1. The passage is universally known. When, in Saint Mathew´s evangel, the wise men ask in Jerusalem where was to be born the new king of the Jews, the high ranking priests and the scribes answer: In the town of Bethlehem in Judea, because that is what the prophet wrote: And you Bethlehem of Judah, you are by no means the least among the clans of Judah, for from you will come a leader, the one who is to shepherd my people Israel (Mt 2, 5-6). The prophet is Micah. He is contemporary with Hezekiah (716- 687), king of Judah (Mi 1,1). He announces and denounces. Jeremiah recalls all he said to the whole people: Zion will become like a field, Jerusalem a heap of rubble and the Temple mount a hill of overgrown thickets (Jer 26, 18). The hope is in Bethlehem; the desolation in Jerusalem. What does this mean today?
2. In the name of God, the prophet denounces the injustice. God´s judgment affects to the north as well as the south, to Samaria as well as to Jerusalem: What is the crime of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What is the sin of the nation of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? (Mic 1,5). The injustice and the corruption cannot bring anything good: Woe those who plot wickedness and plan evil even on their beds! When morning comes they do it, as soon as it is within their reach. If they covet fields, they seize them. They seize the owner and his household, both the man and his property (Mic 2, 1-2).
3. Prophet´s denunciation provokes a strong opposition. His adversaries think that there is nothing to be afraid of, because God is good and they are good too. Will these words strike the nation of Jacob? Is the might of Yahweh weakened? Is this his way of working things out? Has he not good words for his people of Israel? (Mic 7,2). They contemplate the prophet like a people´s enemy. Nevertheless, Micah answers: But it is you who oppress my people and are his enemies. You strip off the garments of those who pass by confidently… If a deceiver were to come and say, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink”, he would be the prophet for this people. (Mic 2, 8-11).
4. - The denunciation goes very high, reaching the civilian and religious authorities, as well as the false prophets: Listen to me, you rulers of the house of Israel, is it not your duty to know what is right? Yet you hate good and love evil, you tear the skin from my people and the flesh from my people and the flesh from their bones… Well then, when they cry, Yahweh will not answer them; he will hide his face from them because of their evil deeds (Mic 3, 1-4), Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests prophesy for money and yet they rely on Yahweh and say: “Is Yahweh not in your midst? No evil, then, will come upon us”. Therefore, because of you, Zion will become a field, Jerusalem will be a heap of ruins and the temple mount a forest with sacred stones (Mic 3, 11- 12).
5. - The confrontation against the false prophets is total: This is what Yahweh says of the prophets who lead my people astray: “Peace” when you have something to eat, but to anyone with nothing for your mouth, it is “War” that you declare. So night will come to you without vision, and darkness without divination… then the seers will be disgraced and the diviners put to shame. They will all cover their faces because no answer will come from God. (Mic 3, 5-7).
6. - The prophet not only denounces, but he also announces the restoration, the renovation. But the religious discussion is evident even at this level: what do we understand like restoration, like renovation? When will it take place? Well then, what we see now is not restoration it is not renovation. It will take place in the future: In the last days the mountain of Yahweh´s house will be firm… All nations will stream to it saying: Come, let us go to the mountain of Yahweh… he will teach us his ways and we may walk over his paths; For the teaching comes from Zion and from Jerusalem the word of Yahweh. He will rule over the nations and settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not raise sword against nation, neither they will train for war any more… On that day I will assemble the lame and gather the banished, those whom I have afflicted. I will make the lame a remnant and those driven out a mighty nation. Yahweh will reign over them on Zion from now and forever. (Mic 4,1-7). Micah is contemporary of Isaiah. Their messages coincide (Is 2, 1-5)
7. - Where will the restoration come from? It will not come from Jerusalem, but from Bethlehem. It is necessary to go back to the origins: But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, so small that you are hardly named among the clans of Judah, from you shall I raise the one who is to rule over Israel (Mic 5,1). How will the restoration come? It will not come forcibly like a lion among the beasts of the forest (Mic 5,7) it will come without violence: The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, like dew dropping down from Yahweh, like showers falling upon the grass (Mic 5,6).
8. - Nature is convoked to assist to God´s suit against his people: Hear, Oh mountains, … foundations of the earth, pay attention… Oh my people, what have I done to you? In what way I have been a burden to you? Answer me (Mic 6,2-3). People ask themselves how to be kind with his Lord: What shall I bring when I come to Yahweh and bow down before God the most high? Shall I come with burnt offerings? (Mic 6,6). The only way is justice and loyalty: You have been told, oh man, what is good and what Yahweh requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Mic 6, 8-9). But that is just what is missing: Is there still within you unjust wealth and accursed short measure? Shall I approve your false scales and your bags of false weights? Oh city whose rich are full of violence, whose citizens speak falsehood, men of deceitful tongue! (Mic 6, 9-12). You keep the rules of Omri and follow the examples of Ahab´s court, king of Israel (Mic 6,16). Both did evil before Yahweh´s eyes (1K 16,25.30).
9. - The prophet complains about the general situation: How I sorrow! For I am like the gatherer of summer fruit, like the gleaner of the vintage, when there are no grapes to eat… The godly have vanished from the earth and not one upright man is to be found; their hands are skilled at doing evil; the official demands a bribe, the judge judges for a price and the mighty decides as he pleases… The time of punishment has come, as foretold by your sentries (Mic 7,1-4). Loyalty has disappeared, nobody can trust anybody: Do not rely on a friend nor trust and intimate companion. Be guarded in speech with the woman who shares your bed. For son treats father like a fool, daughter rebels against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. The enemies of each one are those of his household (Mic 7, 5-6). The passage sends to the division created by the Gospel: Do not think that I have come to establish peace on earth (Mt 10,34). Peace is a fruit of conversion. In that situation, it is only possible to rely in the Lord: I wait hopefully for the God who saves me (Mic 7,7)
10. - At the end, Jerusalem acknowledges its sin. Then the Lord is for it: Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; though I fall, I will rise again; though I now dwell in darkness, Yahweh is my light… Then my enemy shall also see and shame will cover her. Did she not say, “where is Yahweh, your God? (Mic 7,8-10). Then it is possible: The day is coming when your walls will be rebuilt and your boundaries extended. On that day they will come to you from Assyria to Egypt, from Tyre to the Euphrates, from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain (Mic 7, 11-12; see Psalm 32)
11. - A trustful request follows: Shepherd your people with your staff, shepherd the flock of your inheritance that dwells alone in the scrub… like in the days of old when you went out of Egypt, renew your signals. On seeing this the nations will be put to shame in the midst of all their might; people will lay their hands upon their mouths and they will not believe the news. They shall lick the dust like snakes, like creatures that crawl upon the ground. (Mic 7, 14-18; see Sir 36,5).
12. - In his vital trajectory, Jesus goes from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Like David, although in a different way: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you murder the prophets and stone those sent to you by God. How often would I have gathered your children like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, yet you refused!. Now you will be left with an empty Temple (Mt 23, 37-38). Jesus goes up to Jerusalem (Lk 19,28), weeps over his city (Lk 19,41) and announces his desolation: They will not leave a stone within you (Lk 19,44). Due to its infidelity Jerusalem will be abandoned, and other peoples will substituted it. Saint Paul sees accomplished in the gentiles Hosea´s prophecy: You are not my people; they will be called children of the living God (Rom 9.26)
* Dialogue: About what we consider most important
- hope is in Bethlehem; desolation in Jerusalem
- the mission is announcement and denunciation
- the way is the justice, the peace is fruit of conversion
- sin acknowledgment gets mercy
- shepherd your people, renew your signals
- the gentiles that will come.