Word: Micah

Before we get our Word on, I just want to say thanks to everyone who participated in the recent free Word print giveaway. I'll be sorting through the entries and picking the 3 winners who will each receive a free 16x20 of a Word print of their choice and will post about it in a few days. For those of you who may not have heard about the free giveaway in time, I plan to do more in the future, so make sure to subscribe to the site RSS feed or follow me on Twitter to get the latest updates.

Oooh, We're Halfway There. Ohhh, Oh! Livin' on a Prayer!

I just realized the other day that with Micah, I'm now officially halfway through the Bible. 33 down, 33 to go! I wrote a post about hitting the halfway point and talked about a few ways this series turned out different than I'd anticipated.

Enough with the announcements, let's throw down some Micah.

I don't have time to help the poor because I need to practice my putting

During Micah's time, the Israelites are enjoying an economic boom. Trade and commerce are flourishing and people are getting rich. Sounds like a good thing, right? Except that the rich are getting rich at the expense of the poor getting poorer. Wealthy folks are taking land from small farmers and peasants and building gated communities with swimming pools and putting greens in every backyard (OK, I'm not positive on that last part). If you remember anything about the laws God gave the Israelites way back in the old days, it's that he is not happy when people are marginalized or taken advantage of, so Micah lays down some rebukes and judgements!

Vulture man is creepy. What does that have to do with anything?

Not much really. But I've been waiting a long time to do an old-guy-with-vulture-head design, so when I read Micah 1:16, I was all over it:

Shave your head in mourning for the children in whom you delight; make yourself as bald as the vulture, for they will go from you into exile.

If there's one thing I've learned throughout the Word series, it's that God uses some really cool visual language and sometimes there are verses or passages that seem to scream out to me for a design. This was one of those passages.

Spoiler Alert!

One interesting thing in Micah is a part where he talks about the town of Bethlehem. He says:

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...

and

He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.

We'll get to know this "shepherd" quite well as we enter the New Testament. You may have even heard of him before. His last name rhymes with "Feist."

You'll just have to wait to find out...

OK, OK, it's Jesus! When he says "shepherd" he means Jesus! I'm terrible with surprises.