Book of Micah Quiz: Justice, Mercy, and the Bethlehem Prophecy

1. What is the most famous verse in Micah, and what does it summarise?

1. 'But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times'
2. 'He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God'
3. 'I will bear the LORD's wrath, because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause'
4. 'Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore'

2. What does Micah prophesy about Bethlehem in chapter 5?

1. 'But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.' This was fulfilled in Jesus's birth at Bethlehem
2. Bethlehem would be destroyed as part of the judgment on Judah — it was the first town to be taken by the Assyrian army
3. Bethlehem would be rebuilt as the new capital of Israel — replacing Jerusalem which had been destroyed by the Babylonians
4. Bethlehem would be the gathering place for all the exiles returning from Babylon — a new exodus beginning at David's birthplace

3. What was Micah's main charge against the rulers and leaders of Israel?

1. 'You who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones; who eat my people's flesh... who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money'
2. Micah condemned the rulers for failing to maintain the temple — Solomon's building had fallen into disrepair through royal neglect
3. The rulers failed to build adequate military defences — Micah condemned their complacency in the face of the Assyrian threat
4. The rulers were too focused on international diplomacy — their political alliances distracted them from domestic administration

4. What vision of peace does Micah 4:1-4 describe, and how does it relate to Isaiah 2?

1. 'In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as the highest of the mountains... Many nations will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD... He will judge between many peoples... Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Everyone will sit under their own vine and fig tree'
2. A cultural vision — Jerusalem would become the world's centre of art, music, and wisdom to which all nations would come to learn
3. A military vision — Israel's army would defeat all enemies and force them to become tributaries to the Jerusalem throne
4. A vision of restoration for the ten northern tribes — the scattered Israelites would return and establish a unified kingdom with Micah as its prophetic guide

5. What does Micah 7:18-20 declare about God's forgiveness, and how does it connect to the book's opening?

1. 'Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham'
2. Micah 7:18-20 announces that forgiveness comes through the restored temple sacrifice — the worship system, once reinstated, would provide the mechanism for national atonement
3. Micah 7:18-20 closes with a word of judgment — the final chapter returns to the same condemnation that opened the book, showing that repentance never came
4. Micah 7:18-20 warns that forgiveness is conditional — God will forgive only those who have fully paid restitution for every wrong committed

6. Who is Micah, and to whom did he prophesy?

1. Micah of Jerusalem — a court prophet who had direct access to the king and prophesied exclusively within the temple precincts
2. Micah of Judah — a disciple of Isaiah who continued his teacher's work after Isaiah's martyrdom under Manasseh
3. Micah of Moresheth — a contemporary of Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea who prophesied to both the northern kingdom (Israel/Samaria) and the southern kingdom (Judah/Jerusalem) during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah
4. Micah the Ephraimite — a northern prophet whose ministry predated the Assyrian exile and who warned Samaria specifically

7. What does Micah say about false prophets in chapter 3?

1. 'As for the prophets who lead my people astray, they proclaim peace if they have something to eat, but prepare to wage war against anyone who refuses to feed them... Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination'
2. False prophets were harmless — the people knew they were professional entertainers, not genuine messengers of God
3. False prophets will be honoured in the restored community — their errors will be forgiven as part of the national restoration
4. Micah was the only true prophet in Judah — all other prophets had compromised and he stood alone against both the religious and political establishment

8. What is the 'case against Israel' that God brings in Micah 6:1-5?

1. God summons the dead — the faithful ancestors from Abraham to David are called as witnesses to show how far Israel had strayed from the covenant their forefathers kept
2. God summons the foreign nations to testify against Israel — he presents a legal case showing that Israel behaved worse than the nations who knew nothing of the covenant
3. God summons the mountains and hills as witnesses in a covenant lawsuit — he asks what he has done to weary Israel, reminding them of the exodus from Egypt, the leadership of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, and the Balaam incident. The lawsuit accuses Israel of ingratitude
4. God summons the prophets of Baal to testify — showing that even pagan prophets were more consistent in their religious devotion than Israel had been to the LORD