Micah (C.700 BC), a minor prophet, lived in a time of brutal warfare. The country had long been split into North and South. Second Chronicles tells us about the warfare that broke out between these two sides and about Assyria's savage conquest of the Northern Kingdom and its capital Samaria. Only a miracle kept the Assyrians out of Jerusalem.

The sins of Northern Israel are listed in 2 Kings 17:16-17. These same sins were now infiltrating Judah in the South. Micah himself lists many others. When Micah speaks of "Judah's high places (1:5), he is referring to the traditional setting for pagan idol worship. So here Micah is warning Jerusalem and Judah of the wrath of God, as was manifested in the North, for their not giving up their wicked ways. Micah's theme is a condemnation of social injustice, greed, exploitation, and a rejection of God for false gods.

Matthew quotes from Isaiah, a contemporary of Micah's. Isaiah predicted a hope for the future - the coming of the Saviour who would "lead the truth to victory". Jesus' act of withdrawing from conflict with the Pharisees points to him as a true servant of God who brings God's saving love and life to men in His own unique way. He is quietly unostentatious. There is a deep inwardness about His mission to raise up what is cast down, to heal, to encourage and understand the weak and to bring hope.