death? Did he not rather fear YHWH and implore YHWH, so that YHWH renounced the punishment He had decreed against them? We are about to do great injury to ourselves!”
Jeremiah 26:18-19
Jeremiah was saved, at least for the time being, thanks to the elders who remembered the precedent that enables prophets to speak up important if painful truths. Micah is the first of the prophets to thus be remembered and recorded in the books as one whose message endured and his warnings, eventually and tragically - came true.
Rabbi Benny Lau writes of this dramatic scene in his book “Eight Prophets”:
“The elders of Judah during Jeremiah’s days, a century after Micah walked the same streets, will remember Micah well. It was he who spoke up in Jerusalem, before King Hezekiah’s reforms, and protested the corruption, greed and immorality that took over the nation. It was he, the first of all the prophets of Judea, to warn the king ‘This city will become an empty field’ - and it was he who managed to convince the young king that he must amend his ways and save the kingdom. The elders of Judah would remember that the king, though attacked by the prophet’s words, did not silence the prophet or repress his words. The king knew that the criticism was needed to turn the people back to repentance and perhaps to divine forgiveness.”
Centuries later, Micah and Jeremiah’s words endured, long after the streets they walked did indeed became a heap of ruins. And now again, the streets are paved, the city thrives and their demands for justice and morality are needed more than ever. Will we silence them for fear of truth and consequences or will the people in power take heed of history’s lessons and learn how to humble ambition, and commit to critical change? Will history repeat itself - or can we hear - and heal?
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