depraved rivals were filled with lust, greed, and self-ambition, Micah was filled with zeal for the oppressed, the telltale sign that he was full of I AM’s spirit (3:8). He has often been called “the prophet of the poor,” but in fact he is a prophet of the middle class, which he saw being reduced to intractable poverty by the rich (2:1–5, 6–11). Micah was a person in his own right, not merely I AM’s megaphone. Micah was identified by his place of origin rather than by his family, in contrast, for
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