‘In his writings, Micah echoes the recurrent theme of all the prophets: the Lord will bring judgement upon evildoers, while showing mercy and forgiveness to those who repent and follow his covenants.’ (Richard J Allen, Study Commentary of the Old Testament)

Micah 2:12–13. The Future Gathering of Israel Promised

‘After he castigated the false prophets for telling the people all was well, Micah prophesied salvation. This prophecy concerns a people who had been scourged because of iniquity, and only a remnant remained of the once mighty house of Israel. Micah foretold a miraculous growth as the people were gathered. He used the illustration of the sheep-rich area of Bozrah to illustrate how the people will become mighty. He compared their scattered condition to a form of imprisonment and foretold a Savior and Redeemer who would break the prison walls and lead the people to the promised land.’ (Old Testament Institute Manual)

Micah 4:1 in the last days… the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the tops of the mountains

“For many years there has been a ‘House of the Lord’ in Salt Lake City, in the top of the mountains, and for more than thirty years, the people of many nations have been saying, ‘Come…and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.’

“That there will be a place called Zion from which ‘The law shall go forth,’ distinct from Jerusalem, is evident from Isaiah, ‘When the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem;’

“How is it that Joseph Smith, Jun., first organized the means for the partial fulfilment of this prophecy, and left, at his death, the authority and instructions necessary to complete its fulfilment, by the building of a great city to be called Zion, in the state of Missouri, which in fulfilment of the prophecy, shall become the capital of this western hemisphere, if he did not obtain his knowledge of the whole matter through Divine inspiration?

“The Jaredite prophet, Ether, some 2500 years ago, foretold ‘That a New Jerusalem should be built up upon this land (America), unto the seed of Joseph;’ Ether 13. 4, 6.” (Franklin D. Richards and James A. Little, A Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel, p. 106)

“It is not the landscape that has drawn people, though our setting is magnificent; it is the essence of pure religion exhibited in the spirit, growth, goodness, and generosity of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its people; our love as God loves; our commitment to a higher cause, what Joseph Smith called “the cause of Christ.”” (Elder Ronald Rasband, General Conference, April 2020)

Micah 4:3-7 They shall beat their sword into plowshares

“The only way to build a peaceful community is to build men and women who are lovers and makers of peace. Each individual, by that doctrine of Christ and His Church, holds in his own hands the peace of the world.

“That makes me responsible for the peace of the world, and makes you individually responsible for the peace of the world. The responsibility cannot be shifted to someone else. It cannot be placed upon the shoulders of Congress or Parliament, or any other organization of men with governing authority.” (John A Widtsoe, In Conference Report, Oct. 1943, p. 113.)

Micah 4:5 Walk in the name of the Lord our God

“How, in this complex world, do we walk in the name of the Lord, our God, when questions of home, family, marriage, work, children, age, and death play so much a part of our day-to-day experiences? How do we think like the Lord when we are low, wisely when we are weary, feel patient when we are pressured and respected when we are rejected?

Sisters, turn to the Lord. He cares so deeply for our happiness and our well-being. Talk with him earnestly and often, and your answers will come.” (Elaine Jack, General Conference, October 1993)

Micah 4:8–13. If Jerusalem Is Overthrown and Her People Scattered, How Will She Then Become Great?

‘Micah used the figure of travail or childbirth to illustrate that Judah would bring upon herself the pain out of which would eventually come a new life in the Lord. Shortly she would be driven from her city and find herself a captive of Babylon. This prophecy is amazing because Assyria was mistress of the world in Micah’s day, Babylon being only a province of Assyria. This part of Micah’s vision projected nearly 130 years into the future, but time is nothing to a prophet. Then, looking several millennia into the future, Micah saw Israel return in the strength of God. Using the symbol of horns like iron and hooves like brass, he predicted that Israel would trample her enemies as easily as an ox threshes grain.

This passage has great significance for Latter-day Saints because Jesus referred to it when He visited the Nephites. After speaking of the gathering of Israel in the latter days, Jesus used Micah’s prophecy to depict the kind of destruction that awaited the Gentiles of that period if they did not repent (see 3 Nephi 20:17–21).’ (Institute Old Testament Manual)

Micah 5:2-3 Bethlehem

“All of the prophets wrote and prophesied of the Messiah (Jacob 7:11; Mosiah 13:33), but in the biblical writings of none but Micah do we have preserved the specific prediction of his birthplace: ‘But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting’ (Micah 5:2). There can be no mistaking: there is only one Bethlehem in Judah and there is only one ruler in Israel whose origins are from eternity. Even the chief priests and scribes understood clearly the prophecy when they quoted it upon Herod’s inquiring where the Messiah should be born, and Herod was obviously convinced of the possibility, because he proceeded to issue his infamous order to exterminate the children around Bethlehem: ‘And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule [Greek, “shepherd,” “tend,” “nurture”] my people Israel’ (Matt. 2:4-6).” (Kent P. Jackson, ed., Studies in Scripture, Vol. 4: 1 Kings to Malachi [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1993], 74)

Micah 5:5–15. Will Israel Become Powerful?

‘Still looking into the far distant future, Micah prophesied of the great last battles through which Israel, under Christ, will at last triumph over all enemies. “In this relation the Messiah is called the Prince of peace in [Isaiah 9:5], as securing peace for Israel in a higher and more perfect sense than Solomon. But in what manner? This is explained more fully in what follows: viz. (1) by defending Israel against the attacks of the imperial power (vers. 5 b, 6); (2) by exalting it into a power able to overcome the nations (vers. 7–9); and (3) by exterminating all the materials of war, and everything of an idolatrous nature, and so preventing the possibility of war (vers. 10–15). Asshur is a type [symbol] of the nations of the world by which the people of the Lord are attacked, because in the time of the prophet this power was the imperial power by which Israel was endangered. Against this enemy Israel will set up seven, yea eight princes, who, under the chief command of the Messiah, i.e. as His subordinates, will drive it back, and press victoriously into its land. … Seven is mentioned as the number of the works proceeding from God, so that seven shepherds, i.e.princes, would be quite sufficient; and this number is surpassed by the eight, to express the thought that there might be even more than were required.’ (C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament,10:1:486–87.)